Although we have had touchscreens around for decades, it took the iphone to truly bring this feature in to the mainstream. Why is this? To me this is because it was finally necessary to have a touchscreen to have access to real features. Features that people really wanted. People have the ability to manipulate programs on their phones that they never could have with a keypad. They already had the devices (cellphones) and wanted to use them more effectively.
Touchscreen technology has caught on fire in the cellphone market and is quickly coming to the PC. Windows newest operating system, "Windows 7", is touting multi-touch recognition as its crown jewel. Mac OS X Snow Leopard is also incorporating multi-touch. (Multi-touch being the ability to recognize multiple touches on the touchscreen at the same time.) With this in mind I am exited about the possibilities of what will come in our new devices.
Invention Idea:
I am dreaming of a keyboard sized device that has had the keys and touchpad replaced by a screen. This screen would be separate from the main screen and would normally operate in "keyboard mode". You would be able to easily change this into many other modes to do fun, touchscreeny things. Some possible modes would be, depending on the focused program, piano mode, picture editing mode, custom game mode, expression mode, free-draw mode, etc etc...
On a side note: I think it is very important to look at how touchscreens became mainstream and use that as a guide to introducing new human/machine interactions in the future. I'm not sure what this means at the moment, but I at least wanted to get it down as a point to remember.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A Sign of the Times
I found this picture on Digg under the heading "Irony". I didn't think it was ironic, just sad.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Happy Lessons
Some people seem to be happier than others. I'm pretty sure about that. Also, those happy people seem to be happier than others (me) somewhat regardless of the situation that they're in. Frankly, I want to be one of those people. Now, I'm not talking about joyful, giddy, stupid-happiness. I'm more talking about content, sigh, and feel good about yourself happiness.
I feel like Ispend a lot of my time trying to train myself into being "better" and that somehow that "better" is going to equate to happiness. I think I have always equated knowing/understanding Truth with happiness, but in my personal experience this isn't the case. Why don't I abandon this idea and seek happiness a different way then? I should kick myself in the nuts for not trying something else.
I guess I can't help it. I FEEL that it's right so I have to stick to it. That and I can't imagine myself being happy gaining happiness any other way. Haha... that was funny. Good one Marcus. Maybe my personal makeup isn't geared for happiness. Why not? It would make sense that some would be naturally more adept at it than others and some would just plain suck at it. Just like anything else.
In conclusion, I think some people are either naturally or unnaturally more adept at being happy in the environment that is human existance. I am not one of those people. I wish I was happier like them, but I would never want to trade understanding away to get happiness and ignorance, because that would make me sad even though I just traded for happy. Haha, I'm full of the funny today.
Sorry for the rambly, crappy post. I really didn't have any agenda for posting before I started so I just went with whatever topic was on the tip of my tongue. I wouldn't post it if more than one person read this crap, but it's still good for posterity.
I feel like Ispend a lot of my time trying to train myself into being "better" and that somehow that "better" is going to equate to happiness. I think I have always equated knowing/understanding Truth with happiness, but in my personal experience this isn't the case. Why don't I abandon this idea and seek happiness a different way then? I should kick myself in the nuts for not trying something else.
I guess I can't help it. I FEEL that it's right so I have to stick to it. That and I can't imagine myself being happy gaining happiness any other way. Haha... that was funny. Good one Marcus. Maybe my personal makeup isn't geared for happiness. Why not? It would make sense that some would be naturally more adept at it than others and some would just plain suck at it. Just like anything else.
In conclusion, I think some people are either naturally or unnaturally more adept at being happy in the environment that is human existance. I am not one of those people. I wish I was happier like them, but I would never want to trade understanding away to get happiness and ignorance, because that would make me sad even though I just traded for happy. Haha, I'm full of the funny today.
Sorry for the rambly, crappy post. I really didn't have any agenda for posting before I started so I just went with whatever topic was on the tip of my tongue. I wouldn't post it if more than one person read this crap, but it's still good for posterity.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Weed whip for the lazy ass
Recently my WeedEater weed whip broke down. It just won't stay running. It'll turn over a few times and then nothing. I have no idea how to fix it nor do I really want to try. Seems like a lot of work and the chances of it getting back together after I have taken it apart are slim.
