The Ultimate Enabler

I do not understand how this is allowed to continue. The internet is a medium that knows no limits. Anyone can portray fact, fiction, lies and even lies made to look like fact. Then, after all is said and done, even the fact is held up for debate. How true is this so-called fact? When is the truth even 100%? And, of course, "that's only your truth". Fortunately, the Internet is also a purveyor of information, right or wrong, and it is left up to the individual to extract what they need or want to know from it.

Then there is the United States Constitution, a document which was a rewrite of the Articles of Declaration of 1777. In addition to the primary text, many amendments are included. The First Amendment, Second and so on are routinely referred to as the Bill of Rights. What is pertinent here is that these amendments are corrections. They change what was wrong in the earlier document. This means that the earlier document was flawed, and who is to say that the next one couldn't use some improvement as well.

Why is a centuries old document, created long before the technology surrounding us today, permitted to stand as a source of law? Moreover, the new document only had to be ratified by nine of the then thirteen states. Perhaps that fact, and many others, have been lost on the general public. When one speaks of their First Amendment rights, it appears that everyone, including the media, cringes in fear, as though some magic wand has been waved over their heads and they will perish. Laws can change, and perhaps some should.

What's the point? Here... I have just viewed several videos regarding the Westboro Baptist Church. This abomination spreads hatred under the guise of religious freedom... their First Amendment right. In the process, they are actually, without exaggeration, brain-washing their children to become the next evangelists. Fortunately they apparently have only family members in their misguided flock, totaling some 70, spawned from one Fred Phelps, a man of dubious distinction and intelligence. If you go to YouTube, you will find many videos highlighting their protests, news appearances and the like. All made possible by the Internet... their new best friend. Their website, GodHatesFags.com, receives too much visitor traffic, which hopefully does not include mindless dupes looking for a new cause.

As you review the videos, it becomes clear that negative publicity for them is welcome and encouraged. Even this article will contribute to some of their notoriety. However, my real concern is two-fold. First, that, even in light of losing an $11 million lawsuit which declared that they were invading privacy, they will continue, even though they can't pay it, and will ultimately be protected by the Constitution. Second that their blatant, evil corruption of young minds remains unchecked.

Amendments are changes that may have to be changed again. There comes a time when certain freedoms go beyond the bounds of decency. Watch the videos and ask yourself why this kind of lunacy is still around.

Wake up and smell the coffee!

I've just read a story about another meaningless study performed by some American university. This one focuses on the realization that teen boys and girls spend less time reading on school nights if they are playing video games. Do ya think?

We really must have some slow news days because if it isn't the mundane and obvious being reported it's something new about Britney. All of the cool science stuff gets pushed to the back burner and we can only take so much U.S. politics. I mean how long do presidential campaigns have to run anyway?

The enlightened among us know that the media's job is to keep us off balance and in a constant state of fear, so why do they slip up sometimes? If there is that much room, let's get to the 911 conspiracy theory, the Federal Reserve Bank control of the U.S. economy, the privatization of the U.S. government and let's not forget the profit taking by suppliers in the Iraq war. Let's keep the poking and prodding in the Afghan mountains alive forever and hope that the losses of U.S. personal freedoms don't make it up here to Canada.

Do Americans even care that high ranking officials in the U.S. administration have managed to retain and profit extensively from their financial holdings in firms deeply entrenched in the Iraq war. I am stunned. Wars have been started, and many brave soldiers lost, for the sake of profit.

I'd like to know when the American public is going to stand up and take issue with the fact that their government is supposed to represent their wishes. You don't elect a leader and then sit back and trust that he or she will do the right thing. Take the stand that government is corrupt going in and it is your duty to be vigilant and hold your elected officials accountable. Government by the people, for the people...

This is not to say that Canadian politics is free from corruption, but you can be assured that Canadians remain some of the most skeptical folks on the planet and our officials don't get away with much. The most powerful country in the world; however, certainly has a lot to answer for, and so does its citizens.

Life on the Edge

A few thoughts regarding a notion that is always with me but taken for granted by so many others. We put an inordinate amount of time into trying to save the ozone, identifying initiatives to counter global warming and being concerned about retarding the extinction of various animal species around the world. All of this presumes that it is somehow our responsibility, arrogance tells us so, to achieve these lofty goals.

