Uki D. Lucas

Uki D. Lucas is a founder and CEO of CyberWalkAbout.com

please contact: UkiDLucas@gmail.com

mobile: (650) 260-4854


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Natalia Cantemir


Natalia Lucas (Natalia Cantemir) has co-founded and helped to build the company by serving as president & art director.

contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalialucas/


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Yulia Tsiaputa



Yulia Tsiaputa is Social Media Manager at CyberWalkAbout.Com.

If you are an organizer of events in your city please contact Yulia about including your events in the "Local Guide" and "Yachts & Tall Ships" applications.


contact: info@CyberWalkAbout.com


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Air and Water show

 Aug 15, 2010

Sailing with Mark 



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

SDM




Wyjechałem, i ślad mi po tobie zaginął
życie już przeminęło, a nawet dzień nie minął,
dobre, stare małżeństwo nas już wyuczyło
jak cierpieć pięknie, jak kochać, i co nas tam łączyło

kto by mnie zrozumiał, o czwartej nad ranem,
na Manhattanie, czy gdzie-bądź tam bywałem,
kto gitarę, kto harmonijkę, kto skrzypce zrozumie?
w kajucie pocałunki, siedząc przy ognisku w dumie?

na bacówce wtedy, bogami młodymi byliśmy,
jabłkiem słodkim, grzesznym, życia smakowaliśmy
rodziną kochaną mi byłaś, ostoją jedyną
w mych oczach wciąż jesteś tą samą dziewczyną


Dziś, oczekiwać nie będę, pożądać już nie mogę,
ale być przyjacielem dobrym.. na twą dalszą drogę,
i czasami razem, wyjść na wrzosowisko
i jak w pieśni było, tam zapomnieć wszystko.










As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mundelein, basil and mint

42°14'53.8"N 87°59'46.0"W






As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Top Mobile OS in United States

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Mobile OS Market Share



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Using java.util.Properties in Servlet to save User Preferences

import java.util.Properties;




String propertiesFileName = "my_properties.txt";

SAVE PREFERENCES:
Properties unsavedProperties = new Properties();
unsavedProperties.setProperty("my_name", "Uki");
OutputStream propOut = new FileOutputStream(new File(propertiesFileName));
unsavedProperties.store(propOut, "My Server properties");

LATER READ THE SAVED PREFERENCES:

InputStream inStream = new FileInputStream(propertiesFileName);
Properties savedPropeties = new Properties();
savedPropeties.load(inStream);
String myName = savedPropeties.getProperty("my_name");


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Java Servlet: starting a thread that always runs

  • when Java Servlet starts it reads web.xml
  • add listener implementation class to your web.xml



<display-name>your_servlet_namedisplay-name>

<listener>
<listener-class>com.your_package_name.TimedServletCallerlistener-class>
listener>

  • we will use ServletContextListener interface
  • create a NEW thread (Loop) inside contextInitialized(), if you did Thread.sleep without new thread the whole Servlet would pause and container would fail to start it after 45 seconds or so


public class TimedServletCaller implements ServletContextListener
{
private static int sleepMinutes = 1;

class Loop extends Thread
{
public void run()
{
while (true)
{
Log.e("Loop is running!");
takeShortNap();
// do stuff here
}
}
}

@Override
public void contextInitialized(ServletContextEvent arg0)
{
Log.e("***** TimedServletCaller.contextInitialized()");
// execute();
Thread thread = new Loop();
thread.start();
}

private static void takeShortNap()
{
Log.i(" Pausing for " + sleepMinutes + " minute(s).");
try
{
Thread.sleep(sleepMinutes * 60 * 1000);
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
Log.e(e.getMessage());
}
}

  • restart your server (Tomcat) now you can use your Servlet, but also the Loop keeps running and doing useful things like database updates, etc.


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Starved Rock, Illinois

Chicago area has very few natural attractions (except sailing Great Lakes),

Starved Rock is one of them and a very popular spot to visit.


