Au Revoir Steve

Delicious Library

If you own a Mac (sorry PC users your out of luck as there is no PC version), you may want to check out this great little program called Delicious Library 2. Using your built in iSight camera as a bar reader, it can scan the UPC codes on any book and automatically enter it into your personal library. Besides the surprising fun of simply scanning and adding books, I find the program to be useful for several reasons:

1. You can in not only books but DVD's, music, toys, video games, tools, etc.
2. Want to borrow out a cool book to a friend? Easy, you can do it just like a real library. I wish I had stumbled on this years ago as I have so many outstanding books (with no way to track them) that it's not even funny!
3. You can make a back up of your library (great for insurance purposes) or post it to the internet for others to take a look at.
4. You can look at your library as a list, or in a bookshelf mode that is pleasing the eye.
5. For older or rare books you can input the book info manually and even take a picture of it.

I really love this program as scanning and looking at all of my books made me aware of (and interested in) some old books that I had forgotten I had. I'm thinking next year I'll make it a goal to read mostly books from my own collection (over 300 books). Anyway, thought I'd highlight this great little program (available for $39 on the Mac App Store) or from the Delicious Monster website.

The Times, They Are A Changing

I would consider myself an avid reader. Today for instance, it felt like Christmas as I unpacked my latest order from Amazon. Ah, the look and smell of new and unopened books - tis a beautiful thing! Reading is not only about the words written but is tactile and sensuous experience to me. It is like going to the movies - sure I can rent the same movie for $1.50 at Shell and watch from my couch but it's not the same experience as going to the theater. The experience is the thing.

I read in July that for the first time ever at Amazon, digital downloads of books (books designed to be viewed on an e-reader like the Kindle or the iPad) surpassed hardcover sales. News that downloaded kindle books has overtaken its hardcover brethren hit me like a kick in the teeth. According to the press release, 143 Kindle books have been sold for every 100 hardcovers in the past three months. Wow, consider me shocked.

I admit that I had watched the emergence of e-readers with bemused snobbery. I can understand that for a few people, reading a book from a screen might be appealing, but certainly not for the mainstream. How could the majority of people prefer digital to real books? Impossible!

Well, the impossible has come true. Within a year or two many expect that digital book sales in the U.S. will eclipse softcover and hardcover sales combined. Thus, the most popular medium for the printed word for over 500 years (the printed page) is about to become . . . a relic. Libraries will change as we know them. How we read will change. Everything will change. People such as myself with our book collections will be looked on as quaint and hopefully interesting. Alas! I usually embrace new technology but the eventual supplanting of printed books by digital books saddens me deeply. Yet already I feel my resolve weakening! After all, it would be kind of nice to carry my whole book collection with me all the time. And it would save them from cutting down trees. Maybe I wouldn't miss the feel of turning pages too much. Sigh. I can actually forsee myself getting a Kindle (or an iPad). It's only a matter of time . . .

Segway meets Tank

You just knew someone had to think of trying this, but the actual result is quite impressive:



With a 200 cc engine and a top speed of 30mph I hope someone somewhere buys some of these and starts renting them out to wannabe daredevils such as myself to play around on . . .

Watch This!

In one of my counselling sessions recently a clients mentioned that they went camping and because they didn't have their phone they didn't know what time it was. This made me think; how many people use their cell phones as their watches? It also made me wonder; how many people actually wear watches anymore? Perhaps most people have stopped using them and I just didn't notice. I used to wear one all the time but after my last one broke I didn't fix it or replace it. Now I look at wall clocks and occasionally at my phone. I wonder if maybe watches as a technology are obsolete -fading into the history of clothing items that have outlived their usefullness (or have been replaced by new technology)

So here's my question: Do you wear a watch or do you use your phone to find out what time it is? Or perhaps somethings else?

Furniture Genius

Very innovative!

Flying Hovercraft

Rudy Heeman is an inventive museum mechanic who threw this flying hovercraft together in his free time. I have always loved hovercraft, I so much want one of these!

