Al's Blog-o-Sphere

It’s definitely going to change how people look at us, if we go around wearing these things…

The Future Now: Sixth Sense Technology May Change How We Look at the World Forever.

So how DO we decide which toilet paper to buy, without one?

I wonder if these people could tell me how to make our robot follow a colored square with it’s camera?

It kind of reminds me of the jokes that went around – A guy goes into a bar and he sticks his thumb into his ear and his pinky in front of his mouth and starts talking.

“What are you doing” asks a guy at the bar. “Oh, I’m talking on my bionic cell phone implant.”

We won’t get to the punch line here, but it involves the rest room, toilet paper and printing a fax.

Maybe we should choose our toilet paper by whether it’s for ink-jet or laser…

I recently ordered an item online. I do that every once in a while and have become pretty comfortable doing so. Usually, I get an email to confirm the order and they are usually pretty dry. This one, though, was great, so I thought I’d share it with you.

The merchandise I ordered was pretty mundane, but the place that I found with what I needed, at the best price, was one of those knife places that sell everything from tasers to nunchucks, to pepper spray, as well as knives. I was only ordering some replacement rubber bands for my wrist-rocket slingshot, which I use to put lines up into trees to hold up antennas. The slingshot has a fishing reel mounted on it and you shoot the sinker over a branch to pull up a rope.

Reading their site, I found out that my wrist-rocket slingshot is considered in New York State to be a dangerous weapon and is a misdemeanor to own! Well, I hope with the fishing reel attached, it is clearly a tool, not a weapon and I don’t intend to let that stop me.

Here’s the order confirmation I received. It’s a hoot. Sensitive information has been changed, but otherwise it is untouched. Continue Reading…

I came across an article from the Orange County (Texas) Record with this interesting title: T.O. exiled to NFL’s Siberia (Buffalo)

And the players for the Vikings and in Green Bay are doing what? Sitting under palm trees, drinking pina coladas? Chicago is known as the windy city. What, a few Lake Effect snowflakes is worse those -20 windchills?

Once again Buffalo, where it’s been in the 40-50s more int the past two weeks than below 32, and flooding is more of a problem than drifting, we’re the victims again of this unjustified stereotype. Continue Reading…

We’re tired. It’s pouring rain, and it’s a long walk to the parking lot from the building we just left, but we couldn’t be happier.

Eleven hours earlier, we had arrived, a bit late, but still in time to hear the National Anthems for the United States and Canada sung at opening ceremonies. It was the third and last day of the FIRST Robotics Fingerlakes Regional Robotics Competition at RIT in Rochester NY.

I had ridden there the previous two days in a school bus, getting up at 6:00 am to meet it. We left one night about 7:30 pm and felt good to get out early on Friday by 5… The extra hour or so of sleep on Saturday felt good, but it wasn’t enough.

It’s hard keeping up with these kids. I’m 55 and my mind says it wants to do the things they do, but my body is always vetoing that idea. My feet are sore, my back aches and my joints complain whenever I work in an awkward position. But I wouldn’t miss it. These kids keep me feeling a little younger than I might if I just stayed home and vegetated. Continue Reading…