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By Janet Evans
Friday, Oct 10 2008, 07:05 AM
I guess I didn’t know I needed to carry a GPS when I brought my laptop somewhere with me.
This is comical.
Perhaps it isn’t the software, Geode, by Mozilla; perhaps it is the article.
Maybe it's both.
“Where am I? The Firefox location tool that helps know where your computer is."
“In the future Geode will be able to tell you if you are at home or at work”
'You’ve arrived in a new city, a new continent, a new coffee shop. You don’t really know where you are, and are looking for a good place to eat,' reads the Mozilla Labs blog.
'You pull out your laptop, fire up Firefox, and go to your favorite review site. It automatically deduces your location, and serves up some delicious suggestions a couple blocks away and plots directions there.'
Wait, it’s those crazy Brits again.
from the Daily Mail HERE
How about I purchase my airline ticket, take my long flight, take a taxi, walk down a boulevard (with my laptop), need some caffeine, find a café, order some espresso and a pastry and ask “By the way, this is Paris, correct, mademoiselle?”
And, voilà! (Did I spell that correctly? Okay, then it must be France) I didn’t even find my Wi Fi connection yet, but I think I didn't need my computer to know where I was.
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Oct 8 2008, 07:22 PM
By Janet Evans
Saturday, Oct 4 2008, 04:21 PM
EVERYONE knows I’m a Lost fan. And Lost wouldn’t be lost if it weren’t for aviation. Why, one of the main characters, who has been rescued from the island that was his home for several months, spends his weekends flying in hopes of repeating the crash that made him “lost” in the first place!
But Lost isn’t the only movie or show that features aviation that’s been a hit with me. How about the original Tarzan The Ape Man? The plane crashing in the jungle…with an infant onboard, raised by apes. He grows up to fall in love with the beautiful Jane. Not trying to make “apes” the feature, but you can’t forget that King Kong, while on top of the Empire State building was attacked by a plane.
And then there’s Top Gun, with Tom Cruise, or Cliff Hanger with Sylvester Stallone. Or Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando, Memphis Belle or A Bridge Too Far.
Can’t forget Airplane!, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or Home Alone.
I know, some of these movies have aviation touching them only for a short period of time, while others have them as the main focus. But it was important just the same. The movie wouldn’t have gotten where it was supposed to be without aviation. Just like we wouldn’t be where we are today without it.
Just think where we have come and how quickly since 1903 when the Wright Bros. had their first success.
Aviation.com recognizes that and has put together what they believe are the Great Innovations In Aviation....
Take a look…what do you think?
GREAT INNOVATIONS IN AVIATION
Also, check out the Famous Firsts in Aviation
View scenes from the movie Cliffhanger
HERE
Warning: Viewer discretion advised - language/violence.
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Sep 29 2008, 06:45 AM
Are you feeling overwhelmed with your email?
Do you get too much spam?
Have you ever wondered if you should open an email, thinking it may be a virus?
I get too much email.
I have five fully active email addresses…one for work, two personal, two for my blogs. That’s crazy! Between email and remembering all the passwords in my life I’m pretty bogged down.
One of my biggest email pet peeves? A chain email. You send me one…I’ll be the first to break it. I don’t care if it’s for a recipe , good luck, a prayer, one that has been around the world one million times, if it has a curse attached to it or if it says it has never been broken and I’ll be the first one who will be doing so…
A survey...nope...won’t take it.
And if it’s one of those warning emails…one that says “make sure you send this to everyone in your address book” I’m not that stupid. I know when I’m told to send that to everyone that there’s a problem. So I check it for a hoax or ignore it. If I have time to check it, it’s almost always a hoax. Which makes me wonder why everyone else who forwarded that email was so gullible?
Which brings me to this…
Remember when "You've got mail" alerts were thrilling?
The e-mails that now pour into office inboxes and spill onto BlackBerry devices have left some workers feeling so bogged down with online messages that they can find little time to do anything else.
"We're like frazzled lab rats, being poked and prodded and beeped and pinged," says Maggie Jackson, author of "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age."
The average worker receives 200 e-mails a day, according to the business and technology research firm Basex in its report "Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us." It's an unfortunate irony that a system once lauded for its promises of efficiency has filled days at the office with wasted, fragmented time. Basex found that e-mail and other interruptions decrease U.S. productivity at a cost of more than $650 billion per year for billions of lost man hours
[...]
