Computer revolution on the way....Computers will own the world...not for me...You ?

[Ken]

We have lightening strikes around this area. it takes wall outlets out of the boxes. also destroys the protector on the meter base and pwr. co replaces for only 160 bucks.The transformer on pole gets replaced sometimes. sky gets cloudy remove the modem from telco line. All applinaces frequently changed out A/c stoves dish washers and anything left plugged in sockets during a storm. even dish sat smoked and cable had to be replaced. enough ground rods put in deep supposed to work .

So now have a house that is all computer controlled. turn out lights and lightening hits what happens.
is anything replacable. or just start over.

and a hacker get the pass word changes the programing. Wife decides to hang picture and puts a nail in the display.
or I fail to pay the monthly finance charge.
ken

 

[chad22]

That's just ridiculous. There is no way I would have any of that new technology that's in the video. I don't want to use a computer for every thing I do.

I like to take a break away from the computer as well. I love to look at a printed paper map, watch an actual television for the news.

I like to have pictures that are actually printed out on paper that I can actually hold in my hand.

If I want pictures on my fridge, I'll put them up there with an actual magnet. I don't need to be looking at a computer screen with updates to my job while I'm in the bathroom.

Chad

 

[MossRoad]

Oh come on you guys.... that stuff is very cool and you know it. I have a bunch of home automation stuff and it really is fun to play with and use in everyday life. Last summer I finally got to play with a GPS unit in a car. It was great. One small box with maps for the entire country down to the city street level VS an ATLAS for cross country driving. A separate map for the state and another map for the city. And if you have a change of plans you have to get another map, and another map, and Oh I forgot the map for that town....

The next thing I want to do at home is get a nice flat monitor framed in the kitchen that will play family photos as a screen saver and have my home calendar, recipes, freezer inventory, evening news, etc... on it. I can also skype with my distant family members while making dinner. Heck, we can even eat together if you think about it.

Use the technology to get closer to your loved ones and make your life easier. Don't fight it. You will be assimilated. :cool2:

 

[brin]

Moss.....I am going to be a " Refuse-nick " What happens to the hi tech when the power goes off....bank accounts, medical records etc....? What happens with hackers...? Sec. Def. Leon Panetta just warned that the US is in severe danger from international hackers....we can easily have a Cyber Pearl Harbor....He is urging congress to pass more stringent internet laws....He said our power grid, water systems, financial systems etc. are all at risk of being destroyed....So I for one just don't think it wise to trust everything to technology :2cents:

 

[dmccarty]

....
I like to take a break away from the computer as well. I love to look at a printed paper map, watch an actual television for the news.

I like to have pictures that are actually printed out on paper that I can actually hold in my hand.

If I want pictures on my fridge, I'll put them up there with an actual magnet. I don't need to be looking at a computer screen with updates to my job while I'm in the bathroom.

Chad

My TV, which is not the latest technology, has a GNU license which means the TV is running software and I assume a Linux variant. I am pretty sure the BD player we bought had a GNU license as well. TVs are now PCs in a bigger box. :laughing: DSLR's are computers to which one attaches lenses.

Bill Gates built a huge house a few decades ago in WA. One of the things he did was to install flat panels in the walls of the house to display photos. Those panels had to have cost a small fortune back then. When I designed the house, I created wall space and lighting to display photos. The problem we have is that we have thousands of photos we would like to display but even with building a house designed to show photos, we have space for at most 100 photographs depending on size. Then one looks at the cost of framing. A decent sized frame of decent quality materials is over $100. Just for the frame. We could easily spend $10K on framing alone which is why we don't many photos on the wall. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Given the prices of flat panel TVs, it would be far cheaper at this point to buy a couple medium sized flat panel TVs to display our photos....

Course one needs power to view the photos if the display is a TV and not a picture frame. And one looses the ability to throw the photos into a shoe box for future generations to find at some point. Dang if you do and danged if you don't I suppose.

Our fridge is covered with 5x7 photo magnets of the kids. There ain't enough room on the fridge to show all of the photos. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[Oaktree]

I walked into the living room the other night and the wife and two kids were all sitting on the couch next to each other! That sounds nice and right out of Leave it to Beaver! :thumbsup: The difference was that all three of them were on their laptops! :shocked: I sat down and started reading a book which makes me the normal one. :thumbsup: Except the book was an eBook on the Kindle!

Were they sending emails/texts to each other while they were sitting there?
A woman I used to work with once commented on how when her 11 year old daughter would have a friend over, they'd sit across the table from each other and email back & forth on their cellphones while not saying a word. Sad (or maybe I'm just old).