In reality, we haven't got a hope. The world alone has spun on its axis for some five billion years. Species have come and gone, continents have shifted, islands and mountain ranges have appeared and disappeared. When an ice storm or hurricane strikes we shake our heads and still imagine we can divert its immense power next year. That is pure folly. Nature is the most powerful force that exists and it is by sheer coincidence, and chance that we are even here today... to think about this.

When you stand back and truly look at where and when you are, you can get a different appreciation for what is going on. Industrialized mankind has only been around for a few hundred years. Feudal and barbaric man for a thousand or two and ancient civilizations for thousands more. Man as a species for tens of thousands. Remember that five billion number?

Our memory on this earth may be but a spec in another ten thousand years. Nature will take care of the scars we put on the earth, otherwise known a highways and skyscrapers. It will initiate new species, replenish the forests, and recycle the seas. It will rip the airplanes from the skies, destroy the missile silos, and corrode the tanks. And that can start anytime.

Why? Because we live on the edge, in a truly temperate zone. The only reason that man lives in our present form at all is because the earth's current temperature range, radiation levels, gravitational forces and so on, permit our kind of life to flourish, and that it has the time to evolve is also a gift of chance. Just as a few thousand years is insignificant compared to five billion, so too is a comfortable 70 degree Celsius temperature band compared to all that space could throw at us. The species that exist, man included, do so at the whim of nature.

At any time, as has likely happened in millennia gone by, a resistant strain of bacteria, or an extra half degree tilt of the earth's axis, or a near collision with a comet, could wipe out all known species in the blink of a celestial eye. And we think we can fix the environment and so much more. Please, be thankful that it only rained 1 inch and not 21, that you could vacation in the Caribbean, ski in Banff and not open your front door to a blast of cosmic radiation powerful enough to render the flesh from your bones.

We only live here and now because nature has not yet closed this window of opportunity. We are merely the leftovers!

Can a white lie get you your dream job

Should a little white lie on your resume catch you your ultimate job? Maybe so. If that lie got through and you hung onto the job because you performed up to the job description and your employer's expectations, was that so wrong? Absolutely... well I suppose... I guess so... maybe not?

I take offense with an article published in the Christian Science Monitor entitled 'Fibs Flow on Job Applications' relaying that recruiters routinely discard resumes containing perceived fibs regardless of the candidate's overall qualifications. If they find an error, on some previous job or salary that appears over inflated, wham, the resume is filed under 'G'.

Alright, for those of us who are honest when applying, more room in the job market. However, when I read my own resume, since I've been around quite a while and been on many interesting projects, even mine sounds 'out there'! Would my words fall on deaf ears too?

My roommate in university had many unique traits but his resume writing was one of the best. We were in computer science, and if he had even touched an, as yet unknown, computer, say during a tour, then he noted that he had 'operated an IBM xxxx mainframe' or some such thing. If he had seen some code of a new language, then he had 'experience with APL' or 'PL1' or the like. I never agreed with the practice but he happens to be a successful lawyer today. Hmmm.

On a side note, if applicants are not to fib, then maybe the major job boards should scrutinize their job postings as well. Job descriptions from some HR folks are inflated to put out a net for the super-applicant. Anyone actually working to one of those job descriptions would be a paper pushing, bag of frustration, bent on suicide. Worse, many recruitment firms apparently cast their own net by posting jobs that do not exist, only to attract an inventory of candidate resumes. Then there are the postings that leave out that pertinent piece of information, like if there is a base salary (for a sales job), or an approximate office location.

I respect that recruiters and employers may have to scan up to hundreds of resumes a day, but the industry should keep in mind that job hunters, often emotionally distraught, must wade through hundreds of postings as well.

So if the job hunter occasionally or inadvertently embellishes a job history, at least give him or her a chance to be heard if the qualifications are sound.

The unborn may control global warming

A 10 year study out of the Queensland University of Technology has linked the proximity of air pollution to the shrinking size of the fetus, in particular, abdominal and head circumference and femur length. The ultra-sound scans of 15000 pregnancies were studied, though why someone got money for this I don't know.

So they are reporting that as air quality declines, so does the size of the fetus. This was done by measuring the distances the pregnant mothers lived from high levels of air pollution. Interesting discovery, but let's look at this another way, just to show how such studies can be flawed.