Bloom Box

Bloom Energy is working on fuel cells, the kind that might end up in your home. Think it will work? Check out this 60 minutes feature on this up and coming technology:


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Thoughts On The Apple iPad

Yesterday my friend Keith asked me for my thoughts on the recently announced Apple iPad. If you haven't heard about it yet, here is a promo video for it:



Essentially it is a portable internet tablet that Apple is releasing in two months, starting at $499 USD. Apple is of course saying it is magic and is very excited about it. Yet most of the reviewers I have heard are disappointed at the least and think it's not impressive at the worst. My thoughts?

I too was disappointed. And it's not just the, ahem, unfortunate name. The rumor mill was going wild and I think that I was expecting more. Built in phone, camera, GPS, etc. Essentially it is just a bigger iPod touch with a slick new operating system. I have seen Apple make a few blunders before and although rare, it's possible that this is also one. But I think it will be at least modestly successful. What makes me think that? It's because there is room to grow.

Once this tablet has:
-a camera or video camera
-built in phone capabilities
-a lower price

then I think Apple will sell a lot of them. Right now everyone is complaining but once the price lowers it will be much more compelling. It's not for everyone but it will be right for some. And so I think it will do at least OK commercially and possibly (in an updated and more price aggressive form) do very well. It may also evolve into something else, something with a more tasteful name. So there you go, there's my predictions. What yours?

Why I'm Not On Facebook

Ikea Tech Secret

Ever wonder how IKEA makes their furniture sturdy yet so light? National Geographic went inside an IKEA factory in Poland to find out. The secret is the honeycomb skeleton inside their tabletops:

The Art of Eating . . . In Space

Sometimes when I watch my daughter Trinity eat stuff, I can't stand it. She drops things, smears them on herself, puts her fingers in her food. I can feel my blood pressure rising the longer I watch! But compared to what astronauts have to go through, I guess I can learn to handle it. At least she's not eating in zero gravity. Check out this video about what it's like to eat in space. If you want more info about the evolution of eating in space, check out this article from Neatorama. Interesting stuff! I'm scared to ask what going to the bathroom in space looks like . . .

The Power of Pee

According to this story, urine may be an ideal power source for hydrogen powered cars. Yay science! Also, in case that idea does not totally gross you out/inspire you, how about pee powered batteries?

Miracle Liquid

It's a kitchen degreaser. It's a window cleaner. It kills athlete's foot, anthrax spores, and disinfects your lettuce. Oh, and you can drink it. This is an absolutely revolutionary idea:



Amazing. Check out an more in depth article on the benefits of electrolyzed water here.

Are You SURE That's Decaf?

Now you can know for sure. This product fits solidly under the "great idea" category:


D-Caf - Caffeine test strips


As a former server I can tell you that mistakes occasionally are made when it comes to coffee (and especially if you are rude to your server!) and the ability to know for sure that what you have is decaf could save you a decent night's sleep. Of course as a coffee abstainer I feel I must point out that the easiest way to avoid this unpleasantness is to just avoid coffee altogether, but hey, I'm in the minority out there and I accept this. If interested, you can buy the product here.

Forget Hybrids, Prepare . . . For Air.

This blog is about things I find interesting and sometimes someone has a great idea that is worth noting. One such idea is this: what if a car could run on compressed air instead of oil-based fuels? What would be the benefits? Here are some:

1. Costs way less to get around
2. Better for the environment.
3. Less initial cost for the vehicle itself.



Air cars are something you may not have heard about, but you will soon. The first ones are said to be introduced into the U.S. in 2009 or 2010. MDI, a French company has been working on perfecting compressed air engines for automobiles since the 90's and has several working prototypes. More impressively they have signed a deal to produce cars with Tata Motors, one of India's biggest automotive corporations to begin producing cars very soon.