Oh come on you guys.... that stuff is very cool and you know it. I have a bunch of home automation stuff and it really is fun to play with and use in everyday life. Last summer I finally got to play with a GPS unit in a car. It was great. One small box with maps for the entire country down to the city street level VS an ATLAS for cross country driving. A separate map for the state and another map for the city. And if you have a change of plans you have to get another map, and another map, and Oh I forgot the map for that town....

GPS's have their place, especially finding a specific address where you're not sure of directions (though they've been known to take you some very weird roundabout routes...probably because it's .1 mi shorter than a more direct one). For a cross-country trip not so much. I enjoy looking at a physical map and plotting out a route that might take me somewhere interesting. Not that easy to do with a GPS.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss.....I am going to be a " Refuse-nick " What happens to the hi tech when the power goes off....bank accounts, medical records etc....? What happens with hackers...? Sec. Def. Leon Panetta just warned that the US is in severe danger from international hackers....we can easily have a Cyber Pearl Harbor....He is urging congress to pass more stringent internet laws....He said our power grid, water systems, financial systems etc. are all at risk of being destroyed....So I for one just don't think it wise to trust everything to technology :2cents:

I keep paper records for backup. I also keep DVDs and HD backups of photos, documents, etc.... Someday, even after a disaster, the computer will get repaired and I can view them again. I keep copies off-site in a safety deposit box. And I update those backups.

In reality, if the power goes out, I have a generator and a fuel supply that I can milk for a month. We heat with wood and have a well. Plenty of dry goods to last a month or more, too.

In the mean time, I will enjoy my electronic luxuries knowing full well they can get blown up at the drop of a hat.

I do enjoy a walk in the woods on a sunny fall day, though. Nothing can stop that.

 

[MossRoad]

Were they sending emails/texts to each other while they were sitting there?
A woman I used to work with once commented on how when her 11 year old daughter would have a friend over, they'd sit across the table from each other and email back & forth on their cellphones while not saying a word. Sad (or maybe I'm just old).





GPS's have their place, especially finding a specific address where you're not sure of directions (though they've been known to take you some very weird roundabout routes...probably because it's .1 mi shorter than a more direct one). For a cross-country trip not so much. I enjoy looking at a physical map and plotting out a route that might take me somewhere interesting. Not that easy to do with a GPS.

I tend to plan our trips on-line at home and then print out the map. At our destination, I look up the next day's plans, get some directions on the laptop and send them to my phone in case I get lost. That works well out in the country. However, navigating in a city or large urban areas, the GPS beats a map hands down in my opinion. I am thinking of getting one if our company does not get us smart phones this year. And I am an old Boy Scout that really, really likes maps, so the GPS is just a natural extesension of that part of me. Having all the maps at my fingertips is like a kid in the candy shop.
:licking:

 

[dmccarty]

Were they sending emails/texts to each other while they were sitting there?
A woman I used to work with once commented on how when her 11 year old daughter would have a friend over, they'd sit across the table from each other and email back & forth on their cellphones while not saying a word. Sad (or maybe I'm just old).

That particular time, I don't think they email or instant messaged each other. But there have been times where I am in the study on a computer and they are in the living when they have instant messaged me. The rooms are right next to each other. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

To be fair, I would rather them instant message me with a simple yes/no question than yelling the question at me. On the other hand, there have been times when they have tried to have a conversation with me by IM when they were in the next room. :confused2::laughing: When they do that non sense I tell them to come talk to me or I get up to go to them. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

I will have to chaperone a dance soon and I will take my Kindle so I can read while standing around. The first couple of dances, I was reading on my smart phone. I just have to remember to get another foam ear plug to tune out that so called music "they" listen too! :laughing: Heck, maybe I will take some ear phones and listen to Jubal's Kin. Now that is real music! :dance1: So there is some good from technology!

Later,
Dan

 

[retiredmgn]

When I was re-educating for my 3rd career in computer Science. One professor always made it clear. Any large program will never be completely free of bugs. I saw plenty of that while programming for an Electric Utility. Microsoft regularly takes control of my machine in the middle of the night to supply 'updates'. More often these are 'fixes'. Understood.
This automated world that is portrayed here is going to take a 'herd' of programmers to maintain properly. As stated, "One dumb cow", can put a wrench in the works.
For all the smiling faces you see contentedly using this 'automatic' software, there are 3 programmers ripping their hair out, "I thought I fixed that bug 3 versions ago".
Software is an aid, not an answer. I will never let it be in control of my vehicle.