41°19'00.4"N 88°58'57.4"W 







As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

HD connector speed

When you are buying the external hard drive storage, I would recommend looking for eSATA connectors, backing up, or copying videos via USB is very slow.

USB 1.1 – 15 Mbps
FireWire (1394a) – 400 Mbps
USB 2.0 – 480 Mbps
FireWire 800 (1394b) – 800 Mpbs
SATA 1.5 – 1.5 Gbps
SATA 3.0 – 3.0 Gbps

near future:

USB 3.0 - 5Gbps
eSATA version of SATA 6G - 6.0Gb/s


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Roberto Serrano

“I met Uki as the Chicago Leader of GTUG, and at the time I was leading Chicago Androids myself. We hit it off from the start and jointly organized a set of well organized Android and Google tech. related events. Eventually as I left the Chicago Area, Uki took the leadership role for both groups. Uki is a thorough and tireless leader that has done a wonderful job as a host and speaker in multitude of events I attended. You can also tell that he inspires respect and admiration by the way his events are supported by his coworkers and peers.”  April 11, 2010
Roberto Serrano, Software Developer with the Android Motorola Platform team, Motorola Mobile Devices (business partner)


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I am a candle



I am a candle 
which you have tried 
with all your might
to stamp right out, 
and sliced my throat 
for the thousandth time
but one bright night 
she'll light me up 
and I will shine just as bright!



In a vicious battle 
of dark and right, 
life won today, 
took all that's mine

it smothered me; 
it trampled me up 
-- left me for trash

ripped out my heart, 
it's not a wound, 
but a blazing gash

but I am a candle 
and I will shine 
just as bright!

~ Uki




As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Google Documents - please show this to your boss!

We have been using Google docs and Google sites for collaboration for couple of years now, but there are still people who have not heard about the concept. Here is a video to help.



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Using HTML panel

I needed to create a subscript text with a link that open up a new popup with different content. Since HorizontalPanel does not work, I used HTMLPanel and use the table tag, which contained element id as shown below.


Click on below image to read the code: CSS


CSS code:



.subscript {
font-size: xx-small;
vertical-align: bottom;
}



.hyperlink_subscript {
text-decoration: none;
cursor: pointer;
color: #0099FF;
font-size: xx-small;
font-weight: normal;
}
Here is how it looks: 





As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Apache Tomcat: starting, stopping and killing processes

STOPPING:
 /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ ../bin/shutdown.sh
Using CATALINA_BASE:   /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/temp
Using JRE_HOME:        /Library/Java/Home/
Using CLASSPATH:       /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/bin/bootstrap.jar
Mar 31, 2010 11:13:58 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina stopServer
SEVERE: Catalina.stop:
java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.doConnect(PlainSocketImpl.java:333)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(PlainSocketImpl.java:195)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:182)
at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:432)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:525)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:475)
at java.net.Socket.(Socket.java:372)
at java.net.Socket.(Socket.java:186)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.stopServer(Catalina.java:408)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.stopServer(Bootstrap.java:338)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:416)

CHECKING IF STILL RUNNING:
 /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ ps aux | grep tomcat
uki       3086  57.9  6.8  1506508 143136 s000  U    11:12AM   0:22.70 /Library/Java/Home//bin/java -Djava.util.logging.config.file=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/conf/logging.properties -Xms128m -Xmx512m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote -Djava.util.logging.manager=org.apache.juli.ClassLoaderLogManager -Djava.endorsed.dirs=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/endorsed -classpath /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/bin/bootstrap.jar -Dcatalina.base=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26 -Dcatalina.home=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26 -Djava.io.tmpdir=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/temp org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap start
uki       3120   0.2  0.0   590540    204 s000  U+   11:14AM   0:00.00 grep tomcat

KILL A PROCESS:
 /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ kill 3086

CHECKING IF STILL RUNNING:
 /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ ps aux | grep tomcat
uki       3122   0.9  0.0   600020    472 s000  R+   11:14AM   0:00.00 grep tomcat