Let's say a young woman lives near a source of very poor air quality. What might we say about her? Perhaps she has little income or is not so bright because we would hope she would have moved away from there long ago. Perhaps she is unwed and quite poor or the daughter of a steel worker. Would she be of average or better intelligence, have a good health plan or the funds to afford a good doctor, eat well and exercise, have the support of other bright, affluent mothers-to-be... if she lived near such a place? I think not.

Australia spends less on health care than both the US and Canada, and the doctors apparently have no cap on billing, so, assuming this information coincides with the study, it stands to reason that the unfortunate mothers, living in less than favourable, polluted cities, might not be in the best health. Furthermore, the poor, unwed moms may have had more babies in the 10 years studied, skewing the figures even further.

That pollution itself causes the decrease in fetus size may be a convenient coincidence. Rather, I'd like to think that a) nature is finding a way to make more of us fit on this shrinking planet, or b) that a race of smaller infants is causing global warming.

Scan this buddy

There's a great big super store in our town that seems to be in most towns around the country and the world for that matter. All last fall ours was getting a face lift and being expanded. Groceries were being included along with clothing and hardware items. A one stop shop to be sure.

With the renovations underway, my wife and I were hopeful that there would be many more cashes and many more cashiers. Well the cashes did arrive, but not the cashiers. OK, it wasn't Christmas yet. There's got to be more by that time. Instead, the store went 24 hours and encouraged the use of the self checkout units. The cashiers, in greater numbers, never apparently showed.

Now I hate those automated checkouts. They either hide the change return or the receipt printer, or there is always one item that won't register properly. In the latter case, you wait for a young attendant to come over and fix the problem.

In other stores there are bank-like snaking lines for the express shoppers. I find this method works well and is far less frustrating. Here, a cashier checks you out but without the 'picked the wrong line' syndrome!

Overall, I am waiting for the day that RFID scanning (Radio-Frequency IDentification) comes in. In theory, your bank or credit account will be known to your own RFID tag on your person, and all of your purchased items will have a tiny circuit tag attached to each of them. We would simply cart all of our items through large scanners (perhaps inconspicuous) and then cart them to the car. Each item magically scanned will be decremented from inventory and charged to your account.

Of course there will be many other associated innovations regarding evidence of purchase, correct amounts charged et cetera, but in the end, will it be so different then going from a record player to an Ipod?

Ta Ta if it comes here

In today's story from New Delhi, India's TaTa Motors announced a new car that can sell for under $2,500 USD. Now, such vehicles were predicted, and the likelihood of them being imported is slim, but what might happen?

We already have the tiny Smartcars which putt along happily, and are still quite the novelty, but they still compete for the same space on the road. However, what if North American cities were suddenly inundated by herds of ultra small vehicles?

Ideally the small cars will be fuel efficient or, better still, run on alternate fuels, although that information is not forthcoming in the article. Assuming an individual vehicle does not worsen the air we breathe, what of the traffic problems and road safety. In India, their fear is that already congested roads will become even more clogged, and lead to major disruptions and traffic jams. Here I see something different.

In North American cities, as in many around the world, the road system delineates lane width. To date I have not seen a Smartcar driver take undue advantage of his or her diminutive stature. They must be leery of the larger vehicles and occupy their area much as a motorcycle is supposed to. Would we eventually get to multiple lane widths? Would shoulder areas suddenly open up to small traffic? Would smaller cars tend to tail gate more often, leading to more road rage? Would many more young drivers suddenly adopt their own car like a cell phone because it's affordable, and we let them?

Then what of safety? At least in a full size car we have some stronger, more costly, materials and the vehicle's mass can withstand small crashes. If a tiny car is hit by a full size car, or worse, a truck, the driver will have no chance.

The French and Japanese are already looking into cars for under $3,000. The Lada didn't work out here, thankfully, but are worse days yet to come?

If ya can't stand the heat...

Today, the temperature in the greater Toronto area is expected to reach 14 degrees Celsius. That's 57 for those of you who haven't converted to the Metric system. Help... the igloos are melting!

No, we don't live in igloos and believe it or not Toronto is a larger, more advanced city than most in the U.S. In any case, such uncommonly warm weather for us during the winter is a little alarming.

