Category Archives: technology

Insatiable

We can’t leave it alone. Almost no one can. It is our constant companion. It is our blanket, our teddy bear and we can’t leave home without it.

It’s so important to us. It is more important than danger. It is more important than someone’s life. People look at it while they are driving. They don’t even bother to look at the road. It is the most important thing in the universe. Nothing can stop it.

Because of our love for it we will walk without looking at the ground or in front of us. We will walk into an open manhole for it. We do not care. It is the most important thing in our lives. It is more important than us breaking a leg or walking in front of a vehicle. It is more important than a bus bearing down on us. We must look at it.

Why are we so insatiable? Why do we need the constant stream from others? Those others may not even be human. Why? It has found a vulnerability in human nature. It taps a need. It addicts almost all of us.

We carry it everywhere. Soon we will wear it. Some already do. Eventually we will incorporate it into our brain and body.

Is it too late? Will we have a choice?

 

Good job Rosetta

Humans are amazing.

Spacecraft wakes, calls home

Scientists have flung a spacecraft 800 million kilometers at a comet.  Because of low power the spacecraft was put to sleep for three years.  Now, they have successfully reactivated it and soon it will dance around Comet 67P before sending a lander to the surface.

Talk about unbelievable…

Just think about how hard it is for a pitcher to throw a strike, or a quarterback to connect with a tight end.

It might be good to remember Rosetta the next time we come up against a difficult problem.

Love that Raspberry Pi

I was in a quandary today.  I needed another name server and didn’t feel like forking over big bucks for another machine.  And then it hit me, what would “Ordinary” do?  He happens to be a computer geek and one of the main characters in my novel “Force for Good“.

I rummaged in a canvas bag and dug out a small plastic box.  It was my beloved Raspberry Pi.   I rushed down the  stairs to the basement and took a deep breath while gazing at the blinking blue and amber lights.  The soft whir of the fans whispered in my ears and I was trapped.  The Raspberry Pi would take its place in the Muggington pantheon of silicon this day.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, the Raspberry Pi is an ultra-cheap but perfectly functional computer.  A few minutes later I had the little beast connected to the network and after a few more hours it was a new web and name server on my small homegrown network.  In fact, that $35 dollar Raspberry Pi might have directed you to this blog post.

What a strange, odd life we humans lead.