Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

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Google+


20 Jul

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Posted in blogging, Technology, Writing | Comments Off

It’s apparently the time of trying new things here. In addition to switching to Google docs for the writing I do on my laptop and preparing to dump cable, I’ve also created a Google+ account. I won’t dump FaceBook, but I like some of the features of Google+.

My only real problem is that Google+ won’t allow a gmail address to be a secondary address on your account. That means I can’t combine my personal account (with my 15+ year old hotmail account) to my blogging account. Maybe this will require me to create a unique blogging Google+ account. Pondering.

A New Word Processor


18 Jul

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Posted in Software, Technology, Writing | Comments Off

I removed Open Office from my laptop because it’s just too big for the processing power of my $300, three year old, barely meets the specs for its Vista OS laptop. But that means that I need to find a new way to work on my fiction when I go to critique group. So, I’m giving Google docs a try.

This morning was the first time I’d gotten into Google docs since I uploaded the pieces there. After some confusion about which account they were in and then a computer crash, I was able to view and edit my documents.

Game Review: Gardens of Time


14 Jul

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Posted in Games, Technology | 1 Comment »

I have mentioned my love of casual games before, especially my addiction to all forms of Bejeweled. I also happen to love hidden picture games, and while I have never bought one, I download the free demos all the time. Just like it has Bejeweled Blitz, Facebook now has hidden picture games. There are two. Only Gardens of Time is worth playing.

It combines game play (hidden pictures), building your own garden, a need for friends, progression, and achievements- pretty much everything you need for a successful Facebook game. Definitely something to check out if you like hidden picture games.

Rock Band


13 Jul

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Posted in Games, Music, Technology | Comments Off

We recently bought Rock Band 3. We’ve been enjoying it so much, we bought the keyboard for it. Now I have to wait for it to arrive via UPS. But I am very excited. I figure I may even be able to play on hard on keyboard, since I actually know how to play a keyboard.

We also ordered Lego Rock Band, and I’m excited for that to arrive, too. Tons of great songs (including The Final Countdown by Europe). Almost all of our entertainment dollars this summer have gone to Rock Band. I’m not complaining. It’s entertainment that lasts.

Goodbye to the Space Shuttles


09 Jul

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Posted in Politics, Science, Technology | 2 Comments »

Friday marked the end of an era- the last launch of a space shuttle. I grew up watching shuttle launches on the Today Show while my family ate breakfast. I grew up in the era of Space Camp (the movie) and the Challenger explosion. These are important memories in my childhood, and it saddens me that similar new memories are not being made.

NASA still has plans. There is still the international space station, and we are getting closer every year to civilian space flights. But there will be no more space shuttles, at least not for the foreseeable future.

Volunteer from Home


21 May

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Posted in Technology | 2 Comments »

I love the new micro trends– micro-fiction, micro-payments, micro-lending and micro-volunteering. Micro-volunteering used to be running SETI@Home, or similar programs that used your computers power while you weren’t. I signed up for it early on and still love the concept.

Now, though, micro-volunteering has taken the next step with Sparked.com. At Sparked, you sign up indicating your interests and skills, then you look for challenges posted by charities- places where they need your help. A challenge takes a couple hours max.

No matter how busy you are, how hard is it to volunteer from the comfort of your computer chair?

MythBusters (ep 166)


19 May

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Posted in Mythbusters, Science, Technology, Television | Comments Off

I love tire spikes. However, I thought the point of spy car spikes was that they were concealable (not realistic, I know) and there’s no way Jamie’s spikes could have been hidden.

I liked that the stationary gun was confirmed. I’d bet that if Adam had a second round with it, one where he was already familiar with how it worked, he could get results very similar to the aimed gun.

 10 degrees is not that cold. You’re above 0. I did feel bad about the blizzard. But I loved that the spinning bullet was confirmed under the correct conditions.

Mythbusters (ep 161)


14 Apr

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Posted in Mythbusters, Science, Technology, Television | Comments Off

All I have to say about “blue ice” is that if enough is going mechanically wrong on a plane for some to fall, the airline is actually going to have more worries than the off chance that the blue ice kills someone or causes significant property damage.

Methane and fire do not mix. Even if you do not get the Bourne explosion, the combo melts your house. MELTS YOUR HOUSE. The methane made everything flammable. The flowers didn’t so much turn to ash as melt. It looked like a scene out of Backdraft. Definitely DO NOT try this at home.

Computer Nostalgia


09 Apr

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Our first computer came from my uncle, when he bought a newer one for his business. I remember it being more like an Atari with a keyboard than anything else, as we hooked it up to the family room TV.

When we finally bought a computer, it was an Apple II GS, which my father used for almost 20 years (honestly).

The Commodore 64 I played on belonged to my best friend, so I don’t have as much nostalgia for it as some, but I certainly know plenty of people who will want to own the new retro Commodore 64.

Atlantis Discovered?


15 Mar

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Posted in International Politics, Politics, Science, Technology, Travel, Weather | Comments Off

It was thought Troy was just a legend until Heinrich Schliemann paid for a dig in the late 1860s. While we don’t know if the Trojan War actually happened, we do know that Troy was real.

Now, researchers believe they have found the fabled lost city of Atlantis- in Spain. As with Troy, the only mention of the city was in ancient Greek writings, but it may be time to remove “fabled” from the description. Buried under centuries of mud in the marshlands north of Cadiz, there’s a city that was wiped out by a tsunami. Have we found Atlantis?

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