Category Archives: Technology

Space – The End Of An Era

Leave a reply

NASA Photo

Rockets!   Shuttles!   They were glorious. They were exciting.

First manned flight. First man on the moon. Maybe some day first woman on Mars.

If you’re old enough, you’ll recall Sputnik, the first Russian satellite to be put into orbit back in 1957. Sputnik’s launch started the Space Age Race.

Sputnik

We’ve come a long way since ’57. Space was all the rage back then. I remember my prom’s theme was Starlight Melody. I was in charge of creating little sputniks, which we hung high from the ceiling surrounded by yards and yards of blue tulle. We danced under the stars, the skies, the moon and those tiny, glittering sputniks. Fun times.

Over–for now.

On to new heights!

RefDesk.Com

2 Replies

By now, I hope everyone has discovered  RefDesk

It’s my home page. I think you can find just about anything you could ever dream of on this page. It’s chock full of trivia and what’s new in the news. Some of the daily things you will find on this page are:

Site of the Day – Today it introduces you to  Free Ebooks and Texts Archive

Thought of the Day – It’s really a good one today, which is what prompted me to write about this site.    “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
Abraham Maslow

This Day in History Today it’s about Narcotics Anonymous

Article of the Day Do you know what a Bonobo is? You will after reading this article.

Daily Diversions Games, Jokes, Stumble Upon, etc.

Today’s Potpourri Trivia, Science, Technology, Health

There are so many additional and varied resources, there is no possible way you could ever peruse every one of them. You’ll find all types of news, even “hold your hat now”–there’s even Positive, Good News. And expect the pictures from outer space to blow you away.

Don’t miss out on this site.

Typewriter, Dictaphone, Mimeograph, Email, Laptop

1 Reply

I bought my first laptop today.

It got me to thinking back to my first secretarial job. Back then the qualifications needed to land a job were a good typing score (on a typewriter) with a knowledge of shorthand, or the ability to transcribe from a dictaphone or ediphone.

If copies were ever needed, you used carbon paper. Suppose you needed fifty or sixty copies? Then you had to rev up the mimeograph machine, but first a stencil had to be typed. Lots of good fun there!  See Boomer with a View.

I remember the first time I used Email. The system was installed into every employees’ computer in the company. Voila! I could actually send a message to someone on the third floor from the first floor. Believe it or not, it was only a test run at our company. The CEO didn’t see any future in it. When the test period ended, Email disappeared from my workplace. Wonder where that guy is working today?

Anyway, I wrote this post on my new laptop. Welcome to the 21st century.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

4 Replies

Did you ever hear of Stieg Larsson? He wrote The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The title intrigued me, so there you are. I picked the book up. That’s how happy mistakes are made.

The intrigue doesn’t stop with the title. Main characters don’t come more fascinating than Lisbeth Salander. Her personality: mysterious, hidden, socially inept, computer savvy (genius hacker), sometimes deadly, cautious, captivating, hold-your-breath nerve wracking.

I wanted to know a little bit more about the author. Larsson lived in Sweden. He died in 2004. But before he died, he delivered three manuscripts, which were published and later translated into English. Lucky for us.

I just finished reading his second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire. Again the troubled, complicated heroine is Salander.

I found this second book to be slightly slower than the first, but only slightly. Both are good reads.