Logistics: This is the art and science of moving, transporting and/or delivering things (material, hardware, equipment or supplies), services or even people across geographical space. Crucial considerations here include: efficiency, coordination, timeliness, security and cost; or, in general, the appropriateness of the means in relation to the mission. Vehicular breakdown and safety of passage are, likewise, always a twin-concern requiring management's 'unblinking' attention and capacity for effective response and even 'networked' intervention.
To have good logistics, you must in the first place have clarity of purpose and a good strategy to realize it. Otherwise, whatever carriers and other transportation resources, routes, personnel or passion and related communication mechanisms that you may have will be of little avail. Thus, the adage that "if you don't know where you're going, you won't get there" tells us less than half the truth. You must have the means (of necessity dependable) to get there, as well. As a minimum, then, strategy should be based on a robust form of SWOT analysis or its equivalent. In, a robust and pro-active 'supply chain management' system is a necessity for consistent success.
Partly driven by considerations of security (against international terrorism, in particular, as well as piracy) and of efficiency, logistics and IoT have increasingly become intertwined in 'heavy-duty' commercial shipping around the world. In hindsight, one can see that IoT was always implicit in both commercial (for example, in the worldwide cargo-delivery 'transactions' of FedEx and DHL) and humanitarian airfreight (for example in UNHCR and Red Cross operations). It was even there, in its 'infancy', in passenger air-travel -- and most pronounced in long-haul flight.
But there has been, through it all, a periodically morphing sort of reverse 'cultural lag' (see, also, Godin) here -- between a 'driving' adaptive culture (that is, growing safety and security concerns and needs) and a 'responding' material culture (for example, as alluded to already, the technologies required to give assurance of passenger and shipping-line security). Quaintly, the intuitive tail was wagging the material dog here. With recent advances, however, IoT's value-proposition has caught up with the need (the demand) for it. This proposition has indeed become more and more explicit and even routine in its effect.
Showing posts with label Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Smartphones, Blogs and Websites: IoT in the Pocket, and Everywhere
Going by the accepted definition of The Internet of Things, the Smartphone is an underrated or neglected but integral node in IoT, even though it's hand-held. Ama? Let's face it, security agencies know this only too well, and profit from it in day-to-day surveillance and "The War" -- against everyTHING.
By the same token, every website and every blog and every such Thing which is set up to transmit and receive and even autonomously respond to certain signals 24/7 -- that is, without active participation by the 'owner' -- is an IoT sender, receiver or terminal/terminator.
Anecdote:
In an apparent lapse in mobile-phone (not necessarily smartphone) transmission protocols nearly a decade ago now, I believe, 'everyone' in Nairobi began receiving messages on their phones about their 'current' locations. It was 'worse' for motorists. Whenever you turned into the next road or street, you got the message. We, collectively, didn't like the idea that Big Brother was trailing, and knew exactly where we were at any moment. I was personally more intrigued than upset, actually.
There was a public outcry, and the 'glitch' was sorted out soon enough. Everyone was relieved. Glitch? No, "Back To The Future." Nowadays, of course, most Kenyans who follow the news know that individuals -- law-abiding or 'criminal' -- can be tracked by security authorities through their phones.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Void and Set Pieces
There'd be things all around
Us. But, only here,
A vase from far Mongolia.
A void to fill in, with
An ancient scimitar.
Here's the thing, tho:
Celestial spaces
Too neat for all the dirt
We'd be settling.
For all the faded memories we'd have.
To reckon with.
Of where we were:
There'd be a rainbow in the deep
Sky. Too neat for all the answers
We fancied.
Too brightly lit for crayon.
As
Music, here:
Two slim bodies slamming.
Snippets of life as a form
Unto itself. Unto one. Another.
Rain-washed stone tools. Fish mongers.
Three plus three verses
For all the (wanton) things
We ever wanted to do
So too vainly. Be
Not quite enough for a stool.
Here, in our time.
Here in this country.
The only moment.
Of glory. In such
A thing of beauty.
As here's my question, brother!
Why nature favours all sea similes (and stuff):
Ocean.
Desert.
Air.
The endless void into which pour all desires.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS: Take a look: Images of Void
Us. But, only here,
A vase from far Mongolia.