Productivity gurus have also created a cottage industry out of e-mail overload. Here's the best of their advice:
1) Don't check e-mail in the morning. Experts say you should take care of an important task first thing before checking e-mail, so that you don't use it as an excuse for postponing more pressing obligations.
2) Check it in batches, rather than fluidly throughout the day. Some experts suggest checking it twice a day. Others, up to five times. But the important thing is efficiency.
"You wouldn't do a new load of laundry every time you have a dirty pair of socks," says Timothy Ferriss, author of "The 4-Hour Workweek."
3) Minimize exchanges. "Learn to propose, instead of asking questions," Ferriss says. Instead of asking what time a person can meet for lunch, just jump right in and propose a few times. You can use "if, then" language, for example, "If you can't meet at 11, how about 12?"
4) Unsubscribe to lists or newsletters you don't read. Experts say that if you notice you're not actively reading a newsletter or other e-mail subscription service, it's time to unsubscribe.
5) Stop sending e-mail. Sending less e-mail means receiving less e-mail, and sending shorter e-mails will garner shorter responses.
"This does not mean that you should write elliptically or bypass standard grammar, capitalization, and punctuation," says Merlin Mann on his productivity blog 43 Folders. "Just that your well-written message can and should be as concise as possible."
6) Take it to zero. In an extreme case, some experts suggest wiping the Inbox completely away, and starting fresh. You can always send your contacts an e-mail telling them what you've done, and to resend any truly important messages.
7) Set precedents from above. If you're a boss, you might think again about sending an e-mail late at night on a Saturday or other non-work times unless it's truly urgent. Even if you don't intend for your employee to respond right away, you are still sending the message that work e-mail is not just for work hours, which can contribute to overload.
8) Use other forms of communication. E-mail has earned a solid place in the office, but in some cases it's not the most appropriate form of communication.
To read the entire article click HERE
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Sep 25 2008, 06:40 AM
Can you say 340 trillion, trillion, trillion?
That's how many addresses the new system for web addresses will have when it is implemented.
You see, the current system is about ready to run out of addresses. Who would have thought the Internet Highway would run out of addresses? Why, the mighty inventor of the internet should have created enough in the first place, don't you think? And we all know who that is...
Oh no..I thought it was Al Gore!
He said he created the internet.
I guess it was really Vint Cerf the "father of the internet."
The world is about to run out of the internet addresses that allow computers to identify each other and communicate, the man who invented the system has told The Times.
Vint Cerf, the “father of the internet” and one of the world’s leading computer scientists, said that businesses and consumers needed to act now to switch to the next generation of net addresses. Unless preparations were made now, he said, some computers might not be able to go online and the connectivity of the internet might be damaged.
Mr Cerf said that internet service providers in particular needed to prepare and that time was running out for a smooth transition.
Every computer and online device is assigned a unique IP address, but the pool of unallocated numbers is about to dry up.
“This is like the internet running out of telephone numbers and with no new numbers, you can’t have more subscribers,” he said.
When Mr Cerf and others founded the internet system in 1977, he set in place "internet protocol version four" (IPv4) which provided 4.2 billion addresses. With the number of internet-enabled devices, particularly mobile phones, soaring, less than 14 per cent of those addresses remain vacant.
It is estimated that IPv4 addresses, each of which is a series of 32 binary digits, will run out in 2010 and possibly as early as next year. A new system, called IPv6, has been ready for implementation for more than a decade.
Continued HERE
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Sep 23 2008, 04:51 PM
Another school shooting...Not a tragedy…a massacre.
This time in Finland. Today one student killed killed ten others, and then himself (of course, he turned the gun on himself; coward).
Of course, neighbors said he was “quiet.”
A masked student went on the rampage at a Finnish school Tuesday, methodically gunning down 10 people before turning the weapon on himself, a day after police quizzed him over a chilling YouTube warning.
Young women screamed as the 22-year-old shooter stalked the corridors of the vocational college in a ski mask and black outfit letting off round after round at helpless students before starting several fires, witnesses and police said.
The massacre in Kauhajoki in southwestern Finland was the country's deadliest school shooting and the second in under a year.
