Generational Success (or failures)

An article written 40 years ago detailed how life would be in 2008. Reading now, it’s comical to see what people thought 2008 would be like. The full article can be read here

Things listed that have come about:

• Digital drawing pads
• Transferring digital sketch/design to someone 200 miles away instantly (or half way across the world)
• Planes reaching 4000 mph
• Whole-house humidifiers
• cleaning robots (vacuum style)
• Computers assist in budgeting, make travel reservations, complete taxes, and shop on the TV-telephone (aka internet)
• Online/distance learning
• TV screens cover entire walls
• Artificial organs replace failing human organs

Things that were are still a ways away from:

• National Traffic Computer that handles all of your driving
• 250 mph cars on the highway
• Rocket trips between continents
• Domed cities for climate control

• 4 hour average workday

• Vacation at undersea or outer space resort
• Seaweed and algae turned into food that looks and tastes like steak and other meats
• Heart disease eliminated
• 2 minute full medical diagnostic chair
• Pill to insure memory retention

It should be a busy 8 months for the world

Yogurt Explosion

How come every time I open a yogurt cup it ‘burps’ some yogurt out at me? It’s always so messy. Can’t they put a release valve on the lid so I don’t have this problem?

Anyone have any yogurt opening tips to help me out?

NCAA Sports Boss Button

CBS offers all the NCAA tournament games online for free. Within their video player, there is a “Boss Button”.

Pretty self explanatory, but I thought it was humorous. Here is a screenshot of what replaces the video when you click it

Venue Cheering

Why do people at BW3’s, or any other sports bar, feel the need to clap after a team scores a basket?  During March Madness this just gets worse with the continuous games all day long.

When do you think it’s appropriate?

• For any game
• During big games
• For big plays
• During tournaments/playoffs only
• When more than 80% of the venue is cheering for the same team
• When you’ve been drinking
• For a specific sport only

The Inside Track

Driving home from Dayton Sunday night I found myself attempting to figure out how many turns or curves it would take to notice a mileage savings in a trip if you consistently took the turns and curves on the inside lane versus the outside lane. A visual explanation might make it easier. Just like on a track where the inside lane runner is set further back on the track than the outer most person to make the race fair, the car traveling on the outside lane of the curve will have to travel a further distance than the car on the inside lane.

Here the shortest distance from the starting point to the end is represented by the blue line. Obviously on a highway, you don’t really have the option to take the blue path. The green line represents the inside lane and the yellow is the outside lane.

Granted, taking the inside lane would not improve your gas mileage because you’d still be achieving some mpg driving on the outside path. However, by taking the shorter route, you end at the same location having used less gas to get there.

Philly Steak, sort of

Ever had a Philly cheesesteak?  Maybe you’ve gotten one at Penn Station, Great Stake Escape at the mall, a local restaurant, or even from Geno’s in Philadelphia.  Anyway, if you’ve ever had one you know a philly steak means shaved beef, cheese, onions and green peppers.

Who’s ever heard of putting shaved lamb on a philly steak?  And to that point, not disclaiming that it was lamb meat on the menu?

Try the Sales Line

In attempting to contact my previous gas company about a billing question, I called the 800 number and punched in the customer service extension. No one was available to take my call then, so I was instructed to leave my name, number, etc and they would call me back within a day. Sounded great, until I didn’t get a call back.

A few more attempts contacting them yielded the same result. I attempted to email them but the customer service email address came back “System Undeliverable”. During my search on their webiste for the email address, I came across a phone number for the sales department. Literally within the phone ringing once, I was speaking with a sales associate.

Realization

If you can’t get through to customer service, pretend like you want to give them money and call the sales line. They will be sure to pick up.

Smith, Party of 20

Why do large groups of people, 13 or more, feel the need to sit at the same table in a restaurant? The people at the far end can’t make conversation with most of the people in the middle nor anyone at the other end. And by making this request, others waiting for a table within the restaurant have to wait longer than if the party was willing to split into normal table sizes so that an entire section can be cleared for them.

On a side note, when you’re in a large group like this, do you ever find yourself fighting with others to sit in one of the coveted middle seats so you can talk to everyone?

MSN Live Messenger – Useless Status

With MSN, you can set a status that is viewable to others on your buddy list. The status is similar to an away message on other instant messenger services, but allows you to set more than simply away. The options include

Now in the context of a work environment, what’s the point of setting a “Busy” status. Shouldn’t you always be “Busy”? If you are that busy that you don’t want to be bothered, why not sign off?

Also, who other than stalkers uses the “Appear Offline” status?

Sound Proof Cube – Work Noise COMPLAINTS

Wouldn’t it be more productive to put every office worker in a sound proof cube?  It could be transparent so managers can still make sure people are working and the like.  But I mean really, how beneficial is it to me to hear your phone conversation with your bank or whats wrong with your Rock Band drum pedal or the slamming of the printer paper drawer every 20 minutes or your cell phone ringing incessantly on loud and not stopping because you aren’t at your desk to silence it.

Yes, these might all just be pet peeves of mine or they might be total distractions from the work I’m attempting to accomplish.

And for all you about to suggest headphones, tried em.  Slight improvement, but I want silence.