Case in point: Tonight, I came through the kitchen as McKenna was using an iPad app to play Beethoven's "Fur Elise" with the mere touch of her fingers on the screen.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Day 351: Kenna Plays Beethoven
Technology is an amazing thing. The more I learn about it, the more I learn (1) how little I know about it and (2) how far behind I am in keeping up with the Joneses' latest doohickeys and gadgets.
Case in point: Tonight, I came through the kitchen as McKenna was using an iPad app to play Beethoven's "Fur Elise" with the mere touch of her fingers on the screen.
Case in point: Tonight, I came through the kitchen as McKenna was using an iPad app to play Beethoven's "Fur Elise" with the mere touch of her fingers on the screen.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Growing a Spine
Beginning this next Monday, I will be embarking on a new project: growing a spine.
This is not to say that I don't already have a spine but that the one I have needs some stretching in the right direction.
In a recent post, I wrote a bit about having suffered from lung difficulties in the mission field due to a sharp change in elevation. This is also, not coincidentally, when my back problems began, and I've been seeing a chiropractor regularly or semi-regularly since the week I returned home.
A relatively new technology called spinal decompression - perhaps you've seen the billboards along I-15 or the ads on TV - has been helping a lot of people with chronic back pain, and I recently found out that my own chiropractor has a machine designed to do this very thing.
This is what it looks like:
If it looks eerily like "The Machine" that Westley is attached to in the Pit of Despair in The Princess Bride, then you have noticed the same thing that I have noticed.
At any rate, this machine is designed to (gently) stretch the spine out so that any bulging or otherwise-affected discs of the spine fall back into their natural places. I've already tried it out once before, and I must say - again, referencing Westley - that I found it to be "terribly comfortable," even though it may not look that way.
I'm looking forward to the adventure.
This is not to say that I don't already have a spine but that the one I have needs some stretching in the right direction.
In a recent post, I wrote a bit about having suffered from lung difficulties in the mission field due to a sharp change in elevation. This is also, not coincidentally, when my back problems began, and I've been seeing a chiropractor regularly or semi-regularly since the week I returned home.
A relatively new technology called spinal decompression - perhaps you've seen the billboards along I-15 or the ads on TV - has been helping a lot of people with chronic back pain, and I recently found out that my own chiropractor has a machine designed to do this very thing.
This is what it looks like:
If it looks eerily like "The Machine" that Westley is attached to in the Pit of Despair in The Princess Bride, then you have noticed the same thing that I have noticed.
At any rate, this machine is designed to (gently) stretch the spine out so that any bulging or otherwise-affected discs of the spine fall back into their natural places. I've already tried it out once before, and I must say - again, referencing Westley - that I found it to be "terribly comfortable," even though it may not look that way.
I'm looking forward to the adventure.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Meaning of Being Lonely
Earlier today, I came across an article that discussed the concept of loneliness. Specifically, what it focused on was the fact that in spite of all of the many forms of communication that are now available to us as a society (e-mail, instant messaging, social Web sites, cell phones, text messages, speed dating, etc.) people are actually more lonely than they used to be before these things came along.
Among some of the article's findings:
- About one-fourth of those surveyed said that they felt "frequently lonely."
- Frequent feelings of loneliness were more likely to cause people to become depressed, while depression was not proven to cause loneliness.
- Those who are lonely, for example, will often be seen talking on their cell phones and/or texting others while in public or in the presence of groups of people. The message sent by these actions is that other people are far more important than the people with whom one is physically present.
- Loneliness is all about the quality and not the quantity of one's friendships.
- Just as happiness is contagious, loneliness is also contagious.
This article gave me a lot to think about, since I posted on the idea of spending time alone not too long ago. It's one thing, I suppose, to spend a little time now and then by one's self, but it's completely another when this kind of thing becomes a habit.
As I look around me, I see many people who are lonely and don't seem to know it, while there are others who appear to have gotten so used to being lonely that they have become comfortable with it and are afraid to step out of that comfort zone when any sort of opportunity to change their state of loneliness may present itself.
