New Ideas in the Year of Light

One of the great joys and burdens I have in being a technophile is that I’m always in a learning mode. I discover new applications and new technologies to make my abilities expand, my job better, and give me greater creativity and enjoyment... but the time requirements are tremendous. Luckily I have a few tricks up my sleeve such as Twitter, Facebook, Mac New Network, and other various video and text blogs that I run past each day to help keep me abreast of happenings in the technology world. Still, every time I have a new application to use I have new abilities I have to train myself to master or at least become competent at doing. This can be such a hassle. For instance, I am typing this blog on my new MacJournal app so that I can do it when I have no internet or when getting on the internet is a hassle (such as at work - no way in hell I’m gonna use their network and be bound by their restrictions of internet usage... no way in hell). I’m doing the typical Mac user thing of just trying it out without reading about it much... I’m sure that I’ll have to find a tutorial or a user’s guide and dissect it when I get to the more powerful parts of the application but so far it seems to be a great journal... so far.

I also hope to have a personal website built in the next few months. I’m not going to go fast as I wanna make sure I do it right, plan out each page well, and take the time to learn how to use iWeb. It seems pretty straight forward (as are so many things that Apple produces). But going quickly and producing a piece of shlock is just not my style. The I have a new scanner (Neat Scanner... way cool) but I have to take the time to get all my bills together for this year, scan them, and then learn how to organize them and export them to things like my TurboTax. It’s a lot to learn.

The Morning Dazzle of Ring Around the Planet

So I'm tweeting and doing my Face Book schtick when I come across a tweet by Phil Plait the Bad Astronomer and his blog on the Discovery Magazine website. It turns out that someone has done me a great favor - a BIG favor. It never fails that when I'm teaching my astronomy unit that when we get to the planet Saturn, the following question always comes up:

"What would it look like if the Earth had a ring around it like Saturn?"

Well, thanks Phil, he and others have found the following video on YouTube that evidently went viral not too soon after it was posted. It is fantastic:

Sunday at the Naked Lounge

First Observation: I can't stop looking at women. I tell you honestly, I love the looks, the sound, the motion, the smell of women. Does that make me a womanizer? I don't think so... perhaps I just have a more acute sense for the feminine form in life and know that attraction to it can just be a manifestation of the creative impulse. That's the optimist in me looking at things. If I were a cynic I'd say that I was just trying to justify my own particular view of women and not seem so lurid. But I'm a realist... I just like women.

Second Observation: I've spent the day fairly productively and noticed a couple things: [1] I can get a lot of planning done in a fairly short time. I've completed a 3D Timeline for my computer work in Annos Luminos and it I stick to it, the office should become a hub of research and as powerful a small library as there can be. I still need to finish off the Mind-Map but it's close... a few more days and it should be done (just a little bit of research left to finish). I still need to figure out how to increase the shelf space in my office to it's full potential in order to get more books into the collection... but that will come in time. [2] People are idiots when they're shopping... plain fact that I can demonstrate at least anectdotally . I went to get some shopping done for bedroom and bath today. I arrived at the store and found an item that was close to what I wanted... just the wrong color (only white available but I wanted black... of course). I walked, and walked, and walked.... ad nausium for assistance. The place was understaffed and too many people were grabbing at the staff's attention at the checkout stand. "Fuck it!" I said in frustration, and walked out. I check out how bad the malls were for my next stop.... madness. I kept on driving to the Naked Lounge and didn't look back. I ended up ordering everything I wanted on-line... is it any wonder that the brick and mortar stores are suffering sometimes.

