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threats before e-mails even reach user serv-
ers, the software ensures only wanted e-mail
makes it to a user’s computer and learns
quickly to adapt to the individual recipient’s
preferences.
Perspective
Looking Back to
See Forward
By Greg Skalka, President, Under the Com-
puter Hood User Group, CA
February 2016 issue, Drive Light
www.uchug.org
president (at) uchug.org
With 2015 in the rear view mirror, one starts to
wonder what kind of year 2016 will be for com-
puters and technology. We had better figure
that out quickly, as almost 1/4 of the year is
gone already, and before we know it Christ-
mas decorations will be appearing in the aisles
of Home Depot once again. I now prefer to
avoid making New Year’s predictions. A lot of
interesting things happened with technology in
2015, and I’m now so good at guessing. Per-
haps by considering the events, milestones
and trends of last year, some useful conclu-
sions can be made about what is likely to hap-
pen to our tech items in 2016 and further into
8
the future. A lot of tech topics were in the news
in 2015; looking back at them now may provide
insight into what we will face going forward.
Automobiles. Quickly name the most pow-
erful computing device you own. For most of
us, it is probably our car. Most new cars have
more than 40 embedded processors, running
everything from the emissions to the entertain-
ment system. Luxury cars may have 100 pro-
cessors each. Car makers are now packing
200 lbs. of electronics in a new vehicle; though
they try to shave weight from the vehicles to
increase fuel mileage, the added electronics
typically saves fuel by replacing heavier mech-
anisms. Today’s cars are safer (air bags, elec-
tronic traction control and braking, tire pres-
sure sensors, backup cameras, collision avoid-
ance), more efficient (electronic engine control)
and more capable (GPS navigation, cruise
control, self-parking, Wi-Fi hub), due in a large
part to electronics.
Along with all those processors come 100 mil-
lion or more lines of code. That software can
do great things for an automaker, or it can be
their undoing. The VW diesel emissions scan-
dal that was revealed last year, in which they
admitted configuring software to cheat on
emissions testing, hurt VW sales and its stock
value and resulted in fines, lawsuits and re-
calls. There were, in fact, a record 51 million
vehicles recalled in 2015, many resulting from
the other major auto scandal and the problem
of airbag inflators made by Takata firing shards
of metal at car occupants when they inflate. In
general, however, more complex vehicles and
short design schedules will lead to more de-
sign problems and more recalls.
Autonomous or self-driving cars are being de-
veloped by most major automakers, including
Tesla, as well as Google, Uber, Lyft and Apple.
Unfortunately, the state and federal regulations
to deal with this new vehicle paradigm are also
still under development. Meanwhile, many au-
tomakers are introducing semiautonomous
driving features incrementally. Vehicles with
automatic braking and steering for collision
avoidance, as well as self-parking capabilities
are already available. Will the automakers get
a self-driving car in the public’s hands (or un-
der their behinds) first by adding autonomous
features piecemeal, or will Google and the
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