shanglian.org

The new contract gives the U.S. Army the freedom to purchase parts, training, and maintenance services from iRobot, as well as any robots from the company’s industrial or consumer lines over the next five years, according to iRobot.

iRobot also announced in June that it won a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Office to develop a “ChemBot.” The new type of robot will be made of flexible material and be able to squeeze into tight spaces.

While vendors are not guaranteed that the full contract amount will be realized, it does give them the opportunity to offer new products as they become available. Whether or not this type of flexibility is advantageous to vendors is up for debate.

(Credit:
iRobot)

According to Federal Acquisition Regulation on IDIQ contracts, the U.S. government does not have to spend the full dollar amount to fulfill its contractual obligations with the vendor. It also allows the government to use the money designated for that vendor on any products and services as needed over a designated period of time, rather than restrict it to purchasing a specific list and quantity of items.

iRobot's PackBot with RedOwl Sniper Detection Kit.

The U.S. Army plans to spend up to $200 million on iRobot products over the next five years, iRobot announced Tuesday.

The contract iRobot previously had with the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation expired in May 2008 and was limited to the purchase of PackBots.

It’s clear why the U.S. Army would want the option to purchase parts and maintenance from iRobot. About 1,700 PackBots have now been sold to the U.S. military, according to iRobot’s latest figures. The Department of Defense has ordered that the older models be kept in use in some capacity if possible. A few weeks ago, the U.S. Army announced it had found a way to recycle old PackBots for new uses.

However, the $200 million five-year contract that was awarded is a “ceiling priced Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract,” iRobot said in a statement.

That means the U.S. Army may or may not spend the full $200 million in products promised.

IDIQ contracts are common between vendors and U.S. government agencies because they are flexible and unrestricted.

Tomorrow: Pare your list of autostart applications in
Windows Vista via the Software Explorer.

A couple of times a year, I check the list of autostart programs in Windows XP’s System Configuration Utility (aka Msconfig) to see if any apps that I don’t need to start automatically have snuck onto the roster.

Msconfig craziness
Whenever you make a change in Msconfig, the program prompts you to restart your system. To prevent the message from popping up in the future, check “Don’t show this message again” before you click either Restart or Exit without restarting. The next time you start your PC, you’ll see a message stating that the System Configuration utility started in “Diagnostic or Selective Startup” mode. Check “Don’t show this message or start up the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts,” reopen Msconfig, press the General tab, and select Normal Startup > OK > Exit without restart.

(Credit:
Gerhard Schlager)

The free CTFMON-Remover utility rids Windows' list of autostart apps of this little-used Microsoft Office extension.

Just be careful not to uncheck the entry for an autostart program that your system needs to function properly. Keep the entries for your antivirus, firewall, and other security programs checked. Also leave active the listings for your network and Windows itself, as well as for printer and other peripherals you use frequently. When in doubt, leave it checked, though a Web search should shine a light on any mystery file names you find there.

Microsoft’s support site describes a convoluted, multistep process for removing the program from your start-up list. You begin by deactivating it in Microsoft Office via the Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs applet, then you change settings in the Regional and Language Options, and finally, you delete two DLLs manually from the Run box.

“There’s gotta be a better way,” I thought, as I read through Microsoft’s instructions. There is. Gerhard Schlager’s CTFMON-Remover does the trick in a fraction of the time. Simply unzip the download file, double-click CtfmonRemover.exe, and select Deactivate CTFMON.EXE. Step through the short wizard, and the program is removed automatically (the option “Is the CTFMON.EXE installed?” switches from a green “Yes” to a red “No.”)

(Note that the $30 WinPatrol, the free CCleaner, and many other Windows utilities can be used to prevent applications from starting with Windows.

The older my PC gets, the more important it is to avoid slowing down XP’s start-ups as the OS loads programs I’ll probably never use.

Pruning your list of autostart apps
Uncheck the programs on XP’s autostart list that you don’t need to have on all the time. Candidates include iTunes, Adobe Acrobat, and utilities for cameras, printers, PDAs, and other peripherals you rarely use. (I noticed that my system was loading control programs for a printer I replaced six months ago.)

Msconfig-uring out CTFmon
To view your autostart apps in Msconfig, press the Windows key (or Ctrl-Esc), press R, type msconfig.exe, and press Enter. The last time I checked the list, I noticed an entry for CTFmon.exe. This is an extension for
Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 that enables speech and handwriting recognition, as well as other language functions. Unchecking the program’s option in Msconfig does no good because it returns to the list automatically the next time Windows loads.

Here, I’m focusing on the tools built into XP. Also, the Software Explorer component of Vista’s Windows Defender security application gives you a clearer view of the OS’s autostart applications. I’ll describe that program tomorrow.)

Of course, an entry such as the one on my PC for a discarded printer indicates that you’re overdue in uninstalling the program altogether, either by using its own uninstall option off the Start menu, or via Add or Remove Programs.

If an entry in your autostart list is unidentifiable, enter the name in your favorite Web search engine, and look for information about it. That’s how I found out that I didn’t need “point32.exe”, which is for Microsoft’s IntelliMouse, nor “nwiz.exe”, Nvidia’s program for “enhancing” my graphics display with features I’ll never use.

The World Bank argues that these policies have distorted the market for grains in three ways, according to The Guardian. First, crops that would have been sold for food have been diverted for biofuels production. Second, land is now being used for fuels rather than food. And third, the mandates have set off speculation in financial markets

At the very least, it demonstrates the public relations and political battles we can expect over the coming years between supporters and detractors of biofuels.