Instead of trying to find solutions online to this problem or just going to get a new one, I, of course, try to think of a new way to attack the problem. Now, I'm not really wanting to fully weed whip my lawn every week because I am a lazy ass. Even though I'm a lazy ass, I still want the trim in the front of my house to look good (especially since we're trying to sell the house).
Here is my idea to solve this problem. I would like to create a drillbit attachment to my cordless handdrill that works like a weed whip. Yes, I know that I won't get an insane amount of torque. I think that's ok. If the blades/tethers are thin enough on the end, I don't think a lot of torque would be necessary to cut through grass. I'm not talking about cutting down saplings with this thing, just grass. I don't want to do my whole lawn with it either, just the nitpicky stuff I want to do often. I'm also thinking about a plastic guard that mounts around the drill to protect the user from the spraying grass/rocks/whatever.
No idea if this would actually work, but I know it'd sure be nice for me to have right now.
Instead of trying to find solutions online to this problem or just going to get a new one, I, of course, try to think of a new way to attack the problem. Now, I'm not really wanting to fully weed whip my lawn every week because I am a lazy ass. Even though I'm a lazy ass, I still want the trim in the front of my house to look good (especially since we're trying to sell the house).
Here is my idea to solve this problem. I would like to create a drillbit attachment to my cordless handdrill that works like a weed whip. Yes, I know that I won't get an insane amount of torque. I think that's ok. If the blades/tethers are thin enough on the end, I don't think a lot of torque would be necessary to cut through grass. I'm not talking about cutting down saplings with this thing, just grass. I don't want to do my whole lawn with it either, just the nitpicky stuff I want to do often. I'm also thinking about a plastic guard that mounts around the drill to protect the user from the spraying grass/rocks/whatever.
No idea if this would actually work, but I know it'd sure be nice for me to have right now.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Receipts FTL
What the shit is up with receipts? I hate them. I just bought gas for my wife (since she seems to be unable to do this herself... which may be the topic of a later post), and the gas pump gives me a piece of paper reminding me of the torturous gas prices. I'm sure some people save these things and file them neatly, but I sure as hell don't. I don't want a bag of crap in a few years that I could never sort through even if I tried. Now, don't get the wrong idea, I _would_ like to have all of my gas purchases in a database that could be easily queried, but I don't want to enter all this crap in.
I realize my credit card company tries to do this for me, but what if God forbid I have more than one credit card? What if I change credit cards? I'm grossly dissappointed.
Possible ideas
1)Have my PDA talk bluetooth to whatever runs my credit cards/cash/checks. I can file it under whatever at the time of the purchase. Better yet, have my PDA originate the purchase instead of my credit card.
2)3rd party company that both parties of the transaction agree to share data with. Other things than simple recording purchases could happen here, like fund validation. Again credit cards companies try to do this, but they are one step too low. Again, what if I change cards/banks?
3)An application like MS Money that all companies export your purchase info into. I think this is already done, but it's a manual process that has to be forced. Automate that and I'd be for it.
Long story short, receipts suck.
I realize my credit card company tries to do this for me, but what if God forbid I have more than one credit card? What if I change credit cards? I'm grossly dissappointed.
Possible ideas
1)Have my PDA talk bluetooth to whatever runs my credit cards/cash/checks. I can file it under whatever at the time of the purchase. Better yet, have my PDA originate the purchase instead of my credit card.
2)3rd party company that both parties of the transaction agree to share data with. Other things than simple recording purchases could happen here, like fund validation. Again credit cards companies try to do this, but they are one step too low. Again, what if I change cards/banks?
3)An application like MS Money that all companies export your purchase info into. I think this is already done, but it's a manual process that has to be forced. Automate that and I'd be for it.
Long story short, receipts suck.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Adjustable retractable dog leash
I want to make a dog leash. A retractable dog leash where you can adjust the maximum length. I was thinking about 6', 12', 18' settings. Probably something that triggers the break at the desired length based on your setting. Not sure how to do it.
I like to do things more than other folks
I'm not talking about blogging. I'm talking about basketball, golf, WoW arenas until my eyes bleed. I remember as a kid always pretending that I wanted to quit doing things when others did because I knew the didn't want to do it anymore. I guess I just like to get better at doing the things I like and I want to get as good as I can as fast as possible. Weird that I'm not really really good at anything considering this trait... I'll have to think about that more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)