"I heard the sound of shooting and hysterical girls' voices. Then two girls came towards my room and said a weird man was shooting," Jukka Forsberg, the janitor of the school, told AFP.
"I went to see and saw a guy leaving a big black bag in the corridor and going into classroom number three and closing the door.
"I looked through the window and he immediately shot at me," he said, adding, "Thank God I was not hit! He fired at me but I was running zigzag. I ran for my life."
Forsberg said he heard "horrible screams of pain" as he raced out of the building. The shooter has been identified as a second-year culinary arts student Matti Juhani Saari.
Read the article HERE
Sure... there were advanced warning signs (a video).
I blogged last November about Terrorism in American Schools: The First of ALL Fears
It’s worth a second look.
Also, New Berlin is going to be installing high tech video equipment in their school district, just approved this past month.
I also blogged about schools using high tech video systems last November,
Smile Kids, You're On LIVE Camera.
An article came out last week in "Campus Safety" for educators that states there are between 2,000-3,000 camera "systems" out in the schools throughout the country right now. (Making the Leap To IP Video - A Safer Bet. www.campussafety.com (Sept/Oct 08).
Since Franklin Public Schools are so close to the House of Correction, with the threat of domestic terrorism (that includes from students), and whatever looms ahead from foreign terrorism, I think we need to keep this equipment in mind.
We are currently repairing our track again for $53,000 and have a renovation of the stadium/track in the future plans for over 2.5 million....
We just had a safety program on that track. Perhaps some safety equipment in the schools might be of benefit. Just a thought.
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Sep 10 2008, 07:05 AM
Some people think we may never become “paperless.”
But we’ve become one step closer to that.
How about reading the daily news on plastic,” or a plastic reader, rather than buying that daily newspaper?
 Plastic Logic/Sony/Kevin P. Casey for The New York Times
The Plastic Logic device, which is yet to be named, can be updated wirelessly and store hundreds of pages of documents.
"Reading the daily news might be a whole new experience after Silicon Valley startup Plastic Logic unveiled a new electronic newspaper reading device designed for modern business users. Plastic Logic execs gave a demonstration preview of the new e-reader Monday during the DEMOfall 08 show held in San Diego. Designed for busy professionals, the new e-reader brings the business world one step closer to the paperless office, execs say. The new device, aimed squarely at business users, offers a big and easy-to-read display on a screen the size of an 8.5 by 11-inch paper, making it ideal for users who regularly read newspapers or periodicals but are limited by the amount of paper they can carry with them, execs say.
"Research confirms professionals read much more business content than recreational content. They require access to all formats of digital content at their fingertips, and want a large readable screen," said Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta in a statement. "
You can read the complete article from Channel Web HERE
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Aug 21 2008, 07:00 AM
Finally the first airline (American) that will offer Wi-Fi on coast-to-coast flights began doing so yesterday.
Would you pay $12.95 to surf the net for three hours on a flight?
I know I would ...
.
Photo: Wired
I can see the increase of laptops going through security now...
For many it will be used for work. But I think for most it will be used for play.
I just think having the option available is a good idea, and the airlines will make a significant amount of money from it.
Read about it HERE
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Aug 17 2008, 08:12 AM
And with the higher gas prices, and the prices of practically everything going up, it’s tempting to believe those deals that sound too good to be true.
Some of them may have basic scientific fact behind them, like this one…
Run Your Car On Water
and Double Your Gas Mileage…
Water can be used to fuel a car when used as a supplement to gasoline. In fact, very little water is needed! only one quart of water provides over 1800 gallons of HHO gas which can literally last for months and significantly increase your vehicle's fuel efficiently, improve emissions quality, and save you money.
Thousands of successful water-conversions around the world are proof that this technology works and will soon catch on! Some industry insiders say its just a matter of time before this water-burning technology will be standard in new automobiles. One expert estimates most cars will be using this technology by 2012, but until the auto manufacturers catch up, you can use this technology for yourself today at a very reasonable set-up cost.
You can go to the ad's website by clicking HERE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of course there are several things wrong with this picture...
They want you to convert your car to run with water and gas.
This does sound dangerous for the average person, even though they say it isn't.
And, it doesn't sound like it will work.
The Laws of Thermodynamics
Since you need to use electricity to separate the water into the "Brown's gas," doesn't that defeat the purpose of saving energy/money?
