Search Results for: blog the invention of the year

The Invention of the Year

Time Magazine has named the Apple iPhone the invention of the year in a move that has many people cheering and a few wondering if the magazine has given in to the hype. Although I don’t know all of the inventions that were finalists in this competition (some of the contenders include the autonomous automobile, the compacted City Car invented at MIT, and a hybrid steam car engine), Time Magazine has seemed to make its decision with its eyes open. The article announcing the Apple iPhone as the invention of the year seems almost apologetic, and the writer concerned with … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Week in Review: May 8 to May 27

Posted on by

Oops! The last few weekends have been filled with craziness and I have simply forgotten to do my week in review blogs! Between homeschooling conventions, a bout with croup, and year end activities–the time (and my brain) just escaped from me. So if you’ve missed anything recently. . .it’s here! Saturday, May 26 Babies Have Astounding Capabilities Scientists and researchers are learning more and more about how babies learn language. It’s changing the way we define intelligent and challenging our beliefs on the best ways to enhance development. Friday, May 25 Preemies Listening to Vivaldi? Check out this exciting research … Continue reading →

The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald – Clifford B. Hicks

One of the books I remember the best from my growing up years is “The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald.” Alvin is a boy with a brain so magnificent, it sometimes surprises even him. The inventions he comes up with are truly out of this world, such as the alarm clock which wakes up soundlessly by pulling a string on his toe. (He delivers the newspaper, and he gets up early enough that he doesn’t want to wake up the rest of his family with a loud clock.) He invented a Sure Shot Paper Slinger to help him get those … Continue reading →

Life Changing Inventions Make History

What does the MRI, the LP record, and a popular weed killer have in common? Their inventors have just been picked for induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The creators of those life-changing inventions join 15 other inventors to make up the 2007 class of inductees. The honorees are in good (make that great) company joining history-making inventors such as Thomas Edison, Velcro inventor George de Mestral and Charles Goodyear, developer of vulcanized rubber. Despite the fact that some of the inventors have created products that have literally changed the way we live our lives, most are not … Continue reading →

Shameless Savings

I love to shop.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the money to support this passion.  Consequently, I’m often put in a situation that’s all too familiar to parents:  kicking pride to the curb. Admit it; you’ve done some pretty gross things since becoming a parent.  Goodness knows I have learned to exercise an immeasurable amount of humility since giving birth.  For example, I never thought I would willingly stretch out my hands to catch another person’s vomit.  Ditto for plucking poop out of the tub with my bare hands.  I also never imagined I’d allow my shirt to be used as … Continue reading →

Mickey Mouse is Back: New Shorts to Air on TV

Mickey Mouse is back.  Whether this is the reinvention that Disney execs promised years ago remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Disney’s most famous character is going to be a star yet again.  Mickey’s returning to his roots, in a series of animated shorts to debut on the Disney Channel and Disney Online this June.  Entertainment Weekly has the details. Disney Television Animation has been hard at work creating 19 new shorts starring the famous mouse, his girlfriend Minnie, and surely many of his other most popular cohorts, all to reintroduce Mickey to fans young and old.  … Continue reading →

Unusual Pet Products

On a recent MSN list of “unusual ways to make a buck,” 5 of the 21 items on the list were about pets.  That doesn’t seem like that many, but it’s the largest single category on the list.  The pet inventions are Pet Rocks, Doggles, Petite Amande, Pet Butler, and Neuticles.  Given the age of that first item, it doesn’t require much explanation; we all know what it is. Let’s look at the other pet products on the list in increasing order of ridiculousness.  That means Pet Butler is up next.  It might seem crazy – a butler for your … Continue reading →

In Memoriam 2012 – Part 1

It’s that time of the year again – to reflect on those we have lost.  Some deaths might have been expected, but many came as a shock to us.  Either way, all will be missed. January 2012 1 – Etta James – Leukemia (73) James had a beautiful voice and was lucky enough to see it appreciated by a whole new generation when songs such as “At Last” became popular again in the 2000’s.  James won six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards.  Her music crossed genres as she was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame … Continue reading →

How to Create a Perfect Husband

Scientists have been pondering this question for years. There was Frankenstein’s Monster, which, you may not know, was actually built for Mrs. Frankenstein. She kept begging her husband to invent the perfect man, and he tried, but we all know how that experiment turned out. Then there was artificial genetic mutation. See, the scientists thought that maybe if they took the components of a few really good men and put them together, they could accomplish perfection, but it didn’t work. They ended up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who were all male, but they weren’t human, and they weren’t … Continue reading →

The Backup Broken Promise

This post is a warning. It isn’t simply about backing up your files. While it is important to back up your files this post is about more than just backing up your files because it is about what types of files you should backup. Now before you close the browser window or think that I’ll just be telling you to get rid of that awful (and probably useless) undergraduate paper you wrote with a group on the parts of a cell for a mandatory biology course I want to assure you that I’m not talking about that either (though you … Continue reading →