Sometimes making things simpler can be so incredibly easy.

I found a video for this application called Divvy on Boing Boing. It works for Mac and Windows and it's so incredibly simple. But still kind of cool. Here's the link: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/28/divvy-an-ocd-suffere.html

And the video by itself is below.

It's basically just as application to resize windows so they fit perfectly together on your computer screen. The blog post calls it the OCD sufferer's delight, which I would have to agree with. For me, this application would really come in handy. I don't actually have OCD, but I consider myself close enough. There are so many times when I'm trying to type and look at a webpage at the same time (or when jstor won't let me copy and paste) and this application could really help.

These are the types of advances I usually like to see. That sounds awful, but I'm NOT a technological person, so most of the stuff on these tech blogs I either don't care about or just don't understand. Applications like Divvy that make something I already have to do all the time a little simpler with an easy-to-use format make me happy. Unlike blogs posts titled "Researchers manage 448Gbps on commercial hardware, coming soonish to a trunk near you" or "German students make life-sized VR Fruit Ninja, declare war on digital produce." Come on...



Divvy Screencast from Mizage on Vimeo.

Technology and Wildlife

Article link: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/animal-camera-trap-gallery/?utm_source=UniBulCEO&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&pid=1124

This article discusses a project done by the Smithsonian Institute, called Smithsonian Wild, that set out to gain information on our more elusive creatures living in the wild. The best way to study these creatures is by using camera traps, which have been used for a long time, but are actually advancing quite a bit technologically. The article mentions that these traps can cost anywhere from $200-$600, which means they must be pretty special. A lot of people might think that camera traps are simply cameras with motion detection, but some of the new traps on the market today can do much more than that. As the article mentions, the traps used in this particular project actually detect specific heat signatures of animals and only snap pictures when those are recognized. Oh, and they're weatherproof, which is pretty important for cameras that sit outside all the time.

This technology reminds me of the mammalogy class I took last semester, where we had to come up with a fake research and grant proposal. In this assignment we had to have detailed notes about the types of equipment we would need to use to track or capture our species of choice. Everyone in the class proposed that they would need camera traps in order to learn about their specie's behavior and home range. So, clearly these devices are extremely important to wildlife biologists. The proposed camera traps were also technologically advanced, as were other types of devices. For example, a researcher could also buy a seismic trap that records minute movements on the earth's surface, then matches those movements to certain herds of animals within a few miles radius. Another device that helps track behavior and movements of elusive animals.

The reason I decided to discuss these camera traps has to do with both their importance and their ease of use. As I've mentioned before, these devices are extremely important to wildlife biologists and it makes their job of protecting and helping elusive and often endangered species a lot easier. However, even though these traps are technologically advanced, they can still be used by anyone. As the article says, learning how to use camera traps only takes a couple hours and can even be done by children. To me, having something so important, yet also so accessible is a win-win and hopefully it will lead to greater interest in and greater protection of our endangered species in the wild.

The Birds and the Bees (which is awful comparison since their methods of reproduction are entirely different than ours)

This article isn't really that interesting (ok, maybe a little bit) but it reminded me of my ecology class today. Here's the link: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/08/extinct-invertebrate.html

This isn't really about technology at all, but as I'm sure you've all figured out by now, I don't have much interest in technology anyway. I'm a fan of biology and other things like that.

Anyway, so in ecology today we were talking about intraspecific communication, which of course involves mating, and we were discussing different forms of internal fertilization. (I hope this doesn't make anyone uncomfortable...reproducing is a fact of life and there's really nothing to be embarrassed about.) Apparently male bed bugs and some male parasitic worms just have these spikes that they stab the female's body wall with because she doesn't have a genital opening. Then, they just insert the sperm that way. Kind of violent, yeah? Oh and they can also stab other males with these things and inject a cement-like substance that breaks down their reproductive system. That's some serious male-to-male competition.

That was probably the most interesting example we talked about in class. I won't get into the spiders and salamanders...then you really will be uncomfortable. I'll leave you with a joke:

A duck walks into a bar. The bartender asks, "So, what'll it be?" The duck doesn't say anything...because it's a duck.

Yes, I have an odd sense of humor. Deal with it.