I’ve heard about Twitter for months, but I’ve never been tempted to join in — until now. Perhaps it’s because I just don’t get it. With all of the social media, networking, and connectedness that already exists, why is another form of computer/smartphone-based interaction needed? Haven’t we covered the waterfront already? Plus, Twitter seems so [...]
Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Robot Art
Posted in Art, Technology, tagged Art, Portraits, Robot Art, Robotics, Robots, Technology on February 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
We’ve gotten used to constant advances in robotics. Robots have beaten humans at chess and Jeopardy. Robots do lots of driving and flying for us. Robots have taken manufacturing jobs formerly held by humans. Could the next frontier be robot art? Not yet — but now a robot has been programmed to draw human portraits. [...]
Death Of The iMac
Posted in Blogging, Humor, Technology, tagged Apple, Blogging, computers, Humor, iMac, Personal Computers, Technology on February 5, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Yesterday, I got the bad news that I feared — the resolute iMac, faithful blogging friend and desktop companion, has permanently given up the ghost. Earlier this week the iMac screen went opaque. I turned it off, hoping it was just a rebooting issue, but I couldn’t turn it back on. Yesterday I took it [...]
The UFO At The Bottom Of The Sea
Posted in Science, Technology, World, tagged Baltic Sea, Finland, Geraldo Rivera, Science, Science Fiction, Sweden, Technology, UFOs, World on February 2, 2012 | 1 Comment »
There is a UFO at the bottom of the Baltic Sea — maybe. Sonar has located a curious disk-shaped object on the floor of the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Finland. Enthusiastic treasure hunters and UFO buffs say it looks like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. (I think it looks more like Pac Man.) [...]
Reasonable Expectations Of Privacy In A Digital Age
Posted in America, crime, Technology, tagged America, Cell Phones, crime, Criminal Justice, Fourth Amendment, Supreme Court, Technology, United States Constitution on January 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Earlier this week the Supreme Court decided an interesting case that begins what will be a long process of determining how the criminal justice protections of the Constitution apply to knotty issues raised by our increasingly linked-in, networked, mobile device-oriented age. The case raised the question of whether prosecutors could attach a GPS device to [...]
Submarine, Casket, And Time Capsule
Posted in America, Science, Technology, tagged America, American Civil War, Charleston, Civil War, Confederacy, H.L. Hunley, Science, Submarines, Technology, Union on January 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The American Civil War was a time of great advances in warfare and technology — sometimes both at the same time. Most people know that the first “ironclads,” the Union’s Monitor and the Confederacy’s Merrimac, appeared during the Civil War, fought to a draw, and foretold the end of the era of wooden warships. Fewer [...]
Voyager 1, In “Cosmic Purgatory”
Posted in America, Science, Technology, tagged America, Science, Solar System, Space, space exploration, Technology, Voyager on December 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Someday soon, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft will reach a milestone. Somewhere out beyond the orbits of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, 11 billion miles from the Sun, Voyager 1 is getting ready to pass the outer boundaries of our solar system and enter into a region of interstellar space that scientists have dubbed “cosmic purgatory.” Consider [...]
Down On Elevators
Posted in Technology, Work, tagged Elevators, New York City, Technology, Work, Workplace Accidents on December 18, 2011 | 1 Comment »
A horrible Midtown elevator accident has caused New York City workers to think twice about using the elevator and to take the stairs instead. According to news reports, an advertising executive stepped onto an elevator in her building when the elevator unexpectedly shot upward, crushing her between the elevator and the surrounding wall. Elevator inspectors [...]
The Misguided Concept Of “Natural Deodorant”
Posted in Humor, Technology, tagged Arm & Hammer Essentials Natural Deodorant, Consumer Products, Deodorant, Humor, Natives, Natural Products, Technology, Tribes on December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The other day Kish went to the store and, among other things, bought me some deodorant. She came home with Arm & Hammer “Essentials Natural Deodorant.” The container says the product provides “Natural Protection,” is “Aluminum Free” and “Paraben Free,” and contains “natural plant extracts to absorb and fight odor.” It’s unscented, of course. I [...]
Welcome, Alien Overlords!
Posted in Humor, Science, Technology, tagged Aliens, Humor, Mercury, NASA, Science, Technology, UFOs on December 10, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Don’t look now, but aliens are circling Mercury in an enormous, cloaked spaceship. At least, that’s what some people believe. They point to an image recorded by NASA’s STEREO spacecraft, which shows a coronal mass ejection from the Sun flowing over Mercury and, apparently, another object of comparable size. UFO enthusiasts contend that the image [...]
A Nifty Little Gizmo
Posted in Food, Technology, tagged Consumer Products, Durable Food Chopper, Food, Proctor Silex, Technology on December 9, 2011 | 1 Comment »
When I went to the grocery store last weekend to buy baking supplies, I made an impulse purchase — a Proctor Silex Durable Food Chopper. I needed something to chop nuts, and I was tired of using our big blender to do so. This gadget promised to chop up to 1 1/2 cups of nuts [...]
Worst Space Mission Name Ever (II)
Posted in Humor, Science, Technology, tagged Humor, Mars, Phobos-Grunt, Science, Technology on December 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The travails of the hapless Russian space probe Phobos-Grunt continue. In addition to being saddled with the worst space mission name ever, its mission has been beset by bugs and failures. Since its launch last month, Phobos-Grunt has been circling the globe, largely incommunicado. With two brief exceptions, stations on Earth have been unable to [...]
My Earbuds Are Duds
Posted in Humor, Ipods, Technology, tagged Apple, Earbuds, Ears, Humor, Ipods, Steve Jobs, Technology, Tragus on December 1, 2011 | 2 Comments »
During an otherwise immensely enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday, the hang-over-the-ear earphones that I normally use with my iPod were borrowed and now are nowhere to be found. So, I am relegated to using the “earbuds” that come as standard equipment with the iPod — and thus I feel both frustration and shame. I experience frustration, because [...]
