Thank You, Steve Jobs

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Courtesy cdn.3-vox

There are two types of people in this world: Right brained and left brained. After a Google search I discovered that I’m right brained. I’m more creative (except when it comes to thinking of post topics) and verbal than logical. I would rather write than do math any day!

There is a reason “math” is a four letter word. Hearing the word brings my 33-year old brain back twenty years ago. I was in Miss Deubler’s eighth grade algebra class. She was a first-year teacher, which wasn’t hard to tell. She also thought algebra was the most important class on my schedule.

I agree that math is important. But why must the average person know how to solve for x in 50x – 4!? Isn’t that what iPhones and iPads are for? Okay, I admit that most people use math every day—counting change, etc. Simple math. What you learned in elementary school.

I guess my point is… Miss Deubler and every algebra teacher that told their students that that they’ll “need this some day”: The jig is up! As long as the good folks at Apple took (and remembered) algebra, I’m good. I give them permission to make algebra obsolete in my life.

 

Going, Going, Gone

You know how I feel about these one-word prompts. My disdain has forced me to start a Pinterest board entitled “Blog Prompts.” Luckily, I also have a couple books of them.

This post is in response to the prompt “Name some things we use every day that will be obsolete in twenty years.”

Paper books (they are heading that way, but in 20 years everyone will have a Kindle or Nook)

Brick-and-mortar book stores

The post office

Grocery stores (everything bought on Amazon)

Gas stations

Cars that drive themselves becoming the norm

Stoves controlled by humans (I bet the next thing will be that you tell a computer what you want and, working with the fridge, it whips it up)

I’m looking at Maggie and I bet there will be a device that walks dogs without a human.

Maybe movie theaters as home entertainment systems become more and more sophisticated.

Brick-and-mortar banks

It’s About More Than Hot Dogs and a Good Sale

Memorial Day kicks off the summer, unofficially. There will be trips to the beach, the smell of hot dogs on the grill, and tediously long lines at America’s airports. We sometimes forget the true meaning of Memorial Day: honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

I can’t imagine experiencing the horrors of war day in and day.

While it’s true most soldiers come home unscathed, sadly there are a lot that don’t. Whatever the cause, they face months in the hospital and extensive therapy to hopefully regain 50% of their pre-war selves. I just stumbled upon a charity that helps the post war veteran with a TBI or PTSD by providing adaptive technology, voice recognition laptops and personal GPS.

You (me included) remember the fallen soldier today, and that’s great. That’s what today’s all about. But what about the ones who’s lives will never be the same? In a way, haven’t they also made the ultimate sacrifice?

Please take a second and check out this link to Soldiers’ Angels, an organization that provides technology to one of the most deserving groups I can think of.

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A Soldiers’ Angels Chaplain Support Group making a donation. Courtesy Soldiers’ Angels

If You Can’t Beat It…

It’s quite interesting–or ironic: I loathe technology, but without it I wouldn’t be able to communicate. I do use social media (Facebook and Pinterest) and actually just before starting this, I sent a Facebook message to someone in Kenya!

I guess you could say all communication is texting, and yet I do not own a cell phone. How is that possible? you ask.

I speak through an iPad. Actually my iPad is pretty much my lifeline. I have an app that is a qwerty keyboard, I type and it speaks what I’ve typed, and when I’ve spoken a word it remembers and puts the word in the prediction box. (Dad has had fun with this feature. Sometimes I type something, and the next word the program thinks I want to say is a curse word!)

I’ve also got an app so I can operate my bedroom lights and ceiling fan from my iPad.

Okay, all technology isn’t bad; I just wish I could grasp it as fast new stuff comes out!

Imagine…

I might need one a little larger…

This year is barely three months old, yet the trends and news headlines are something that will be hard to forget. If I were to select items for a time capsule for future generations to open, it would have to include the following:

  • A hybrid car
  • A Kindle/Nook
  • A smartphone
  • DVDs or Blue Rays of 2015 Oscar winners, including “Birdman” and “American Sniper”
  • A DVR
  • Every People magazine since January 1st. It includes fashion, celebrity gossip, and pop culture.
  • A tablet with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Netflix apps
  • Newspapers from the past 96 days. Headlines would include the Harrison Ford plane crash yesterday and the American Sniper trial verdict.

Did I miss anything?

My great-great grandma came to Southern California from Kansas at the age of seven. She got to witness so much (she passed away the year I was born, 1983) in her long lifetime. She always said she didn’t think there was a more interesting time to be alive: from the covered wagon-era to a man walking on the moon!

At the rate things are changing now, imagine what we’ll see!

(Photo courtesy of Pixgood.com)