Droning on and on

Published 4:30 pm Monday, December 2, 2013

30 minutes or its free? Amazon.com CEO and future Bond villain Jeff Bezos used an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” to announce his latest innovation: GPS-guided “octocopter” drones that would fly to customer homes to deliver packages in a half-hour. Bezos estimated it will take a few years to further develop the technology and win approval from the FAA.

Bezos considered other ideas for package delivery, including: locating Amazon warehouses next door to every U.S. residence, carpet-bombing of bowling balls, frying pans and cutlery, and delivery dogs riding Segways.

—

Watch out for that “autonomous” cow! Volvo announced it plans to begin testing its self-driving “autonomous” cars by 2017. The cars also allow passengers to get out while the car finds a parking spot.

As an option, Volvo will sell you a drone for $1,500 that will find your parked car and tell you where it is.

—

More autonomy: UW head football coach Steve Sarkisian quit to take the same job at USC, leaving behind a $2.85 million contract.

Unable to hold on to a moderately effective coach, even at that price, the UW announced it would give the head-coaching job to a drone linked to a kid on an Xbox.

—