PR2 robot with Automaton t-shirt. Robots love Automaton. Automaton loves robots.
Good news, everyone! We're thrilled to report that Automaton is a finalist in this year's National Magazine Awards for Digital Media, aka the Digital Ellies. The Ellies are the magazine industry's answer to the Oscars -- but with more scruffy people with unstylish hair.
Automaton is in good company, with Salon, Sports Illustrated, Sunset, and Tablet as the other finalists in the blogging category. This means that robotics as a subject is competing with politics, sports, and food, which is what the other blogs cover. Thankfully, SI doesn't have a blog on swimsuit models!
Last year, our Robots for Real show was a finalist in the podcast category, so this marks the second year in a row that IEEE Spectrum has been recognized with a Digital Ellie nomination. The 2011 winners will be announced at the Digital Ellies ceremony in New York City on March 16. Fingers, human and robotic, crossed!
I just want to say thanks to you, our readers, and to all roboticists and their robots for keeping us inspired about the possibilities of science and engineering.
Image: Willow Garage
Erico Guizzo is the digital product manager at IEEE Spectrum. He oversees the operation, integration, and new feature development for all digital properties and platforms, including the Spectrum website, newsletters, CMS, editorial workflow systems, and analytics and AI tools. He’s the cofounder of the IEEE Robots Guide, an award-winning interactive site about robotics. An IEEE Member, he is an electrical engineer by training and has a master’s degree in science writing from MIT.