A blog about things.
The 1980’s saw the infancy of multi-touch sensing on computer screens. Then five years ago, at a TED conference, Jeff Han showed us the evolution of this multi-touch sensing technology. We now have the IPad and other multi-touch devices taking over the market. Say goodbye to the mouse.
Here is the video of Jeff at the conference showing off this “new” technology and what it will offer us in the future (our present). At the end is his idea of a really cool app!
And that is: The Bembreneth Way
I have recently been asked two questions. 1. When are you going to write on the blog again? 2. What is”THE BEMBRENETH WAY”.
My answer to the first question is that I have been busy with kids going to college, and reworking my daytime schedule to be able to write consistently. And now that I know some people are actually interested, I have more motivation.
My answer to the second question is this. The bembreneth way is whatever makes you feel good. And by feeling good, I don’t mean a drug induced high or drunken state. I mean when life makes you feel good. It’s those times when you just feel good about something. It is the feeling you get when you take the higher road in life. It is the feeling you get when you do the right thing. It is the feeling you get from the fun things in life. It is laughter. It’s watching a child have pure uninhibited fun, or just acting like a child yourself.
All too often in life, we make things way more difficult than they need to be. Life is only as difficult as we make it or let it becpme. Bad things will happen. But if you focus on the good, more good things will happen than bad things. I believe that in the end, we will all be OK. So relax and create and enjoy. It’s why we are here. If you don’t like the way things are going in your life, then change it. We do have that ability.
And that is: The Bembreneth Way
The ultimate goal
In this day and age of the virtual computer world of video games, most “adventures” are relegated to sitting in front of a monitor and manipulating animated characters via some sort of hand held controller. Gone are the days of children playing outside and acting out their fantasies of being a professional athlete, a professional dancer, a super hero, or even a world-famous archeologist. These can now be done indoors, online, and with other people that they never physically interact with.
And while the hand-eye coordination and finger dexterity of these virtual world conquerors makes even a jet fighter pilot green with envy, there is still nothing better than getting outside and seeing, hearing, and feeling the real world.
I re-discovered this point thanks to my 12-year-old daughter Jenna and her friend. While the two of them were walking down our gravel filled lane, Jenna’s friend happened to look down and spot a rock with what appeared to be an impression of a sea shell embedded in it. They brought it to me with great excitement and bewilderment. I stared at it shocked and amazed. This looked like a perfect fan-shaped fossil impression of a clam.
While they ran back outside to look for another one, I looked on the Internet for information about Louisiana fossils. To my surprise, most gravel comes from a huge rock strata formation in upper Louisiana and contains rock that is millions to hundreds of millions of years old. And it contains a variety of fossilized organisms including snails, clams, corals, insects, and my all time favorite, the trilobite.
At this point, I was hooked. The quest for the trilobite was on. When I told the girls about how old the fossils were and what other fossils to look for, their excitement grew even stronger. I told them the ultimate glory would go to the one who found a trilobite.
So there we were. Three of us sitting in the lane feverishly looking through gravel and trying to become a world-famous archeologist by finding a trilobite. At one point, I stopped and remembered my childhood. My friends and I spent many hours and dug many holes underneath our cinder- block raised houses in New Orleans. We wanted to find dinosaur bones and become famous. All we found were bones of recently dead animals. And if we dug too deep, we would hit water. And now, here I was with my daughter and her friend, and we were finding fossils basically in my driveway.
Although we did not find a trilobite, we did find other fossilized shells, corals, and wood. But the quest for the trilobite goes on.
This is a wonderful thing to do ” WITH” your kids. It is fun, interactive, and educational all in one. And you can still include the computer to look up what you find. To recap: fun, time with your kids, educational, outside, and can involve the computer. Parents, you can’t beat that!
Go to this website for more information on Louisiana gravel fossils http://appl027.lsu.edu/MNSEducation/Saturday/Hunting%20for%20Fossils%203.pdf
Though computers are a wonderful thing for all of us, don’t forget there is a whole world outside of the computer also. And it is amazing, especially when you see it through your child’s eyes.
And that is: The Bembreneth Way
The Bembreneth Way 