greentheo

Greentheo loves robots… yep it’s true.  And if you think that humanoid robots are a thing of the distant future… well check this out:

The future is now my friends!

If you want a full article on this crazy robot then go here.

Ever dreamed of having a robot servant who would do all the boring chores around the house? Well mechanised domestic staff have come one step closer, thanks to an android being developed in Japan.

Researchers at Tokyo University’s JSK Robotics Laboratory, have created a humanoid called Kojiro, who is learning how to mimic how we walk.

Kent linked to this ebook on “focusing” .  I found the following passage particularly meaningful and hope you will too.

There are days when I wake up and refuse to turn on the Internet, and sit still with my cup of coffee in the hush that fills the hours just before dawn. I’ll listen to the quiet. I’ll reflect on life. I’ll lose myself in a novel. Some days I’ll sit down and write, just my thoughts and the quiet and the gentle tapping of the keyboard.

And it’s beautiful.

Other days I’ll go for a run and enjoy the rich outdoor air, salty when I jog by the ocean, sweet when I pass a field of wildflowers, saturated with soft light. And this is a wonderful time for me, as I enjoy the moment, as I soak in the quietness, as I bask in my connection with life but my disconnection with technology.

Other times I’ll sit with a friend and have a cup of coffee and chat. We’ll argue about politics, or whose computer OS is better, or tease each other, or share stories. While disconnected from technology.

And some days, I take a walk or go for a run with my wife. Or I’ll sit with my child, and read, or just play.

These are unbeatable moments.

These are the moments when disconnection shows its glorious face, when life is in full force, when we are fully connected to the world immediately around us, while disconnected from the world at large.

These moments have become increasingly rare and fleeting, because of our connectedness with technology. And that’s a sad thing in my book.

I’m no Luddite — I don’t think we should abandon technology. It’s given me the career and life that I’ve always wanted, where I’m able to play for a living, create, be a full-time writer, help others, and live a simple life. Technology has empowered me, and I am as big a proponent of the latest technologies as anyone.

It’s not technology we should be afraid of. It’s a life where we’re always connected, always interrupted, always distracted, always bombarded with information and requests. It’s a life where we have no time to create, or connect with real people.

Disconnection is the solution, or at least an integral part of it. It’s very difficult for many people, because connection is addictive. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.

Now that's the spirit!

“In this Economy” it’s tempting to feel powerless, feeble and overwhelmed.  People you know and love are either in financial trouble or perhaps disaster.

As much as we want there’s just not much we can do to turn this country is there? Or is there?

Well, you could go to a tea party convention and threaten to tear down the system (to be replaced by what exactly?)

Or….

You can take a few steps that though small, will gradually ensure your and your comunity’s financial health.

Buy Local

In this study of local bookstores vs national bookstores for every $1,000 (the cost of ~1 latte/day at Starbucks for a year) spent locally, $450 remained in the local economy.  The same amount spent on a national chain only keeps about $130 in the local economy.  As you work and live (to some extent) in your local economy this means that the chance for your own dollars to come back to you are about 300% higher simply by buying local.  And on the flip side it makes locally produced goods cheaper while increasing the odds that increased and more diverse services are offered near-by. Over time this amounts to a huge gain for the individual.

Educate yourself and become a mini-entrepreneur

One of the easiest risk-mitigation strategies for investment is simply to diversify your portfolio of stocks and bonds.  Do the same with your job, your skills and your career.  Take on a few more skills and contribute them where you can.  Remember, only jobs which are easy to document and train people to do can be shipped overseas…good, fresh, relevant, creative and insightful ideas are always needed.

Pay off your debts

If you didn’t have to pay interest on your house it would be about 60% cheaper.  The average purchase on a credit card costs 12% more than it’s purchase price.  Seriously… if you pay in cash you don’t have to make nearly as much money for the same lifestyle.

Stay healthy physically and mentally

Happy, strong and resilient people make good productive communities.  Good productive communities do well economically.  And even when they don’t do well economically they remain happy… and that’s what really counts, joy in the face of despair.

A few days ago I started my boycott of traditional deodorants.  If I wouldn’t eat it or put it in a salad, then why would I put it on my skin knowing fully that it will soon be in my bloodstream?

I’m not going to rant, but today I’m adding a few more things  to my boycott list in an attempt to save this country from the perils of the anti-social behavior that are slowly gripping it.  I know. Yes. It will seem ironic that I’m communicating this to you via “Web 2.0″ technology after you read this.  However, I can’t encourage you to boycott my blog… how else would you know what you too should be standing up against?!

Starting immediately I will be boycotting:

1. Communicating anything more than trivialities by SMS txt message.
2. Using Facebook to see what’s happening in a friend’s life if I wonder how they’re doing.
3. If Facebook tells me that it’s someone’s birthday (a genuinely good feature) I’ll send him/her an email with more than 150 characters in it.
4. Twitter altogether.
5. Checking email more than 3 times per day.
6. Replying with less than 1 sentence to any email, letter or phone call.
7. Replying with “pretty good” to anyone’s inquiry about about how it’s going.
8. Saying that I would love to meet up sometime and never following through on it.
9. Answering a phone call/text in the middle of another conversation.
10. Not commenting on a good blog post.

So what are you boycotting this week?

Shower? Not with these bad boys!

One of the cornerstones of green living is saving water.  Recently my own backyard has seen the addition of 600 gallons of rain water storage (for the low price of $20 and some sweat).

However, green as most folks would like to be, usually the limit is drawn at showering.

Showering is an extremely important cultural norm in America.   If one were to admit that she had not showered in 3 days she might also be lowering their head in shame, self-disgust and with the remorse of one who had been branded with a scarlet letter A on her back.

Fortunately us aspiring conservationists have a great tool for cleanliness, health and reducing our water consumption on such activities like showering (which can waste 20-40 gallons per 10 minutes and hundreds of watts of embodied energy in the hotness and cleanness of the water).

The answer is dry skin brushing with a stiff bristle brush.  It requires only about 5 minutes, a stiff bristle brush and a little bit of pain tolerance.

The alleged benefits are:

Benefits of Dry Skin Brushing Explained:

• Removes cellulite
• Cleanses the lymphatic system
• Removes dead skin layers
• Strengthens the immune system
• Stimulates the hormone and oil-producing glands
• Tightens the skin preventing premature aging
• Tones the muscles
• Stimulates circulation
• Improves the function of the nervous system
• Helps digestion
• AND it’s easy, inexpensive and invigorating!

Really? Well…I’m not sure if my cellulite has been removed but all things considered not even my lovely wife (whose nose functions perfectly well) could tell that I hadn’t traditionally showered since the last full moon. And honestly, my skin has never felt better mid dry-as-a-bone-Colorado-winter.