Is it possible to be in a room full of people and yet to feel completely lonely at the same time? I believe that it is. I have been in relationships in which it feels much more like two lonely people spending time together than two people making any sort of connection with each other. Needless to say, these relationships don't last long. It makes me think of the Ben Folds Five song "Brick," in which the singer utters the line, "Now that I have found someone, I'm feeling more alone than I ever have before."
I guess I don't really have any conclusions or concrete opinions on this matter but have rather been wondering what my readers, assuming I still have any, think on the subject. Feel free to post any comment(s) you might have.
Just don't be doing it between 4:00 and 5:00. That's Willie's time!
Among some of the article's findings:
- About one-fourth of those surveyed said that they felt "frequently lonely."
- Frequent feelings of loneliness were more likely to cause people to become depressed, while depression was not proven to cause loneliness.
- Those who are lonely, for example, will often be seen talking on their cell phones and/or texting others while in public or in the presence of groups of people. The message sent by these actions is that other people are far more important than the people with whom one is physically present.
- Loneliness is all about the quality and not the quantity of one's friendships.
- Just as happiness is contagious, loneliness is also contagious.
This article gave me a lot to think about, since I posted on the idea of spending time alone not too long ago. It's one thing, I suppose, to spend a little time now and then by one's self, but it's completely another when this kind of thing becomes a habit.
As I look around me, I see many people who are lonely and don't seem to know it, while there are others who appear to have gotten so used to being lonely that they have become comfortable with it and are afraid to step out of that comfort zone when any sort of opportunity to change their state of loneliness may present itself.
Is it possible to be in a room full of people and yet to feel completely lonely at the same time? I believe that it is. I have been in relationships in which it feels much more like two lonely people spending time together than two people making any sort of connection with each other. Needless to say, these relationships don't last long. It makes me think of the Ben Folds Five song "Brick," in which the singer utters the line, "Now that I have found someone, I'm feeling more alone than I ever have before."
I guess I don't really have any conclusions or concrete opinions on this matter but have rather been wondering what my readers, assuming I still have any, think on the subject. Feel free to post any comment(s) you might have.
Just don't be doing it between 4:00 and 5:00. That's Willie's time!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Phoning It In, Again
Earlier this week, a new regulation went into effect locally. Anytime you dial a local number here in Utah, you now have to first include the area code, too. So, pretty much every phone call is now an 11-digit number (counting the "1" before the area code).
Thank goodness for cell phones, so you don't have to dial those 11 digits each time you make a call. The only time-consuming part of the switchover, for me, was having to edit all of my contacts by adding an "801" to the first part of all applicable numbers.
In a recent post, I was a little hard on cell phones. Actually, I was hard on people who do stupid things with cell phones, particularly while they're trying (and I emphasize the word trying) to drive a car at the same time.
I recently upgraded my cell phone to a newer model (see the adjoining picture). It's so much nicer than the old phone, which was kind of like a brick with numbers on the side. True, the new phone is much-more likely to be stolen than the old one, but it also doesn't look like something that was unearthed along with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
One of the best features may be the fact that it is a phone with a flip-top, and that means no more accidentally calling my friend Adam three or four times per week as the phone rests in my pocket. Adam did nothing to deserve this other than the fact that his name was first alphabetically in my old contact list, and the phone went directly to him when it needed to make a phantom call.
Adam was a very good sport about these phone calls. He told me recently that, when they came, he would often overhear me singing along to the radio in my car or other embarrassing things like that.
Thank goodness for cell phones, so you don't have to dial those 11 digits each time you make a call. The only time-consuming part of the switchover, for me, was having to edit all of my contacts by adding an "801" to the first part of all applicable numbers.
In a recent post, I was a little hard on cell phones. Actually, I was hard on people who do stupid things with cell phones, particularly while they're trying (and I emphasize the word trying) to drive a car at the same time.
