Walmart and driverless vehicles

Did you know Walmart is testing driverless vehicles?

Main point: "As Walmart looks to compete in retail's delivery wars against rivals like Amazon, autonomous vehicles will ultimately play an important role in its ongoing strategy of improving delivery times to customers. So too will drones, as the company has already agreed to iniital pilots with a trio of drone companies, including DroneUp and Flytrex."

Other items in the article:

• "A Walmart Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas, will soon start receiving shipments delivered via a driverless box truck, as part of the retail giant's expanded pilot with autonomous vehicle startup Gatik."
• "...the Gatik pilot has logged 70,000 operational miles 'in autonomous mode' with a safety driver behind the wheel to monitor deliveries since its launch in 2019."
• "Walmart's expansion of initial tests will see Gatik's 'multi-temperature Autonomous Box Trucks' operate that same two-mile route without a driver starting next year."

AI and bias

 An article described reviewing research articles for bias as a way to think about eliminating bias in assessments.

Main point: "More strategic use of AI systems — through what I call “blind taste tests” — can give us a fresh chance to identify and remove decision biases from the underlying algorithms even if we can’t remove them completely from our own habits of mind."

Basically, it controlling for variables that aren't significant. For example, would an article be more likely to be published just because the reviewers knew who the author was? 

The article also gave the example of blind taste tests, describing how people preferred the taste of one drink if they knew the brand name but preferred the other drink if the brand names were hidden.

The article argued for "the value of creating blind taste tests for AI systems, to reduce or remove bias and promote fairer decisions and outcomes across contexts."

Autonomous vehicles in Germany

There was an interesting article that described autonomous vehicle testing in Germany.

• The startup had a specific goal: "In partnership with Moovit, the mobility-as-a-service startup Mobileye acquired in May for $900 million, Mobileye aims to build full end-to-end ride-hailing experiences with its Luminar lidar-equipped vehicles using Moovit’s platform and apps."
• Main point: "...it [the vehicle] was able to drive autonomously within days of delivering the vehicle thanks to its technology that leverages crowdsourced data to map over 15 million kilometers (~9.32 million miles) of roads daily."

Other things to consider:

• "...driverless cars can potentially minimize the risk of spreading disease because of the reduced human interaction."
• "...the video shows its vehicle reaching speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour (~80 miles per hour) and navigating a left turn on green through an intersection, among other maneuvers. It also avoids an opened car door, a bus pulled to the side of the road, and a vehicle that’s parallel parking; executes an unprotected left turn and lane changes on a highway; and moves around stopped emergency vehicles and down a narrow, congested street."

West Alabama chapter of AND Campaign

Would you be interested in discussing whether West Alabama could use a chapter of the AND Campaign? The promo video on the home page is informative. The other videos on the site are informative as well.

The AND Campaign is explicitly Christian and wants Christians to bring their faith to bear on the issues affecting the cultural and civic life of their communities. If a chapter does start in West Alabama, it would be after the Presidential election so there's no perception of partisanship.

I've talked with some chapter organizers who told me what they're doing in their cities. They shared what moved them to start chapters and what makes their chapters unique in their cities.

Agenda:

• This part would mostly be me sharing what I've learned about the AND Campaign.

○ What is the AND Campaign?

○ What I've learned about the other chapters.

• This would be us discussing the feasibility of an AND Campaign chapter in West Alabama.

○ What cultural/civic needs does West Alabama have?

○ Would an AND Campaign chapter be a value to West Alabama?

○ What kinds of things would a West Alabama chapter do?

○ What kind of work and resources would it involve?

• Wrap up

○ Summarize discussion points and send to attendees.

○ Initial opinion about a West Alabama chapter of the AND Campaign and next meeting.

○ Leroy attends chapter interest meeting with AND Campaign to get more information.

Join me on Zoom on one of these dates/times. Message me via the Contact form on the right to get the link. No age restrictions.

• Monday, 10/19, 7:00 PM Central

• Tuesday, 10/20, 7:00 PM Central

• Wednesday, 10/21, 7:00 PM Central

• Thursday, 10/22, 7:00 PM Central

NOTE: It will be the same content each time. I scheduled multiple days to accommodate people's different schedules. If you're interested in Zooming in, you only have to pick one date/time.

Building good habits

Are you looking for techniques to help you build good habits? I came across an article that addressed that question and suggested a few techniques. 

Main point: "With the right set up, the most difficult things—like losing weight—may be easier and more enjoyable than we thought."

The techniques suggested included:

• "I concocted a scheme where I allowed myself only to enjoy those kinds of indulgences—specifically I got really into audio novels—when I was exercising. I would come home from a long day and I would find myself looking forward to a workout because I was gonna get to find out what happens next in my latest novel. Time flew when I was at the gym. It was really fun to workout. I call that 'temptation bundling' and I’ve studied it and showed that it’s not just me—it can be useful for other people as well."
• "...find a way to ensure that for every meal you have options ready that you are going to enjoy even if they aren’t peanut M&Ms [or your favorite junk food]."
• "Another big thing to think about is restricting your access to that unhealthy food."
• "...the people around us are a huge contributor to our behavior."
• "...figure out a third-party perspective on any kind of disagreement you’re currently having with your partner. How would another person see this conflict and what would they think? This can help relieve some of the emotional tension."
• "One risk when you make plans to change like this is something called the 'what-the-hell' effect. (I love that there’s an academic term called the 'what-the-hell' effect.) A challenge with this kind of rigid plan is you’ll never actually live up to all of your objectives. A big problem can be when you slip up saying, 'Oh, what the hell, I give up.'"

I've used a similar temptation-bundling technique for exercise. I listen to spy thrillers when Nordic walking. It works well.

Try some of the techniques and share your experience.

A way to remember the 5 personality dimensions

A way to remember the components of the 5-factor personality model is via the acronym OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, non-negativity). Authors developing characters for their stories can use this as a template.

Where there is scarcity...

 ...someone will spot the economic opportunity: "CME is the world’s largest futures exchange and will launch the ability to trade in contracts for California’s water market later this year."