Heather, On Tech

Another Wicked Cool Prosthesis

This is some of the coolest technology out there, if you ask me.

I am not a fan of calling someone "disabled" when they aren't.  It's great to see that technology is making its way into making the lives of people who are missing limbs easier to do...everything!

In case you're too lazy to hit the link, MedGadget reports that an Austrian man (Christian Kandlebauer), who lost both arms when he was electrocuted, has two prostheses that allow him to drive, have a job, and I assume pretty much everything else "normal" people do.  They transplanted nerve receptors to do it (this is called targeted muscle reinnervation).

If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.

Do No Work (not a gadget)

Simon Sinek has an awesome post/video up about not working.  In the video, he is talking with Mike Michalowiz, author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.

If you're an entrepreneur, you know that although sometimes your business seems like all you do, it still usually doesn't feel like "work" - you enjoy almost every minute of it.  If you go to a job every day, it may often feel like work - the bad kind. 

Some of my own input about whether you are "working":

• it's hard to get out of bed and face the day on work days
• you spend more time "looking busy" than actually "being busy"
• you don't wonder where the time has gone, but you look at the clock constantly and say, "It's only 9:30!  Why is this day creeping along so sowly???"
• there is no excitement for your job.  Ever.

OK, those are a bit sarcastic, but that's pretty much where I'm at.  I have a job, but I do my startup thing as well.  My startup definitely suffers for it, too.  I'm not a complete slave to my paycheck, but our family has become accostomed to our existing lifestyle and it's scary to give that up.

I am officially on the 6-month plan.  I will be out of here before the end of the calendar year, mark my words.  Until then, I will continue to warm the chair, but not really do any work.

Note: yes, I know that's not exactly what Simon is saying, but I've extrapolated a little. :)

Hello! Anybody Out There?

Yeah, I'm still alive, believe it or not.  Just been hiding under a rock lately because, well, nothing has been going on.  And yes, I've fallen down on the job on getting one photo every day; I need to get back on that and I will, eventually.  Too much crap going on in my world right now.

But, I came across something today that I couldn't pass up writing about, so here you go:

Blood bath shower gel.  Yep, it's red, looks like blood (well, sort of), and it even comes in a blood bag.  Totally awesome if you're "into" blood (that's a family joke, if you knew my father you would understand).  At any rate, it smells like cherry (which is not my first choice, but oh well) and you can hang it in the shower.

The shower gel is available at Think Geek for $8.99.

Report Cards Still Suck, Even When You're a Grownup

Seth Godin has a great post up today about "report cards" (or performance evaluations).  It's very short and it's worth a read.

Back in the day (a former life, former job), we had supervisors that took great pride in giving everyone terrible performance evaluations.  But those evaluations seemed to have little bearing on whether or not you were promoted to the next rank or "perfect" position.

Some of us came up with the expression, "The only way you can hurt me with that [performance evaluation] is to roll it up and poke me in the eye with it."  That's still pretty much what I think of them. 

Report cards can be different because let's face it, if you flunk a test, it's a pretty standard way of measuring and for the most part it's objective (unless of course it's an essay, in which case it's completely subjective...or can be).

By the way, Seth's post isn't really about report cards and performance evaluations - it just struck a nerve. ;-)

Recycling Paper to Wipe With

I don't know about you, but I'm buried in a mound of paper every day when I pick my children up from school.  Between the writing practices and the drawings of Darth Vader fighting Indiana Jones (complete with lightsaver [sic.] and bullwhip), there are roughly 12-15 pieces of paper I have to go through every day.  I don't mind seeing their work, or enjoying their creative drawings; I just don't have room to save them all.  So, most of this stuff goes in the garbage every day (don't tell them that though).

In Japan, I could make use of this paper myself.  Yes, I recycle the paper usually, and the paper is dutifully reused in some fashion.  But this nifty Japanese gadget allows you to do it yourself and turn the paper into something every household needs a fair amount of: toilet paper.  Why it's called the White Goat I have no idea (yes, I know goats eat everything, but I'm pretty sure that what comes out the other end isn't really usable for anything other than fertilizer).  Please correct me if I'm wrong, though.

