标签: cellphone

My friend Bob, whose office is next to mine, has a sister-in-law called Ellen. Ellen lives with her father just around the corner from Bob and his wife, Gail. Every now and then, Ellen comes to visit us in the office and helps us to sort ourselves out.   For example, I have a big bag of wires that I use for creating prototype Arduino projects on breadboards. Some of these are short, some are of medium length, and some are longer. Ellen helps me by sorting them into three piles and then putting them into separate bags. Unfortunately, I'm an old silly-billy, and they always seem to get mixed up again while I'm using them, so Ellen is always kind enough to re-sort them on her next visit.   It was Ellen's 41st birthday earlier this week, and Gina and I were invited to the party. You should have heard Ellen's squeal of delight when she opened the present from Gina and myself -- it was the entire season two of the old CHiPs TV program (a little bird told me that Ellen has a soft spot for Erik Estrada, who plays Officer Francis).   But the star of the show was the present from Bob and Gail -- an amazing "Secret Agent" type wearable cellphone called the GizmoPal , which was created by LG.   Ellen at her birthday party.   The GizmoPal fits securely around the wrist and is both durable and water resistant, which is a must when you consider who will be wearing it. In addition to playing fun sounds and speaking the current time, the GizmoPal allows its wearer to call two registered numbers, which you set up using a free iOS/Android app. These two registered numbers (along with an additional two approved contacts) can also call the GizmoPal.   If you are worried that your child won’t answer, you can set the auto-answer feature to prevent missed calls. But the real peace of mind comes from the fact that, using the GizmoPal app on your smartphone, you can see the GizmoPal’s location on a map, via GPS.     Even better, you can set the system up to update you with location notifications at scheduled times, such as when your child’s school bus typically arrives in the neighborhood.   I tell you, my mother would have loved for me to have something like this when I was a kid. Personally, I think this is "the greatest thing since sliced bread," as they used to say.

This is might come out a tad cynical, but we continue to marvel at how much texting young people seem to do these days. It's almost like they are oblivious to the world around them. However, there is one advantage as you will see when you reach the bottom... Having coffee with friends .   A day at the beach.   Cheering on your team.     Having dinner out with your friends.   Out on an intimate date.   Having a conversation with your BFF .   A visit to the museum .   Enjoying the sights .   Nuff said?   Of course, one of the benefits of all this texting is that innocent bystanders (people sitting at the next restaurant table, people sitting in the next bus seat etc.) don't have to listen to these young people's inane telephone conversations anymore! So it's true—every cloud does have a silver lining :-)  

I got an email from David Ashton—the hero in Australia who fixed my DIY Geiger counter and made it count. David asked if I had heard of the This Is True newsletter which – he tells me – combines some thought provoking articles with a "Good Laugh" . He also says that there's a free version (I like free) and a paid one that has twice the number of stories. I just bounced over there and signed up for the free subscription to "dip my toes in the water" as it were. This does look interesting. On their front page they say that they focus on strange-but-true stories like the following: * A man who sued his doctor because he survived his cancer longer than the doctor predicted. * Two robbers who were in the process of their crime when one changed his mind and arrested the other. * A woman who had her husband's ashes made into an egg timer when he died so he could still "help" in the kitchen. * The fact that only 68 of 200 Anglican priests polled could name all Ten Commandments, but half said they believed in space aliens. Hmmm, maybe I'm a closet Anglican priest (I'll have to ask my mom) because this pretty much describes me. Actually, that reminds me of a joke.... One night a cat is prowling around outside the house in which it lives when it hears a rustling in the bushes.v The cat pounces and grabs something in the dark and a fight ensues. Eventually the cat wins and drags its catch out into the moonlight, where he discovers he's captured a little man-shaped creature dressed in brightly colored clothes. "What sort of creature are you?" asks the cat. "I'm a gnome," replies the creature. "A gnome?" says the cat. "What does a gnome do?" "Well," says the gnome, "I sneak into the house at night and pee in the corners and do other unmentionable things; I play with precious objects and break them; I eat things I shouldn't; and I sing raucous songs loudly and out of tune in the middle of the night and wake everyone up." The gnome continues by asking "And what sort of creature are you?" The cat ponders for a moment and then says "Well, based on your description of what you do, I think I must be a gnome too!" Hey, I didn't say it was going to be a good joke (grin). But we digress... One of the stories David found on the This Is True site was a link to an article about some gadgets from Star Trek that have come into existence ( Click here to see this article). Some of these really do make you think; for example, the "flip-open communicators" that were later emulated by clam-shell cellphones. Or what about the communications earpiece sported by Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, which is eerily like a modern Bluetooth earpiece (I still find it strange when someone walking past me in the supermarket suddenly commences a conversation with an "invisible friend" ). Or how about the fact that, in Star Trek: The Next Generation , crew members used flat, touch-based panels that are uncannily reminiscent of today's iPads. In fact, I just discovered that there is an Official Star Trek PADD (Personal Access Display Device) app for the iPad that "Immerses fans in a rich interactive database of Star Trek information and images with an authentic reproduction of the LCARS style interface introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series" ( Click here to see more details)     Reading this article reminded me that there used to be a company called Time Domain based in Huntsville, Alabama (where I currently "hang my hat" and call home – I moved here for the nightlife ). Unfortunately they went out of business some time ago, but they were working on a handheld device (reminiscent of a Star Trek Tricorder) that used some interesting technology to "see through walls". That is, you could detect whether or not a human was on the other side of a wall and his/her location, which would be very useful for firefighters and soldiers and suchlike. Truth to tell, I hadn't given this much thought before, but now it's been brought to my attention, the next time I watch some of the earlier Star Trek episodes I shall try to pay attention to the artifacts that seemed so "far-future" then and yet seem so "ho hum" now...  

