Google Glasses

I’ve worn glasses since the fourth grade and I’ve been called Poindexter, Four Eyes, Specs. You name it; it’s been thrown in my direction. But, I’m the youngest of five boys so there was nothing others said that could bother me, especially since my family nicknamed me Shithead.

Yup, you read correctly: Shithead. When I was but a wee lad, we traveled to DeerIsle, Maine for Thanksgiving. My uncle had hung a banner that read: Welcome Egertons. You too, Shithead. It stuck.

But, I digress. Despite the barbs tossed my way wearing glasses had never been an issue for me. I’ve worn contact lenses and I’ve considered Lasik eye surgery, but it’d always seemed easier to just don the spectacles.

I guess I’ve never understood why wearing glasses was such a big deal. So, I was happy to hear that in the not too distant future, wearing glasses might actually be considered cool.

Google, the company that is working to develop a driverless car, is developing what could possibly be a “must-have” piece of technology, the Google Glasses.

Google Glasses are being developed in the ultra-secret special projects lab near Google’s MountainView, California headquarters, and they could be the next generation of computing apparatus. Techradar reports that the glasses will run Android, will include a small screen in front of your eye and will include motion sensors, GPS and either 3G or 4G data connections. Google still needs to develop a workable interface, such as voice activation.

Initially, people wearing these glasses might seem odd to onlookers. They'll appear to be talking to themselves and bobbing their heads as they walk to avoid virtual obstacles. But as people adopt the technology, Google Glasses will become mainstream.

I think the advantage of these glasses will be the heads-up display that will provide the user with unobtrusive Internet and phone access. FarhadManjoo states that wearable computers could end up being a fashion statement. They actually fit into a larger history of functional wearable objects—think of monocles, wristwatches, and whistles.

If Google Glasses existed when I was a kid I doubt I’d have been tagged Four Eyes or Specs but I can’t imagine any technology that would prevent my uncle from dubbing me Shithead.

Does anyone care to make a functional fashion statement?

The Good and the Not so Good

The Good:

In my May 28, 2012 post, I wrote about SpaceX’s successful launch of a cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the first time a ship owned by a private citizen had visited the ISS, and now they may have an opportunity to expand into the manned space shuttle business.

On August 3, 2012, NASA announced three companies had been contracted to design and develop the next generation of crewed spacecraft under the umbrella of NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. NASA’s press release states the CCiCap’s objective is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability. Their goal is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit. The idea is that the technology, once developed, would be available to the government and private sector.

The three companies are:

• Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colo., $212.5 million
• Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), Hawthorne, Calif., $440 million
• The Boeing Company, Houston, $460 million

According to NASA, these commercial partnerships have the potential to set the agency on a course to provide new transportation into space for its astronauts, while expanding human presence beyond low Earth orbit and enabling new missions of exploration across the solar system.

The Not so Good:

NASA is working on an in-house project called Morpheus, a vertical test bed demonstrating new green propellant propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection technology. It is a full spacecraft that will be capable of carrying 1100 pounds of cargo to the moon.

On Friday, August 3, 2012, NASA completed a successful tethered test flight at Kennedy Space Center.



It went so well that NASA decided to attempt a free flight with a Morpheus prototype on Thursday, August 9th. Unfortunately, the craft crashed about fifty feet from the launch site.



NASA says no one was injured, no property was damaged (besides the vehicle), and they have been able to recover significant data that will give them greater insight into the source of the problem.

I think both these events are of equal importance. I hope NASA doesn’t give up on Morpheus. This was a setback but no one was injured and to me, the fact that they are creating a homegrown spacecraft is huge. Also, since NASA has awarded some developmental contracts I have hope that the United States space effort is not dead.

Does anyone else think both these events are of equal importance?

Curiosity Follow Up

My December 6, 2011 blog discussed the Mars Rover Curiosity. On Sunday, 8/5/12, it landed on the Red Planet in what CNN reported as a spectacle known as the "seven minutes of terror." The reason for the “terror” was the unknown; the distance between Mars and Earth caused a communications lag so the folks in mission control couldn’t follow the descent and landing in real time.

Courtesy ABC News

When they launched the rover on 11/26/11, there didn’t seem to be much hype. I don’t recall there being more than fifteen second blurbs on news casts. But after landing, ABC News ran a clip that showed the unbridled elation of the technicians in mission control when they received confirmation of a safe touchdown. It seems that every night thereafter, they’ve had a piece about some aspect of the current mission.

Courtesy ABC News

After traveling more than 200 million miles in about 8 ½ months, Curiosity has settled safely in Gale Crater on Mars’ surface. Within minutes, it sent its first image, and in the distance you can see the rim of the Gale Crater. (For all you conspiracy theorists, that’s not the Mojave Desert.)

Curiosity’s mission is to scout for signs of life on Mars and NASA expects it will function for two years.

I think it’s exciting. NASA says missions like this pave the way for manned exploration. We can only hope.

What do you think? Is the Curiosity mission frivolous or a logical step in potential human space travel?

Cruisin’ With Glory

The Glory's Atrium Lobby

The average weight gain for a five-day cruise is (the answer is at the end of this post):

a. 7.5 lbs

b. 2.5 lbs

c. 5.0 lbs

d. 10  lbs

Carnival Glory

My wife and I just completed our second cruise. It was a five day Canadian cruise aboard the Carnival Glory out of Boston, MA, with stops in St John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our first cruise, aboard the Disney Dream, was detailed in my February 27, 2012 blog (Living the Disney Dream).

Reversing Falls Rapids
Courtesy Google Images

After a day at sea, our first port of call was St John. We did the “Top 10 Best of Saint John” excursion which was highlighted by a pair of trips to the Reversing Falls Rapids. It was the first stop and later in the day our final stop and it afforded us the opportunity to view the river moving in the opposite direction from the morning visit.

Peggy's Cove



Peggy's Cove

The following day we ported in Halifax. Our primary excursion was to Peggy’s Cove. We drove to the tip of a cramped promontory and our tour bus was parked with four other similar vehicles – and more kept coming. There's no denying that Peggy's Cove is scenic but, the combination of damp drizzly weather and so many people in this confined space made this a non-highlight for me.

Chocolate Melting Cake

Overall, I think the Carnival cruise compared favorably to the Disney cruise. For example, the meals were of similar quality and both vessels had good shows in their main theaters and comics who I thought were funny.

We must have enjoyed it; we’ve begun the process of booking a 2013 Carnival cruise.

Do you have a guess regarding cruise weight gain?

According to the Glory’s cruise director the average weight gain per day for a cruise is 1.5 pounds for a total of 7.5 pounds. I believe it!