Tag: technology

  • The Wi-Fi Doofus

    When it come to computers, I’m a full blown idiot. As a stay-at-home dad, my day usually involves hooting like an orangutan and tending to my son’s poopy pants—not exactly a George Clooney lifestyle. But when my ancient candy colored iMac recently barked and hissed at me when I tried to open a simple email, I realized the gigabytes had passed me by. It was finally time for me to leave the woods of domesticity and upgrade.

    I strolled into the Apple store with my motormouth son on my heals. The in-store rave music was so loud and irritating I felt like punching someone, particularly the young male employee with the sour puss expression who sneered at me when I walked in. I approached the pasty employee and he froze manikin stiff, seriously trying to hide behind his perfectly placed bangs.

    "What kind of iMac do you have?" He asked me as he nonchalantly checked two seperate palm pilots.

    "The blue one," I said. He let out a huge sigh of exhaustion.

    "How much memory does your iMac have?" He asked.

    "Um…lots?" I replied. My son then pulled out a booger and gave it a quizzical look. Then he ate it.

    Next, I talked to a young female worker who had dreadlocks and looked like she sparked revolutions in her spare time. As my spastic three year old lifted up the front of my shirt, showing the entire store my grizzled stomach, she hated him with all of her might.

    "Is it true that Macs are for artists and PCs are for perverts?" I jokingly asked her.

    "You said it not me," She sneered.

    Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything.

  • Text Your Tuna

    If you’re one of those people who is annoyed by restaurant texters, thumbs madly pumping away on their phone while they ignore the others at their table, relax. They may be saving the ocean.

    The Blue Ocean Institute has launched FishPhone the first sustainable seafood text messaging service. Embracing technology, Blue Ocean understands where the important decisions are made: in front of the menu. How often, when you’re in the whirl of a spectacular evening out, can you recall the specifics of your eco-training? Especially with seafood, a vast arena of eating that fluctuates with seasons and trends. No one can memorize the status of the thousands of sea critters.

    Enter the text. Simply send a text to 30644 with the message FISH followed by the name of the species you’d like to research. They’ll send you a text back with that species status: Green, Yellow, or Red.

    I sent FISH lingcod and received this: caught off US West Coast (YELLOW) some environmental concerns; bottom trawling damages habitat; HEALTH ADVISORY: High Mercury. … at this point I might choose to find out if the restaurant knows how the fish was caught, many chefs won’t buy anything trawl caught.

    When I tried to check out branzino: Sorry, we haven’t reviewed that species yet. Be sure to check spelling. We continually add species to our database so check back often! … Branzino is actually just the Italian name for European Sea Bass which is pretty common and well-regulated.

    For monkfish: (YELLOW) some environmental concerns; try US farmed catfish, US farmed rainbow trout, or US farmed tilapia instead … I like the recommendations, but you’re out of luck if they’re not offered on the menu.

    Additionally, for those with web-enabled devices, you can download Blue Ocean’s Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood from fishphone.org.

  • Peripa-tech!

    This month, all sorts of lucky boys and girls are sporting shiny new
    electronic doodads, freshly delivered from Santa and other thoughtful
    gift-givers. It’s good timing: A hot-pink Motorola RAZR or aquamarine
    laptop does much to cut through the gray midwinter cloud cover, not to
    mention spruce up many a gloomy coffeehouse interior. In fact, around
    these parts, tech accessories are one of the few acceptable ways to
    incorporate fluorescents this time of year—especially if you’re in
    possession of a Y chromosome. Cell phones and iPods are only the most
    common of these gizmos; clothing and accessories designers have also
    devised a crop of stylish new ways to ferry—and flaunt—these devices.
    Somewhere deep in our cargo pants are additional treasures: pocket
    shooters (a.k.a. super- skinny digital cameras) in bright metallic
    hues, even USB drives encrusted with Swarovski crystals. Who knew
    gadgets could be so decadent?

    See Peripa-tech slideshow featured in the left column.