Can this be related to global warming? Most would say no because we should not be swayed by the occasional glitch. However, we have had several glitches this year, and the hurricane season down south is getting worse very quickly.

Global warming is likened to a steady 1 degree rise in mean temperature over the course of a year, which doesn't sound so bad. Does it? It is though, since it affects ocean temperatures which have a devastating effect on our weather.

Ignoring the pundits and promoters, if individuals continue to ignore that fact that minute changes in an eco-system can cause major changes down the road, then environmental technology firms will not receive the backing they desperately need.

Our human species will suffer the same fate as those we terminated in the wild.

Could it get any better?

Today's stories are from Detroit and France. They are both about cars and should be getting lots of good press, but I don't think it's happening.

First, we have the announcement from GM in Detroit that they expect to have cars available within a decade, that will be able to drive by themselves, and perhaps even park. This would be a great achievement, but what would become of all of the baseball cap wearing punks who dash around in hopped up Civics and Golfs. What would the pick-up truck drivers do to elevate their testosterone? And how would the rich show off?

Having the ability for a car to drive by itself does seem amazing but I fear there will be few ways to integrate them into a neighbourhood full of bad drivers who don't follow logic.

The second story is the announcement out of Europe of a car that can drive on air! Truly astounding. And with a top speed of 110klms/hr and a range of 200 klms, this has remarkable potential. This is the first time I have seen an actual opportunity to dramatically affect the rate at which North America, and the world, consumes petroleum products, which are dangerously scarce.

Although this invention was in its infantcy over 10 years ago, it shows that there may be some hope, providing the big U.S. corporations don't stiffle it.

th kwik brawn focs jumt ovr th lazi daug

Although reading, as it is so widely promoted, is vital to a child's literacy, I feel that creative writing is the loftier goal.

We want kids to learn and become more informed, for that they require reading skills; however, all that a child reads is typically prepared by someone else. The greater achievement is to have the child write.

Through writing, a child feels a sense of accomplishment, researches material, interviews subjects, draughts a story-line, and the like. In the process, he or she will encounter and absorb proper grammar and spelling via peer review and constructive criticism.

From my perspective, this active (writing) versus passive (reading) activity encourages the use of a plan and better prepares the child for the real world. It doesn't dispense with reading... that would be ridiculous. It merely treats it as a necessary means to an end.

If our education system is going to meet the needs of our children in the decades to come, it will have to adjust some practices before it's too late, and pro-actively build skills for the difficult future ahead.

If you feel, as I do, that a focus on creative writing for children is but one type of realignment our educators might adopt to help our future office workers, then please add your comments or visit the link.

Day 107: SBI bubbles web-site to the top

I have not written anything on this blog for sometime because I've been busy constructing a new web-site called www.short-stories-help-children.com.

Back in November of 2006 I came across an opportunity to acquire an existing web-site that had a strong following in the Greater Toronto Area. I made my proposal, and then set out to locate software or a service that would help me design a portal to direct traffic to the viable components within the prospective web-site.

I soon discovered Site Built-It from SBI. With it I could construct the portal I needed to target the web-site, but I had not acquired it yet. What to do? I chose to study Site Build-It as deeply as I could, check referring sites et cetera until I decided I had better get my feet wet. Then I figured.. 'Why drive traffic to a failing local website when I could talk to the world'. I picked an albeit competitive arena in short stories but with a slant to use short stories as a tool for helping children. It has become a layman's guide for parenting and child development. Consequently, I left the local web-site idea alone.

The SBI web-site can be found at SiteSell.com. The founder, Ken Evoy, made various claims like a 100% unconditional guarantee... that your site would get into the Top 3% of world-wide web-sites, as far as Alexa goes... and that SBI 'over-delivers'. All typical marketing hype, to be sure. Or was it?

Well, the 'over-delivers' aspect is evident even before you purchase the inexpensive web-based service. I was able to access the training tutorials before spending a dime, and I was hooked. The amount of expertise and the crafting of the message and techniques are outstanding and you soon feel that the knowledge you acquire is worth far more than the small fee. It truly over-delivers.

The guarantee is moot since the over-delivery of information, technology , and advice is seemingly limitless. Anyone claiming that guarantee would simply be mean, spiteful and be the kind to blame someone else for their failures.

