Technology is as Technology Does

January 8, 2014January 7, 2014 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

Wednesday is upon us again. It seems like life is running quicker than I can keep up. I was minding my own business last Wednesday, enjoying a peaceful New Year’s day and I began to ruminate. (my wife says I do that a lot and no it’s not chewing grass) I was thinking on how life seems to change quickly and some of these changes go unnoticed until they smack you in the face. It’s sort of like going up to the McDonald’s counter expecting to order a quarter pounder with cheese only to see a full half pounder on the menu board instead. I’m not saying MacDonald’s has done this, but as you can imagine it would be a surprise. I guess I am trying to explain the surprises of life that catch you with your feet flat. Let me go to some real examples. Here are some of the break through items for 2014. These are taken from MIT Technology Review publication. You can go there for a lot more detail, but let me summarize:

Giant touch screens made possible by new films that will allow large size and flexibility of the screen. This will allow touch screens to be built with lighter more flexible plastic instead of glass
A deep learning chip which will help computers understand images. This could lead to cell phones being able to be able to interpret what is on the screen
Google Glass will expand apps to make the head mounted camera more functional. (This one will leave me in the dust. Don’t need to be accused of being more ugly)
Solar powered cars. Okay I can see the advantage, but even if the techies work out a way to have the car in the sun enough to charge, what happens at night on a lonely road?
Nanosponges that act like red blood cells to fight infections. The sponge carries the medicine to the site. This could allow concentrated therapy for infections
3D camera which brings 3D to the laptop and iPad with a built-in camera from Intel. This was introduced at the CES show this past week

So if you are like me, as of ten o’clock last night I had never heard of this stuff and now it is upon us. If you want more information go HERE.

Midweek is as Midweek Does

November 6, 2013November 3, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 22 Comments

Wednesday has arrived once again. There is only a short time left if you need to get a ton of things done by Friday. The bright side says that Friday is viewable from Wednesday. One only has to cross the wasteland known as Thursday to make the golden appointment with the entryway to the weekend. The Golden Entryway to the weekend. I like the phrase as it describes Friday pretty nicely.

Since this is only Wednesday let’s not spent too much of Wednesday’s time on the merits of Friday. Wednesday has some really good points of its own. (It just occurred to me that I am making these days sound as if they are optional occurrences and I am working as an agent in trying to convince you to select them. Even though these days arrive and we are in no position to reject their arrival, I think it is productive to have some nice things to look forward to as they show up.) So here are some nice things about my old pal Wednesday:

No one gets fired on Wednesday. A particular pleasure of management is to reserve the surprise of the pink slip to Friday so that it can be fully enjoyed over the weekend.
When national holidays occur on Wednesday you can elect to tag on two other days in the beginning or after to make the whole thing worth Five days instead of one.
Bosses day usually falls on a Wednesday and gives you the opportunity to make a number of brownie points that will serve you well for the remainder of the year.
A number of bars and clubs have drink specials on Wednesday which can be a great excuse to celebrate the middle of the work week.
Administrative Assistant Day is on a Wednesday
in April of each year and gives you the opportunity to bribe thank your boss’s administrative assistant for all the wonderful and helpful things done for you.
The most DUI arrests take place on a Friday and the least on a Monday. Wednesday is right in the middle so your odds of avoiding a DUI arrest on Wednesday is very good. Your odds are really great if you don’t drink and drive.
Valentine’s day will not be on a Wednesday until sometime after 2016. This means you are safe on Wednesday if you tend to forget.

Can you think of any other good things for a Wednesday? If so why not share them. Here is hoping you have a good balance of the week

Hump Day is as Hump Day Does

September 18, 2013September 15, 2013 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

I don’t know if you have seen the commercial where the camel wanders around an office asking various workers, “What day is it?” Finally one of the staff mumbles, “its Hump Day.” The camel is very happy to be a visible part of what has become the second most important work day of the week. For those of you who defected to Red China during the Korean War and have just come back, let me make sure you know the meaning of Hump Day. Hump Day is the arrival of the day where one has survived two days of work which could be considered the uphill phase of the week. The downhill phase, being the last two days of the week; doesn’t start until Hump Day is over. For the folks who work a traditional Monday through Friday routine, Hump Day is Wednesday. For all others it is the day that separates the beginning of the work week from that downhill slide to the days off time. If you work seven days a week or are a writer this is all theory and really doesn’t exist for you.

What makes Hump Day so special? Well it’s like you are on a journey, you finally get to the point of no return and the next major milestone is the destination. The fact that your destination is closer than your point of departure makes it almost appear as if you will actually get there. How many times have we heard a child ask, “are we there yet?” when the trip is only minutes old. It is the same with the work week. Monday begins the journey to Friday. The destination is Saturday and on Monday it seems like getting there is about as possible as walking to Europe from the United States or vice versa. So when the workers of the world reach Wednesday and they are still viable; the prospect of reaching Friday has an exponential increase in odds. The odds increase so much that the day itself becomes a cause for celebration. It is sort of like celebrating being on a like raft when a ship sinks. You are not completely safe but a hell of a lot safer than when the whole mess started.

Since this is Wednesday I wrote a little Haiku that I hope captures the essence of the feeling for getting this far in the week.

Hump day is a hill,

Successfully climbed after much trial . . .

Coasting down till Friday

Happy Hump Day.