technology

Do You Dream of the Jetson Life?

Lynette M Burrows

What futuristic program(s) have you watched and wondered what life will be like that someday? As a science fiction writer, I can’t help but do that. I dream of the Jetson life. I’ve longed for the Jetson’s flying car and robots and a technology-filled home since I first watched the cartoon. Sadly, we’ve not come that far but there are amazing things on the horizon. Take a look with me. The Flying Car There are four prototypes discussed in this video. One is called Pal-V One. It’s a car-gyroplane hybrid. If you’ve read My Soul to Keep you know why this one appeals to me. One of these flying cars runs on unleaded gasoline but you must be a pilot to fly it. Another one claims that if you can drive a car, you can fly it. And one looks like a miniature space shuttle. It needs only a few hundred feet of flat surface to land. There’s a flying taxi, too. I hope it comes without taxi driver, Korben from The Fifth Element. Home Cleaning Robots Not exactly Rosie the robot, but we already have the Roomba vacuum and its kin. This video discusses eight new robots. Fedor is […]

13 Things For Which I Give Thanks

Lynette M Burrows

I give thanks for many things. This week of gratitude would not be complete without listing these in particular. FAMILY INCLUDING GRANDCHILDREN Near and Far (in no particular order of preference or date) FURRY FAMILY FRIENDS Imagine YOUR photograph here. You thought I’d try to put in photos of all my friends? I love you all! I would not want to miss any of you. HOME that shelters me from all kinds of weather  snowmagedon 2013 FOOD COFFEE the elixir of my life! MEDICINE and how modern medicine has sustained the lives of those I love MUSIC all varieties TECHNOLOGY NATURE in all its variety My Health FINISHING MY EVERLASTING MANUSCRIPT!   Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Have a safe and happy day and, of course, stuff yourself with all your favorite foods. But also, take a moment to be grateful for the people, places, animals, and things that make your life better. Need some ideas? Here are 20 weird things I’m grateful for. Remember, you are one of the 13 things for which I give thanks. Thank you for reading, for coming back, and for all your support.  

Is Technology Clouding Your Ethics?

Lynette M Burrows

Technology allows us to do many wonderful things. But is technology clouding your ethics? That’s what the Trichordist addresses in his June 18th post. (Thanks Holly Messinger for bringing this post to my attention) It’s a long, passionate, and reasoned response to an intern’s post on the NPR blog where she confesses to not buying the music she listens to. The Trichordist, naturally, focused on the recording industry, but his post transcends the recording industry.The basic question is technology clouding your ethics, applies to everyone who believes they should be able to get art for free. All artists from illustrators to photographers to writers to web designers and all creators deserve fair compensation.     If you haven’t read the post, here is a portion: June 18, 2012 Letter to Emily White at NPR All Songs Considered. Recently Emily White, an intern at NPR All Songs Considered and GM of what appears to be her college radio station, wrote a post on the NPR blog in which she acknowledged that while she had 11,000 songs in her music library, she’s only paid for 15 CDs in her life. Our intention is not to embarrass or shame her. We believe young people […]