physically digital

MIT has started to design an interactive "wearable" computer called the "sixth sense". Basically they are saying that although humans have five senses to take in information but often use outside sources to interpret that information, like the internet. So, MIT has developed something that can connect the physical world with the digital world. Although watching the video and looking at the pictures may make you laugh at the antics required to use this computer, you must remember that any good piece of technology has to go through a lot of phases to really become the best it can be and for it to be feasable. I'm really excited about this personally, I think that it will be really interesting to see where this goes in the future and to see if it is really a sell-able device. I think anyone would want the capabilities it has, I know I would, the price isnt even bad as of now, only $350 worth of equpitment, but I think that no one wants to walk around with a webcam clipped to their visor, and a projector hanging around their neck, and colored caps on their finger tips, but all in good time. Eventually I think they are thinking about having it condensed into some sort of wrist device or a much smaller and much more discreet pendant or something- which if it ever gets this far, I'm sure I will become one of the household consumers who will want to know everything about everything at the touch of, well, anything.

A few drawbacks... ? well, after reading through a couple of comments and scrolling through many blogs, I've found that well, most people dont want other people knowing what they know about knowing things. As crazy as that sounds, I understand. For example (if you watch some of the vids) If i pick up a book and the rating is automatically projected on to the book, then flip some pages and get some info about the author and a summary, I dont want someone leaning over my should trying to listen in on my earbuds, or reading my summary, I'd like that to be nine and mine only, if they don't want to buy the device then dont. Another thing may be, that, at this point they are using an internet capable phone to get the info off the internet, and who knows how reliable that is. Also, soon the phone companies wiill be trying to get a little piece out of this, and what about people like me who are too cheap to get internet on their phone?

Overall though, I think that finished version of this device would be sick! it would be totally awsome (exucuse the cliche) but I would probably flip. If they can figure out some way of making it more private, I would be all over it.

The loss of the Massachusetts senate race has been quite a blow to the Democratic Party this week, specifically to the Health Care plan, which will most likely not be passed any time soon. So as time goes on we are noticing a huge sort of drop, at least that’s what it feels like to me. President Obama has a new advisor it seems, one who is thought to be the best political minds in the country as of now. President Obama has recently asked David Plouffe to come back and help re-strategize the Democratic Party. They are needing help to get Democrats voted into office. David Plouffe is all for pushing on with the democratic agenda, especially trying to get the health care plan passed. I watched a video on ABC about what they were calling the "Scott Brown" affect. People who have never run for political office before are seeing this as an opportunity to get their voice heard, especially republicans. People who might not have tried are going for it- they all want to get in. Personally, I think this is great. We are getting fresh faces, people we've never seen before, people with no family connections or party agendas, they just want to get what they think should be done, done.

Secondly, I think that it is interesting that Obama's administration needs help right now. I think that throughout his whole election and his term so far, he has help up an aura of confidence and assurance, but now? I think that he is realizing that something has to be done, that this country needs more than just a new health care plan, they need someone who will answer they're questions and not try to take over. So to end this little rant, I have to say that although things might be getting a little sticky, I think things have taken a turn for the better. People are starting to know more clearly what they want and they're less afraid out get it out there.

later...

later, always later. Everything we do, we always wait for later, at least for me that’s how it is. I can never seem to get things done on time, it’s always put off until the last minute, I'm always trying to figure out how to get more time to get things done because I am always waiting till the last minute. Now, most of us who procrastinate do not think about it that much, or if you’re like me you always say to yourself "Gosh, why do I always put things off?!" but still do nothing about it. Now, the more I'm thinking about it the more I am wondering why? why am I so inconsistent and always putting things off? Looking for an answer I simply typed in my Google search query: “procrastination”, scrolled through the answering results and voila! There’s my answer. I found an essay published in 1995 by John Perry. His essay addresses the essence of my own procrastination problem, and yes I consider it a problem. I procrastinate severely, much to my own detriment. For example, this past week I kept telling myself blog! blog! blog! and then I would say back to myself later! later! later! It seems that no matter what I can never get things done. I wish that through it all I was perfect. I really wish that I didn’t have to worry about messing up, but of course, don’t we all.

My favorite part of this essay??

“You have to get in the habit of forcing yourself to analyze, at the time you accept a task, to consider the costs and befits of doing a less than perfect job. You need to ask the questions: how useful would a perfect job be here? How much more useful than a merely adequate job? Or even a half-assed job? And you need to ask the questions: what is the probability that I will really do anything like a remotely perfect job on this? And you need to ask: what difference will it make to me, whether I do or not?”

This is exactly me- I don’t think I could sum it up better. When I get a task I ask myself these questions and plan accordingly… If I could give any advice to my fellow procrastinators it would be, never put something off until the last day, do it the second to last day. This has been my way of never fully procrastinating.

take 2!

I have a new edit on that essay I last posted- I'm working on making it more personal in a way, but having a time of it for now. I cant quite figure out how to make it flow quite right.