Third Observation: I have come to the conclusion that I am not as educated as I want to be and have started to put a plan into action to try to remedy that situation. I need to continue my education as earnestly and consistently as possible... every day I can. But here's the rub... I think that I can demonstrate that most people will consider that going through school like college and earning a degree makes them educated. Bullshit. Yup, you read it correctly. Male Bovine fecal excrement! It used to be that a person who was also educated was in the gentlemanly class. Now I know that doesn't necessarily make an individual a gentleman (not by the definition then or mine now... I agree), but the understanding was that education put a person at a level above the vulgar crowd; the mob. But as time moved on we democratized education and made it compulsory. The intent was to make the country a place where democracy would come to full fruition and that an educated populace could make better decisions....Nope. Nice try. It didn't work. Oh education made the country more productive and it has increased our wealth but at what political cost? I am not a big fan of democracy. Yup, I don't like it... but from a practical point-of-view it is the only system that really has the potential to work for the greatest number of people. The fallacy is that it assumes an educated populace. We're not. It is at this point in my ruminations that I just can't help but consider most people plebes like those of ancient Rome. Bread and Circuses! Entertainment and sex... just give the mob what it wants and you can rule the Republic (or the Empire if you like because we can be considered a de facto empire in many respects). Caveat emptor et vendi! Now, aren't I bordering on a kind of arrogance? What makes you so special? Well, I'm not sure that I am special... just questioning. Perhaps that is where the change needs to start....

Influenza - The How's and Why's

So I get home, plop down in front of the computers, check my Tweets and Facebook lists, and there is a link to the best article I have seen in weeks from a science point of view; thanks to Brenda on Facebook. So, I click the link to the NPR story and see the best video rendition of what a virus does to the body. I'm gonna use this with my students. I know it will induce a whole series of questions but it's important that they understand the workings of a virus and get out the their heads some of the mystery surrounding how disease works in the human body.

More Technology with Google

So I get this e-mail from my dad today. Now my dad loves to keep track of the rumor mill surrounding Apple and the Macintosh computers and the Mac OS platform. Today he sends me this picture of an article from MacRumors about the new Google Navigation App for the Motorola DROID phone (the app is currently in BETA mode but still sounds cool). The article tells about how Google hopes to have this free app be a great part of the mobile OS that it calls Andoid which comes standard as part of the DROID phones when they come out in the next few weeks. This is a competitor to the Apple iPhone but I think it will be more different than competitive to the iPhone since the interfaces will be different to a degree. YouTube has a great explanation video for the Google Navigation App and can do a better job of explaining it than I ever could:

New Writing Technology

Everybody who knows me knows how much I love technology (I know, I know... others would say I have an obsession with widgets, doohickeys, thing-a-ma-jigs, and whatchamacallits), but I really get crazy over anything that can make me more productive and help me with my failing memory as I get older (No comments, peanut gallery). And as such, for several months I have been looking at the product that is pictured to the left which is known as a Pulse Pen and comes from a company called LiveScribe which I think you gadget freaks like I am should really check out. Basically it's a small computer that records everything that's being said around you while you are writing on your paper and thus can play back the conversation or lecture by touching the areas you wrote at the time you wanted to hear what was being said. The small videos at the company website are much better at an explanation than I am but I got mine, have been practicing with it, and it's really COOOOOOOL. Anytime you start up the pen, as you write on the special paper, it remembers what was being said as the writing was going on. Now, you can also take that information and put it on your computer and have it looking just like your notes. THEN... you can play back the conversation/lecture just as if you were there! I got the 2 GB version because I know how long winded teachers can be ESPECIALLY when they are in administrative meetings. The paper, however, can't be just any paper but special paper that allows the pen to know where ON the paper the information was being written. In addition (again) the information can be exported as pdf's and there's free transcription software that you download that allows for the changing of the notes into a printed format. Totally cool. Go ahead! Check out the site and see what technology can do for you!

Mind Control and the Force

So I'm watching (or I should say catching up on) my viewing of my favorite technology blog, GeekBrief.tv, and listening to Cali Lewis talk about a bunch of stuff (mostly for me it's ho hum) when she talks about this toy which uses "mind control." Mind control? WTF? So I start watching the rest of the blog and she shows this toy called The Force Trainer which is made by Uncle Milton Industries (with Mattel coming out with a competitor toy around the same time) and which should be out near the end of the summer costing about $130. Bull Pucky! I couldn't believe my eyes.... The toy reminds me of the mind control trainer from that old sci-fi flick from the 50's called The Forbidden Planet which had an alien race called the Krell who had developed a machine with no mechanisms for control... the mind did all the controlling (if you've never seen it, check it out on iTunes sometime).

