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« Previous EntriesWow, Gulf oil monster just keeps chomping stuff down
I guess the BP technical geeks must be feeling pretty desperate by this point. (Probably well before this point, if I know engineers.) No matter what they’ve shoved at the leak, or crammed down it, it just keeps chomping it all down.
The thing behaves like a rampant belly fat burner wreaking havoc at a gluttony convention. (Okay, so that’s pretty lame, but you get the point.) I just saw a FoxNews story online citing a Louisiana newspaper that says BP is getting ready to announce that the “top kill” effort, which looked so promising just yesterday, is a failure.
The BP people are getting ready to make another try at some effort that failed earlier. But the story now seems to be, in all truth, that the auxiliary wells being drilled to intersect the broken one may be the ultimate solution — but, of course, those are a few months away.
May God help the Gulf and may God help us all!
I’m not ‘gadget-phobic,’ but I do have strong feelings about some
I’ve never considered my self anti-technology, nor in anyway opposed to high-tech progress. Indeed, I absolutely love to fiddle with new computers, smartphones, LCD/LED televisions, all the rest. (If I were a smoker, I’d probably even try some of those electric cigarettes to help me kick the habit.)
But I had to admit today’s “Zits” comic strip in our local newspaper really worked for me. If you know the main characters in that comic strip, they are a middle-aged mom and dad with their teenage son. Today’s strip had the son showing dad the latest “super phone” gadget. He described the multitude of things the phone could do all at once — Internet, phone, texting, mobile television, etc. His comment was something like, “with one of these, you wouldn’t be out of touch or unconnected for a single minute of your life.”
Final panel in the comic strip showed dad with his back turned, flinging the phone far into the sky.
I love all the goodies and gadgets. I confess, if I were a rich guy with too much time on my hands, I’d probably buy one of each and spend waaaaaaaayyyyy too many hours of my life playing with them.
But deep within my heart and soul, I confess that I’m glad I cannot afford a full course of such pointless time wasters. My phones (both the “land line” and the cell) I use simply to make phone calls. My television, I use to watch television. And I even listen to the radio and play occasional music (jazz, mostly) CDs.
The simple life. Toss most of the multi-tasking, multi-use gadgets and leave me be. Grump! Grump!
Are alternative power sources starting to make sense yet?
Are the many alternative energy and power sources out there that scientists and politicians have been preaching about starting to make sense yet? More importantly, are they any more practical and usable than they were, say, 10 years ago? Are the next great thing in batteries or wind turbines or even nuclear power plants on the horizon yet?
As with most answers to complex questions, you could say both “yes” and “no.” The nature of mankind’s power needs and energy technology is too complex to find quick, easy solutions.
I have a son who’s a research scientist. I’ve never fully understood what he does for a living, but I do know that some of the government-funded-private-industry research he’s involved in has to do with “green” energy technologies, including the quest for better batteries to put in vehicles. To make a long story short, he says upcoming battery technology may involve such things as making storage batteries out of cloth or thin plastic substances that could be used directly in the manufacture vehicle bodies and motors. Think about that one!
He, as with any scientists I’ve spoken with or heard about, agrees that technology has a long, long way to go if we’re going to replace dependence on fossil fuels, whether we’re talking about vehicles or power plants.
We may some day be able to drive across country and light our homes without any reliance on fossil fuels. But that “some day” probably is a few decades away at the earliest. Good to know we’re making the journey, though.
Someday we’ll wave magic wands to cure anything, I suppose
I read a lot of medical and health news online most days, because as I grow older and suffer “old guys” aches and pains I find I have a more personal stake in medical advances than I used to.
I’m waiting for something “Star Trek” like that will allow us to wave magic wands over our bodies and find healing for all our ailments. That may be a long ways off yet, but everything I read about laser and “light” treatments for various ailments I think about such stuff.
I saw a story just recently about treating acne and acne scarring with some sort of “blue light” devices. The story spoke of one which had just been approved for over-the-counter, home usage. I have no idea how such stuff works, what the costs are, or anything else. I do have one very close family member who’s been struggling with acne outbreaks — some pretty severe — from late childhood into “senior” years. Maybe this is something to look into.
Whether it’s for the best acne treatment or some new form of quick and painless surgery, let us applaud medical science for all the wonders we have. And let us continue to hope and pray for constant improvements. Maybe someday that magic wand era will get here and medical research will finally catch up with our best fantasies!
Any good ideas about MP3 players — besides iPods?
I’ve just decided there’s a good reason in my life and business to buy, finally, one of those portable MP3 players.
Yes, I’m generally operating well below the curve when it comes to the high-tech world, whether we’re talking about something as sophisticated as “smartphones” and laptops, or something as simple as skin lotion or eye creams.
But I’m finally ready to jump into the portable MP3 player market. Oddly enough, I read an online high-tech newsletter just last month that picked MP3 Players as one of the technology gadgets headed for extinction. They suggested that those “smartphones” either already or will soon outpace stand-alone MP3 Players.
So here I am, getting in at the end of another high-tech market. Ah, well. I’ll ask anyway: Any good suggestions for a good MP3 player, preferably something cheaper than one of the iPod/iPhone products? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Wish I knew more about computer video stuff
I wish I knew more about computer video stuff. My son bought himself a big-screen LCD television when he found one at a great pre-Christmas price. It included a PlayStation 3 and he’s trying to hook his computer up to use it off the LCD big-screen, too.
I don’t understand the problems he’s having, but it has something to do with his laptop computer having only a video chip set, not a true video card — which, according to his understanding, he needs if he is to hook the computer up properly to the television. Or maybe it has something to do with the way the PlayStation fits into the mix.