And aren't people too smart to fall for this anyway?
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Jul 28 2008, 11:56 AM
Some people like to keep track of things.
Dates, statistics, record breaking moments, great moments in history….
Here’s one for you…
Google says the Web has hit a new milestone: more than one trillion active, unique URLs.
"Internet search giant Google has doled out one of those interesting little numbers that make keeping track of the Internet so much fun—except, in this case, the number isn't little at all. According to Google, its systems that spider the Web looking for new content hit a new milestone: one trillion unique URLs on the Web at once. "
Read about it HERE
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Jul 17 2008, 07:02 AM
By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Jul 9 2008, 06:40 AM
Peer-to-Peer file sharing networks such as LimeWire or Napster allow computer users to share data, music, or movie files between computers. You have to remember, copyrighted material is not legal to share with these programs, which severely limits file sharing.
I would think the average person is going to "file share" from home. First of all, while most computer connections are now faster with cable, it still takes time and bandwidth to do so. Plus you are allowing someone to link to your computer when you "share."
"Sometime late last year, an employee of a McLean investment firm decided to trade some music, or maybe a movie, with like-minded users of the online file-sharing network LimeWire while using a company computer. In doing so, he inadvertently opened the private files of his firm, Wagner Resource Group, to the public.
That exposed the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of about 2,000 of the firm's clients, including a number of high-powered lawyers and Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer.
The breach was not discovered for nearly six months. A reader of washingtonpost.com's Security Fix blog found the information while searching LimeWire in June."
Like I said in my title...I could see a teenager doing this...
Read the article from the Washington Post
Justice Breyer Is Among Victims in Data Breach Caused by File Sharing Justice Breyer
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Jul 8 2008, 11:58 AM
Having some technology troubles sent me to the web for a reinstall of a program….
I had an interesting find....
Take a peek at my Righty Blog “Hug a Tree” for a look at how you can save the environment : )
Here ç
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Jun 25 2008, 05:37 PM
I happened to come across this blog regarding 12 Beers You Should Only Drink In College and noticed that there are three or four Milwaukee beers on the list.
“Everyone loves college. You live in a building full of your friends and the opposite sex sans parents for months, with a veritable smorgasbord of food, parties and alcohol to distract you from worthless schoolwork. But the sacrifice is that you’re broke. Still, you have to get drunk. What do you buy? Here’s a list of beers that encourage you to do your homework so you can afford the good stuff after graduation. But for now, you drink these purely out of circumstance.”
Ð
That’s what the “Campus Squeeze” says……
It’s a scary place, parents….be afraid…be very afraid….
It was just easier before their were blogs and websites...it was easier when you asked your college student how things were going and the just said, "Fine, can I have some money?"
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Jun 23 2008, 07:05 AM
A Basic Abacus
In Asia, the Chinese were becoming very involved in commerce with the Japanese, Indians, and Koreans. Businessmen needed a way to tally accounts and bills. Somehow, out of this need, the abacus was born. The abacus is the first true precursor to the adding machines and computers which would follow. It worked somewhat like this:The value assigned to each pebble (or bead, shell, or stick) is determined not by its shape but by its position: one pebble on a particular line or one bead on a particular wire has the value of 1; two together have the value of 2. A pebble on the next line, however, might have the value of 10, and a pebble on the third line would have the value of 100. Therefore, three properly placed pebbles--two with values of 1 and one with the value of 10--could signify 12, and the addition of a fourth pebble with the value of 100 could signify 112, using a place-value notational system with multiples of 10. Thus, the abacus works on the principle of place-value notation: the location of the bead determines its value. In this way, relatively few beads are required to depict large numbers. The beads are counted, or given numerical values, by shifting them in one direction. The values are erased (freeing the counters for reuse) by shifting the beads in the other direction. An abacus is really a memory aid for the user making mental calculations, as opposed to the true mechanical calculating machines which were still to come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1985, as a stay at home mom, I felt I was very fortunate. My daughter went to school at Country Dale Elementary School, in Franklin. Apple computers were the rage in the Franklin schools. I had never owned or used a computer before, but my daughter, who was in the Gifted and Talented Program (which, if I remember correctly had just been instituted in the school system) was very interested in computers. With me being a volunteer at school, I was also interested, and I wanted a computer at home for both of us to use.
