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As the World Wide Web continues its tremendous rate of development, providers of services on the web have difficult decisions to make regarding the deployment of new technologies: should they begin deployment of technologies such as HTML 4.0, CSS 2, Java, Dublin Core metadata, etc., or should they wait until the technologies mature? This paper describes the use of a web auditing/profiling robot utility known as WebWatch which can help service providers by providing information on the uptake of technologies within particular communities. A description of use of the WebWatch software within the UK Higher Education community is given, together with a discussion of the findings.

We describe the first prototypes of an inter‐robot infrared localisation and communication system. The system detects the relative positions (both range and bearing) of autonomous mobile robots with an update rate of up to 20 Hz, a range of up to 3 m and an accuracy of 40 cm for range and 45° for bearing. In addition, each robot can send at least 1 byte of data to all the other robots within the range per update cycle. Flocking on a group of eight robots is used as a non‐trivial real‐world test of this system. We conclude the paper by discussing advantages, limitations, and future improvements of the system.

The earliest human societies relied for their subsistence on the hunting of animals and the gathering of food. The small bands of people who lived together pursuing these activities appear to have been the prototype of all human organisation. Hunting and gathering was the predominant type of social organisation until perhaps 12,000 years ago. Tools and weapons were not made of metal till around 4,000 B.C., the plough was not in use until about a thousand years later, and iron tools and weapons were not used until around 1,000 B.C. (Lenski and Lenski, 1978). The history of the human race has been intextricably bound up with that of engineering when this is very broadly defined as the making of tools and other contrivances as aids and adjuncts to life. From the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages at one end of human experience to the Steam, Jet, Atomic and Computer Ages at the other, technical‐engineering achievements have defined and delimited whatever is possible for human beings. Thus throughout the long historical transition from a predominantly agricultural to a predominantly industrial society engineers, or rather anyone whose principal activity was making and tinkering with three‐ dimensional artefacts, played a crucial role.

SILVER, the special interest group on advanced robotics and intelligent automation, is holding a series of meetings on applications in different sectors of industry. The May meeting was held at the Silsoe Research Institute in Bedfordshire. Speakers from Silsoe, as well as from universities and industry, reviewed a number of applications, current and potential, and some systems were demonstrated during the lunch break.

Purpose – To provide a policy perspective on the relationship between transport and climate change.

Methodology/approach – Two key themes are identified and discussed: the meaning of a major change in a policy perspective, covering the Climate Change Act and the development of a Low Carbon Transition Plan. A theoretically informed framework applies and highlights the importance of understanding policy change from a historical perspective.

Originality/value – The largely incremental nature of the policy change is considered in terms of whether there are real prospects of a radical change in transport policy that will deliver a low carbon transport future, whilst also allowing transport to fulfil its many other roles.

Findings – The chapter demonstrates that the current approach to climate change policy has seen only minor adjustments to existing policy tools which are not consistent with the more radical shift in policy targets. This incremental approach may reflect the significant uncertainty over technological change or a reluctance to tackle the difficult issue of travel behaviour. Whilst oil prices remain high this may not be problematic but more proactive steering will be necessary in the coming years.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how representative the literature is in identifying industrial practice to designing product‐service systems (PSSs).

The paper analyses literature to report on the existing approaches used to design PSSs. A single exploratory case study approach, based on semi‐structured interviews and archival data analysis, was used to understand an existing product‐service organisation's approach to designing PSSs. A total of 12 senior managers were interviewed from a cross section of the organisation, to gain multiple perspectives on the PSS design process and ten company reports were analysed.

The research has identified that the PSS design process reported by literature is not representative, lacking inputs and outputs to some phases and feedback. In total, 18 inputs and 11 outputs have been identified from the case study that are not reported by the literature. These create five feedback loops within the PSS design process used by the case study organisation. This suggests that the PSS design process is cyclic and iterative and not sequential, as reported by existing literature.

This research is based on a single‐case study approach, limiting the ability to generalise findings, and does not provide a complete PSS design approach.

This research compares literature against industrial practice to PSS design, presenting insight to aid practitioner's design PSSs.

This paper fills a gap in the servitization and PSS literatures; evaluating the approaches reported by literature against existing industrial practice.

This study explores the effects of cognitive load on the propensity to reformulate queries during information seeking on the web.

This study employs an experimental design to analyze the effect of manipulations of cognitive load on the propensity for query reformulation between experimental and control groups. In total, three affective components that contribute to cognitive load were manipulated: mental demand, temporal demand and frustration.

A significant difference in the propensity of query reformulation behavior was found between searchers exposed to cognitive load manipulations and searchers who were not exposed. Those exposed to cognitive load manipulations made half as many search query reformulations as searchers not exposed. Furthermore, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) cognitive load scores of searchers who were exposed to the three cognitive load manipulations were higher than those of searchers who were not exposed indicating that the manipulation was effective. Query reformulation behavior did not differ across task types.

The findings suggest that a dual-task method and NASA-TLX assessment serve as good indicators of cognitive load. Because the findings show that cognitive load hinders a searcher's interaction with information search tools, this study provides empirical support for reducing cognitive load when designing information systems or user interfaces.