Whatever. He’s looked at getting a desktop computer, but according to what he’s read or seen somewhere, he’s going to have to pay a ton of money for a desktop computer and video card that’ll do whatever he wants to do.
If I knew more about video cards, maybe I could help him figure it out, I dunno.
My question for those of you reading this isn’t for specific advice. It’s this: Have you received an electronic or other high-tech gadget for Christmas that you don’t understand well enough to use properly, or hook up somewhere, or whatever? Is that part of the so-called electronics revolution we’re seeing in our world??
Bah. Humbug, I say.
Better watch out — GPS probably tracking you
If I were inclined toward conspiracy theories and overblown “Big Brother is watching you” stuff, I would be afraid to 1) ever use my little old cell phone, 2) ever own a new car, or, 3) ever buy a hand-held GPS device.
Because if you are of the school of “better watch out” behavior — someone somewhere may be tracking your whereabouts using all that new technology.
A few years ago, when they were still new and not all that advanced, my son bought one of the early models of those Garmin GPS hand-held devices. He took it on hiking and climbing trips to Colorado. He wasn’t all that impressed because it was often inaccurate. But he had fun with it.
Earlier today, I read a small news article about a guy who had his “smart phone” cell phone stolen. He used the built-in GPS functions to track the guys who had it and lead the police to the suspects for an arrest, and he got his phone back.
Remember the days when a mystery novel used such naive plot devices as phone calls from the bad guys? Remember how those despicable villains always knew they should hang up the phone in less than X number of seconds or minutes because it would take that long for the police to track them? And the tense “I’ve got them on the line and we’re frantically tracing it right now” cop sequence — always ending with the bad guys hanging up just BEFORE police discovered the location of the phone they were using?
Well forget that stuff. I would be embarrassed, if I were a villain, to try that sort of thing today. Between caller ID and built-in GPS in most cell phones — and the almost total absence of pay phones in most cities anyhow — the bad guys choices are really limited. Which is probably a good thing.
Do you still read newspapers? How? How often?
Some years ago, shortly after Gutenberg invented movable type or thereabouts, I worked for seven years as a newspaper copyeditor. (Those seven years were the best 10 years of my working career — if you get what I mean.) At that time, my colleagues and I, rushing to put out two issues daily at a mid-sized metropolitan paper, could not have imagined the current, sorry state of the newspaper industry. Which brings me to my question for you: Do you still read newspapers? If so, how do you read them, and how often?
Daily newspapers delivered to your home are becoming as old-fashioned quaint as town square parks with shinny gazebos are in most areas. (Yes, I actually grew up in a small town with a central courthouse square that actually had a gazebo. See how quaint I am??) In our city, we still have that newspaper where I worked (sort of), but its major presence is becoming more and more online.
Personally, I sit down to breakfast most mornings with my lovely wife and we chat, read through that local paper in actual hand-held, page-flipping format. I also go to the paper’s website during the day and check out stuff. I go to the New York Times, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Denver Post, and several other newspaper websites on most days. Hey, I’m a news junkie, what can I say?
What’s your news habit like? Do you mostly check Yahoo and/or various newspaper sites and get most of your news online? Or are you a cable TV news junkie? Post a comment and let us know.
Scary news from front lines of ‘cyberespionage’ reported today
Some scary news from the front lines of the battle of “cyberespionage” was reported today: Cyberspies from foreign nations have penetrated the nation’s powergrid — and left various types of hidden software in place to have their way with the U.S. energy system pretty much whenever/however they decide to knock us around.
Seriously. This is NOT some sort of late April Fool’s joke, not some sort of tongue-in-cheek thing. This is the disturbing reality of living in our time. I don’t know about you, but I like to hope someone out there is doing something about this matter. Living in an area with miserable ice in the winter and unbearable humidity most of the rest of the year, I’m not thrilled about someone browning out or blacking out the power. For ANY reason.
So let’s get our IT acts together, people, and find a way to save America from this hideous stuff. Surely the nation that brought the world such minds as Edison, Ford, Tesla, and others (Was Tesla American? He lived here, anyway) can pull this one out of the fire? Can’t we? Can’t we??
Are you a key loser? Try ‘The Ultimate Key Finder’ for your problem
Are you the sort of person who constantly loses your keys, or the TV remote? Try “The Ultimate Key Finder” as a solution for your problem.
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The “Ultimate Key Finder” could be a real problem solver for many of us. Yes, I’m talking about myself, too. Okay, I don’t actually do much “affiliate marketing” in such a direct manner from this blog, but “The Ultimate Key Finder” is such a nifty little gadget, I had to share it with you. (And, yes, of course, if you decide to buy one of these goodies, I earn a very small — VERY small! — commission. Which does, of course, help pay the website rent.) Do you habitually misplace your keys, or even just once in a while? I won’t name one of my family members (you know who you are!) who sets things down and they immediately vanish into a parallel universe where he forgets all about them. Do you put your keys down in one place, but they are always gone the next time you go for them? Does your couch not only eat the remote but anything that even resembles a key? Some products designed to solve this lost-key, lost-remote problem have you walking around clapping and whistling to activate your keys. That’s not only embarrassing but will lead to mocking by witnesses, and horrible impressions of your drunken chicken act. With the Ultimate Key Finder, you simply grab your credit card size remote, from your protected safe spot, far out of reach of sticky fingers, (you DO have at least one such spot, don’t you??) and press the button to activate your keychain. Even in the dark, your keys will be quick and easy to find as they flash and beep waiting your retrieval. This is a perfect gift for busy, on the go people who have a habit of forgetting the little things like, “Where in the world are my keys?!”–or moms and dads with sticky-fingered children, and those with keys that just won’t stay in their pockets. Buy now and save the frustration for the TV Remote that can’t be found! |