The line between work hours and home time is starting to blur with the constant access that smartphones provide—and when your office is your home, it can be nearly impossible to make the distinction. I’ve worked from home at least part time for years and here are a few of the ways that I make the transition work.
via Working from Home: 5 Ways to Transition from Work Time to Home Time | Apartment Therapy.
When I was a little kid, the only gadget was an Inspector and screen time wasn’t really an issue because Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was only on once a week. Now that we’ve got a slew of devices, we’re figuring out our relationship to them as a family. Here are a few of our ever-evolving tactics and guiding principles:
via The Wired Family: Screen Time and Tech Etiquette Strategies | Apartment Therapy.
As awesome as Project Ara is, we’ve yet to hear a solid timeline nor pricing info for Google’s ambitious modular smartphone. But we bring you good news: For those who lack patience and want to try the next best thing, you may want to consider the Nexpaq, a modular case for the iPhone 6, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6 Edge and many more devices to come. Admittedly, we were a bit skeptical with this project’s claim upon receiving the startup’s pitch, but after meeting two of the co-founders in Hong Kong, we know they mean business.
via Pretend you have Project Ara with this modular smartphone case.
¿Como? ¿Puertorriqueños en América del Norte antes de que Cristóbal Colón? ¡Por seguro! Forensic geologists and Native American scholars are opening the flood gates of new knowledge about North America’s past. What they are discovering is that what is now the Southeastern United States was a melting pot for at least 1000 years. Much of the proof has also been available for a long time . . . 16th century archives left by French and Spanish explorers, plus a stone tablet discovered over century ago near Atlanta, GA. The Taino ethnic and place names were in these old texts. Some of them are still in use today. Until recently, though, no one ever stopped to investigate the origins of such words that were within what was thought to be the original territory of the Creek Indians, but not Creek Indian words.
Our Trip To Microsoft Retail Store in San Juan, Puerto Rico:
In case you haven’t noticed, \we like to check out Microsoft Retail Stores as we travel, pretty much everywhere we go. For one thing, we always have something to ask them (some little problem to solve or talk about) and, for another, they have the “cool, new toys” to play with.
And so, a few days ago, we visited yet another Microsoft Store, this one was located in the Plaza Las Americas Mall in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This store was the only one we have been to located outside of the US mainland, so we were really curious as to how well it would compare to the other stores we’ve visited.
As always, it seems that Microsoft does not disappoint. We found the same beautiful store, excellent quality of service, and very helpful technicians as any other Microsoft Retail Store we’ve visited. In addition the San Juan store had a couple of extra things we didn’t expect.
First of all, the store was much bigger than I expected. It was a very large and clean space – in fact, it was much bigger than both of the Florida stores we visited. Which of course makes me happy, because that is all the more room for cool gadgets. We went specifically to check out what they had in stock for the new Surface 3′s and we were not disappointed – they had several units on display.
via Microsoft Retail Store San Juan Puerto Rico – Love My Surface.
Bioluminescence is defined as the emission of visible light by a living organism. Is mainly due to light emission from a biochemical reaction. The necessary conditions for concentration levels are kept stable in time and space is a rare phenomenon in nature.
Among those that stand in Puerto Rico, for your presence and high concentration include: Bay “Phosphorescent” and Bahia Monsio Joseph in the Parguera, Lajas; Laguna Joyuda Cabo Rojo; The Black Sea in Guayama; Laguna Grande in Fajardo and Puerto Mosquito in Vieques.
via The World’s Most Captivating Bioluminescent Bay, Puerto Rico | Attention Boricuas.
The most unsettling part is how the machine clamps down onto a patient’s arm to help keep it steady during the procedure. It obviously helps make the experience less painful, but it doesn’t do much to help stress levels if someone is already nervous about needles—or robots. On the plus side, it looks like this machine could be easily modified to be the world’s first home tattoo printer so you could get ink done from the comfort of your own living room.
via I’m Not Putting My Arm Anywhere Near This Blood-Thirsty Needle Robot.
Sometimes your hands are completely tied up when you need to use a device the most—so even gesture recognition is no use, let alone a touchscreen. MIT’s latest input device though, which turns your thumbnail into a track pad, could help.
NailO is inspired, apparently, by decorative nail stickers—but it seems a little more useful than that. Developed at MIT’s Media Lab, the multilayer device—comprising battery, circuitry, capacitive sensors and a cover—takes your touch and sends it via Bluetooth to a mobile device or computer.
The device recognizes several gestures, and is shown in use in the video below. It’s also capable of being used to type characters, though we suspect that’s a rather laborious process. Better, probably, used in situations where both hands are a full but a quick thumb swipe is convenient: when your’re cooking, say, or looking at instructions while your hands are occupied with tools.
via This Little Device Turns Your Thumb Nail Into a Track Pad.
Northampton, England is considering an unusual approach to alleviating traffic congestion and air pollution. The city wants to replace the trucks currently clogging its two major motorways with underground delivery carts. The system from Mole Solutions, dubbed a “Freight Pipeline”, will leverage linear induction motors to propel steel carts through dedicated tubes between various stations throughout the city. “Congestion is a global issue and we could take a significant volume of traffic off the roads, not just in the UK but in countries like China and India,” Mole Solutions chief Roger Miles told reporters recently. “The bounds of this are limitless.” The company asserts that these steel “moles” would be able make deliveries 24 hours a day without disturbing residents. Should the current feasibility and subsequent financial viability studies work out, the Mole system could soon be running under a number of UK city centers.
Interestingly, this isn’t actually the first time such a scheme has been implemented. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chicago’s business district was undercut by a massive web of subterranean delivery tunnels. New York City (as well as Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis) built a number of underground mail tunnels in 1897, though this series of tubes were never actually put to use.
via Northampton’s testing magnetic underground delivery ‘moles’.
The United Nations General Assembly designated the day in 2007 as a way to raise autism acceptance and help those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since it’s launch in 2010, the iPad and iPad apps have been a tool in providing that help, and in aiding those with autism in finding their voice.According to the CDC, one in 68 kids in the U.S. are on the autistic spectrum. According to a study by UCLA, using the iPad can help minimally verbal children more than double the amount of words in their vocabulary, and the earlier they start, the better they do.Apple has created features like Guided Access expressly for people on the autistic spectrum, and developers around the world have created dozens of apps either specifically or incidentally helpful as well. The App Store is currently featuring a collection of apps for Autism Awareness Month, including several on sale. Toca has also assembled a TocaBox for autism bundle. Here they are, and more!
via Amazing iPad apps to help with autism and awareness | iMore.
It's my life, you're just along for the ride! 