Springwise pointed me over to this interesting new application for digital videos.Now you can turn your videos in to short animated flip books. This might have some fun applications. There is a consumer version and business version.
Jeremy, Shutterfly addict, might find a new thing to give his wife.
This is a cool tool that works in your browser window and lets you preview web pages without actually leaving the page you’re on.
I stumpledupon this cool site that lets you program a text message, a time to call, and even the caller id number to call from, allowing you to send your self real time voice messages: so you call yourself tomorrow today. Play with it; it’s kinda cool.
Iconoculure pointed me to a new portable solar charger for cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras and other gadgets. Solio claims to power virtually all hand-held electronics. If you visit the site, check out their gallery for a cool presentation of users round the globe.
If you have a big body bubble, why not make it tangible? Iconoculture reports on a new life dress for women by Anna Maria Cornelia. I guess you could sit in there and IM all your close friends.
And while I’m noting anti-relational trends, Iconoculture offers a succinct quote from a recent CNET article.
For many reasons, people bond with robots in a way they don’t bond with their lawn mowers, televisions or regular vacuum cleaners. At some point, this could help solve the looming health care problem caused by an enormous generation of aging people. Not only could robots make sure they take their medicine and watch for early warning signs of distress, but they could also provide a companion for lonely people and extend their independence.
While that certainly sounds convenient, I don’t think it sounds personal. The origins of the word “person” are fuzzy and may have several strands, but it was once a legal term for property owners (men) in the Roman empire.
When trying to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity, the Greek Church Fathers gradually came to link person with being to suggest that “God was being in communion.” In other words, the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) suggests being cannot being reduced to a substance or essence that precedes relationship.
Humans, as images of God, are persons in the sense that we are fundamentally relational with other humans. While dogs, cats and even robots may give us warm fuzzies they cannot enter into the messiness of a fully reciprocal relationship.
And in one sense that is what relationship is about: messiness, conflict, forgiveness, betrayal, redemption, and sometimes separation. Our capacity to wound one another corresponds with our capacity to enter into genuine loving relationships that cannot be duplicated with any other force, object or creature.
Sure caring for elderly can be difficult and messy and overwhelming. That’s part of what human life is all about. I guarantee it is not about sitting on the couch watching American Idol every night.
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