When, oh when will this be available in the U.S.?  I will be running to use it on a weekly basis at the very least...although somehow I doubt the quality is up to Charmin's standards, I'm sure the boys can use it. :-)

Hat tip to Newlaunches!

Office Shenanigans: Paintball Land Mines

I have to admit, this sounds like fun.  Wouldn't you just love-love-LOVE to get your coworker with a paintball land mine that's filled up with Liquid Paper or Cool Whip?  Oh yeah, I can see this in my future.

The RAP4 land mine is only $65 and it's rechargable so you can re-use it time and again.  It makes a loud noise (as you would expect) and of course blows whatever liquid you fill it with all over the place.

The best part is, it works for good friends as well as foes.  And, I know just the person to try this on...oh yes, I am evil!

Note: these "land mines" are filled with CO2 cartridges and used in paintball wars.  In theory, nobody gets hurt with them, so quityerbitchin.

hat tip: Wired magazine

Stop Motion Fighting

This is funny and creative in more ways than one.

Hat tip: Ze Frank

I'm Gonna Cut My Hair

So.  I grew up with short hair.  I played sports, and my hair is super-curly (all those pictures you see of me is the real thing; no perm here!), so having it long was really not an option.  When I got older, I started growing it out, then cutting it off.  I tend to go to extremes with it and now is no exception.  I last grew my hair long with Little E was about a year old.  I had it really short when he was born, then grew it out from there.  When Little P was born, I cut it again because bending over to play with toddlers and babies was not fun with hair in my face all the time.

Right now, my hair is the longest it's been in over 10 years.  When I cut it that time, I went from the middle of my back to a #1 guard buzz cut.  Unfortunately, this was when the movie G.I. Jane (Demi Moore) came out and everyone assumed I did it because of that.  I told everyone I lost a bet (I was changing careers and needed an excuse as to why I had shaved my head, and that seemed like a good excuse, which showed integrity) if it was "important".  The down side was that I was also a police officer and you can imagine what a lot of people thought of me.

I managed to work it pretty well back then, despite my big nose and small chest. :)  I chose to wear a little more makeup and more feminine clothes and I was under 30 years old so it worked OK.  And of course I was built like an athlete but not a linebacker, if you know what I mean.  I'm still not built too badly for an over-40-mother-of-two, but you know, I doubt I can rock it like Natalie Portman did.  More like Sigourney Weaver which, let's face it, ain't bad at all (no I'm not as tall as her but I'm probably about the age was when she did Alien3).

Anyway, what are your thoughts?  Short or super-short?  I need feedback people!

I'd post pictures of the buzz cut but I don't have any because I didn't leave it that way for long.

I just read on ReadWriteWeb about Weezer releasing their new album with a Snuggie.  Wowza.  For some reason, this doesn't surprise me, but it does make me sad in a way.

Since I live in Florida, I don't have a lot of use for a Snuggie (tongue in cheek), but I wouldn't mind the new Weezer album.  Maybe I'll download it from Amazon for $3.99.

I have spent 30 minutes trying to write an "intelligent" post about this, but it keeps sounding preachy so I'll just leave it at that.

AT & T's A-List (Finally)

We've all seen those annoying wireless company commercials where they tell you you can choose a certain number of people to be in your "calling circle" and you can make calls to them for free (without burning precious minutes).  These numbers can be other cell numbers or landlines.  Some companies offer five, others 10.

AT&T is finally joining the ranks of these companies and offering the same - only they allow those minutes to roll over as well.  Meaning not only can you save the minutes when you call, you can save them for later too.  Of course, if you call someone who is also an AT&T customer, you're already saving those minutes.

At any rate, it's about time they did this.  Fortunately for me, I never use up all my minutes (not even close), and my family, by sheer coincidence, also all uses AT&T (we were all on Cingular before the buyout).  I just don't talk on the phone that much and even with minimal minutes I don't use them all.  Ultimately I pay an ungodly sum each month to have internet access and texting available at all times of the day.

AT&T's A-list feature will go into effect on September 20, and you can read more about it here.  Apparently they will have a sliding scale as to whether you can have five or 10 numbers on your plan, depending on your monthly charges for service.