1 Dreams- big or small, old or new, fragile yet resilient; dreams are the thing shared by all of humanity. Everyone has dreams. It doesn’t matter your religion, your ethnicity or your culture. Dreams are something that can bring people together or tear them apart. They change and molt into different things as time goes on. You can create them, or they can be formed for you- created for you to fill out, or fill in the blanks. It is an ever-going balance between the ones you want and the ones you are ready to discard. It is a process requiring a practiced hand- knowing when to throw a dream out or tuck it away.
2 ‘Dream’ is a fairly broad term. We use it for anything that seems far off or distant and illusional, yet it connotates something totally different. It refers to a sweet, beautiful and desired thing but we apply it to practically anything. It can mean what we traditionally refer to as dreams- the stories played out in our heads as we sleep. Or it can mean the goals we have for our future, what we aim to accomplish in our lives. When I began to write this essay, I was not really sure what I was going to write about, I just felt the need to write about this- like it was something that means so much to people that I needed to write this. I was thinking about dreams and thought why do we have them? Why do we need to dream? I was thinking about this and I decided that, we dream because we can, because we exist. It is a part of being. What would it be like if we could not dream? What would we do if no one dreamed of becoming a star athlete, or a child never dreamed of becoming the president or a teacher? What would we do if we never had dreams of children and a family? Kids who would take after you and do something great in the world? I have no idea and I do not think I would even want to know. Without dreams we would not be. It has often been said that America was built on dreams. It is the land of dreams, built to live out The American Dream. As Americans we, of all people, should know about dreams.
3 The first thing I have noticed about dreams is that they often follow a pattern or a mold. For example we’ll take the classic Cinderella dream. Rags to riches. The despised outcast who for some reason catches the attention of a desirable “prince” (really anything) it is what all little girls dream of, and it follows everyone for their entire life. We all feel unfairly treated, that someday the worlds going to sit up and notice what they have been missing out on all this time.
4 Another classic is the American Dream. This is the dream practically every person in the world has. It is why people immigrate to America. They come to live in the land flowing with milk and honey. They want to be where they can raise a family and make a lot of money- enough to begin to help others. The modest dream where you can live in a nice house with two point five perfect children. Where you can play baseball in the back yard and take you daughter to ballet lessons. All of this, encompassed in a basic dream everyone wants to make a reality.
5 And that brings me to my next point… reality. We dream because we live in a realistic world. All our dreams are different than what we currently have. If we have a 32 inch TV, we dream of owning a 42 inch TV. Of course this is a pretty base example, but it gets the point across. We dream most often when we are unhappy. Think of the poor immigrant living in the slums of a third world country- they want to come to America to live out their American dream because they are unhappy with their circumstances, and who would not be? That is where there is a fine line. There is a huge difference between the TV and the slum. But what about all the in-betweens? I think that there are dreams because at some point we have to escape reality, but what about when we need to come back? That is where a lot of people are stuck, I believe. We don’t know how to live with what we have and what we are doing. If only, if only… Here is the line between dreaming and wishing- dreaming is when we dream of a better future, a better quality of life. It’s a healthy vision of your purpose. Wishing is when we can only think of what we want, what we have to have to make up happy, like the person wishing for a 42 inch TV.
6 As for my dreams? I’m not really sure. Dreams are distant, not always relevant or easy, they’re often something we can’t every put into words. I think that’s how mine are. I can’t just tell you, not because I don’t want to but because it’s not the same. Dreams are something you have to experience, you can’t just tell them. Mine are just little thoughts floating around in my head, nothing elaborate, but they’re not plain either, they have my markings all over them, yet they have a feel like something I can’t really explain, something that’s not really from me but part of me all the same.
7 The thing about dreams is that they are what we live on. They are more important than food or water or shelter- they serve a totally different purpose. They feed the soul. We need dreams as much as we need to breathe; it is part of being human. And so here is what I have to say: Dreamers keep dreaming, and wishers quit wishing- start living your life like it’s the end and all you can do is chase after what really matters.

The thing about dreams...

Dreams- big or small, old or new, fragile yet resilient; dreams are the thing shared by all of humanity. Everyone has dreams. It doesn’t matter your religion, your ethnicity or your culture. Dreams are something that can bring people together or tear them apart. They change and molt into different things as time goes on. You can create them, or they can be formed for you- created for you to fill out, or fill in the blanks. It is an ever-going balance between the ones you want and the ones you are ready to discard. It is a process requiring a practiced hand- knowing when to throw a dream out or tuck it away.

‘Dream’ is a fairly broad term. We use it for anything that seems far off or distant and illusional, yet it connotates something totally different. It refers to a sweet, beautiful and desired thing but we apply it to practically anything. It can mean what we traditionally refer to as dreams- the stories played out in our heads as we sleep. Or it can mean the goals we have for our future, what we aim to accomplish in our lives. When I began to write this essay, I was not really sure what I was going to write about, I just felt the need to write about this- like it was something that means so much to people that I needed to write this. And so I began. I think that through this I have begun to learn about dreams, what they really are, and why we have them. Why do we have them? Why do we need to dream? I was thinking about this and I decided that, we dream because we can, because we exist. It is a part of being. What would it be like if we could not dream? What would we do if no one dreamed of becoming a star athlete, or a child never dreamed of becoming the president or a teacher? What would we do if we never had dreams of children and a family? Kids who would take after you and do something great in the world? Really, I have no idea and I do not think I would even want to know. Without dreams we would not be. It has often been said that America was built on dreams. It is the land of dreams- built to live out The American Dream. As Americans we, of all people, should know about dreams.

