Pockets full of geekery

[greatbear]

Today I came home and as I usually do when I walk in the door from work, I empty my pockets and otherwise relieve myself of the load of items that seem to accompany me everywhere. This time I looked at the resulting heap and started shaking my head:

One keyring (more like 'rings' tangled together) containing 22 keys for my cars, the truck, garage, work keys and tool chests and cabinets among others, plus a remote for one car, a LED flashlight, and a nailclipper

A small carabiner containing the Mini Cooper key (ironically too big to fit on the first set), two 1 gig thumb drives, a WiFi locator and a Fluke VoltLight

Wallet stuffed with all sorts of junk but not much cash

Cell phone

iPod with headphones and a 40 hour auxiliary battery

Sheesh. Seven of these items have batteries in them, a few more are still some sort of electronic device.

On occasions I add to this silicon menagerie a laptop and/or a digital camera. And this is just light travelling. Toss in much more if I end up going somewhere on a kind of technical housecall, install, or working at tuning a late model car.

I seem to carry more electronics on me than the Terminator ever did.

I guess implants arent far behind at this rate.

Comments

Re: Superimpose an "L" over my forehead?

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

(cont'd)
Navigation Systems: I have one in my car, as well as a
setup for my laptop. Convenience here, as well as
safety. I'd rather pay attention to the road and enjoy
driving than futzing with a map. Nav and GPS here is a
gadget that I occasionally use to make life easier. I
have a good sense of direction though, and can read a
regular map and follow directions.

Laptop: Not used much, it's an extension of my home
computers. Nice to have, but more often than not, it's
used only for things like diagnostics and keeping in
touch. Recently though, with digital cameras, it's
become a way to share pictures with others and keep
connected with the world. I tend to disconnect more
often than anything though.

Digital Cameras: Love 'em. I was into photography for
a long time, and digitals make taking pictures so easy
and cheap, there is no reason NOT to have one IMO.
Made another hobby of mine that much more accessible
and worth doing, just for the hell of it. I dont want
a camera phone, nor do I care to converge so many
functions into one unit. This is not only asking for
trouble when that one unit eventually dies or gets
lost, but these days is a way of separating me from my
money more often. A camera phone often costs more to
use as a camera, and the pictures essentially look
like ass compared to even a cheap digital camera.

There is nothing wrong with 'disconnecting'. I do it a
lot. It's fun. In fact, some excursions are wonderful
in their isolation. Like camping, or my drives to
various places such as The Tail Of The Dragon in
NC/TN. Such things are an exercise not only of
isolation, but community building. People get together
and form their own little self-sufficient communities
and bask in their little corner of the world.

You arent left behind. Hell, you are here on LJ, and
that says something. I find LJ to be an amazing method
of interacting with others. It's technology being used
in a very personal way, and lets us learn more about
each other in ways that ordinary forms of interaction
cant. I am happy with my gadgets for the most part,
but I dont find myself dependent on most of them.
Mostly they make my life easier, and leave me more
time to do other things. That might involve more
gadgets, or lack thereof.

Cell Phones on Planes

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

Since we're on the subject of gadgets, I'd like to know what everyone things about the possibility that airlines will begin allowing passengers to use their cell phones during flights. Frankly the notion makes me cringe.

Re: Cell Phones on Planes

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It would drive me crazy. Already I constantly deal with people using cell phones who are being jackasses about it, and having a bunch of people rasing their voices and involving me with their inane one-sided conversations would most certainly drive me to cause physical harm.

If airliners want to allow this, then there should be a limited amount of seats in a certain part of the aircraft, and there should be a surcharge.