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Wristwatch cellphones??

Retractable headsets? Bluetooth headsets? Holding the phone up to your ear with your hand for 30 minutes?

Eww... look how ugly this thing is. Some company made it. It needs to get better. How could it be improved?

I'll tell you.

I say that the wristwatch should only have the caller ID and very minimal hard buttons (the ignore/snooze-answer buttons, arrows to navigate through a phone book...)
The snooze-answer button is another ingenious idea that came to me. It makes your phone ring an extra number of times, so that your answering system doesn't pick up. It's like a micro-hold feature. That way you can give yourself an extra 30 seconds to prepare to answer (to dry your wet hands, or to go to another room, etc.)

Obviously Bluetooth will communicate through all your cell communication components. You can replace/upgrade them as needed.

The actual phone with the battery should be your belt or maybe some holster-type set-up. Then, very importantly, the belt should also have a snap-in head-set. It fits flush into the buckle or where ever seems convenient. All these components would need to be charged. Wouldn't it be annoying to have to plug all these separate devices into a cord or cradle or something? Yes it would be and there is a more convenienct power charge interface being developed.

I know that some electrical components can be recharged easily by "electromagnetic induction to accomplish wireless charging of devices.."
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/10/10/splashpower/index.php
All you do is set the devices on top of a pad, and the batteries get recharged. Nice, eh?

So, when you get a call, you feel the vibration/hear the ringer. You look at your wristwatch display to see who's calling. If you want to ignore, you press the button on your wristwatch. You also could hit the snooze button, and situate yourself for a conversation. If you choose to answer, then you pull out of your belt the headset, place it in your ear, and press the answer button which is on all Bluetooth headsets.

What do you think about that idea?

Maybe later we could try putting an extra mic/speaker on the phone for quick conversations... I think it would add a bit of bulk to your wrist and powering it would be a challenge if you used it a for hours.

Separation of God and State

Is there a distinction to be made between the separation of church and state vs. the separation of God and state?



Intelligent Design in Public School Curriculums:

I can see arguements on both sides. I think it's important to separate church from state, but I don't like to hear people preaching atheism in public schools either.
What do you think?

The first day I used the internet...

I just read an article about the history of buying airline tickets online. I bought airline tickets online last night, and I started wondering, "How did people buy airline tickets before the internet?" Nancy said it was all through travel agents and direct phone calls to airline call centers. How lame would that be? I'd rather have surgery with rusty tools... no, actually, I take that back.

Do you remember the first time you tried to understand what the internet was? Do you remember the first time you used the internet? Where were you? Why were you using it?

For me, I remember seeing my brother on BYU campus talking about using the internet to get guitar tabs for his favorite songs. I had little clue about how to use the internet, and I didn't even really try to ask for any help. It seemed so unlike anything I'd ever used.

At home in Texas we had a Tandy 1000 SL, with a CGB monitor, and the Tandy brand GUI running on top of MS-DOS. I wasn't completely non-computer-savy--I regularly dialed my modem to connect to local BBSs. (BBS stands for bulletin board system) Those were like mini-internets. Instead of having links that send you between different domains, you had phone numbers. Typically BBS had media/game files shared on them (piracy was slow back then), and BBSs also had nerdy text-based strategy games on which you could compete with other users. I remember playing the game Kannons & Katapults. It was a game with lots of onomatopoeia going on. More action packed then ZORK. Up there with Legend of the Red Dragon. Maybe the internet wasn't as foreign to me as it was for non-BBS users.

Anyway, the first time I used the Internet was at my next-door-neighbors' house, the Hubbles. They had just gotten a new computer (a Cyrix chip 586, if I remember correctly). Geff, TJ, and I were excited to see what all the buzz was about. It was a little bit confusing and a little bit anti-climactic, but we were determined to get lots of free games from it. It seemed like it took forever to download stuff, though. And it wasn't fun to have you parents or your friend's parents getting impatient for use of the phone line. "Don't you people understand that I'm learning to ride the new wave? You're hurting my marketability, and I'm trying to download a new exciting game..."

The internet: more useful then any textbook, dictionary, encyclopedia, magazine, cookbook, guitar tab book, BBS, mailman/box, stupid video library, song lyric book, instruction booklet for anything, clothing catalog, etc., etc. forever... Just don't try to buy pants online. They never fit quite right. But shoes and airline tickets are ok. Thank goodness that Al Gore invented it.

Real People of Genius: Unauthorized Celeb-Charger

Real Poeple of Genius
(singing - real people of genius!)

Today we salute you, Mr./Mrs. Unauthorized Celeb-Charger (singing - unauthorized celeb-charger!)

You've lived the real American dream--
(singing - real dream America!)

Anyone can stand back or sit only slightly more forward in their chair when a celebrity enters the room, but you bulldoze ahead unfettered by societal expectation and ordinance.
(singing - Keep on truckin' for the Sun!)

You fanatically run toward your target carrying a sign with content such as: I need to talk to my great-great-great grandpa and hope for an against-the-odds conversation with someone famous that doesn't want to talk to you !
(singing - I love you great-great-great grandpa!)

Thanks to you we can say, "I saw this man/woman charge that famous person at this thing once. What have you ever done?"
(sing - That's right--nothin'!)

So crack open an ice cold IBC root-brewsky Mr./Mrs. Unauthorized Celeb-Charger, breathe in the air of mental instability, and know we speak for ordinary people everywhere when we say, "Good luck making bail."
(singing - Mr./Mrs. Unauthorized Celeb-Charger!)

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3279678

Coworker 1st in the Nation

At approximately 9:10 am today, my coworker followed his normal habit of logging onto espn.com. He loves the content: the USC video clips and the SportsNation surveys, etc.

At 9:10am history was in the making.

Coworker was giving his two cents on what pre-Christmas NCAA football bowl game he would pay most attention to. As he reached forward with his right hand and molded his fingers and thumb onto the contours of the mouse, no one knew the gravity of the moment.

-click*

Coworker selected the radio button corresponding to the BYU vs. California football bowl game scheduled for Dec. 22nd and then moved the cursor down to the "vote" button in the bottom-right corner of the box. It was then that he reviewed the results of the survey--a survey result which was 100% for BYU vs. Cal. One hundred percent? What the...? Oh my.

It was then that he reached over and tapped me. I looked at his jaw-dropped expression, and followed his gaze to his screen. His reaction was fitting for the honor which had just been bestowed upon him: first in the ESPN SportsNation.

He quickly suggested that I vote so that I could be the second place voter. I moved quickly and voted. My browsing and clicking was slow and pathetic compared to my gifted coworker.

Coworker was number one in the nation today. I was 1,099th.

Invited to make a comment, Coworker said, "To make up 100% of SportsNation is truly an honor and great accomplishment."