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Look It up on the Paqman!!!
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Posted by: laborat
(things to think about while I search for a good homemade pasta maker on QVC)
While not necessarily Geekish, (I can remember when we had three channels on TV and you had to get up and turn to them manually), I do sense that certain things I now take for granted are due in part to the growing influence of the computer in my life. Subtle things. like:
my sweetie and I were watching CSI the other night and a Wilford Brimley commercial came on. (the one where you can get your diabetic supplies delivered directly to your door).
Wilford Brimley is one of those familiar faces and voices on TV but we couldn't for the life of us remember who what when or where or anything else about him. She said he was in some family type series on TV. I said let's look him up on the Paqman. (my sweetie has a Compaq but is super fine in everything else in her life  )
Sure enough a quick search turned up everything about him. TV, movies, commericals. we were satisfied. You want to know about him do a search like I did. I wouldn't have been able to do that without the net and computers. I would have had to go out to a bookstore and bought on of those Almanac thingys that list all sorts of stuff or ask around in my favorite coffee shop for info on Wilford Brimley.
It gets better. I needed a good recipe for veggie soup having been given some garden veggies like eggplant and zuccini and tomatoes. What the heck. I surfed into epicurious.com, recipes.com and Walla!!! I had more recipes than I could use. I couldn't have done that without the net or computers.
My nurse comes over to check my vital signs and draw blood yesterday. We get to talking about my implanted defibrillator. (something that shocks the heart if it fibrillates) she mentions that the next version they put in me will be able to do remote readings on my vitals over the phone. (that means I dial up my doc, put the phone on my chest and computers do the rest.) It's kind of neat really. But Subtle.
My sweeties kid (my UnSon) has homework to do and needs to know about Anacondas. (why all 10 year old boys like snakes is a mystery of the universe) So we surf into several sites and get the info he needs and learn stuff we didn't know even. (about Cheetahs) Again internet and comps.
I get up in the morning and I turn on the comp. Check my email. read a quick synopsis of whats happening in the world on my browsers home page. Surf into Opentechsupport.net and see whats happening here. Then I go to CNN.com to get the larger world picture. Then to Powerball (it is in my favorites) to see whether I should bother to buy any tickets this week. (I usually don't buy any unless the jackpot is over 40 million)
Then I go to my favorite bluegrass radio site and listen to bluegrass and old timey music while I search the Library of Congress for old sheet music covers which I am collecting.
I suppose I hadn't realized the full impact the computer has had in my life. (the stuff above is just the tip of the iceburg) Mainly because I don't see myself as tech savvy as many of the folks on staff here. (My main reason for being here is that I see things differently from most if not all normal people and laggy thinks that is cool.  )
As much as all of this revelation thrills me, it also scares me as I look around at generations who are growing up on the computer like my generation did on TV. These generations use spell check instead of learning how to spell words right the proper way. They use a calculator instead of doing stuff in their head like we had to do.
They have a tendency as do most of their classmates to write in sentence fragments or shortcuts on their homework assignments. They prefer japanese anime over shakespeare. All of them sit at their kitchen table and their thumbs twitch constantly (automatically going over Console moves from his latest game) While most of them are smart as a whip, their interpersonal skills (in real life) need lots of work.
That's why I worry for these newest generations -- the "Chippies"I call them. They actually have too much information to process at their fingertips and God only knows what or where that will lead.
For whatever reason, they seem so politically cynical (certainly more than me) that Democracy or Capitalism have become non-participatory
sports. (Who cares if we have the Bushes and Ashcrofts of the world when the latest version of CS or Half-life or Final Fantasy XXIV is coming out?)
The cocoons they have woven around them to defend themselves from uncaring parents, dangerous neighborhoods, predators of all types and sizes, and the wars in the world will be their undoing. If we ever lose power on the energy grid (think NE blackouts) they will be helpless. I can see the blackmarket possibilities in battery chargers already.
We live in the most technological advanced society in the history of man but our civilization is falling apart. Our future generations could be pondering not how to get to Mars but how to get to Cleveland. We are running out of resources and slowly dying from computer aided drug research that have given us new pesticides, new chemicals that reside in our bodys, in our water supply, in our foods.
I know all of this because I surf into the doomsday sites and get horrified much more so than watching Jerry Springer. So I will continue to marvel at how much the computer has enriched my life and continue to justify to myself why I am not going out and participating in the real world. I am certain that this is the best course of action until the next Bush, err, NERO comes along and starts fiddling while... well you know what I mean... if not do a quick search... Keyword: Presidents, Emperors of Rome, Fiddles and Texas Swing.
Posted by: redwench
you have a sweetie? details man!
Posted by: laborat
dear Red,
She is Irish, a Sufi, a lusty wench, loving mother, who put herself through Grad school and is a Play therapist working for the State of Missouri. She thinks I'm clever and we find each other to be highly entertaining. She likes the way I cook and I like the way she shakes her booty. One night I got down on my knees to ask her to marry me. She said yes. I then asked her if she could help me get back up. She did.
If that isn't finding your soul mate I don't know what is. I'm happy. Will post pics and invites when we pick a date.
Posted by: Erekose
..shit, man, good going.
(does she have a sister?)
and yes, I am going to use a websearch to remember what exactly it means to be a "Sufi". About the bio-download through the phone lines... doesn't that kinda of creep you out? Just even a little bit?
Posted by: chaosisreality
I remember when the concept of cell phones creeped my friends out :-X
We live in an age when past things seem part of our life, and everyday something new is thought up or invented. Right now, if the beginning of cloning creeps us out, maybe in the future I can send my clone to work so I can sleep later 
Posted by: tekkumeep
Laborat, you sound as though you're older than dirt... just like me! :-) I must say I agree with you completely, though I also fear for our generation as well as the Chippies. The aged and infirm don't appear to get much sympathy from today's kids -- precisely because of the poor interpersonal relations you mentioned, and to be fair, all the sins of the self-involved adults the Chippies are growing up among -- and I wonder what the brave new world is going to be like for me when I'm finally booted out the door with my gold watch. Will I and my friends be marooned in our pensioner's abodes, simply for our personal safety? I'm afraid I'll be retiring into those "interesting times" that Confucious cursed people with.
On different matters: 1) Congratulations! :-) Many years of happiness to you! and 2) My father played the Hawaiian guitar during his salad days, and I inherited his guitar, speakers and sheet music. Alot of the music is written specifically for Hawaiian guitar, which means it's not your usual music notation, although he had some regular stuff as well. And much of it is from the 20's through the 40's -- is that the time period you're interested in collecting?
Posted by: TheeMon
 Quote:
Originally posted by laborat
a Play therapist
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wtf
Posted by: laborat
A play therapist is someone who uses games to draw kids out of their shell and talk about their problems. Like using dolls to describe where the evil man touched you.
Posted by: TheeMon
oh, i thought u ment someone who was a therapists assistant who when he was busy would just act like a therapist :P
Posted by: Eximius
UHahahahahaaHAHA!!!
This is some of the funniest reading I ahvve ehehehaha ever done! AHHHHHHH!! Just brilliant!
Kyoool!
Posted by: chaosisreality
My, this is an old thread. How'd you rejuvinate it? Magic? Daemons?
Posted by: Shalome
Um.. it's less than two weeks since the last post in this thread. That ain't that old.
Posted by: Eximius
Quote:
Originally posted by chaosisreality
My, this is an old thread. How'd you rejuvinate it? Magic? Daemons?
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Everyone should be reminded once in awhile about what's happening in our computer world behind the computer machine. And don't ask me any more silly questions!
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