Educational – Page 4 – Random Thoughts

Power Outages Are Just Part of Rural Life

Power outages are nothing new to rural residents. But new technologies have helped reduce the number of outages and reduce the length of those that can not be prevented.

Is There a Good Time for Power Outages?

You would think the least problematic time for a power outage would be in the middle of the night; no lights are on, no one is watching TV or listening to a radio or using a computer – everyone is sleeping. In fact you’d think that a power outage at night would go completely unnoticed. Not so. The small soft noises that a home makes get so ingrained in our subconscious that when they suddenly go away, it tends to wake us up.

Power outages in the evenings are inconvenient; this is when we are likely using computers, listening to the radio, lights are on and needed. Maybe we’re fixing the evening meal in our all-electric kitchen. This turned into a good thing once. Continue reading “Power Outages Are Just Part of Rural Life”

Cable vs. Fiber Optic for Internet

cable vs fiber Our electrical utilities company just sent out a survey form to fill out and return to them. The survey is about our Internet service: if we have it, do we feel it’s important to our home, do we like what we have, what we do/don’t like most. That sort of thing. The reason for the survey is that they are considering installing fiber-optic cabling for internet. Our current ISP is our cable TV company. I was curious about cable vs. fiber for Internet: is one better than the other?

Our only other choice (besides dial-up) is satellite, and reports state that satellite internet is terrible in areas with lots of trees and atmospheric moisture. We live in a forest in The Great Smoky Mountains: so named because of the clouds that lift off from the mountains each morning. Satellite has never been a viable option for us.

I went looking for answers on the cable vs. fiber question. I found several articles, this one was most helpful, so I re-blogged it here, with my appreciation to The Tech Guy for making it simple and clear.

Cable vs. Fiber

Continue reading “Cable vs. Fiber Optic for Internet”

Famous Author Trivia

Want to have a little fun with literature? Here are 6 bits of trivia about authors, see if you can guess who each famous author is. (Answers at the end, but don’t peek)

1) What name is this author better known by?

This author was born in 1904 in Springfield MA. He graduated from Dartmouth College and went to Oxford University in England to get a PhD in Literature. In 1954 his publisher read an article in Life magazine detailing reading troubles children were having in the US. He asked this author to write a book that would engage young children and encourage them to read. In 1960, this author was challenged to write an entire book using only 50 words. He successfully accomplished both of these tasks. This author was born Theodore Geisel. By what name is he better known? Continue reading “Famous Author Trivia”

The Self-Balancing Unicycle

Are you hankering for a compact, ecologically smart form of transportation that requires less work and hassle than a bicycle? Do you want something that can be maneuvered easily and parked anywhere – even in your living room, or entry hall? Remember George Jetson’s sky car that folded up into a briefcase? This self-balancing unicycle is almost as good.

Focus Designs, maker of the Segway, has come up with an electrically powered vehicle that fills all these requirements and is only half as dorky as a Segway.

Self-Balancing Unicycle — Self Balancing Unicycle (SBU)This self balancing unicycle (both it’s name and what it does – very practical!) uses three gyroscopes to maintain an upright condition and a battery powered accelerometer motor tucked away in the hub of the wheel to produce a light weight, highly maneuverable and totally non-polluting personal transportation device.

Putting the motor in the hub means no troublesome drive chains and a lowered center of gravity over the Version 1 model, and the power as been increased from 350 watts to 1,000 watts so it has the power to easily climb hills.

Sophisticated algorithms and three gyroscopes wired to the wheel help the rider stay upright. To go faster, lean forward a little, to slow down or stop, lean back; it’s just that simple. It usually takes only about 20 minutes for a new rider to learn to control the SBU. Continue reading “The Self-Balancing Unicycle”

Battling Cable Clutter with a USB Hub

I recently acquired a small desk in our spare room on which to write. I had been using the dining room table after I abandoned the office in my workshop – for a number of reasons. My primary tool is, of course, my computer. I use a laptop. To this I connect a mouse, a printer, and an external hard drive. These are permanent residents. I also have another external hard drive, several flash drives, and a camera that are connected as needed. All of these use USB cables to connect. My laptop has 3 USB ports.

Two of these are on the right hand side, about midway back, the third is on the left near the back corner where the power connector is.

Not only do I not have enough ports for everything, but the two on the right side seriously mess up the area I use to run my mouse. I tend to lay my arm across those two cables, pulling them down and causing the connection to flicker. I was afraid if that continued I might crack the mother board. There has to be a better way. Continue reading “Battling Cable Clutter with a USB Hub”

The After-Christmas Blues

antidepressant and Christmas Blues Psychologists say that after-Christmas Blues (or post-holiday depression, in their nomenclature) is a fact of life for an increasing number of people each year. The reasons for this include:

Unmet expectations
Deflation
Guilt for over-indulgence
Unfavorable realizations
Anxiety over impending normalcy

Unmet expectations result from not getting something you want. It may have been a single extravagant item or hoping for a bevy of techno gadgets and receiving socks and underwear instead. It can also be a less concrete expectation: perhaps you hoped that, this year, the whole family would get together in the spirit of love and peace and no fist fights would break out. Continue reading “The After-Christmas Blues”

6 Tips on Selecting Pet Food

There is a bewildering array of pet food brands, and products within brands, out there to choose from. Products ranging from dry kibble, to canned, to fresh-frozen, to raw meat are available. All have some benefit, all have some risk. How do you decide which of these are best for your lifestyle and your pet’s health? Here are some tips to help you wend your way through the brand maze and select the best products to consider.

#1: The Pet Food Company

Many pet owners don’t trust larger pet food companies, thinking that a large corporation is by nature callous and uncaring. Smaller brands are more closely linked to their customers and likely to make better, safer products. However, statistics tell a different story. Continue reading “6 Tips on Selecting Pet Food”

Professional Jargon and the Turbo Encabulator

Those who work within an industry tend to develop a jargon of their own to express ideas quickly. Sometimes these are scientific terms, sometimes they are slang used as short hand, sometimes they are acronyms spoken out as words. As long as these folks are in their own element, communication is fine. Put a few of them in a crowd of the non-initiated, and most of the on-lookers end up bewildered. “What language are they speaking?!”

This can happen with motor heads, computer geeks, programmers, sports nuts, and medical professionals. Here is a fun look at what may be the very best example of confusing people with jargon. Below the video is the explanation of who this fellow is and how this short film came about.

This is the first time Turbo Encabulator was recorded with picture. It was shot in the late 70’s at Regan Studios in Detroit on 16mm film. The narrator and writer is Bud Haggert. He was the top voice-over talent on technical films. Continue reading “Professional Jargon and the Turbo Encabulator”

Being Thankful Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a holiday we set aside to be thankful for all we have.

Human beings are not wired to be consistently thankful or content with where and what they are. Humans tend to be ambitious: seeking ways to be or get more than we are or have. This is the driving force that has made us (in our opinions) the top life form on this planet. But there is a down-side to this ambition: it fuels unhappiness.

To find happiness we must cultivate contentment. Contentment is an appreciation of or gratitude for our current situation. Every November Americans tend to think more about being grateful because of Thanksgiving, but it would be better if we could be thankful all year long. Continue reading “Being Thankful Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving”

Debunking Myths About Introverts

Originally composed by Carl King I expanded upon it.

Myth #1: Introverts don’t like to talk.

This is not true, not true at all. We just don’t see the sense in talking unless we have something to say. We hate small talk. Hate it! But if you get an introvert talking about something we are interested in, we may not shut up for days. Continue reading “Debunking Myths About Introverts”