In grains, during the period from 2004 to April 2008, global dollar prices increased by an average of 168 percent. The rising price of oil accounts for an increase of 32.5 percent and other inputs–such as land and labor costs–contributed 7.4 percent. Dollar depreciation accounts for a further 17.9 percent. Supply and demand imbalances account for the remaining 57.7 percent, with biofuels responsible for up to an 8.1 percent increase in global average grain prices (the impact on U.S. corn was clearly above average). The biggest issues were the failure to improve yields to compensate for global population growth, along with the failure of the Australian harvest.

“Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate,” The Guardian quoted the report as saying.

Grist.org parses the political angles of the report in its post on Saturday.

The number stands in sharp contrast to the 3 percent contribution to higher food pricing estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, a study commissioned by food manufacturers pegs the contribution of biofuels on food prices at between 25 percent and 35 percent. (Click here for PDF).

A non-political research organization, New Energy Finance, published an analysis early this year that found a relatively small impact on price from biofuels policy.

Biofuels Digest has more background on the food versus fuel debate.

Demand for biofuels in Europe and the United States has forced up food prices 75 percent around the world, according to a World Bank report that was leaked and published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday.

The reports will surely heat up the debate on biofuels policy one week before the scheduled G8 meeting in Japan. Both the U.S. and Europe have biofuels mandates to lessen dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Update at 8:00 a.m. PT on July 8: The Wall Street Journal found that the supposedly secret report was actually a position paper from April. A final paper to be published later this week will likely conclude that the contribution of biofuels on food prices will be lower than 75 percent. See here.

The wide disparity in analysis among the different parties is hard to decipher.

The World Bank earlier this year issued a warning on biofuels and blamed them, in part, for food crises in developing countries. The Guardian said that the food impact report was delayed for political reasons, specifically not to discredit the Bush Administration’s strong support for biofuels, particularly corn-based ethanol.

Overall, it found grain prices went up about 8 percent because of biofuels, with corn affected more heavily because of U.S. policy. From the report:

All of which brings us to my bit of headline trickery: CompUSA has refurbished Xbox 360 Core systems on sale for $169.99 (plus $15-ish for shipping). Now, the Core model is the baseline Xbox, meaning it has no hard drive for game storage and comes with a wired controller instead of the famed wireless one. Xbox zealots typically scoff themselves silly at the mere thought of buying a Core. But look at it another way: For $170, you’re getting a killer deal on a media-center extender, with one of the world’s best gaming consoles thrown in. (You can always add a hard drive, wireless controllers, etc. later on if you’re so inclined.)

What do you think? Does my take make sense, or am I cuckoo for recommending a Core system? I’m more into media-center stuff than I am gaming, so if you’re anything like me (and if you are: get help), this really is smart buy.

Find more deals, coupon codes, and bargains on CNET’s Shopper.com.

(Credit:
CompUSA)

I admit it: That headline is a bit misleading. But let me ’splain. Not many people know that the Xbox 360 can double as a media-center extender, meaning it can stream to your TV all the videos, photos, music, and whatnot stored on your PC. To my thinking, it’s superior to all the standalone extender products because a) It’s cheaper; and b) It’s an
Xbox! (As you might have heard, they’re not bad with the games.)

The service draws in content from broadcast and subscription TV, Pay-per-view and from users’ own DVRs.

This is based on algorithms, the company says, which analyzes “the true DNA” of content, creating in the process a large selection of suggestions of things to watch.

It’s basically a personal content channel, the company says, that is designed to learn from users’ behaviors and tastes.

The service is white labeled, meaning that TV operators can offer it to their customers without those users even knowing who’s behind it.

By selecting some criteria of things you want to watch, the service starts to learn what you enjoy and then begins to offer you more of what you want. In many ways, it’s like Netflix’s recommendation engine, except it’s personal and local.

SAN DIEGO–The TV guide may no longer be necessary.

That’s the message a company called BeeTV delivered at DemoFall Monday morning.

The company’s platform is essentially a personal TV suggestion engine, the idea of which is to make it easier for people to find the kind of TV content they really want to watch instead of having to pick and choose randomly through the enormous number of movies, shows, games and so forth that are always on.

Microsoft may be interested in acquiring Yell Group, the British-based parent company of directories like the U.K.’s Yellow Pages and the United States’ Yellow Book, Reuters reported Tuesday. Yell isn’t commenting, but shares of the company stock rose up to 5.4 percent amid the speculation.

Yell’s properties do not include the U.S.-based Yellow Pages, which is operated by AT&T. Yell came to fruition with the debut of the British Yellow Pages in 1966, and expanded to the U.S. when it acquired Yellow Book USA for $665 million.

Dunn began his career at Best Buy as a store associate 23 years ago, rising through the company’s ranks to become president and COO in 2006. He has been responsible for the company’s 1,000 retail outlets in the United States, as well as its Geek Squad repair and installation services unit.

Anderson, who’s led Best Buy for seven years, plans to retire from the electronics retailer at the company’s annual meeting in June. He’ll keep his position as vice chairman of the board of directors in order to help with the transition.

Although Best Buy has done comparatively well, it hasn’t been unaffected by the current recession. Third-quarter revenue in 2008 dropped 77 percent from the year before, prompting the company to offer buyouts to nearly all corporate employees.

Best Buy is the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States, and it has stores in 13 countries. It lost a major rival last week, when Circuit City, the second-largest electronics seller, was forced to liquidate all stores.

Best Buy President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Dunn is set to be promoted to CEO this summer, when current Chief Executive Brad Anderson retires, the company announced Wednesday.