The first thing I have noticed about dreams is that they often follow a pattern or a mold. For example we’ll take the classic Cinderella dream. Rags to riches. The despised outcast who for some reason catches the attention of a desirable “prince”- really anything, it is what all little girls dream of, and it follows everyone for their entire life. We all feel unfairly treated, that someday the worlds going to sit up and notice what they have been missing out on all this time. Another classic is the American Dream. This is the dream practically every person in the world has. It is why people immigrate to America. They come to live in the land flowing with milk and honey. They want to be where they can raise a family and make a lot of money- enough to begin to help others. The modest dream where you can live in a nice house with two perfect children. Where you can play baseball in the back yard and take you daughter to ballet lessons. All of this, encompassed in a basic dream everyone wants to make a reality.

And that brings me to my next point… reality. We dream because we live in a realistic world. All our dreams are different than what we currently have. If we have a 32 inch TV, we dream of owning a 42 inch TV. Of course this is a pretty base example, but it gets the point across- we dream most often when we are unhappy. Think of the poor immigrant living in the slums of a third world country- they want to come to America to live out their American dream because they are unhappy with their circumstances, and who would not be? That is where there is a fine line. There is a huge difference between the TV and the slum. But what about all the in-betweens? I think that there are dreams because at some point we have to escape reality, but what about when we need to come back? That is where a lot of people are stuck, I believe. We don’t know how to live with what we have and what we are doing. If only, if only… Here is the line between dreaming and wishing- dreaming is when we dream of a better future, a better quality of life. It’s a healthy vision of your purpose. Wishing is when we can only think of what we want, what we have to have to make up happy.

The thing about dreams is that they are what we live on. They are more important than food or water or shelter- they serve a totally different purpose. They feed the soul. We need dreams as much as we need to breathe; it is part of being human. And so here is what I have to say: Dreamers keep dreaming, and wishers quit wishing- start living your life like it’s the end and all you can do is chase after what really matters.

being happy

Lately it seems that people are putting a lot of importance on being happy, of course, haven't we always? Yes, but no. Everyone wants to be happy, but it seems that less people are, and it is becoming much more of an issue. I want to be happy, you want to be happy we all want to be happy. Recently I've kind of been going off on emotional tangents but its not like its not related to my 'theme.' it is. People shape the world, and happiness shapes people. So all these seemingly innocent emotions really play a vital role in our world. If the people of America aren't happy, than the whole nation is discontented. I was watching Oprah today, and that’s kind of what got me started on this whole thing. She went to Denmark- the supposedly happiest place on Earth, everyone has equal pay and no one is afraid of losing their jobs- and then it hit me. Happiness is simply the absence of fear. When we fear nothing we have no reason to be upset. So if we are unhappy does it really mean we are afraid? I think so. Think about it- you’re afraid of losing your job, your house, your spouse, a parent, a friend, a football game. The list can go on and on. All these things can make you unhappy. But then again- does this indicate something? Not just the basic happy vs. unhappy, but does it indicate an unhealthy reliance on stuff? Not even material things but people as well. Ok so maybe it is valid to be afraid of losing your spouse- it should be that way, but do we really need things and people to make up happy? Unfortunately, yes. I think that we should all be working on how we think. We need to begin to recognize that there is something more than fear and stuff- we have a whole life to celebrate people and friendship and yes even stuff, but we need to focus less on those things themselves and more on the blessings they provide us with. That’s simply my thought for the day.

ringing in the new year

Finally! It seems like it has taken forever for 2010 to find its way here. I love the new year, it seems so fresh and inviting- I like the feeling of starting over. I know we all come up with our resolutions that never seem to stick. This is definitely true for me! I am probably the worst, and this year, I hope that I WILL do better, I will actually accomplish something that I said I would do at the beginning. It seems like the years are so slow when you are actually in them, but at times like this, looking back on the past years, you realize just how fast they actually go. It almost makes you sad. I hope that for the new year we all will have the opportunity to make a fresh start and to find meaning in what we are doing, enough to feel accomplished and that we have a purpose in life, sometimes I feel that myself, that the days just seem to repeat.

I also hope that this year will be a fresh start for our country as well. The "Christmas Day Bomber" as he has been affectionately dubbed, is currently being dealt with, and I can only hope that this is a perfect opportunity for our country to turn over a new leaf. President Obama finished his ‘discussions’ with the department heads all over the nation, and hopefully there will be some heads rolling for this awful occurrence. It seems so unreal almost, like we didn’t think it could happen anymore. We need to keep focused. Obama said in his address that there will always be people looking to kill Americans and we need to be looking out for them. If you didn’t get a chance to hear Obama’s speech I think it something you should look into – can get it here.