2241 Connext

People once thought TV was the great uniter. Bringing people together from various social and cultural arenas with shared experiences. That was true. When there were only three big networks the water cooler conversations were about the same things.

That sense of connectedness was what it was really about. Then came cable and the proliferation of fragmented channels. We all seemed to fall apart. So it's disturbing what a new report from Nielson said.

They reported that, on average, Americans watch just 9%, or 17, of the 189 channels available to them. They also found that in 2013 there was an overall decline in subscriptions to cable, satellite, and other pay-TV options. 

But people still need to feel connected. Where are they getting that feeling? From their devices. Twitter foremost, and Pinterest, Facebook, and Snapchat too, folks are feeling connected through their phones. 

Just watch any person who's really into Twitter, following news and sports and celebrities. It's their constant go-to experience to fill the empty moments. Better yet, they can twit back and go forward and retweet, and really feel like a part of things. And heck, maybe they'll be retweeted too. Take that non-interactive 189-channel cable TV. 

One such compulsive every-moment twitterer I saw recently made me think of a new app. Use the camera on your phone to display a real-time image of what's in front of you so you can walk with your head down and Tweet or text at the same time.

The scary thing? It's already been thought of. "Walk-N-Text" lets you walk and text simultaneously and minimizes pedestrian collisions.

Talk about connection. Forget about endless hours of TV in a darkened living room. Now your phone can become your permanent interface between you and life. 

As a walking couch potato. 

America, ya gotta love it. 

2240 Cheese Head

As I get older, I find I like cheese more and more. I thought it was the natural tendency of aging folks to appreciate more complex and pungent flavors. I certainly eat a larger variety of food than I did in my picky youth. But I recently read an article that points to a different reason why I may favor the flavor of cheese so much. Morphine addiction.

An article in National Geographic reported that cheese contains tiny amounts of potentially addictive substances. These feel-good chemicals come from casein,  (cay-seen) a milk protein that happens to be concentrated during cheese making. Curds of "way cool" as it were.  

Our digestion takes over and breaks down casein into morphine-like chemicals called caso-morphins. That's one whammy. The other whammy, bringing it up to a full double, is that the original milk itself contains traces of morphine produced in the cow's liver. 

Let me just say in rebuttal to this cheese/morphine connection theory that I will never, ever, eat liver. I don't care how much morphine it has in it. 

Scientists theorize that the calming effect of morphine in the milk helps calves be compelled to nurse and be less nervous while doing so. I can see that. Suckling at the teat of a huge cow must be kind of scary, if only for the potential crush factor if she topples over on you. One false step and you're veal. 

I'm glad to know why cheese is addictive. I've always suspected. I'm guessing it's a gateway drug to other addictive foods like enchiladas and pizzas too. 

Maybe we'll see a new cheese 12-step program soon. It kind of puts a whole new meaning to the term "cheese-head." Who'd have thought the country's newest drug threat would come from Wisconsin?

America, ya gotta love it. 

2239 Losers Weepers

Technology sure has made it easier to find stuff. And I don't just mean your way around the city. I mean actual stuff.

Like your smartphone itself. These days if it gets stolen there are apps that will kill it so your personal data can't be harvested, and apps that will help trace it down, using its GPS and other features. They can do so even if your phone wasn't stolen, but was just forgotten. Which, judging by people I've seen pinching, swiping, and loading their phone with every imaginable app, doesn't seem at all likely. Those phones are stuck to their hands like a tattoo.

But what about your sunglasses? Well, if you spend $350 on a pair you can get those back when you forget them too. The Tzukuri company has come up with new sunglasses that feature a solar-powered Bluetooth chip which syncs with your phone's apps. You'll be alerted if you wander away and leave your glasses behind. 

I only wish they had a similar technology for us in the northwest. For our oft forgotten umbrellas.  

I also read about a new set of luggage that offers similar features. "Never lose your luggage again," trumpeted the ad. "Find it wherever it goes in the world."

Sounded like a pretty cool use of technology to solve an age old problem. As old as the commercial airline age at least. Still, I worry that taking luggage-finding into your own hands may give the airlines one more excuse to be less than attentive. "Sorry sir, you should have bought that Finders Keepers luggage brand. That'll be $35 for your new bag for this trip."

Obvious question: If they have cheap consumer technology to find lost sunglasses and lost luggage, why can't they find lost airplanes?

America, ya gotta love it.