STARTING:
ill-lt20220@(Wed Mar 31 11:14:27) /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ ../bin/startup.sh 
Using CATALINA_BASE:   /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/temp
Using JRE_HOME:        /Library/Java/Home/
Using CLASSPATH:       /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/bin/bootstrap.jar
ill-lt20220@(Wed Mar 31 11:14:33) /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ ps aux | grep tomcat
uki       3132  49.5  3.6  1504832  74680 s000  U    11:14AM   0:06.14 /Library/Java/Home//bin/java -Djava.util.logging.config.file=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/conf/logging.properties -Xms128m -Xmx512m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote -Djava.util.logging.manager=org.apache.juli.ClassLoaderLogManager -Djava.endorsed.dirs=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/endorsed -classpath /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/bin/bootstrap.jar -Dcatalina.base=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26 -Dcatalina.home=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26 -Djava.io.tmpdir=/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/temp org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap start
uki       3134   0.0  0.0   590736    308 s000  R+   11:14AM   0:00.00 grep tomcat
ill-lt20220@(Wed Mar 31 11:14:41) /opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $


CHECKING THE LOG:

/opt/apache/apache-tomcat-6.0.26/webapps $ tail -f ../logs/catalina.out
Mar 31, 2010 11:15:12 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployDirectory
INFO: Deploying web application directory work
Mar 31, 2010 11:15:12 AM org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol start
INFO: Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-8080
Mar 31, 2010 11:15:12 AM org.apache.jk.common.ChannelSocket init
INFO: JK: ajp13 listening on /0.0.0.0:8009
Mar 31, 2010 11:15:12 AM org.apache.jk.server.JkMain start
INFO: Jk running ID=0 time=0/88  config=null
Mar 31, 2010 11:15:12 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
INFO: Server startup in 36930 ms





As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mac: location of hosts file

The hosts file on Mac is located at: /private/etc/hosts
The easiest way to modify it is using pico, you need to have WRITE permissions to do so.

 ~ $ cd /private/etc/
 /private/etc $ pico hosts



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Eclipse: show line numbers

This is simple stuff, but it is frustrating when you want to show line numbers and cannot find the setting:

On Mac:

Eclipse -> Preferences -> General -> Editors -> Text Editors -> Show line numbers






As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

IE8 and Windows7 hacked easily

I don't think anything with Windows is really safe...

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9174101/Hacker_busts_IE8_on_Windows_7_in_2_minutes


I wonder if Mac vulnerabilities would be found this easy if we put effort towards it or does everyone just like to pick on Microsoft?


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Evanescence "My Immortal"

>

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Virus test file (it is save to use)

In case you write a code to test your anti-virus software you will need a "test virus file" that does not actually wipe out your computer, you can download it from this site...

http://eicar.org/


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mymoona Tahseen

“I attended a Hackathon Challenge organized by Uki, He has taken great care in organizing the event. The event was a great way to bring Software developers and Information Technology professionals on one platform. I would participate and attend other events organized in future.” February 18, 2010
~  Mymoona Tahseen, Web Developer, 9292Communications, Inc (colleague)


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How to fetch total record count using Hibernate Criteria




Criteria criteria = getSession().createCriteria(getReferenceClass());

criteria.setProjection(Projections.projectionList().add(Projections.countDistinct("id"))


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Twitter had enough...



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Changing mysql password

I was getting below error when I run jUnit tests:


WARN 2010-02-15 13:39:25.602 org.hibernate.util.JDBCExceptionReporter.logExceptions() 
        SQL Error: 0, SQLState: null 
ERROR 2010-02-15 13:39:25.627 org.hibernate.util.JDBCExceptionReporter.logExceptions() 
        Cannot create PoolableConnectionFactory (Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)) 
WARN 2010-02-15 13:39:25.629 org.hibernate.cfg.SettingsFactory.buildSettings() 
        Could not obtain connection metadata 
org.apache.commons.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create PoolableConnectionFactory (Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES))
at org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.createDataSource(BasicDataSource.java:1225)
at org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.getConnection(BasicDataSource.java:880)

Solution:

I needed to change mysql server password using command line:

mysqladmin -u root -p'oldpassword' password newpass


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

"Google Buzz", social networking

Google, which has faltered in its attempts to break into the booming social networking business, is making another bid to counter the growing influence of Silicon Valley rival Facebook and San Francisco upstart Twitter with new products that make it easier to share with friends on its Internet e-mail service Gmail.

