a recent partner in my morning cycling
adventures
Here's something to ponder: there's a new 'Computer Game' called 'Pokemon Go'- and it is 'taking the world by storm.... - So - Well - We figured, that - (AGAIN) life would by-pass us - the technologically challegened... - BUT - When Mr. Bill and Ms. May put their heads together - we DECIDED that we would meet this challenge HEAD ON. So - right off the bat we FAILED MISERABLY, since we couldn't even download the damned application to our iPhones - what a start for something, huh? - Mr. Bill had MAJOR stumbling blocks related to his AppleID password (he only has six Apple IDs - and Apple has refused for more than 5 years to delete 4 of them, but - well - that is a WHOLE 'NOTHER STORY!... PART of what we HOPED to be our NEW SUCCESS required us to make our own new PokeMon Go character - based on: this-raw-idea; we got back this: character description: a web-URL-link
New Paradigm for Old Concept:
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We (our society) is / are moving from an 'Analog-age' to a 'Digital-age' - are we:
a.) doing this correctly
b.) giving-up 'freedom' for 'what'
c.) are all societies on earth doing this 'correctly' - or are some 'getting-it-wrong'?
d.) what can we (Americans) learn from other societies and their mistakes?
IF you are having trouble with this concept, then please (PLEASE read this:) http://vikingasia.blogspot.com/
there's more - there are a couple of books that will take the concepts I talk about in the above blog-article, and expand on them...
Here's something to ponder: there's a new 'Computer Game' called 'Pokemon Go'- and it is 'taking the world by storm.... - So - Well - We figured, that - (AGAIN) life would by-pass us - the technologically challegened... - BUT - When Mr. Bill and Ms. May put their heads together - we DECIDED that we would meet this challenge HEAD ON. So - right off the bat we FAILED MISERABLY, since we couldn't even download the damned application to our iPhones - what a start for something, huh? - Mr. Bill had MAJOR stumbling blocks related to his AppleID password (he only has six Apple IDs - and Apple has refused for more than 5 years to delete 4 of them, but - well - that is a WHOLE 'NOTHER STORY!... PART of what we HOPED to be our NEW SUCCESS required us to make our own new PokeMon Go character - based on: this-raw-idea; we got back this: character description: a web-URL-link
New Paradigm for Old Concept:
========================
We (our society) is / are moving from an 'Analog-age' to a 'Digital-age' - are we:
a.) doing this correctly
b.) giving-up 'freedom' for 'what'
c.) are all societies on earth doing this 'correctly' - or are some 'getting-it-wrong'?
d.) what can we (Americans) learn from other societies and their mistakes?
IF you are having trouble with this concept, then please (PLEASE read this:) http://vikingasia.blogspot.com/
there's more - there are a couple of books that will take the concepts I talk about in the above blog-article, and expand on them...
Book Recommendations: (in the interest of keeping-you-up-to-date on our Society's 'fall from grace' - these address some VERY MODERN societal issues, and not just US society, but any fairly 'modern' society, regardless of it's attempts at political control...
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"The Steel Kiss" by Jeffrey Deaver (same guy who wrote 'The Bone Collector' - which was made into a movie with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie) - I think the 'best-part' of this book is when Angelina Jolie puts a bullet in an electric motor that won't stop - very entertaining... - BUT ALSO very RELEVANT for our societal development - and in light of 'Stuxnet' <= Wikipedia-Link.
"Make Me" - by: Lee Child - this is a 'Jack Reacher' novel - and quite good - there was a recent (last year, I think) movie called 'Jack Reacher' (Starring Tom Cruise (in the lead role) and Rosamund Pike) - this book carries-on with that character.
"Drone" - "Drone Command" - "Blue Warrior" - all by: Mike Maden - all about guess what "Drones".. - and how they can be used as a 'terror-device' / tool for evil rather than for good.
Robin Cook (the MD turned author (who has written MORE than 30
medical-thriller-books)) has two 'new' books, both of which address
'modern' issues relating to the medical profession (read these two
'in-order'): "Nano"
and "Cell"
- BOTH of which are engaging, and cuss and discuss several very VERY
important medical-social issues... Cell is particularly 'timely'
as the medical-profession in America is being dragged, kicking and
screaming (literally) into the 22nd century in terms of 'digitizing'.
