Into the Void

Interesting concept. The Ambient Devices Ambient Umbrella gets weather data from AccuWeather.com. The Ambient Umbrella waits in the umbrella stand unnoticed until rain is expected, then gives a gentle visual reminder that it will be needed.

The concept behind Ambient Devices products is that some digital information should be “glanceable,” that is, the information is not worth either constant checking or having to shut off an alarm, so it vanishes into the background. Other products from Ambient Devices include Ambient ScoreCast devices that provide real-time stats and scores and the AMBIENT DEVICES Stock Orb which monitors the Dow and indicates in real-time whether the stock market is up for down.

Photo credit: Compare and Contrast
Source Flickr
Author an untrained eye

HP Netbook

New toy! It’s an HP Netbook PC. A Netbook is a tiny laptop suitable for everyday use. Email, online banking, writing letters. It’s so small you can carry it in that duffel bag you call a purse, and it can connect anywhere. Most models I investigated had integrated wireless (WiFi). AT&T and Verizon both offered Netbooks with 3G broadband wireless capability. Some models had Bluetooth for mouse or headphones.

I purchased the HP1035NA and really put it through its paces. YouTube videos played without a glitch. I will try Netflix videos in a day for two and edit this… Web browsing, email, and document editing were more than adequate, though if you normally run a high speed machine for engineering apps you’ll notice a difference. I didn’t do any tweaks to speed up the netbook, things like disabling indexing or windows animations.

The downside of the HP 1035NA Netbook is that it has less hard drive capacity and is slightly more expensive than some of its competitors, including the ASUS Eee PC 900. However, the slightly larger 10.2-inch display and the nearly full-size tactile keyboard are what sold me on the HP.

Specs:
OS:Windows XP Home SP3
Productivity: Microsoft Works
Display: 10.2-Inch
Processor: 1.60 GHz Intel Atom Processor N270 with 512KB L2 Cache
Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (shared) with up to 128MB Total Available Graphics Memory
RAM: 1GB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm)
Storage: 60GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive
Connectivity: 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth.
Dimensions: 6.56 (W) x 10.3 (D) x 0.99 (H) approx.,
Weight: 2.38 lbs.

Murphy is alive and well. The power supply blew in the middle of a push to get a design out the door. Fortunately we found a cheap replacement at my electronics store of choice, NewEgg.com.

Athena Power AP-P4ATX35 350W Power Supply

Under the Hood: Inside the Apple iPhone | Video Imaging DesignLine

Since I have little interest in spending a week’s pay on a telephone, I rather enjoyed seeing one disemboweled.

Referring back to Shamanism and Talking to Dog.

We have the ability to perceive *everything* until our society teaches us to block out of our minds what’s happening on the other side of the door. Privacy is how it starts. Later it becomes political. This is the definition of sanity, sharing a world-view.

My cat always has a complete aural picture of the world outside the house because her hearing is much better than mine. Her visual concept of the world is limited to what she can see by running from window to window – a very disconnected picture of the world, don’t you think? Now substitute the word “psychic” for “aural” and “sensory” for “visual.” There is nothing mystical about it. You know what you are taught to know and you de-reify what you aren’t taught.

I have no problem with concepts that lie outside the limitations of our technology. Not until some shady character tries to take my money. New Age practices, in general, are when a bunch of slightly better educated people try to sell the rest of us something that doesn’t really step outside consensus reality. Magic, after all, is nothing but a technology that you don’t understand.

I’m also an Electrical Engineer and I graduated with a minor in mathematics. I had 4 years of science and 5 years of math in high school alone. And I’ve forgotten more philosophy than most people ever read in the first place. I can tell bullsh*t from a new way of looking at reality. I’m a reiki master, by the way.

The first thing you learn in logic is that you can’t prove non-existence. Psychic ability requires breaking your mind so that you can see the things you were taught to make non-existent.

Society has a vested interest in controlling the hidden information, and quickly punishes those who step outside what is considered sane. Therapists, then, are the gatekeepers of consensus reality.

The moral? Don’t complain about your psychic abilities to your therapist unless you want to get rid of these abilities.

About schizophrenia – schizophrenia does not equal psychic ability, though a broken brain is more likely to take a big step away from consensus reality. Schizophrenia, they say, results from an inability to categorize the world in the same way the rest of us do. Imagine if your grocery store sorted things by the size of the package instead of putting sugar in the spice aisle and dryer sheets in the laundry section. Now imagine that when you complain to the manager, he sends the cops and psychiatrists over to your house to rearrange the furniture.

This Hotspot Locator is coming in very handy, given the exorbitant price of Cingular’s GPRS service. Republished with permission from JIWire.com.

Hotspot Locator Address Zip Code / Post Code State / Province Country -Select a Country / Region- Andorra Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Aruba Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Belarus Belgium Bermuda Bolivia Bosnia And Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Cayman Islands Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Estonia Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Grenada Guatemala Guyana Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kenya Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Malaysia Malta Martinique Mexico Monaco Morocco Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Saudi Arabia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Trinidad And Tobago Turkey Turks And Caicos Islands Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. City Distance Radius (Miles) 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10.0 20.0 50.0 100.0

And in the “Why didn’t I think of this?” category:
[video] UPS CIO: Driving cost savings by eliminating left-hand turns | CNET News.com