And as for the Top 3% promise...well, as of this morning, my 107 day old site has made it to an Alexa ranking of 560,220. That effectively puts it into the Top 1% . The work needed to get there wasn't a walk in the park, but that's not the claim. The service provides the tools and the search engine optimization expertise to support all of your efforts... but you will learn. And you will get excited. I promise.

Third one's a charm

For Katey Sagal that is. The news today is that the ex-co-star on Married.. with Children has had her third baby at the age of 52. I know that's no record but isn't anybody concerned over this.


We know the median age of North America's population is climibing by about one year per year, the last I heard being 39. And, like all other stats moving in a bad direction, this will likely accelerate. So what does this tell us?

Well, first, in about 10 years, half of our population will be over 50. Is that a senior citizen yet. No, then OK, let's say in another 6 years after that, half will be over 60! Happy?

That means that by the time Katey's new baby is able to enter the workforce (if celebrity kids ever do that) his or her tax dollar contributions will have to support an enormous population of seniors requiring health benefits.

We knew years ago that our (Canadian) pension plan was sorrily lacking in foresight. Well, I suspect there will soon be little or no hope for it. Our government's answer is to open the doors to immigrants from countries busting at the seams. Unfortunately that has held the minimum wage down, and raised expenses in our health care system due to fraud.

Bandaids everywhere and it will have to stop, before Katey #3 starts flippin' burgers.

A bug by any other name

There will be more of these unfortunately, but it's all part of life. The new super-bug, or bacterial infection, is called Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or CA-MRSA for short.

It is a bacteria that has mutated over the years to now be even more resistant to anti-biotics than it once was. If you've read any of my earlier articles you may recall that I was once afflicted with the flesh-eating disease. And the CA-MRSA can develop into that if not treated soon enough.

CA-MRSA is not an epidemic but outbreaks have occurred in more and more communities where people might share towels, locker rooms and the like. Originally, found mostly in hospitals, the infection often appears as a growing boil on the extremeties. Basic personal hygiene is your best defense. It it transmitted by touch.

In the big picture, this is not to alarm anyone. It is to keep reminding you that the smallest of enemies may be the most powerful. And they are getting stronger day by day.

Nice Timing

Do you think this is supposed to come as a big surprise? GM set to detail shift to fuel-saving technology.



People have known for decades that the big auto makers could have embarked on meaningful efforts to curtail the use of fossil fuels, even more, that they may have actually squashed several entrepreneurial attempts at new technologies by buying them out and storing the ideas in their vaults.

No, it's no surprise that after a good shake-up in the stock market, coincident with the environmental conference and all the media hype about global warming that one of the big guys would leap at the opportunity.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if the timing is right, let's be sure to look like a hero. Well you're not fooling us!

Lights out

And so it begins. Out of Nairobi Kenya, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist has come up an idea to counter the effects of greenhouse gases said to cause global warming. The notion is that by adding certain pullutants high into the atmosphere, typically sulfates, the earth will reflect more of the sun's heat, allowing the climate to cool.

Now, that in itself sounds a little ironic, since pollutants have been blamed thus far, but I draw your attention to a sentence hidden deep in the article Scientists say pollution may be helpful. Tom Wigley, a senior U.S. government climatologist said "a temporary shield would give political leaders more time to reduce human dependence on fossil fuels". Remember, the U.S. rejected the Kyoto deal.

What happens when you allow more time for something? You use it up! And the U.S. is the biggest user. The other problem, a complex one, is the long term effect this remedy may have intermixed with the gases already present, and the inevitable build up in concentration.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it; but if you broke it, screw it up some more!

Only to live another day

A story today out of the University of Utah, tells of a new potential pain killer.

It comes from the venom of the Conus regious cone snail and compounds from it are said to have been effective in treating pain in terminal cancer patients. Unfortunately, we likely wouldn't see drugs derived from this for up to 10 years.

'Unfortunatley'? Not to sound mean, but really. How long should we keep terminal cancer patients (alive and) pain free. To what end? I don't know anyone in this terrible predicament, and perhaps I would be offended if I did. However, this is yet another example where technology is seemingly driven to prolong life regardless of any possible downside.

If pain didn't serve a useful purpose in nature, it wouldn't exist in the first place.

Just right-click

One of the many phrases the computer age has put upon the lay person. I are not one so it amuses me to no end how an entire culture has evolved in a relatively short period of time. With respect to computer use, I figure the general public can be categorized in four ways.

