Day: November 22, 2004

The day ended up being fairly stress free and productive. None the less, I am ready for a break.

Today we put to rest two technologies, one 67 years old and the other came to exist, majorly altered your life, and died all within your lifetime.

Rest in peace VHS

In a move that marks the beginning of the end for a hugely successful chapter in technology history, Britain’s biggest high street electronics retailer Dixons has announced that it’s taking VCRs off its shelves for good.

Kodak projector, 67, slides into history Kaachingk Clang “And this is little Doug feeding the sea gulls on the ferry…” *laughter* “Oops. Slide is upside down.” Who can forget the whir of the fan, the hot air blowing, the clunky noises and that distinct smell of a slide presentation. This looks like the one I grew up using.

The Eastman Kodak slide projector, that magical box of light and lens that turned snapshots into tools of family bonding, passed into history Thursday night in Rochester. It was 67.

Its financial health failing for several years, the projector succumbed to a variety of technological and societal factors. Families eventually got too busy for home slideshows and cultivated a preference for photographic prints, while businesses migrated to computer-driven multimedia presentations.

The end had been expected since September 2003, when Kodak announced it would stop making the money-losing projectors as part of a shift from film to digital imaging. The last projectors came off production lines to cheers and tears at Kodak Park on Oct. 22.

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Kodak presented the final five projectors to the Eastman House and the Smithsonian Institution for historical display.

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The company estimates it made 35 million projectors in seven decades…

Student: I am working without a plan.

Master: Then plan on doing a lot of work.

Nov 21 – 27 “honoring strong families and the role they play in making communities stronger”

For you ardent writers out there, Kurzweil points out “A computer program known as Brutus.1 is generating brief outbursts of fiction that are probably superior to what many humans could turn out.”

“Dave Striver loved the university – its ivy-covered clocktowers, its ancient and sturdy brick, and its sun-splashed verdant greens and eager youth. The university, contrary to popular opinion, is far from free of the stark unforgiving trials of the business world: academia has its own tests, and some are as merciless as any in the marketplace. A prime example is the dissertation defense: to earn the Ph.D., to become a doctor, one must pass an oral examination on one’s dissertation. This was a test Professor Edward Hart enjoyed giving.”

That pregnant opening paragraph was written by a computer program known as Brutus.1 that was developed by Selmer Bringsjord, a computer scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and David A. Ferrucci, a researcher at I.B.M.

I want a total sensory deprivation experience but my wife is vehemently opposed.

That strange pulsing sensation in my lower right rib cage is bad real strong. I feel like jabbing a knife into it.

A New Day!

Let’s start the day off with a PayPal donation link:

This Morning

I am completely tripped out today. This weekend went really badly–well, I didn’t accomplish my goals. I have deadlines upon me. The budget isn’t landing where I expected so I’m fretting over Christmas. It’s bill time.