A void to fill in, with
An ancient scimitar.
Here's the thing, tho:
Celestial spaces
Too neat for all the dirt
We'd be settling.
For all the faded memories we'd have.
To reckon with.
Of where we were:
There'd be a rainbow in the deep
Sky. Too neat for all the answers
We fancied.
Too brightly lit for crayon.
As
Music, here:
Two slim bodies slamming.
Snippets of life as a form
Unto itself. Unto one. Another.
Rain-washed stone tools. Fish mongers.
Three plus three verses
For all the (wanton) things
We ever wanted to do
So too vainly. Be
Not quite enough for a stool.
Here, in our time.
Here in this country.
The only moment.
Of glory. In such
A thing of beauty.
As here's my question, brother!
Why nature favours all sea similes (and stuff):
Ocean.
Desert.
Air.
The endless void into which pour all desires.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS: Take a look: Images of Void
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Let a Thousand Things
Let a thousand things
Happen, around you.
Let them swirl. Let
Your feelers out.
Be, as much as, one
With the happenings.
Happen, around you.
Let them swirl. Let
Your feelers out.
Be, as much as, one
With the happenings.
Saturday, January 02, 2016
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Music (Kenya): Here's Avril's Mama
Kenya's Avril sings Mama, in this neat 2009 music video. Straight-to-the-point lyrics in Kiswahili and English. Super tune. Nairobiesque, back in the day. So much promise.
But Time flies. And yet, it seems, Time sometimes returns, in a prodigal mode. In a sort of resurrection of things. By reason of which, unbelievably/disbelievingly, we find ourselves back to the very same future. Si ujienjoy wewe-e!
But Time flies. And yet, it seems, Time sometimes returns, in a prodigal mode. In a sort of resurrection of things. By reason of which, unbelievably/disbelievingly, we find ourselves back to the very same future. Si ujienjoy wewe-e!
Saturday, August 22, 2015
IoT: My 'Internet of Things' Tweets and Retweets So Far
- After the coming explosiveness of the #InternetOfThings will follow a massive Digital #BlackHole -- a universe in its own right.
- Manufacturers Are The First Clear Winners In The Big Business Switch To 'The Internet of Things' http://www.businessinsider.com/manufacturers-in-the-iot-2014-12 … via @sai
- Convergence In The Internet Of Things Is Priming The Tech World For A Major Cultural Shift http://tcrn.ch/1wfNWJu via @techcrunch
- How the Internet of Things Impacts Supply Chains - Inbound Logistics http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/how-the-internet-of-things-impacts-supply-chains/#.VKhCkyoRsOs.twitter …
- Logistics Sector Leads the Internet of Things Revolution - Inbound Logistics http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/logistics-sector-leads-the-internet-of-things-revolution/#.VKhCJek-nnw.twitter …
- The Internet of Things: The Difference Engine: Chattering objects http://econ.st/KAqqiy via @TheEconomist
- How the Internet of Things is Helping ‘Smart Cities’ Improve Public Transpo... @Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs http://blogs.technet.com/b/openness/archive/2014/06/05/internet-of-things-smart-cities-improve-public-transportation-.aspx#.VKg2c2Al6sc.twitter …
- Stripped of the notions of logistics & conveyancing, the #InternetOfThings degrades as a #meme back 2 the domain of #automation & 'wireless'
- @MauriYambo Sorry, not IoC. I meant IoT = Internet of Things
- This is a more satisfactory conception of IoC than several others I've RTd ~ MY http://fw.to/0UH7fLJ
- Images of IoT (Internet of Things) http://bit.ly/1BrcpOj
- What is Internet of Things (IoT)? - Definition from http://WhatIs.com http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things … via @whatisdotcom
- Is There Real Value in the Internet of Things? http://bloom.bg/1y63XX3 via @BloombergTV
- Why Internet of Things is the future http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion-and-Analysis/Why-Internet-of-Things-is-the-future/-/539548/1998034/-/usyyfw/-/index.html … via @BD_Africa
- Making Sense Of The Internet Of Things http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/25/making-sense-of-the-internet-of-things/ … via @techcrunch
Mauri Yambo
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