Cybernetics is the transdisciplinary study of circular causal[1] processes such as feedback and recursion, where the outcomes of actions return as inputs for subsequent actions.[2][3] It is concerned with general principles that are relevant across multiple contexts,[4] including engineering, ecological, economic, biological, cognitive and social systems and also in practical activities such as designing,[5] learning, and managing. Cybernetics' transdisciplinary[6] character means that it intersects with a number of other fields, resulting in a wide influence and diverse interpretations. (more)

Gordon Brander: Self-Organizing Ideas. Organizing ideas through sheer force of will is difficult, and I am lazy. Luckily there may be another way. Given the right mechanisms, the right conditions, and enough energy and time, a system can self-organize. (more)

A thermostat is a regulating device component which senses the temperature of a physical system and performs actions so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint... A thermostat operates as a "closed loop" control device (negative feedback), as it seeks to reduce the error between the desired and measured temperatures. Sometimes a thermostat combines both the sensing and control action elements of a controlled system, such as in an automotive thermostat. The word thermostat is derived from the Greek words θερμός thermos, "hot" and στατός statos, "standing, stationary". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostat

Perceptual control theory (PCT) is a model of behavior based on the properties of negative feedback control loops. A control loop maintains a sensed variable at or near a reference value by means of the effects of its outputs upon that variable, as mediated by physical properties of the environment. In engineering control theory, reference values are set by a user outside the system. An example is a thermostat. In a living organism, reference values for controlled perceptual variables are endogenously maintained. Biological homeostasis and reflexes are simple, low-level examples. The discovery of mathematical principles of control introduced a way to model a negative feedback loop closed through the environment (circular causation), which spawned perceptual control theory. It differs fundamentally from some models in behavioral and cognitive psychology that model stimuli as causes of behavior (linear causation). PCT research is published in experimental psychology, neuroscience, ethology, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, robotics, developmental psychology, organizational psychology and management, and a number of other fields. PCT has been applied to design and administration of educational systems, and has led to a psychotherapy called the method of levels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptual_control_theory (more)

aka Statistical Process Control

Lorin Hochstein: Poor Deming never stood a chance. The two management giants of the mid-twentieth century were Peter Drucker and W. Edwards Deming... it was Drucker that proved to be more influential in America. (more)

Deming talk: Does anybody give a hoot about profit? On the afternoon of 11 July 1990, Dr W Edwards Deming gave a short presentation to some 25 executives from major European companies. This article provides an edited transcript of that presentation and the subsequent Question and Response Session. The presentation was structured around Dr Deming’s paper “A System of Profound Knowledge” (May 1990). (more)

Product Quality guru http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/ (more)

Tabstack by Mozilla: Extract web data and automate browsers, no scraper required. Tabstack gives AI agents and apps finished output from the live web in a single API call. Extract structured data to a schema you define, convert pages to Markdown, run cited multi-source research, and automate browser tasks. Every call returns exactly what you asked for. Built for developers shipping autonomous agents and those adding web interaction to an existing app or stack. Built by Mozilla, with ephemeral processing, no model training on your data, and robots.txt compliance by default. https://tabstack.ai/ | https://www.producthunt.com/products/tabstack

David Siegel (/ˈsiːɡəl/ SEE-gəl) is currently chief executive officer (CEO) of Meetup.[1][2] Formerly, he was the CEO of Investopedia.[3] Siegel became a director at DoubleClick at age 25 and its chief executive officer at 30.[4] He served as the President of SeekingAlpha and a Senior Vice President for 1-800 Flowers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Siegel_(executive)

WeWork-owned Meetup brings on David Siegel as CEO. Late this past summer, Meetup founder and CEO Scott Heiferman announced his intention to move into the chairman position. Today, Meetup has announced that David Siegel will be taking the helm at the 16-year-old company.

Russell Ackoff on the Philosophy of W Edwards Deming. Vs the reality of A corporation says that its principle value is maximizing shareholder value. That’s non-sense. If that were the case executives wouldn’t fly around on private jets and have Philippine mahogany lined offices and the rest of it. The principal function to those executives is to provide those executives with the quality of work life that they like. And profit is merely a means which guarantees their ability to do it. (more)

The shadow docket (or non-merits docket)[1][a] refers to motions and orders in the Supreme Court of the United States in cases which have not yet reached final judgment,[b] decision on appeal, and oral argument. This especially refers to stays and injunctions (preliminary relief), but also includes summary decisions and grant, vacate, remand (GVR) orders. The phrase "shadow docket" was first used in this context in 2015 by University of Chicago law professor William Baude. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_docket (more)

Google Nest, formerly branded Google Home, is a line of smart home products including smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, thermostats, smoke detectors, routers and security systems including smart doorbells, cameras and smart locks.[2] The Nest brand name was originally owned by Nest Labs, co-founded by former Apple engineers Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers in 2010.[3] Its flagship product, which was the company's first offering, is the Nest Learning Thermostat, introduced in 2011. The product is programmable, self-learning, sensor-driven, and Wi-Fi-enabled: features that are often found in other Nest products. It was followed by the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (smoke alarm) in October 2013.[4] After its acquisition of Dropcam in 2014, the company introduced its Nest Cam branding of security cameras beginning in June 2015.[5] The company quickly expanded to more than 130 employees by the end of 2012.[3] Google acquired Nest Labs for US$3.2 billion in January 2014, when the company employed 280. As of late 2015, Nest employs more than 1,100 and added a primary engineering center in Seattle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Nest (more)

cf home automation

video camera used for place security; may be monitored by company like ADT, or be self-service smart home system

Wirecutter: The Best Smart Home Devices to Help Seniors Age in Place. For this guide, I interviewed doctors and experts who specialize in smart-home technology for those aging in place. (more)

Ring LLC is a manufacturer of home security and smart home devices owned by Amazon. It manufactures a line of Ring smart doorbells, home security cameras, and alarm systems. It also operates Neighbors, a social network that allows users to discuss local safety and security issues, and share footage captured with Ring products. Via Neighbors, Ring could also provide footage and data to law enforcement agencies to assist in investigations with user’s consent constraint. The company was founded in autumn 2013 by Jamie Siminoff as the crowdfunded startup Doorbot; it was renamed Ring in autumn 2014, after which it began to receive equity investments. It was acquired by Amazon in 2018 for approximately $1 billion.[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_(company) (more)

Helion Energy, Inc. is an American fusion research company located in Everett, Washington.[2] It is developing a magneto-inertial fusion technology to produce nuclear fusion power by combining deuterium with helium-3 via aneutronic fusion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helion_Energy (more)

Fusion power is a potential method of electric power generation from heat released by nuclear fusion reactions. In fusion, two light atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus and release energy. Devices that use this process are known as fusion reactors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power (more)