kartooner.com

The weather in New York has been a mixed bag.

After a few weeks of perfect weather the snow has finally reared it’s ugly head. Last year, when I moved here I refused to drive thinking that anything I would do would increase my chances of getting into an accident. My wife drove me all over, since she had experience living in New York. I was a homegrown California guy, used to the constant weather, smog and 2-hour commutes. When we first moved here I was a fish out of water placed into a Ziploc bag and stuck into the refridgerator.

This year, however, I’ve put on my valiant shoes and started driving in the winter. Going to work in the morning has been an experience since the commute consists of a speedy 5 MPH, not to mention the countless amounts of people who either drive too fast or drive too slow. Case in point; tonight while driving on the main road we were stuck behind a man who couldn’t decide what lane he wanted to be in. After a few minutes of swerving side-to-side, we decided to pause for a moment and at that point he put his right-hand turn signal on and continued to turn in that direction gradually.

As far as estimating how fast I should drive I’m about in the middle for the moment, trying to figure out the right amount of speed to brake ratio.

While watching the television tonight, the newscaster spoke of a local man who received a 300-year prison sentence. First of all, why does the court of law appoint a sentence that extends past the 100-year mark?

Do they believe this specific prisoner has taken a sip from the Well of Mortality? Maybe Ponce De Leon needs better recognition for his proposed Fountain of Youth.

It’s understandable why a mass-murderer should receive a life sentence, but when they specify the exact amount of years in multiples of 100 it’s beyond me, even if the sentence is concurrent.

“When you first meet Steve Mann, it seems as if you’ve interrupted him appraising diamonds or doing some sort of specialized welding. Because the first thing you notice is the plastic frame that comes around his right ear and holds a lens over his right eye.

But quickly you see that there’s more to his contraption: A tiny video camera is affixed to the plastic eyepiece. Multicolored wires wrap around the back of Mann’s head. Red and white lights blink under his sweater.”
[Read more]

In the same era as Speak and Spell, The Little Professor, Shrinky Dinks and Transformers, there was Lite Brite — the quinessential toy for any child wishing to shed their creativity.

Lite Brite was a simple concept. It was essentially a peg board with a backlight in addition to hundreds of multi-colored pegs — which resemble a cross between a Christmas light and those plastic pieces that remain affixed to model kit sheets.

When I first plugged a Lite Brite in I wasn’t sure what to do next. It wasn’t until I figured out that included in the box were a handful of patterns to inspire you. These included sail boats, clowns and the occassional island scene (one island smack dab in the middle of the ocean with a single palm tree protruded to one side).

Over time a child would lose several of the pegs and more often than not you would be left with more than one color over another. For me, I had close to 50 or so purple, 10 red and what seemed like a 300 pieces of green.

Today, the Lite Brite has evolved into the Lite Brite Cube — a variant on the original design. Instead of one flat panel, you now have four panels combined to create a cube — which to me signals the intelligence or techno-savvy of today’s youth.

Children of yesteryear were entertained and content with unpretencious technology; things like Slip and Slides, Speak and Spell and remote-controlled robots. Those were the days.