Out of the mouth of Babes, wisdom.

Technology creates Walking Zombies.

Facebook these days has turned people into zombies. Students will stumble around school with half closed eyes. The reason? They will try to blame long nights on homework overload, but in truth, they were updating their status until midnight last night.

IPods and mp3 players are sure to be found in every students’ backpack. Sometimes the bus rides will be silent; its passengers have stuffed tiny earbuds into their ears and have obviously chosen music over their friends.

Lauren Tsai, sophomore, Johnson High School

Creates Rudeness

I  think it’s rude when people walk around with their cellular devices in hand, texting. The harsh glow from the screen reveals their ignorance to everything that’s happening in the world around them. Yeah, sure they’re being social and diverse, but whatever happened to living in the moment and “carpe diem”? I can’t stand that feeling of alienation when I’m with a friend and, out of nowhere, they bust out their phone and start texting another friend, it’s disrespectful. I can’t help but think that cell phones make people appear snotty and arrogant, like one of those rich girls who carry their poodles in a handbag.

(unknown)

More Rudeness

Just imagine: Christmas is right around the corner, and as you sit wrapping your great Aunt Sue’s present, whom you see annually, thanks only to this holiday, and you receive a one lined text message saying “srry. Cant come.” No explanation can be given, since no combination the entire shorthand dictionary could possibly reason with only 160 characters; and you are now left sitting alone Christmas Day with Aunt Sue’s present. Heartless is it not? There are certain times and places where texts, phone calls and emails are appropriate, but many times these forms of communication are used, when a face to face confrontation is necessary.

Sarah Sullivan, senior, First Baptist Academy

Digital Deletion.

My Zune became the keeper of my whole life. Then, just recently, out of nowhere, my Zune deleted all my files: music, videos and family photos from two years, gone forever. I don’t know why this happened. Sometimes technology’s imperfections simply surface right when you put your trust into it. But what I’m saying is that sometimes I miss the comfort of holding that glossy photo in my hand, having something solid to represent that memory I hold so closely in my heart.

Renata Gonzales, senior, Communication Arts High School

Un-necessary upgrades?

The most annoying thing about technology is that it is always changing. I have a large DVD collection that I am rather proud of. It has taken me a long time to build it up and a lot of birthday and Christmas money to fund it. I have an unusual collection, including Newsies, every retelling that there is of Peter Pan, and a rare edition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I’m very saddened that BluRay is taking over.

Courtney Rodgers, senior, Home-schooled

Makes you want more!

We have become fixated on it because it makes everything supposedly easier or faster. There are things that seem funny or useless with the latest technical creation. I believe it’s made us materialistic, always wanting the latest and greatest.

It makes us buy many things. Later we’ll have to buy another improvement and buy it again. It is a continuous cycle. We have just become slaves to our creations. Technology owns us and controls us and even makes our decisions for us. Can we ever live without it? Most people are “tech junkies,” wanting more. When is it ever enough? Can we ever just say “no more”? I suspect that we never will. We’re too far in it to rise above. Nevertheless, many great things have come out of it. It holds all our answers. In a way we have opened Pandora’s Box

Samantha Barrera, senior, Healy Murphy

These are quotes from the San Antonio Express News. Their full un-censored comments are here. I read these when I got my old-school paper delivered on my doorstep. I thought I’d pass them on.

Personal Favorite. Ouch.

For instance, owners of a GPS device, being completely dependent on it, then having it taken away, will be completely lost amid the twisting and turning streets of our city.

Nicole West, senior, Holmes High School

Sorry that a lot of this is copied, but it really is shortened by 95%. Try the above link if you want to read the whole story.

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Here is a very short Christmas Story in MP3 format.

Download Here

Merry Christmas.

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For those into Global Warming or Climate Change and for anyone who uses these keywords as Google Alerts to trigger email,  here is something cool.

I just finished creating a sci-fi mug shop with some chilly designs to keep your beverage hot.

This probably won’t be visible on your i-phone, droid, g-phone or usable on your G3 connected device. Sorry about that, but my wordpress upgrade didn’t include a smart phone option. I’ve categorized some of the mugs as Robot Mugs, because android mugs didn’t sound normal.  Even if you do use Verizon.

Incidentally, I had to add these keywords so others might enjoy this post now or in the future (as in Time Travel). I’m pretty sure there are people with google alerts looking for time travel or zero point energy. This post should be available CoastToCoast AM or PM regardless of which state you live in.

