Category: Techie

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No Tech Gadgets for My Kids

Gizmodo Article

Gizmodo reported that 1/3 of 11-year-olds in the US own a cell phone!!  What kind of crazy world is this?!  Sure technology has advanced but I for one do NOT plan on introducing/indulging my kids in tech stuff, be it cell phones or Nintendo DS.

We try to limit the amount of TV that the kids watch.  Heck, we stopped showing them Bakugan TV shows after it seemed to make them more agitated and rude!  Video games?  As much as I love them, I don’t plan on introducing them to DS or Wii until they are well over 10 years old!

Why?  Can you say ADD?!  I blame much of TV and all these tech gadgets and toys for making our children lose focus and develop very short attention span!  Heck, it seems to affect even us adults!  I think playing with old school but proven stuff like Lego and reading is better way to go…

Even the TV commercials don’t help.  So we minimize on these 30-second-slot ADD-inducing hysteria.

Since not watching Bakugan, my kids’ sense of aggression has decreased significantly.  I kid you not.  They have difficult time as it is staying focused so I don’t need other gadgets to detract them from focusing.  Learning to do one thing for a long time seems to be a lost art.  In my mind, that’s a danger to our society.  Being able to dedicate to one needed activity for an extended period of time is a must in my opinion.

Do I seem a bit extreme?  I was concerned about that at first but don’t care anymore.  I am focusing on my kids’ long-term development.  What say you, other parents and teachers?  Am I really that crazy?!

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WordPress 2.9.1 Boo

Well, I do love me my WordPress, the free blogging software.  It has been awesome for me ever since I decided to blog… however, upgrading has been…  less than ideal…

Last night was a prime example.  Either the “Upgrade” tool or “InstantUpgrade” plug-in would usually take care of this process… however, trying to go from 2.8.5 to 2.9.1, neither of them worked…  so what did I decide to do?  Upload directly to the site via good ol’ FTP.  Well, when I did, I got the following error message….

sql_version

So I was upsql_version until wee hours going back to 2.8.5.  Sure it was my fault for not checking it to be compatible.. but it would’ve been nice if such key requirements were more visible…  *HINT HINT*  😉

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For a Greener World

We have lived a life of ruining the world.  Pollution and waste are at the worst high and worst of all, we aren’t really aware of it.  We need to bite the bullet and strive for a greener world.  So where do we start, you ask?  Start using less gasoline.  Use re-useable bags for shopping instead of plastic bags.  Check sites like TreeHugger.com.  And here are some developments that could help.

There’s a company called Brammo which is producing a motocycle.  That’s nothing new.  But it’s an all-electric bike!  Currently, it only has about 42-mile range and requires about 4 hours to recharge.  That’s lame, you say.  But it’s perfect for commuting to work.  The downside is that it is expensive at $10K.  But you will practically pay nothing on fuel anymore.  And as it gets revamped, the cost will come down.  It’s this kind of progress and direction the world needs to make.

Another cool idea that’s coming around is making ethanol out of garbage!  That’s ingenious!  I do believe that alternative energy source is the future in saving the Earth from dying.  I hope we all try to contribute in saving the Earth.

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Please donate time on your PS3 and PC to help find cure!

I have lost my uncles, aunts, and grandparents, not to mention friends, to cancer.  Liver cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, you name it.  I’ve even lost my cousin to Leukemia.  That’s why I searched for ways to help in whatever I can do.

Enter Stanford University.  A professor there started studying the ways proteins change and become new molecules, also known as “folding”.  By studying and knowing how proteins fold, a cure for cancer can be found.  I have my PS3 and my 2 PCs doing this whenver I am not using them.  So yes, you do pay a bit extra for electricity usage but for a 200W PC, that equates to about $20/month extra!  If you have the new PS3 Slim, it only uses about $10/month of electricity!

By helping and contributing, I feel like Morpheus from Matrix…

“Now consider the alternative. What if I am right? What if the prophecy is true? What if tomorrow the war could be over? Isn’t that worth fighting for? Isn’t that worth dying for?”

Don’t you want to feel like you’ve done all you can?  So as to not have regrets?!  I sure do.  I want to know that I’ve done all I can in help fighting cancer.  Let’s make cancer history…  If you need help setting this up and running it, please ask and I’d be ecstatic to help!

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Smart Power Outlets: Safety AND Green

I tend to be wish wash when it comes to green and going green… however, this video of John La Grou talking about the smart power outlets has me very intrigued.  I hope this really catches on… both to save people and homes from electrical fires as well as saving loads of energy.  He notes that there are over 10 billion electrical outlets in US alone!!  Yikes…

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Bankless/ATM-less Check Deposit

Gizmodo’s Article

Can you imagine depositing the check directly to your bank account… from your home?!  It just may happen as a new way of optical recognition technology improves!  My own bank, Chase, has implemented ability to scan the checks you deposit into the ATMs and thus have ridden of having to itemize and write the deposit slips.  But this goes beyond that by allowing you to use your cell phone’s camera (at least 2.0 MP) to take picture of the check you wish to deposit and then be done with it!

This would save so much time in traffic and driving!  I sure hope it gets adopted by other banks but for now, only NCR is doing this.

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Things that make me MAD: Children taken away from illegal immigrants

NY Times Article

Warning!  You may become way too mad after reading the article!  I know I am!!    Illegal immigration is a hot issue.  Yes, I understand that.  And deporting back home is one thing but to take their children away from them while they are in jail?!  Who the hell gave these stupid judges the right?!

As a parent myself, I can NOT imagine anything worse than my kids being taken away from my against my will!  Yet, that’s what some of these judges (you know who you are, Judge David C. Dally and others) doing exactly!  Ok.. so they are put in jail for being here illegally but it does NOT give us the right to take their kids away and place them elsewhere!

The kids are happiest when they are with their parents.  And so are the parents ourselves!  I am really flabbergasted right now!  That judge is sooo lucky that I don’t live in North Carolina ’cause I’d be petitioning for his impeachment!  If we are going to deport them, do it completely and send the kids back with them!  Unless the parents are harming the kids, the right to the caring for the kids lies with the parents!!  I feel soo bad for the parents… My prayers go with them…  Someone with the power PLEASE make this right!!