Tag Archives: Engadget

Detecting Future Earthquakes 

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We had a full day at Versailles. Eliot’s photos of the gardens are below. We love going there because we are currently watching “Versailles,” the Netflix series, and we wanted to see where all of the hanky-panky took place. Watch it at your own risk. The upside is that you do learn a lot of French history. My friend Bob follows the series by Googling names and places discussed in the script. He said it’s a fascinating way to learn what was happening in France at the time.

Meanwhile, I just learned that fiber optics, the type of cable that is providing the best  performance for data networking and telecommunications, can help detect earthquakes. 

A story in Engadget said that researchers have developed a technology “that detects seismic activity through jiggling in fiber optic lines. Laser interrogators watch for disturbances in the fiber and send information about the magnitude and direction of tremors. The system can not only detect different types of seismic waves (and thus determine the seriousness of the threat), but spot very minor or localized quakes that might otherwise go unnoticed.”  

The system is currently being tested in a three-mile loop around Stanford University. This is developing news, so I will be looking for more stories to update you all the time. 

Onto Versailles. Photos by: Eliot Hess 



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A Tech Pizza Party

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Greetings from Arlene Marx, aka Gail Marx

 

I received a wonderful surprise last night.  I heard from a very accomplished talent agent in Vegas, Gail Marx, aka as Arlene. We grew up together in Hollis, Queens many moons ago before she went out west. When my parents moved to Los Angeles. Arlene, who lived there then, was very supportive of them. My mother was crazy about Arlene, as I am about Lillian, Arlene’s mother. It had been a four-way mutual admiration society for decades. As a side note, I was Arlene’s brother’s date at her Sweet 16 party. He never asked me out again.

A email from Arlene…….

Hi Lois…..I don’t know how you do it…..every night you post something. It is 2 AM here in Vegas and I can never go to bed without reading your blog…I think that is what the term is???? Afterall, I am a Senior!!!!

Hope you, Eliot and your Daughter are doing well. My Mom always sends her love….wish she used a computer. She is afraid to put her hand on the mouse….

 Until tomorrow…..xoxox Arlene

I am so flattered and thrilled to hear from a gal who has been responsible for launching so many careers in the entertainment business. Maybe, it will rub off on me. Thank you Arlene. Love to your husband, Hank, and the beautiful Lillian.

Now it’s time for the pizza party.

We are supposed to be on diets, but Eliot and I had pizza for lunch. It was absolutely delicious. As I was devouring each slice, I thought to myself, “maybe I should just eat pizza and nothing else. I wonder if I could lose weight that way?”

We all know the answer to that, but no one can deny that pizza represents fun, parties, sharing, and satisfaction. That’s why I wanted to tell you about a new gadget for a pizza box that can make your home the entertaining center stage you may want it to be.  

The ad agency Ogilvy & Mather in Hong Kong received great recognition for building the Pizza Hut Blockbuster Box, a pizza box that quickly turns into a video projector.

As the tech site Engadget explains, “all  you do is pluck a lens out of the protective stand, mount it in the side of the box and use your smartphone (conveniently perched on the stand) as the video source — any video that plays on your phone suddenly becomes room-sized.” 

Pizza Hut is hopeful that this cardboard theater sensation will reach the United States soon.  I want to go to more pizza parties and watch videos with friends. That’s one way of staying young (and fat).
 

Click and Collect Lockers

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Photo: Engadget

I feel like the retail industry keeps reinventing itself. At some point retailers may end up exactly where they started, a storefront. Friends of mine who are business writers tell me that the next big trend in retail will be to have Internet purchases delivered to a pick-up station rather than a home address. It seems that a lot of e-commerce retailers are looking for new ways to accommodate customers.

Engadget reported that Amazon has already started this in London. I heard that it will be instituted in the United States as well. As of last week, Amazon has opened what they call click-and-collect lockers in Finchley Central and Newbury Park Tube stations in London. It seems odd, but purchases are being delivered to pick-up stations in subways in order to be more convenient for workers who commute.

Amazon is not the only retailer seeking out sites for pick-up locations. I hear that traditional department stores, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, and dedicated online retailers are considering this option too.

This may be a win-win for all. Customers get to pick where they want their purchases delivered and retailers get to make fewer delivery stops.