Essentially, you put on a headset that monitors your Beta Wave functioning and as you concentrate a ball rises up a tube and the more you concentrate the higher up the tube it goes. The Beta Waves of your brain are the waves produced when your brain is in an intense state of concentration. the technology was evidently first developed by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) who are the folks that gave us such things as GPS and Night Vision but is now being used commercially by a company known as NeuroSky. The potential applications are almost inconceivable:

All the world's a stage...

So a couple of days ago I was sitting at the Naked Lounge with my friend Steve and we were just shooting the breeze when the Muse hit me square between the eyeballs. I started listening to the Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (which also happens to be my iPhone ringtone) and images started coming into my mind. I then started searching the net like a maniac for images that had an emotional impact on me as I looked at them. I wasn't sure of any one theme but more for the feelings that it elicited in me as a means of my understanding how I see the world. Once I had started, it's as if the small project took on a life of it's own... how many images I like could I put into the span of time that the "Bitter Sweet Symphony" would play. A few hours later, I had an essentially finished project. I leave it to you, my dear readers, to be the judge of what it means to you: The World's a Stage

Of Human Reasoning and A.I.

9:07 a.m.

Chris Anderson is the Editor of "Wired" magazine which is usually a good read if you're a member of the tribe of geek as I am. He has started a new video blog on MSNBC titled IT/IO and has some great interviews with people who are leaders in the information technology community. One of the more interesting interview is one I stumbled upon at the MSNBC website and it's with Marvin Minsky who is well known as an american cognitive scientist at MIT and the co-founder if it's Laboratory on Artificial Intelligence. I found the couple of small videos fascinating especially when he discusses what he is interested in in the study of how humans think and how he distinguishes human activity from activities that can be found in the behavior of all animals of a certain complexity. Take a look at the two interview segments:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Of Logic Boards and iPhones

Saturday 4:46 p.m.

So having been without a laptop computer for a time, I have been remise in getting my blog out until now. But in the end I have decided to get a new laptop which is intel processor based even though I have my older laptop back and it seems to be working just fine. The problem is that I have used my laptop so much this year in my classes that I just have to have a machine that is more powerful and reliable. More on this later...

Sunday 9:00 a.m.

Well the new iPhone has some really zonker new things it can do with the new OS 3.0. If you have a Mobile Me account you can do even more. While talking with my friend Bob yesterday at the Naked Lounge, we tried out the location service on Mobile Me for an iPhone. I did it with mine this morning and giving it a few moments it pretty much nailed the location. Then, and this was really cool, I was able to send the phone a message which was was able to be seen with a sound and vibration even though the phone was off. Then, and this is a final resort, if the phone message doesn't get the phone returned, you can remotely wipe out the data and applications essentially putting the phone back to factory reset (but it doesn't turn off the service to the phone). I'll keep updating everyone on the new computer tech as soon as I find new things...

P.S.

While I have my laptop back and that's fantastic, for some strange reason the Mobile Me sync settings were turned off. I don't know how this happened but it may have been part of what was necessary to replace the logic board.... hmmmm.

iPhones and Technology

Those who have read my blogs, know that I typically have a picture for each entry... Not this time ( so far) because now I have the ability to do it on my iPhone which is how this entry got done. I hope for more running commentary with the help of iBlog. Also, I hope to do additions to blogs through the day as events warrant.

On another note, kudos to the Cyan Co. For coming out with MYST for the iPhone. Myst was... Is a mystery game with clues and puzzles.... And is addictive! Now, if they can only come out with Riven as well, it would be fantastic...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

UPDATE:

I have been a big fan of SomaFM for many years now but I get worried about it as the economy has turned into a steaming heap o' rubbish. So, I'd like to invite you to check out SomaFM and all the channels that it has to offer - it's commercial free and has the ability to stream to computer and iPhone over Wi-Fi, EDGE, and 3G. I have a link to the EDGE stream of SomaFM on my Music Apps page and it works great... check it out:

Don't you dare say "Seeing is Believing"

This is a crazy fast rendition of what a true Photoshop Pro can do with enough time and motivation... pictures cannot be trusted ever again.