The Internet giant held a press conference at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters Tuesday to show off "Buzz," which incorporates social media tools such as photo and video sharing and status updates in Gmail. Google Buzz, which launches Tuesday, will also be accessible on mobile phones. And Google will eventually also debut a version of Buzz for businesses.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, vice president of product management Bradley Horowitz, vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra, and product manager Todd Jackson were on hand to show it off. The tagline for Google Buzz is "a Google approach to sharing."

Buzz is perhaps Google's boldest effort yet to get social. The new service has five features, Jackson said. You will automatically follow the people you e-mail and chat with on a regular basis. You will be able to share content from around the Web, including YouTube videos, Flickr photos, site links and others. You will be able to share your thoughts in a public way and in a private way. You will get social updates in your inbox. And Google will help you find only the stuff that matters by recommending popular content. The mobile version of Buzz can figure out where you are and show you nearby buzz posts.

"Google has long said their goal is to organize the world's information. With the introduction of Buzz, you can see the company recognizes how social has become a 'Google scale' problem that needs improved discovery and real relevancy," said technology blogger Louis Gray. "People are sharing their content in a wide variety of social sites online, and Buzz is the first product from Google that looks to harness this data in one place and provide a platform for discussion."

Last month, Google introduced a new feature that displays search results related to their friends and other members of their social networks. Google has been trying for years to gain a foothold in social networking as its smaller, more nimble competitors steal some of its thunder. Orkut, its social networking service, gained a mass following in Brazil and nowhere else. Attempts to buy its way into the arena also failed, when Google acquiring -- then ultimately scrapped -- the services offered by Twitter competitor Jaiku and Foursquare forebearer Dodgeball.

Analysts remain skeptical that this effort will catapult Google into the social stratosphere. Meanwhile, Facebook has exploded in popularity. It has become such a central part of many people's lives that it's replacing e-mail. That's exactly what Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is looking to do: turn his site into the starting point and focal point of the Internet experience. Facebook's strategy of connecting the world's people, versus Google's strategy of organizing the world's information, seems to be resonating. So now Google says it's going to organize the world's social information.

The Silicon Valley showdown is heating up. Google is still the Web's No. 1 most-visited site, with 173 million U.S. visitors in December, according to ComScore Media Metrix. But Facebook is gaining. Facebook was the fourth-most visited site in December, with 111.8 million visitors.

-- Jessica Guynn

read more: 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/02/google-facebook-social-networking.html


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Janosik Polish Restaurant

Home sweet, home. My mountains!


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

iPad Revolution?

Those who know me know that I have been a strong convert to the world of Mac. Over the past two years, I have had a personal Mac overhaul for all of my tech needs (except my phone, which I recently purchased the DROID and have enjoyed it thoroughly). So, when it came time for the fabled Apple tablet, I was extremely excited about the next piece of Mac-ness that I was going to be enjoying. But I was a little disappointed with the iPad initially. Where was the wow? Where was the pizazz? I was troubled.

But since that fabled day, I have picked up the pieces of my shattered dreams and started to reevaluate all of the potential that exist with the iPad. I initially fell into the trap of looking at this new piece of technology from the definitions of "nerd-dom". What I failed to see was this product from the point of view of the person who uses their computer to check email, browse the internet, look at photos, and that is it.

Here is an article and an essay that I thought was very interesting in seeing what could be the iPad revolution:

http://www.macworld.com/article/146040/2010/02/ipad.html
http://northtemple.com/2010/02/01/on-ipads-grandmas-and-gam

Let me know what you think!


