This is hilarious…a Dalek-produced relaxation tape for humans (might not make a lot of sense if you’re not a Dr. Who fan…).
Two hours without an iPhone
Today was a strange day. I took my iPhone in to my local Apple store to get its battery replaced. This was my first experience getting any Apple product serviced…I had assumed they could do it quickly, while I waited, but it was going to take 1.5-2 hours! Pretty reasonable in the whole scheme of things, but I was faced with an interesting dilemma. I had two hours to kill in a part of town I wasn’t very familiar with. I’d gotten in the habit of using my iPhone in times like this…to learn more about my surroundings, find places to go, check email to kill time, you get the idea. Without it…I felt a bit lost. Siri, where is the closest Starbucks? Oh yeah…
I went to REI to look around…and ended up finding a good work shirt to buy. At checkout, the cashier asked if I was an REI member. Usually that’s the point where I whip out my iPhone and open Passbook so she can scan my virtual REI card. Umm, let’s see, umm, yeah, is phone number OK? So, moving on to Starbucks next…a nice place to sit, drink coffee, check email, read the news, though really just the first two this time. So, order a drink, and reach for the iPhone so I can open up my Starbucks app to pay…that’s right, no phone. I guess it’s going to be cash! Paper with numbers. Change. Strange. Finally, sitting outside, it hit me. I was feeling more connected to the world around me. Listening, observing. My mind was racing, thinking of new ways technology could make peoples’ lives better, at a time I’d normally be scrolling through new emails or checking Flipboard for the latest news. Strange feeling…
It’s not like I’ve never been disconnected before. It happens often when driving, or camping. But you know, those are places, times, when I expect it. To be in an environment where I’m normally optimally connected…and to be cut off…that’s what felt weird.
Driving home, I started to feel connected to the world in a more physical way, as on my short stint on the freeway, two separate cars tried to physically merge with mine. Reflexes, sharp handling, and a bit of luck helped me there, but wow, time to retreat to cyberspace where it’s safer… 😉
Light tiles!
Coming soon to an IKEA near you – light tiles! Wrapped into what funky shaped light or chair I don’t know, but IKEA just made a ‘strategic investment’ in Design LED Products, the company behind these flexible sheets of LEDs. Check out the video below for more, or read IKEA’s press release here.
Polar ice disappearing fast
Ice sheets over Antarctica and Greenland are shrinking at an incredible rate of 120 cubic miles per year, and accelerating (the rate of ice loss has more than doubled since 2009). While part of Antarctica is actually increasing in ice cover, overall the continent is on a definite decline. Most of the ice loss, 90 cubic miles per year, is as a result of melting in Greenland. The data comes from the CryoSat-2 satellite measuring the altitude of the ice over the continents. Scientists have been using satellites to measure ice levels for about twenty years now. You can read more about this at this link.
It’s sad to see our society at such an advanced level technologically, yet turning a blind eye to this problem. Man-made climate change is a fact and one that will have to be dealt with sooner or later. It’ll be expensive, but the costs only go up over time.
Bulletproof coffee
I’m such a coffee geek, I’m surprised I don’t write about coffee here more! I’ve maintained a separate blog called Coffeeopolis where I used to direct that attention…but in the interest of simplifying life I’ll be favoring this one instead. Today’s coffee fascination is with a new coffee drink called Bulletproof coffee. When I first read about this, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and I quickly moved on to other, more pressing matters (like, you know, work!). It seems to be popping up more and more though.
So, what is Bulletproof coffee? It’s designed by Bulletproof Exec, one piece of the puzzle to upgrading ‘your performance in every aspect of life.’ Noble ambitions. Why mess with coffee though? This coffee drink is part of a larger diet that gets pretty complicated…so click that link if you want to know more, but for now, just know that it’s designed to be more of a breakfast replacement. So, how do you make it? You start with one cup of coffee, brewed with 2 1/2 heaping teaspoons of low-toxin coffee (I hear that any wet-process coffee meets this criteria, though you can of course buy special Bulletproof Coffee Beans…). Add 1-2 tablespoons of a medium-chain triglyceride oil, 1-2 tablespoons of unsalted grass-fed butter, and mix it all in a blender for 20 seconds (you can buy a starter kit of ingredients for $50). Click here for a printable instruction card.
So what’s it like? I wish I could tell you. Or not. I haven’t decided if this is something I want to try…I love coffee…and this sounds…weird. What’s gotten me thinking more about it, though, is this article at Fast Company. The author drank Bulletproof Coffee every morning for two weeks, trying it as a true breakfast substitute. The results were interesting and the article is worth checking out. Or check out the video below for instructions for how to make Bulletproof Coffee yourself.