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Technology: 1993 vs 2013 – Amazing!

May 9, 2013 in gratitude, technology, thankfulness with 4 Comments

via Twisted Sifter

How easily we forget how amazingly easy our technology has made our lives.

Having been there and done that in the 1993 version and traveled consistently with 6 of the 8 items, let me just say something.

Sometimes we forget to be thankful for what we have.

We get frustrated with sometimes not being able to connect immediately to the internet from our mobile phone. We grumble when we are out in the middle of nowhere in our car and can’t get signal to text someone. We get upset when we have been trying to call someone’s mobile and they won’t pick up, even though they are in a meeting or church or having family time.

We forget that the only form of instant personal communication used to be face to face or a phone call.

When you think about it, 1993 doesn’t even remotely resemble 2013 – except for this… people are still people and we still forget how amazing it is to live in the day in which we live.

I’m renewing my commitment to living a thankful and grateful life. I’ve got it good and I know it.

Has this picture/post caused you to re-think something? What is it?

Amazing Dubstep Christmas Lights!

December 24, 2012 in Christmas, technology, video with 0 Comments

video link for mobile devices

Dubstep + Christmas lights… yep. I can’t even imagine all of the time spent planning, programming and setting up this amazing light display.

What’s the best home Christmas display you’ve seen? Is there a link you can share with us?

WiFi Donkeys?

November 5, 2012 in technology with 1 Comment

WiFi Donkeys? Apparently so, according to mashable.com:

“A biblical park tourist attraction in Israel has fused together the ancient and online worlds by equipping its donkeys with wireless routers. Visitors to the park dress in authentic biblical robes and ride the donkeys to see and imagine what life was like centuries ago. Now, thanks to the Wi-Fi-enabled animals, those visitors can instantaneously share with friends what Old Testament times were like via tweet, Instagram photo or Facebook wall post. The donkeys wear the routers around their necks.”

Instantly sharing what Old Testament times were like through social media… you can’t make this stuff up, friends.

Bonus Video:

For the rest of the story at Mashable, click here.

Robot Helicopters Play James Bond Theme

April 2, 2012 in Inspiration, technology, video with 8 Comments

Video link for mobile devices

These flying “quadrotors” are completely autonomous – humans are not controlling them. They’re controlled by a computer programed with instructions to play the instruments.

The video of these “musical” helicopters, from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, premiered at TED2012 on February 29, 2012.

I’m not going to even pretend to understand how all this works. I just think it’s cool that it’s possible. It inspired me.

Hope you enjoy it!

History: The Price of a Gigabyte

April 13, 2011 in general, technology with 0 Comments

Computer Memory Prices Per Gigabyte:

1981 — $300,000

1987 — $50,000

1990 — $10,000

1994 — $1000

1997 — $100

2000 — $10

2004 — $1

2010 — $0.10

1984: I Remember

March 30, 2011 in apple, technology with 8 Comments

I not gonna lie, George Orwell scared me. When I read 1984 as a young teenager, I could see the year rapidly approaching in my view. The world he wrote about seemed so hellish. My generation was fascinated by technological advance, but would it be our undoing? Boyish minds couldn’t help but wonder. Well, MY boyish mind wondered.

Fast forward to the actual 1984. There was indeed a revolution, but it came out of Cupertino, California, and was introduced to us with this commercial:

Yes, please. I was in. I joined the revolution, the rebellion. That was the year I became a Mac. My machine was a rebel, too: a Mac 128 (that’s 128k.) It was a hot rod with, count em, two floppy drives.Hard drive? Pshhh. Who would ever need a hard drive? This machine was beastly and so was I for having it. It looked just like this one:

It’s almost laughable now. I’m wondering what I actually did with it.

It was just a short time until I bought a hard drive. 20MB. It was gigantic. How would I ever fill it up? Several machines later came digital audio editing, and I needed a 1GB drive. I paid $1000 for that drive. Seriously. I have had many of the latest and greatest machines since 1984, including a new iPad 2^nd generation this past week. Each one changed something amazing, bit I am hard pressed to even remember what right now.

I guess that’s not the point – the point is that I was part of the movement.

I still am.

Technology is great… when it works

March 29, 2011 in apple iphone 4, AppleIphone4, technology, thankfulness with 0 Comments

I’ll admit it. I’ve gotten spoiled.

I wrote last week about my amazing adventure with iTunes and my iPhone no longer syncing with each other. That was a pretty big frustration. Never mind the fact that all of my music library, which used to take up an entire wall in a house, fits on a portable device. Never mind that my phone now works, without wires, pretty much anywhere in the world. Oh, and also never mind that it fits in my pocket and connects to the internet.

What I didn’t write about last week was the Sunday night adventure with the washing machine (RIP.) It all started with a loud slam, followed by a banshee-like screech that kept going on and on. Think “world’s most annoying sound” from Dumb and Dumber, only louder and even more annoying. It turns out the washing machine tub dropped about 2 inches and the motor seized up mid-wash cycle – wet, heavy, soapy clothes and water still in it. We managed to get the machine to drain and I rinsed the clothes in the bathtub. That’s right, the bathtub.

All I could think to tweet was:

“And just like that, we are washing clothes pioneer style.”

Wow. Frustrating. Again.

The same weekend as the computer and iPhone thing? Really?

Never mind that the washing machine is an amazing invention. Never mind that we are blessed enough to own one. And especially never mind that even the pioneer-style rinse method in the bathtub included indoor plumbing and clean, running water.