We saved, and we purchased an computer. I also bought the same programs that my daughter was using at school. The cool thing was, the printer was dot matrix. Wow! The best thing, before we started using the internet for everything? Having an encyclopedia program. It was the greatest! Having that computer not only helped my children, but helped me with future employment. Could we have lived without it? Of course. But right now, it’s awfully hard to think of times without computers.
I do think back to my school days without them. We had manual typewriters and we did term papers that didn’t always look very nice, but they were a least typed. Teachers were making copies on actual mimeograph machines that used blue ink. I can still smell that ink, with the papers that were still damp when we got them. Calculators, if you were lucky enough to have one, were huge and clumsy.
There are many things in life that I wouldn’t mind giving up and just going back to the old fashioned way. But a computer is not one of them. Back in 1985 the computer was an amazing adventure for me, even though it was in a basic form. But now, a computer has pretty much opened up the world....Just think where a computer can take you.
Read about the history of computers: Computers From Past to Present ç here
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Jun 15 2008, 10:30 PM
In the 50s and 60s robots were very mechanical in appearance, and extremely clumsy. In the 70s and 80s their movement was more lifelike. In the 90s, and now the 2000s they have become more human-like; even showing emotion and facial expression.
The reality is, in the coming decades human-robot relationships of the romantic nature are expected to become something commonplace. For those who can't find the "real thing," forget the blow-up doll in the closet…no more lonely hearts club…a robot will be able to carry on a conversation of sorts with a partner….among other things.
The Japanese made a very lifelike robot back in 2006. Except for the "Hello Kitty" shirt, that's a pretty convincing robot.
Actroid Der-2
See what Dutch researcher, Vincent Wiegel has to say about the fact that….
In 2050, your lover may be a ... robot ç here
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Jun 13 2008, 10:32 PM
What NASA earlier reported as an “unidentified” object ‘floating” (UFLO….my acronym) away from space shuttle Discovery, which is on a return trip from the international space station, has now been identified. The 1.5 foot long object is a clip that is part of the rudder speed brake insulation. No worries, says NASA, this has happened before…..
“NASA says the missing clip isn't critical for landing. It's used to protect the speed brake from high temperatures during the shuttle's launch. "Orbiters have come back with those missing. It's just not a factor for entry," Mission Control told the shuttle crew. “
Oh, my…I know I feel better. I hope the crew does.
Read about it from Breitbart ç here
Space Shuttle Discovery being
prepared for mission
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Jun 12 2008, 11:54 AM
Thinking of alternative ways to take care of that lawn for the rest of the season?
 Perhaps something a little less of an alternative?
How about an electric lawn mower?
It's something to think about.
And it's certainly cost effective after the initial investment.
from the Christian Science Monitor
Earthtalk: Greener ways to cut the grass í here
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Jun 7 2008, 09:10 AM
….I’m Rambo, damn it!
Too bad there isn’t a way to make sure these weapons never get in the hands of the enemy. But that’s impossible.
The close-up of the ammunition was pretty chilling.
In the end, it's just like when the military used to throw a grenade into a building before they went in...now, they use this weapon instead.
Don't forget about military Robobugs .
If you're interested, here's a link to BLACKWATER Ã
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Jun 6 2008, 11:15 AM
Looks like airports are going to be seeing a little more than your underpants, since eventually over 2000 of the nation's airports will be replacing metal detectors with body-scanners that can see through your clothing. You've probably heard of these scanners before...they can see your body parts very clearly.
"Body-scanning machines that show images of people underneath their clothing are being installed in 10 of the nation's busiest airports in one of the biggest public uses of security devices that reveal intimate body parts.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently started using body scans on randomly chosen passengers in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque and at New York's Kennedy airport.
Airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami will be added this month. Reagan National Airport in Washington starts using a body scanner today. A total of 38 machines will be in use within weeks.
"It's the wave of the future," said James Schear, the TSA security director at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where two body scanners are in use at one checkpoint.
Schear said the scanners could eventually replace metal detectors at the nation's 2,000 airport checkpoints and the pat-downs done on passengers who need extra screening. "We're just scratching the surface of what we can do with whole-body imaging," Schear said."
Read the full story on USA Today
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