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Unexpected and nice



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Chicago Android Google conference and eco hackathon

Saturday Feb. 6, 2010,
hurry up we are closing the registrations!

http://chigtug6.eventbrite.com/


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Apple iPad: Flash not supported? Choose GWT over Flex!




This maybe a temporary battle, but if iPad is NOT supporting Flash/Flex then my choice for developing RIA Web applications remains Google Web Toolkit (GWT).


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Apple iPad - tablet powered by 1GHz A4 chip

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad/




As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Perfect - "Nie płacz Ewka"




Nie placz ewka bo tu miejsca brak
na twe babskie lzy
po ulicy mjlosc hula wiatr
wsrod rozbitych szyb
Patrz poeci sliczny prawdy sens
roztwonili w grach
w pollitrowkach pustych S.O.S.
wysylaja w swiat

Ref.
Zegnam was juz wiem
nie zalatwie wszystkich pilnych spraw
ide sam wlasnie tam
gdzie czekaja mnje
Tam przyjaciol kilku mam od lat
dla nich zawsze soiewam dla nich gram
jeszcze raz zegnam was
nie spotkamy sie

Proza zycia to przyjazni kat
peka cienka nic
telewizor meble maly fiat
oto marzen szczyt
Hej prorocy moi z gniewnych lat
obrastacie w tluszcz
juz was w swoje szpony dopadl szmal
zdrada plynie z ust

Ref.
Zegnam was juz wiem
nie zalatwie wszystkich pilnych spraw
ide sam wlasnie tam
gdzie czekaja mnje
Tam przyjaciol kilku mam od lat
dla nich zawsze soiewam dla nich gram
jeszcze raz zegnam was
nie spotkamy sie


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Budka Suflera - "Jolka, Jolka Pamiętasz..."



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How to create a label with an image background in GWT

In order to create a label with an image background, you will need to use an AbsolutePanel with an image background defined in CSS and add a Label to it. The reason behind using an AbsolutePanel is because this type of panel allows for positioning all children absolutely, allowing them to overlap. Keep in mind however that you will have to resize the panel to allow room for all its children because it will NOT resize automatically.

Here is a sample implementation of how this worked for me:

Java code in Samle.java:

AbsolutePanel absolutePanel = new AbsolutePanel();
absolutePanel.setStyleName("my_css_def");

Label myLabel = new Label("Hello world!");

absolutePanel.add(myLabel);

mainContainer.add(absolutePanel);

CSS definition in Sample.css file: 

.my_css_def {
background-imageurl("../images/myPath/bg_image.png"); !important;
height: 73px;
width: 108px;
}


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Great Analytics Tool

If you are looking for a great analytics tool for your website, check out Woopra. It is now out of beta. I have seen it used a little and it looks pretty impressive. The basic plan is free, but if you are needing a little bit more information, here are the plans offered 



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Skates under the bean



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Transparency Setting for ALL Browsers

Below is CSS definition that creates transparency for all browsers:


.opacity_70 {
filter:alpha(opacity=70);     /**for IE8*/
-moz-opacity:0.7;             /**for Mozilla*/
-khtml-opacity: 0.7;          /**for Safari 1.x*/
opacity: 0.7;                 /**for FireFox*/
}


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Troy: my favorite scene and quote

The boy said: "I would never want to fight this man"
Achilles answered: "that's why no one will remember your name"



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Solar Powered Skins for iPhone and iPod

Solar power iPhone skins are getting more popular for everyone. Apple devices with solar powered chargers are already available in the market, but solar powered skins are not. These skins are capable of charging an iPhone or iPod using solar energy. According to Heimbuch from TreeHugger, one of the solar power skins is capable for providing 30 minutes talk time on a 2G network with 2 hours of solar energy charging. Also these skins are shipped with a solar planner application which helps estimating the needed solar charge time during the day in order to have a working phone in the evevning.

Solar powered chargers can provide few minutes of talk time, however with high consumer demand, these devices may gain wider popularity leading to more competition and better quality overall.