Celebrities are everywhere, and our society is obsessed with them. Increasingly, the "media" (TV, print, web sites, blogs, you name it) saturates us with breathless news coverage of what they are doing, where they are doing it, with and to whom, and more. Many of these celebrities have no actual accomplishment and are famous mostly for being famous: remind me, what is the actual skill or talent of Paris Hilton, to pick just one name?   And while I don't have a problem with a little entertainment and diversion from the daily grind, this over-the-top celebrity focus and infatuation has, IMO, had one very big negative: there is almost no attention, let alone acknowledgments or accolades, given to those engineers, scientists, technicians, and mechanics who really create value and all the products and advances that society now takes as normal. In fact, society now expect miraculous technology as a "given" and are largely unappreciative of it.   So, what can be done to enhance the stature of engineers? Some suggestions we've heard over the years include engineering-oriented TV shows, for example, and that's not a bad idea. But it's not likely to happen. Nor will we likely see highly publicized scientific, technical, and student-oriented award ceremonies to replace one or more of the endless parade of movie and music we get, but starting with the Intel Science Talent Search would be a good place to start, as would be the FIRST robotics competition, or the Texas Instruments Engibous Competition for university students.   But I have a smaller idea that might be a way to start. I notice that many celebrity entertainers have just one name. No, I don't mean those who have two names, but are called only by their first (examples: Angelina, Britney). I mean those who have adopted a single name as their trademark; think Bono, Pink, Cher, Madonna, and Seal, just to cite a few at random.   Maybe what we need to do is get a few engineers and scientists, with accomplishments which are understandable to the general public ("invented the cellphone"), give them a catchy one-word name, and promote them using that. The name could either be something techno-sounding ("folks, here he is: Parity!") or could just be something which has a little snap to it ("here's Centric").   I know it's a small idea, but maybe such one-word names are part of what we need to raise the visibility and eventually the stature of those who actually make our taken-for-granted technology. It wouldn't cost much to try, and it's in alignment with the fast-moving, short-attention world our potential audience lives in and breathes.   After all, it's all about the brand and marketing it, right? It's not enough recognize our accomplishments to each other at internal events, such as the Embedded Systems Conference; we need to have the pieces it takes to get into the big leagues.   What do you think? What might be some good names? And who might be candidates for celebrity engineers to go with them?   I welcome your suggestions.

Celebrities are everywhere, and our society is obsessed with them. Increasingly, the "media" (TV, print, web sites, blogs, you name it) saturates us with breathless news coverage of what they are doing, where they are doing it, with and to whom, and more. Many of these celebrities have no actual accomplishment and are famous mostly for being famous: remind me, what is the actual skill or talent of Paris Hilton, to pick just one name?   And while I don't have a problem with a little entertainment and diversion from the daily grind, this over-the-top celebrity focus and infatuation has, IMO, had one very big negative: there is almost no attention, let alone acknowledgments or accolades, given to those engineers, scientists, technicians, and mechanics who really create value and all the products and advances that society now takes as normal. In fact, society now expect miraculous technology as a "given" and are largely unappreciative of it.   So, what can be done to enhance the stature of engineers? Some suggestions we've heard over the years include engineering-oriented TV shows, for example, and that's not a bad idea. But it's not likely to happen. Nor will we likely see highly publicized scientific, technical, and student-oriented award ceremonies to replace one or more of the endless parade of movie and music we get, but starting with the Intel Science Talent Search would be a good place to start, as would be the FIRST robotics competition, or the Texas Instruments Engibous Competition for university students.   But I have a smaller idea that might be a way to start. I notice that many celebrity entertainers have just one name. No, I don't mean those who have two names, but are called only by their first (examples: Angelina, Britney). I mean those who have adopted a single name as their trademark; think Bono, Pink, Cher, Madonna, and Seal, just to cite a few at random.   Maybe what we need to do is get a few engineers and scientists, with accomplishments which are understandable to the general public ("invented the cellphone"), give them a catchy one-word name, and promote them using that. The name could either be something techno-sounding ("folks, here he is: Parity!") or could just be something which has a little snap to it ("here's Centric").   I know it's a small idea, but maybe such one-word names are part of what we need to raise the visibility and eventually the stature of those who actually make our taken-for-granted technology. It wouldn't cost much to try, and it's in alignment with the fast-moving, short-attention world our potential audience lives in and breathes.   After all, it's all about the brand and marketing it, right? It's not enough recognize our accomplishments to each other at internal events, such as the Embedded Systems Conference; we need to have the pieces it takes to get into the big leagues.   What do you think? What might be some good names? And who might be candidates for celebrity engineers to go with them?   I welcome your suggestions.