First, the techno-weenies. They not only use the computer in their day to day work, but probably do all of their own maintenance, installing what they need, have utility programs to keep everything running smoothly, eat at their desk, and maybe shower once in a while.

Second, the gamers and browsers. For them, the computer is a tool that owes them something and using a word-processor or spreadsheet is as tough as it gets. This group is untrainable, and must upgrade a computer simply because it has collected so much unruly junk.

Next, we have the I dunno's. Those who say they know nothing about computers and are mostly right, but are at least humble. Unfortunately, as is stated time and again, they profess to be unable to learn about them as well.

Lastly we have the innocents. Those who don't own one, can't use one and don't care to. Unfortunately for them they still pay their Sears bill at the store and can barely handle an ATM. They are, however, happy! They never got sucked in. No passwords to remember, no metal boxes in the basement that can't be thrown out, no spam, no disconnects, no viruses, and no tennis elbow.

Yes, computers are amazing. My career has revolved around them, and software, so I often wonder what the world would be like without them. It was, after all, only one short lifetime ago that they didn't exist.

You Can Run...

I wrote this in May of 2002. Enjoy.

The great apes gave rise to mankind
I can easily make this thought mine.
As Darwin would say, the strong surely stay
As the weak will be left far behind.

Note the raptor's physique, the bird and its beak.
See how well they intertwine.
If the comet had not, the birds would have bought
Freedom from man as we dine.

We find ourselves at the top of the chain
Mocking a world of gambles and gain.
Take heed lest yee think, man not be on the brink
Of near death by a lesser brain

We toyed with our planet,
Wasting much of it's granite,
But never feeling the pain
Of a creature so small
That within us all
Its effects will drive us insane.

In the Same Vein

Further to What a gas, you might figure, so why tell the story. OK it's predicated on the notion that perhaps I shoudn't have been so lucky.

Had it not been for three varieties of anti-biotics being pumped into me 24/7, I would surely have died a horrible death. These wonder drugs kept me alive to live another day, but is this right?

Our world is over-populated as it is. We put helmets on kids so they can ride bikes. We drink bottled water and have air-bags in our cars. And AIDS... another time. We prolong life only to crowd our living space and mis-treat the elderly.

Anti-bacterial soap and similar products. Don't buy them. They kill bacteria that's good for us and force mutations on the bad bacteria, enabling them to become even stronger. Now a youngster's immune system can't even handle a peanut! Let them swim in the lake and play in the dirt (like we did), if it doesn't kill them immediately, it might make them stronger.

From what I've been told, already our collective ability to make new anti-bacterial agents to fight ever more resistant bacteria, is dwindling.

Technology may help us live longer but eventually may spawn a super-bug that could wipe us all out in days or weeks.

What a gas

Everyone has some bacteria swimming around in the back of their mouths. And sometimes a sore throat can turn into a not so minor strep throat. That can be treated easily.

That is if the bacteria are well behaved. If the little gremlins get loose, look out! Such was my turning point in July of 1994. The day after working several hours in the backyard I forced myself to go to a local clinic, feeling quite dizzy. After a blood test and Tylenol, the doctor dismissed me suggesting I might have Mononucleosis. That evening, my son roused me from a nap only to discover that my mords were wixed, and I was white and clammy. We then discovered I could no longer walk.

Once in emergency and after being seen by two doctors, I blacked out. Apparently, a visiting doctor then took an interest and, after seeing an ominous rash on my back, called the CDC in Atlanta. The diagnosis... Necrotizing Fasciitis, sometimes called Group A Strep Toxic Shock Syndrome, or the Flesh Eating Disease!

In 1994, at least, I learned that only 1 in 7 physicians are able to diagnose the disease. Moreover, it's very often fatal, not so much because the bacteria kills you outright, but because of the treatment. Many will succumb to the effects of massive doses of anti-biotics, long before any surgery can ever take place.

I was lucky in that my heart was strong, so they say. Also I came out of the hospital two weeks later intact... no amputations. Not everyone is so lucky.

We cannot control the behaviour of bacteria that runs rampant, but we can do things to prevent our immune systems from being compromised, which makes us susceptible to such rare infections.

In the grand scheme of things, did this technology contribute to me having a better life? or just a longer one?