20 Top Predictions For Life 100 Years From Now

Lots of folks like to predict the future. I do it all the time. BBC's news magazine polled their readers about what they thought life would be like in a hundred years and then had futurologists Ian Pearson and Patrick Tucker give their opinions those ideas.

My favorite? Number two:  We will have the ability to communicate through thought transmission.

Bamboo Buildings, Beautiful School, Amazing People

    

Travel Photo of the Week

Haleakala National Park, Hawaii 

Superstuff: When Quantum Goes Big

If you don't think the future is going to be exciting, you haven't been paying attention. Check out this article and video.

City Without Ads

Having worked in advertising (producing and directing TV commercials, doing print and radio), I've come to the opinion that the vast majority of it is mind poison.

I think this is especially the case with mass advertising. I'm not going to go into my reasoning, you can do that for yourself. Just watch your kids eyes glaze over at the site of the latest shiny piece of useless junk shown on the tube (then after you buy it, watch it sit in the corner unused because it's actually boring or broken because of its shoddy construction).

And you sit there thinking that you've grown out of that kind Pavlovian response, even as you salivate over some car ad.

What's to do? Well, six years ago one city decided to ban outdoor advertising citing visual pollution. In 2006, Gilberto Kassab, mayor of São Paulo, Brazil, passed the "Clean City Law." Did all the businesses go under? Hardly. Here's a link to the website The Center For A New American Dream describing what happened.

Fun Time in NYC (part 2)

Here are the three videos we shot of the construction process. In the first Brian, the lucky man who makes Muppets at the Whatnot shop, introduces himself.

In the second Brian is gluing the eyes on.

And in the last we meet my finished Whatnot.

Here is a nice shot. I'm thinking of maybe naming him Walter. Any suggestions?

Fun Time In NYC (part 1)

For my birthday this year (which was actually last month), my daughter promised me trip to the Muppet Whatnot Shop at FAO Schwarz in New York City. If you didn't know, a Muppet Whatnot is one of the Muppet extras that you see milling about in scenes with lots of puppets.

The Whatnot Shop lets you make your own custom Muppet from various odd parts; eyes, noses, hair, all kinds of stuff and then you dress it in different tops.

Here are photos from our visit yesterday. Videos of my finished Muppet tonight or tomorrow.


Here I am about to start the Muppet making process.















I'm not sure if I'm about to punch him or he's about to eat my hand.



Here's a cute fellow.



Here's a whole slew of Whatnots. The variety is endless.

Learn To Code, Get A Job

Have you ever wished you code get under the hood of your computer and write programs? Now you can and without going back to college and spending more to learn than you'll earn (a big problem with colleges these days).

Codeacademy is a wesite that will teach you step-by-step...for free. The default page starts you coding right away with simple exercises to build your skills. You can even code (and compete) with friends and build your skills together.

NOTE: If all goes well, this week's Saturday and Sunday entries will be merged into a single "Fun Time." Normal daily entries will resume Monday morning.

I Love Kites

"This kite, called 'Three Cubes Colliding,' is made of carbon fiber spars, Cuben Fiber fabric, and 1,700 3D printed connectors, and the best part is it actually works."

Travel Photo of the Week

Fishermen on Inle Lake, Burma