The cars still have various engineering issues to work out but are looking rather impressive. Will this be the end of the gasoline engine? I don't think so, at least not completely. It does mean however a much more ecologically sound means of transportation will eventually take much of the marketshare away from gas powered cars, especially as the technology improves and becomes mainstream. My next car won't be air powered, and probably not the one after that. But the one after that most likely will be. Yours may be too.

May Light increase!

Cool Idea: Dissapearing Car Doors

This is such an incredibly great idea, I am stunned. Kudos to whoever thought outside the box on this one.

May Light increase!

Space Diving

Bungee jumping, sky diving, and cliff diving a little too tame for you? Maybe you need to take it up a notch. Check out the future of extreme sports: space diving. Popular Mechanics has posted a story about this Intriguing idea which is in development. I've posted the start of the article below:

Scenario 1: Sport
Sixty miles up, you sit in a chair on the open deck of a small rocket, admiring the stars above, the Earth far, far below. The vacuum beyond your visor is cold, but it would boil your blood if your pressure suit failed. You give your parachute straps a reassuring pat. It’s utterly silent. Just you and your fragile body, hovering alone above the Earth. “Space Diver One, you are go,” crackles a voice in your ear, and you undo your harness and stand up. There’s nothing for it now: You paid a lot of money for this.

You breathe deeply and leap, somersaulting into the void. The mother planet is gorgeous from up here. You barely perceive that it’s rushing up toward you, and your body relaxes. You streak into the atmosphere at 2,500 miles an hour, faster than anyone’s ever gone without a vehicle. The sky lightens, the stars disappear behind the blue, and a violent buffeting begins. You deploy your drogue chute for stability; an uncontrolled spin in this thin air would rip you apart. The thick lower atmosphere slows you to 120 mph—terminal velocity. After a thrilling seven-minute plummet, you pull your main chute at 3,000 feet, hands shaking, and glide in for landing. A mile away, your rocket retro-thrusts its way gently to the ground.

Scenario 2: Safety
Sixty miles up, you float easily in the cabin of a small rocket, admiring the stars above, the Earth far, far below. Suddenly, alarms sound. Space debris has pierced the ship, and it begins to break apart. In seconds, the air is gone. It’s utterly silent. Pain gathers in your face. Your tongue and eyes seem to be boiling. The captain rushes over and flips down your visor, and you feel better. Then he screams “Go!” over the radio, and pushes you toward the door. There’s nothing for it now: You don’t want to die.

You close your eyes and leap, tumbling into the abyss. The curved horizon spins wildly. You let out a scream of terror as it rushes up toward you, and then you black out. Minutes later, a sudden jerk wakes you. This must be death, you think—your flesh meeting Earth at horrible speeds. But it’s the tug of your chute deploying at 3,000 feet. You realize you’re going to be all right. You glide in, touch down, and collapse in convulsions, traumatized. Through your tears you see your friends nearby, similarly undone but alive. You spot smoke on the horizon where, a mile away, your ship returned to the ground in an angry hail of twisted metal.

For sport or safety, hurtling to Earth from space without the protective shroud of a heavily engineered space vehicle seems like sheer lunacy—a hellish descent punctuated by intense heat and terminal, well . . . splatter. But believe it or not, the physics actually works out. With a heat-resistant space suit and the right kind of chutes, such a daredevil plunge should indeed be possible. And with the right people involved, it edges into the realm of the probable. . .

May Light increase!

Solid State Aircraft

If you can get past the urge to punch the nerdy narrator (trust me, this urge will be strong), take a look at this interesting concept for solid state solar powered aircraft. To me, solar energy is really the only energy solution that is really "green." Lately as gas prices have been rising I've been more and more conscious of my environmental footprint. Does anyone else out there experience energy consumption guilt?
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Prius Worse For Environment Then Hummer

Know any eco-friendly people who own a Toyota Prius hybrid? Want to humble them a bit? This article is a fascinating example of how things are not always as they seem. As a person who wants to take care of the world that's been given us, I think we need to look at the big picture. This article is a great start.

May Light increase!