Miracles of Modern Technology
 

Today I bought myself a paint sprayer, and stained my back deck in a matter of minutes. Last time we stained the deck it was hours of hands-and-knees brush painting. Technology saves the day again!

What modern miracle has helped you out recently?

my portable nebulizer... saves me from a trip to ER and allows me to travel hours into the middle of nowhere.

http://store1.yimg.com/I/comfort_1761_11895094

Dude, I want a nebulizer. But I have a hard enough time remembering to bring my inhaler with me.

Wireless internet. Mmmmm.

this laptop and cellphone combo.
I did some real productive work with my teams and colleagues from the beach last summer.
it enables my permanent vacation...

oh yeah, and pcAnywhere!

Digital Cable, mainly because it carries VH1 Classic. What a great channel. They play the old videos we all know (Robert Palmer's videos with the dancing zombie chicks, "Sledgehammer", etc), plus extremely obscure and forgotten stuff that looks like it was taped on a $100 budget including the camcorder.

Dual-head video cards. Once you set up two monitors side by side, you'll wonder how you ever got by without 'em. I tried 3, but the law of diminishing returns kicked in.. just too much stuff to look at. :)

ABS brakes. I never really cared for them until I got a car with ABS (a 1988 Ford, believe it or not..American car companies used to be pretty innovative). I can threshold brake to avoid a skid, but that still doesn't beat mashing the pedal as hard as possible and letting the electronics take over. They really work well, especially on slick roads.

And the biggest by far...

THE INTERNET. Every single job I've had since I started working 7 years ago was directly created by the Internet. Tech support/sysadmin for an ISP, web design, web-based CGI programmer, system/admin for an ISP again, partner in a company that runs a network of advertising websites.

I would have to go with the internet, I feel like it's an extension of my brain when I'm connected.

The CPAP machine. (pronounced, See-pap)

This gizmo may be one of the most underated life savers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

http://www.cpapman.com/rspro3.jpg

http://www.cpapman.com/respiron.html#anchor77524

wifi...broadband...internet porn

I swear when I read that I read "The CRAP machine" until I looked at the picture and then look up and read "(pronounced, See-pap)" then I looked at the word again. Good times.

Asta!!

want to know the scary thing...if that paint sprayer was a Wagner, I could have made it!!!!

Keyless car entry and garage door openers. Also microwaves.

MOUNTAIN BIKES...TOO GET AWAY FROM ALL OF THE TECHNOLOGY!

It's not really a miracle of technology, but I like my keyless numberpad lock to my house. Don't have to worry about getting locked out and I feel like a damn spy whenever I try to open my door.

<img src="http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38234000/jpg/_38234922_bread300.jpg">

/sticks to the basics

How about a double negative vote for my computer/the Internet? They suck time the fuck out of my life.

If I didn't have my 120gb hard drive, with over a quarter of it filled to the brim with my entire CD collection in MP3 format, computer work would suck alot more than it does now.

Also thank god for the iPod and its derivatives, though ridiculously overpriced, for allowing me to take my music where ever I go.

Thanks to things like the original gramaphone and original moving picture, we are now able to express much more human creativity and emotion.

The modern communication network that allows all of us to trade thoughts, ideas, nonsense and flames within seconds.

for me i'd say air conditioning. i live in houston.

OK, here's my list.

Whilst some of these are not "modern miracles", they are certainly invaluable inventions that have helped me out over the past week.


The pen/pencil - wrote some notes
The telephone/cellphone - talked to people on the other side of the planet
Electric lights - could see when it got dark
The internal combustion engine - drove to work
The computer - working in IT depends on it
The electric oven - it cooked my dinner last night


Mr Mephisto

Microwave! Cheesy hotdogs have never tasted better. Amen for microwave popcorn!!

A ruler ... where would we be without rulers ?!!?

i´m interested in that mobile nebulizer... that looks amazing cyn.

i have to say CDs (and also DVDs)
imagine still using cassettes and vcrs.
i shudder at my memory of those things.

ultra-thin plasma TV screens...... good God, the clarity of my DVD's and the widescreen and.... dammit. Mental orgasm.

Tampax. Imagine life with old bits of cloth instead :(

iPod! It's literally the soundtrack to my life.

(oh god that sounds cheesy.)

I'm going to go with electricity...all that stuff above is great but without electricity none of it could be possible.

Vibrating... toothbrush. Not blow up doll. Toothbrush.