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Hunter gatherer (or rather scavenger) lifestyle and diet

Ever since university times (Cultural Anthropology major), I was thinking about the lives and the diets of our ancestors. 

After all, the last 10,000 years of agriculture, is just a drop in the bucket comparing with 5 million years of evolution of our body and digestive system.

What is human bipedalism optimized for?


Our ancestors have spent most of their days traveling their territories in search of edible nuts, seeds, plants small animals, and rarely a carcass of the kill. The travel distance was varied depending on the climate, there are hunter-gatherer communities that have to do very little actually for subsistence, maybe few of hours per day, but most likely it was something like 10 to 15 miles per day. We are built for distance travel - search and slow, long pursuits of wounded animals, on the other hand humans are terrible sprinters, slower than almost any animal out there.

What was the diet of our pre-agricultural ancestors?


Our diet was definitely composed largely of VARIOUS seasonal nuts, fruits, edible plants which were on average low in starch and sugars, otherwise we would not develop such craving for sweets, but high in fiber and proteins, in addition a portion of the diet were small animals ranging from insects to rabbits. Yes, for many of our ancestors it was "taste like rabbit" not "like chicken", at least judging by the number of rabbit bones found. Fatty foods were considered premium in every culture. 


--------------------------------------------------------------


I came across this article, which I found thought-provoking:






Like many New York bachelors, John Durant tries to keep his apartment presentable — just in case he should ever bring home a future Mrs. Durant. He shares the fifth-floor walk-up with three of his buddies, but the place is tidy and he never forgets to water the plants.

Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

NEW ICE AGE Meat storage for John Durant's paleo diet.

The one thing that Mr. Durant worries might spook a female guest is his most recent purchase: a three-foot-tall refrigerated meat locker that sits in a corner of his living room. That is where he keeps his organ meat and deer ribs.

Mr. Durant, 26, who works in online advertising, is part of a small New York subculture whose members seek good health through a selective return to the habits of their Paleolithic ancestors.

Or, as he and some of his friends describe themselves, they are cavemen.

The caveman lifestyle, in Mr. Durant’s interpretation, involves eating large quantities of meat and then fasting between meals to approximate the lean times that his distant ancestors faced between hunts. Vegetables and fruit are fine, but he avoids foods like bread that were unavailable before the invention of agriculture. Mr. Durant believes the human body evolved for a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and his goal is to wean himself off what he sees as many millenniums of bad habits.

These urban cavemen also choose exercise routines focused on sprinting and jumping, to replicate how a prehistoric person might have fled from a mastodon.



Resources


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Serendipity, my faith and my ultimate demise

Many times we have heard the saying "if you love samebody, set them free".

 until recently I have not fully understood that statement. I've
always thought it meant to give people personal freedom and they will  choose the right thing (hopefully you). 

Well, things don't work that way and often you loose.., but along the way I have learned more about life:
1) there are true loves (yes, plural)
2) you never stop loving people you have trully loved
3) serendipity is a powerful force

So what all that means?
You may go thru life and meet a lot of people, if you are blessed with smarts and looks a lot of people will like you back and as long as you don't hibernate somewhere under the rock, 

you will have opportunities for relationships short and long. 

The twist is that you may get
farther and farther away, it will hurt, it will feel like a betrayal.
That is where "let it go" comes into the picture, because after
meeting all of these dates, after having your heart torn apart, we
realize in the end who the great people in our lives were and with a
little luck, we gravitate back towards them. No worries, with great
love comes a great amount of forgivness, understanding and acceptance.
Hopefully pride does never come in front of love.
Like for many other people, I had periods in my life when I have gone
from one relationship to another, many times over, looking for that
special someone just to realize what I have always returned to the
same places. Most of the time the place will be empty, but with any
luck some day that special person will be waiting there for you
precisely for the same reason you came there.


As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

OfficePort Chicago: doing the "gigs" for work




As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

My favorite quotations..


“A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”  by Robert A. Heinlein

"We are but habits and memories we chose to carry along." ~ Uki D. Lucas


Popular Recent Articles