All I could think to do was cry or complain or say bad words. Oh right. You’ve never been there??? Please…

And then I came to myself. I’m a jerk. I have so much to be thankful for, and I forgot to be thankful.

I just plain forgot.

It turns out I was the guy being talked about in this video clip:

Lord, forgive me for being so arrogant and entitled. You are good to me. Far better than I deserve.

Now?

I choose to be thankful. I’m so blessed to live in this amazing country and in this amazing generation.

You?

Selah.

At War With iTunes 10.2.1.1

March 22, 2011 in apple, Apple iPhone, technology with 6 Comments

It all started innocently. Saturday was a lazy morning – the perfect time to sync my iPhone and update the many apps that had newer versions. It should only take about five minutes, right? Not so much. When all is right with the world, an iPhone update is painless – just as easy as charging it, really.

Not this day. Apparently, all was not right with the world… at least Apple world. Well, MY Apple world anyway.

I recently updated iTunes to the Windows 64bit version of 10.2.1.1 – the latest and greatest (the latter remains to be seen.) I connected my phone. “Loading drivers for your hardware.” Good sign. “There was a problem loading your drivers. They may be missing or corrupted.” Not a good sign. No chirp. No iTunes opening up. Hmmm. Yep, the cord is connected. I know, I’ll disconnect and reconnect it. In “rinse, lather, repeat” fashion, again and again I connected and disconnected. No chirp, no iTunes. Not even once.

Then the reality set in. If I can’t sync my iPhone, my on-the-way iPad2 won’t sync, either. Yikes.

After hours of reading apple.com documents and discussions followed by amateur troubleshooting, decided to call Apple. The first “advisor” was very kind and helpful, and after putting me on hold, connected me with her supervisor, Josh. Also very helpful and kind, it became obvious that he was some kind of Apple ninja walking me through all kinds of steps, including uninstalling Norton Internet Security and repeatedly uninstalling and installing iTunes in different ways. Over two hours later we had done everything Josh could think to do.

Josh said it. “Why don’t we give this a break. Let me talk to my colleagues and do some research. I’ll call you tomorrow at 3:00pm.”

Noooooooo.

Computer broken. Stripped of software. Over two hours with Apple’s finest has left me high and dry. I worked on it the rest of the day and night, and finally restored my computer to its blissful working state from several weeks previous (thanks to a cloned backup.) I was back up and running with an older version of iTunes and synced my iPhone flawlessly. Apps updated and feeling productive – that’s a perfect place to end the day.

Fast forward.

Sunday – 3:00pm. It’s Josh. Josh from Apple. He really called – and on time, too. Apple ninja is now Apple keeping his word hero. He says he managed to find an obscure discussion thread with a confirmed solution to the problem. After we hung up, I uninstalled old working iTunes and installed new, mean iTunes. Same problem.

I rebooted and followed Josh’s directions to the letter.

BAM! It worked! Josh found me a fix for my problem!!!

Josh not only helped me fix my problem, he restored my faith in customer service. He went above and beyond to help me and in the process made his company even more amazing in my eyes. Apple came through because Josh came through. I hope they know he’s amazing.

By the way, this was the solution:

Delete the 2 Apple Mobile Device USB Driver files. If you right click on the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver in Device Manager and select properties it will tell you where they are located in the windows folder. My 2 files for windows 7 64 bit were:

usbaapl64.sys

usbaaplrc.dll

With iPhone disconnected, restart computer and press F8 to enter boot menu.

Select boot option without digital driver signature support.

After boot, connect ipod and driver should automatically install correctly without error.

Leadership Lessons From Vancouver (part three)

February 17, 2010 in leadership, production, technology with 0 Comments

This is day 3 of 3 days of studying leadership lessons from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics opening ceremonies.

Here are #7-9 of those nine important leadership lessons:

7. Technology Is Both Friend And Foe
DAE is to be applauded for their cutting edge use of technology. The production included using projectors to “paint” the floor with moving land and seascapes, re-configurable scrims taking on different shapes, LED screens and 3-dimensional oversized “props.” Awe-inspiring. Everything worked flawlessly.

Until…

It was time to light the cauldron in the big finale. The pinnacle of the production quickly became the Achilles heel. The 4th arm wouldn’t work. They waited while the crew panicked to get it operational. And then they waited some more. Nope. It wouldn’t budge. Its official: machines will never take over the world.

Our lesson: when it comes to technology, always have a back-up plan. AND…

8. Be Ready To Improvise
Four torches, four key athletes… only 3 places available to light. Better make a decision quick. Have 2 athletes both light the same arm.

Maybe you will never have to face the pressure of your presentation going live around the world. Even still, things don’t always go like you plan. You always need to be ready to improvise. Always.

9. Compare Apples To Apples
As great as the Vancouver production was, it was inevitable that it would be compared to Beijing. However, the budgets for the two were not even in the same universe -$40 million in Vancouver vs. $300 million in Beijing. Vancouver used 4,000 total event volunteers vs. Beijing’s 15,000 people devoted full-time to practicing for a performance. Again, it was a different universe.

Compared to Beijing, DAE was actually charged to create a “more intimate, theatrical and more emotionally engaging” production with a fraction of the resources. They did it.

We should only compare apples to apples – projects of like size and scope. Anything else is belittling and unfair to the amazingly talented people who work so hard to accomplish the goals at hand.