A to Z – Articulated Automation

Better to be an ordinary person with a servant than to be self-important but have no food. – Proverbs 12:9

Rise of the machines…

• Skynet hasn’t arrived, nor has hoverboard or Weebo
• Watson channels blend of Bumblebee, HAL, & KITT
• Telepresence being explored via Anybot & Oculus
• Kinect, Move, & Wii can detect your gestures
• A.R. Drone flies via mobile phone near you
• Sphero rolling everywhere soon

Or, servants for the masses…

Click to read the ‘A to Z’ automation poem.

Workspace 2.0 – Room to Flow

Workspace 2.0 has arrived. The prior arrangement…

New arrangement, or pulling 3.9 megapixels via an 11.6” dual-core netbook

Screen space specs…

• Acer Aspire 1410 - 1366 x 768 – powered by SSD
• Dell 17″ 1708FP monitor - 1024 x 768 – portrait - TN LCD
• Dell 22″ U2212HM Monitor – 1920 x 1080 – landscape – IPS LCD

How to pull 3.9 megapixels from aging netbooks? Click for more about creating workspace flow.

Improving flow via multiple monitors

As my friends can attest, I often leverage multiple monitors, or so called multi-head / multi-display monitor configurations to improve flow. For instance, my SSD-powered notebook has its native 11.6″ screen (1366 x 768), a second 17″ monitor (1280 x 1024), and a third 17″ laptop monitor (1440 x 900) via synergy. A fourth monitor would be possible via the VGA port on the extra laptop monitor, which is smoothly accessed via synergy.

On occasion, I’m also tempted to add a fourth screen, such as a USB monitor, or perhaps via an Android phone. I often do use a virtual “fourth screen” vis-a-vis the modern commonplace book, my trusty Moleskine, as shown in this pic:

Note also the Sennheiser headphones, which are the real key to workflow efficiency, in my case the cans are the Sennheiser HD 280 headset. I’ve tried cheaper notebooks & headphones; neither cost-saving measures were effective, although Marshmallows are great at the gym & around town.

Now back to the great multiple monitor debate… keep reading to learn ‘why so many monitors?’

Review – A Crucial Solid-State Drive Selection

Windows 7 + SSD = Blazing Fast! Does it matter if this flash-based drive is installed on the top-of-the-line ancient Acer Aspire 1410-2990 netbook, which…

• …is 2+ years old? No, other than being within the SATA III design & implementation window
• …contains 4 GB of RAM? No, or not as much as when running a traditional rotating disk drive
• …runs a dual-core SU2300 processor? Yes, to keep up with an SSD’s  throughput via SATA III
• …includes a Gigabit Ethernet controller. Yes, to leverage an SSD’s  throughput via SATA III
• …operates Windows 7? Yes, to leverage TRIM support on most modern SSDs

Keep reading for which SSD was selected & why…

Green Cards: New & Improved

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), via the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is now issuing Green Cards, or Permanent Resident Cards, that provide improved identification assurance, akin to technology used in passports. Updates include: » read more