- The medical industry is really resisting digitizing medical records
and they are struggling with the potential for fraud, mis-use and
outright 'lying' in medical-records. The HIPAA
act has attempted to minimize this but HIPAA is WOEFULLY INADEQUATE in
both it's goals and it's implementations...
A local lawyer told me, recently, that self-driving automobiles and drones will support his business for at least the next 10 years...
some music to listen-to / ponder: (YouTube link)
AND - AND
- AND
- if you want to see something REALLY OLD (LONG BEFORE the concept of the Go Pro!) - you can click on this link to an OLDIE (but a goodie) - this video was done in 'about' 2002 (14 years ago? (we think (Ms. May is videoing, I'm sailing (or trying to?))) but we're not sure...??) - click-here
- if you want to see something REALLY OLD (LONG BEFORE the concept of the Go Pro!) - you can click on this link to an OLDIE (but a goodie) - this video was done in 'about' 2002 (14 years ago? (we think (Ms. May is videoing, I'm sailing (or trying to?))) but we're not sure...??) - click-here
recent cycling-ride documented: a web-link (easiest). OR 3 different formats of 'raw' data: ...gpx, ...kml, ...csv)
- hardware from http://www.wahoofitness.com
- software (an "app" on the iPhone) from http://www.abvio.com
- YES there are other 'apps' for iPhone (and/or other "smart" phones) but this just happens to be the one I use...
AND - here we talk about the infamous "__OmniTemp__" gadget (in acutality it is ONLY a 'pyrometer' for a 'wood-fired-kiln' - that doesn't sound very exciting (and it really isn't)) - the (highly-reduced) web-page is here...
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AND MUCH of what I have learned about Python (which I'm using for this, that, and the other) has come from using the great courses and knowledge available from: http://www.lynda.com
AND - AND - AND! - more about Python comes from the books I find at: http://www.oreilly.com
Rhino3D has a companion software tool that is called (loosely) a "graphical algorithm editor" (_Grasshopper_ is it's name) - it allows me (the 'pilot' for lack of a better word) to do several things that are not inherently possible in Rhino3D... (AND NOW the Grasshopper thingie is available for the Macintosh version of Rhino3D) I took a course in Grasshopper, in Miami, last week, and learned a LOT - it's hard, sometimes to change-one's-approach / mind / theory of things - but in this case it was warranted. On the other hand - I've decided the time-involved in driving to Miami (in the POURING RAIN) could be better spent elsewhere. Luckily, the trainers in the Miami office have agreed, and will do on-line / via-the-web support for me in the future. - We've outlined a couple of 'areas of interest, and we'll get on this support 'wagon' in the very near future - and I don't have to DRIVE in the RAIN anymore!
- AND as you know - mostly - I LIKE to use the Rhino3D for Macintosh version, and so having Grasshopper on the Mac is a WONDEROUS development for me! BUT as in life - there's a trade-off, and here it means that the Macintosh version of Rhino3D is a 'bit' behind the WindowsPC version. At home I have both, admittedly, both on 'older' machines (3-5 years older)... I LIKE Macintosh's user interface, but there is / are a NUMBER of features that just work better on the Windows PC version. At this point I've learned if it doesn't work after the 'expected' investment of time and effort on the Macintosh version, TRY IT on the Windows PC version and it typically works there -
AND: there's NO END to what you can learn on the Web - and Ms. May is still MUCH better at this than I am - but the quality of the video varies (all over the map) but I recently cottoned-onto some TIG-welding videos - again some MUCH better than others, but if you have time to 'plow-through' some there is a lot of stuff there...
Also - by reading-through some web-sites from some vendors and some independents - it is VERY OBVIOUS to me that even in the world of welding - advancing technology has really helped bring a LOT of more modern technology to a world one might have thought was 'ancient history'...
SO - the 'bottom-line' with all this research, study, reading, is that I will 'most probably' (sometime in the next six months or so) buy myself a new TIG welder, MOST PROBABLY it will be this one... - but - I might change my mind (yet again) before I purchase something... the one that is pictured in this web-link is a 350 (amp) welder, mine will probably be a 250 (amp) but will look very much like this one (the bottom 'segment' is the 'water-cooler' (for the TIG(welding) torch), my torch is a water-cooled torch, - a 'must-have' for high-amperages and welding aluminum...