My only regret is not being able to add celebrity names in this post, that would be stooping too  low.  So I won’t add names that appeared on American Idol or anything like that.  I’ll just stick with Star Wars, Star Trek and Science fiction since I know people who enjoy those types  of movies. Besides, it’s kind of related.

If the mug sales go well, I was thinking about buying an electric car, perhaps a prius. If the site does really-really well, a car from Tesla Motors would be nice. They haven’t profited much from the government bailout as far as I know, unlike GM (also Known as General Motors).

These mugs are especially nice in the morning, afternoon, or in the evening twilight while reading a book.

Government healthcare and prescription drug benefits won’t cover them, so you’ll have to use paypal and develop your own course of action.

Visit the Sci-fi Mug Shop (here)

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Christmas lights in synchronization with TSO.

Youtube Video (here)

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Legitimate artists and animation professionals will really appreciate the time and effort that went into creating this wonderful stop-motion animation.

Even if you aren’t an artist, the doodles and weird creatures that are created out of thin air are inspiring.

It’s hard to explain in a single snapshot of what is actually transpiring here. You have to watch the video to understand.

”

Youtube video (here)

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gmail is blocked from work so even if I could accomplish the gmail thing, I would never really get the message until it was too late.

Here is a wordpress hack that I discovered (here) that will send you a message hourly. Yep it works. I’m playing with the settings to also send a message to my work address, gmail address, main email address and to my phone’s email SMS gateway.

if (!wp_next_scheduled(’my_task_hook’)) {
wp_schedule_event( time(), ‘hourly’, ‘my_task_hook’ );
}

add_action( ‘my_task_hook’, ‘my_task_function’ );

function my_task_function() {
wp_mail(’you@yoursite.com’, ‘Automatic email’, ‘Hello, this is an automatically scheduled email from WordPress.’);
}

Like that? All you have to do is modify your functions.php page and insert the code.

Merry Christmas!

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Can someone more technical than me, explain to my 2 DVRs that “V” is more important than “Dancing with the Stars”?

I just missed about “oh, let’s say”….. ALL OF V this evening?

My DVR has become self aware.

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I do 3D computer renderings from time to time. One of the employed techniques is to use a “bump map” to mathematically create height and depth in an image, then apply a “texture map” to the rendered 3D output.

One of the nice things about science is that tests can be reproduced in a lab, under similar circumstances across the world with the same result.

Is the Shroud of Turin a painting? Not according to modern computer 3D imaging. Using technology that has only been around for 10-15 years, the Shroud of Turin has some remarkable qualities that leave the imagination wondering.

A normal painting or picture would have flaws. For some reason, the shroud creates a “perfect” – as in literally perfect, image on the fibers, that can only be enjoyed by film and computer.  Something unknown when the image was created.

Here is a 5 minute video that explains all the details.

For the doubting Thomas, one can fire-up his PC and use any modern 3D imaging tool to reproduce the results on their own. Isn’t science grand?

Shroud of Turin is strange!!!
youtube video (here)

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There was a time in our country when people were ashamed to take government handouts.

Now, along comes the option of getting something for free, everyone is lining up like cows line up for hay (they don’t by the way, they trip overthemselves getting to the feed, pushing others aside that get in their way)

You can’t give away money and declare success when it disappears.

Here’s a 10 minute cartoon from 1948 that my Grandfather sent me.

Something to think about. (Seriously)

Dr. Utopia’s Snake Oil – Youtube Video (here)

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Recently, the U.S. Navy comissioned a new ship, the USS Makin Island . Her official commissioning ceremony took place on 24 October 2009 at Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado near San Diego. My grandfather was present, being one of 6 USMC vetrans who attended.

He was also given the honor of passing the spy-glass to the new vessel.

“We’re like a big hybrid car,” Kopas, who lives in San Diego, said as the ship neared the coastline. “I love it.”

The Navy predicts it will save $250 million in fuel costs over the life of the ship. Some analysts foresee the Makin Island heralding a shift to a fuel-efficient, all-electric fleet.

“It’s a watershed for the Navy,” said Scott Truver, an independent naval analyst based in Washington, D.C. “It’s a generational change.”

Makin Island is the first Navy vessel to combine gas turbines with auxiliary motors that run off the ship’s electrical grid. Source (here)

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