Embedded - 95: The Elon Musk of Earth

Episode Date: April 1, 2015

This week we discuss lasers, internet of things, and static electricity. Our extremely opinionated guest has a lot to say, including some scatological humor. The associated Linker post went up early for this one, please check it out. Scary robot litter box 

Welcome to Embedded, the show for people who love building gadgets. I'm Alicia White, possibly joined by Christopher White, and today our guest, I'm quite excited, is Princessa Anakin, the kitten most cute. Hi, Anakin. Thanks for joining us today. Annie, could you tell us a bit about yourself? Thank you. Did I get your title correct? So what got you interested in engineering? And how did you'd recommend for others?

What do you think differentiates an embedded software engineer from, you know, other types of software engineers? Is it really an important distinction? Do you find it difficult to continue working when you know you're only paid in dry kibble? Okay, that is a good point. We all work for a living and we all sort of work for kibble. So how long have you worked in embedded systems? Do you have a favorite device? I'm not sure a litter box is a device. Well, I think we're going to talk about that more later in the show. So let's hold on to the litter box and kind of get through this

introduction. That's okay. I mean, you want to skip to the litter box? It's up to you. It's your show. So do you have favorite devices, Annie? Oh no, no one can disagree. Those are fascinating, but did you work on them? I see. So getting back to your career, what are you most proud of? I'm pretty sure that Elon Musk is the Elon Musk of Earth, so I'm not quite sure where you're going with that one. Maybe we should move along. We hear a lot about the Internet of Things. What do you think of it? I can't bleep that many words, and you're going to have to clean up your language. Yeah, this is sort of a, well, not necessarily a family shout,

but more that we don't want that explicit sticker. And no, we have never connected your litter box to the web. I know it was a scary robot litter box, but it was cool at the time. Yeah, it was pretty cool. I mean, it automatically cleaned the litter. It wasn't chasing you. And no, we don't intend to connect your current litter box to the web. Why would you want that? What would be the benefits? Don't you have privacy concerns?

No, sadly, as you may recall, this is not my first foray into bathroom-related devices. The intersection of educational toys and potty humor was, let's just say it was non-zero and pretty funny. But getting back to the Internet of Things, do you think it will be Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or something else that actually becomes the most prevalent method for connecting all sorts of devices, not focusing on litter boxes, but all sorts of household consumer devices, what do you think it will all be tchotchke devices that aren't really useful?

Or do you think we'll get to a real internet of things that helps people? Apologies, I didn't mean it that way. No offense was intended I don't think that pushing over the desk and storming out Is going to do you any good here Here, why don't you play with the headphone cables a little bit See the coiling? Ooh, I can make it bounce, there

I understand you're upset, but I don't think Do you mind if we continue? Oh, okay. Do you think that the Internet of Things will really be a force for good for everyone? Mankind, womankind, catkind? Well, no, obviously not dog kind. They aren't sentient. Oh, I know, Zoe's pretty smart.

So maybe she's a cat under that beagle coat. I don't think that you can replace a network protocol with pheromones. The Internet of Sniff is actually a really good idea, maybe, for those of you with better senses. Do you think we need more or better standards to make this sort of internet of things that smell work? It's an incredibly libertarian position. I guess I should expect that from a cat. Can you walk us through the process of creating an internet of things that smell device? That's disgusting. I've said in the past that security and ease of use are natural enemies,

and that making configuration more difficult is required as you make the system more secure. I'm not sure that's the way to do it, but do you agree with the general sentiment? Do you think that devices in general will be better for the user if they're connected? And what about this magical feeling that we hear so much about? Are you a proponent of that? Do you think your special ability with static electricity makes development more difficult? That came up briefly in the last episode. I was thinking about making it a regular question. So how do you feel about open offices? I agree with the vehemence, but I'm not sure you've worked in a crowded office.

I'm not sure you have any bearing to talk. Actually, have you ever worked on a team? With a team? We are not your minions. I've had minions. You can usually fire them. And I don't think you can fire us. That's a pretty speciesist statement. And this is not your house. Fine. Fine. You are correct. I do not want vomit in my shoes, so I will agree that I am your minion. Chris, can you edit that out later? So, changing subjects, where do you see yourself in the future? That's where you are right now. Okay, is that a two-year goal or a twenty-year goal? I'm not sure you understand time.

Do you believe you'll remain in technology in the long term? you do have a lot of options even retirement so yeah i can see your point there. How do you stay current with the constantly changing options in hardware, software, and programming? I mean, what do you do? I saw what you did to my last IEEE Spectrum magazine, though I do agree it deserved it. Do you have any outside work projects? I mean, outside your career, outside your job? Yeah, I understand you went outside once and you didn't like it. That's different. So do you think it is important for engineers to have personal projects, to work on things outside their jobs, outside their paid positions?

Yes, having a personal portfolio to share during interviews is very nice, but I worry about the constant drive to do technical work all the time and how it can lead to burnout. Do you find it difficult to get that much work done when you sleep 22 hours a day? You talk about a lot of things you've done, but I haven't seen the ramifications of these things. I've seen them. Well, thank you for cleaning them up. And you are correct. I guess we were a little disingenuous with Dennis last week when

we talked about the maker stuff Chris and I don't do a lot of after work work occasionally but not as often as some people think and I guess we we have this podcast and it's been extremely helpful with learning about new technologies and new ways of solving problems. And so we do do this stuff. It isn't technically a maker project. But it has some of the same elements, letting us talk about technology, making us more part of the community, even giving us an online presence with some personality and some dimension. Why, thank you. Yes, episode 100 is coming up.

Zooming up just really fast, actually. I'm quite looking forward to it. I have enjoyed talking to the people very much. I've made new friends. Yes, guests who give one-word answers are difficult to deal with. Are you making fun of yourself? Despite living with you for over a decade, I didn't realize you had such a wry sense of humor.

I'm glad you decided to chat with us today. Oh, I understand. You're obviously quite busy. We can end the show pretty quickly. Christopher, do you have any last questions for Annie? I do have one final question. You've done a lot of work with lasers. Have you found that to be rewarding? They are difficult to catch. Well, thank you. So what about you? Do you have any last thoughts? Grrr, grrr, grrr. Grrr, grrr, grrr.

Grrr, grrr, grrr. Grrr, grrr, grrr.rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Oh, I agree. I grew up with just say no. So I see where you're coming from. But catnip isn't really a controlled substance or anything. Okay, okay. You know more about it than I do. Thank you for sharing your wisdom for the whole show and for that. My guest has been Annie, our cat. Her full name is Princessa Anakin, the kitten most cute. I appreciate almost all she does for us. say thank you to Christopher White for eventually believing that this really was my plan for the episode and then for going along with it. If you'd like to say hello, hit the contact link

on embedded.fm. We'll be back to normal next time. In the meantime, happy April 1st and thank you for listening. I had a final thought. Actually, I have two because I couldn't decide. You should be glad I don't have 10. The first one comes from Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn. I am what I am. I would tell you what you want to know if I could. For you have been kind to me. But I'm a cat. And no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer.

The second one is from Coraline by Neil Gaiman. What's your name? Coraline asked the cat. Look, I'm Coraline, okay? Cats don't have names, it said. No, said Coraline. No, said the cat. Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.