LOST ART OF ZERO MAINTENANCE(SM)

If you are looking for the Kickstarter project, please go to www.LAZM.org.

This is the LAZM contracting page.

We are the most countercultural computing business you are likely to meet! We use the computer to defend good legacy work and to defeat destructive change. We may be able to help you save value you thought was lost.

DO YOU NEED LAZM(SM)?

If you fit this profile it's likely we can help you:
WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?

We save your core code and your finely-engineered instruments. We isolate and document their control, timing, and data flows so that they can keep running forever, communicating with new, state-of-the-art replacement parts when needed.

HOW CAN WE DO THIS?

We fully use a neglected fact: all computing devices operate in essentially the same way, with timed control and data signals. And modern hardware is faster than the old. Therefore we can thoroughly determine and quarantine what is absolutely necessary for the operation of your instrument - the "core code" - and force modern operating systems and hardware to serve up the necessary signals fast enough to make it work.

ASCII ART:

                       CRUFTWALL
               - > -  data/timing   - > -
              /     \ transmission /     \
             /       \  detours   /       \
             |       |            |       |
      ------ | ----- | ---------- | ----- | ------
      |       \  |  /              \  |  /       |
      |        \ | /                \ | /        |
      |          |                    |          |
      |  Input   |       Legacy       |  Output  |
      |   and    |        Core        |  Signals |
      | Control  |        Code        |    and   |
      |          |                    |   Data   |
      --------------------------------------------
The data detours shown as CRUFTWALL in the drawing are our contribution, small in effort compared to the core code and the I/O to the left and the right. Once completed, they protect your tuned devices from changes in system and user interface that act like grit in a fine instrument.

Typically the process is as follows:

WHAT ARE SOME DETAILS?

Our team members, separately, have spent many years doing these jobs ad hoc, before realizing the principles behind them and joining forces. This gives a wide range of skills.
  1. Raw, timed TTL such as "step and direction"
  2. ASCII text
  3. USB, I2C, TCP/IP, serial and parallel interconnects
  4. DXF, SLT, and PDF graphics transfer languages
HOW DO WE DO BUSINESS?

We proceed on the assumption that your time and ours are valuable, more valuable than elaborate product runups and rollouts.
HOW SKILLED ARE OUR PRINCIPALS?

Here are sketches of our current team leaders. They can call upon a trusted pool of talent in the San Diego area.

Lawrence J. Dickson, PhD (Mathematics)
Proprietor and Chief Scientist

Dr. Dickson was the first of his Princeton University Graduate School entering class to receive (1971) a PhD in mathematics. His adviser was Elias M. Stein, winner of the 2005 Bergman Prize. Throughout his career he has applied algorithmic skills to solve difficult design problems robustly, taking proper account of data, timing, and multiprocessing resources.

Most recently, he helped invent RAID data redundancy algorithms, coded them in a system-independent RAID core, and helped integrate this with Linux in a commercial product (IceNAS) that drives up to 18 disks simultaneously. He is experienced in C, assembly (X86 and PIC), Fortran, Perl, and the parallel language Occam.

Dr. Dickson is inventor in several patents and patents pending. Recently as sole inventor he has received U.S. Patent 7,219,289 "Multiply redundant raid system and XOR-efficient method and apparatus for implementing the same" (owned by Tandberg Data) and U.S. Patent 7,512,718 "Reconfigurable computing array without chassis" (owned by LAZM). He is also aiding in the mathematical development of code for another inventor, Dave Swanson of MeasureBot3D LLC.

ldickson@LAZM.net
619-470-2355

Robert M. Fryer, Bachelor of Science (Physics)
Principal Investigator

Robert graduated Pomona College in Physics, 1974, and moved to San Diego and helped start one of the early microcomputer companies. Appropriately named, GNAT, made pre IBM PC desktop and industrial microcomputers. So these old floppy sizes and formats are familiar to him.

In 1980 at Linkabit, he worked on satellite phone ground stations, which used triple redundant hot swappable RISC processors, all very leading edge at the time. He also worked on the design and testing of the SAC Milstar terminal, over-built in the same way as the MSU 8 inch floppy. After Linkabit was sold, Robert moved into consulting working on various projects, consumer products, financial software, GIS and environmental data collection and reduction.

In 2001 he joined a new startup as VP engineering at StarBridge. StarBridge was then working on a DARPA technology demonstrator contract, involving hot gas, hyper-velocity gun launched projectiles for sub-orbital and orbital launch.

In 2003, the focus moved to toys, again as VP engineering, Robert worked at Star Sports designing and making flying toys based on an unusual flying ring airfoil. Robert is one of the holders of the patent for this ultra-low velocity flying ring. At Star Sports, unique robotic production gluing and painting equipment was designed and built to support production in Mexico. In 2005, the rights were sold to a leading sport firm, Razor. Later, Robert joined in starting a small experimental optical sensor company, ThermoPhotonics, with patents in an area covered by a novel IR sensor technology. Robert is one of the patent holders.