I recently upgraded my cell phone to a newer model (see the adjoining picture). It's so much nicer than the old phone, which was kind of like a brick with numbers on the side. True, the new phone is much-more likely to be stolen than the old one, but it also doesn't look like something that was unearthed along with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
One of the best features may be the fact that it is a phone with a flip-top, and that means no more accidentally calling my friend Adam three or four times per week as the phone rests in my pocket. Adam did nothing to deserve this other than the fact that his name was first alphabetically in my old contact list, and the phone went directly to him when it needed to make a phantom call.
Adam was a very good sport about these phone calls. He told me recently that, when they came, he would often overhear me singing along to the radio in my car or other embarrassing things like that.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Phoning It In
Today's Random Question Out of Nowhere is: What is the "big whoop" about cell phones, anyway?
Don't get me wrong. Cell phones are good things. I have one myself. It's practically an antique. It makes and takes phone calls . . . and that's about it. Maybe I'll take it on "Antiques Roadshow" one of these days and see what it's worth.
I know, I know. I'm living in the Dark Ages.
Nowadays, it seems that people are no longer content to have phones that simply make and take calls. There are phones that take photographs and video, have Internet access, have full-size keyboards for texting, and perform X-ray exams.
Okay, I was kidding about that last one. Probably.
I wouldn't be surprised if we were to soon see cell phones that have (or claim to have) the capacity to perform lie-detector tests, brew coffee, file tax returns, remote-detonate mines, conduct exploratory surgery, and so forth.
Like I said, cell phones can do a lot of great things. My problem with them is when they start to mean more to people than other people mean to people.
Just the other day, someone who was talking on a cell phone while driving performed a spectacular feat, cutting me off twice in a three-block radius.
I also had a date not all that long ago during which my date, who shall remain nameless, spent a large portion of the evening paying attention to her cell phone rather than to me. I don't consider too many things to be deal breakers on a date, but that is definitely one of them.
So, what are your thoughts? opinions?
If you text them to me, I'll break your arm.
Just kidding. Probably.
Don't get me wrong. Cell phones are good things. I have one myself. It's practically an antique. It makes and takes phone calls . . . and that's about it. Maybe I'll take it on "Antiques Roadshow" one of these days and see what it's worth.
I know, I know. I'm living in the Dark Ages.
Nowadays, it seems that people are no longer content to have phones that simply make and take calls. There are phones that take photographs and video, have Internet access, have full-size keyboards for texting, and perform X-ray exams.
Okay, I was kidding about that last one. Probably.
I wouldn't be surprised if we were to soon see cell phones that have (or claim to have) the capacity to perform lie-detector tests, brew coffee, file tax returns, remote-detonate mines, conduct exploratory surgery, and so forth.
Like I said, cell phones can do a lot of great things. My problem with them is when they start to mean more to people than other people mean to people.
Just the other day, someone who was talking on a cell phone while driving performed a spectacular feat, cutting me off twice in a three-block radius.
I also had a date not all that long ago during which my date, who shall remain nameless, spent a large portion of the evening paying attention to her cell phone rather than to me. I don't consider too many things to be deal breakers on a date, but that is definitely one of them.
So, what are your thoughts? opinions?
If you text them to me, I'll break your arm.
Just kidding. Probably.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Jumping Onto the Bandwagon
I have always had a hard time keeping up with technology.
My family didn't get a computer until my senior year of high school. Until then, I had to go to my friends' houses or stay after school to print out papers. I got my first CD burner only a few years ago thanks to my good friend, Pepe.
I didn't get my first cassette tape player until I was 11. (Good times, those.) And, after that, I didn't get my first CD player until the mid-'90s.
When I came home from my mission, everybody had and used the Internet. (It was completely non-existent before. Of course, I had been living in the third world for two years, so everything old seemed new again.)
I was the last person in my family to get a cell phone and, even then, it is one of the oldest models you can get.
Now that everybody and his dog has their own blog - yes, I have actually seen blog sites belonging to pets - I suppose it is time for me to give it a try.
Well, here goes.
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