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I’m starting this blog. I made another one on another site, but it seemed limited and cheap, so I’m trying Wordpress.

I am Rachel and I am 25.  I am currently drinking tea and listening to Broken Social Scene in the dark.  Victor is working on Murf with a lamp on next to him.

Today, I was talking on the phone with Mandy outside the apartment and a man with silver/blue 80’s sunglasses walked by.  He had an intense swagger and was smoking a cigarette.  He did not have a shirt on and his tan gut was hanging over his black jeans.  I’m sure his name was Ned or Bones…

After talking with Mom and Dad and Sister Mandy, Victor and I cleansed the apartment, which it needed.  We hadn’t really cleaned in a month.  We even cleaned the stashed stuff that we had hid before during “psuedo-cleanings.” It feels refreshing to have a clean apartment. A new apartment…

So this may seem like an easy question, but why technology? Why do we spend significant amounts of time and money on an ever-increasing supply of gadgets and electronics? Before I post any reviews or analysis of specific products, I want to try to construct a framework by which we can decide what technology we need and what we don’t. When people get frustrated with technology it is often because they forget to consider this framework.

Here’s what I suggest: technology must either simplify or enhance your life. If a product does not meet at least one of these two criteria then it is not worth owning. Technology is just a tool like any other type of tool and if it does not perform some function that either makes your life easier (simplifies) or allows you do something you could not do before (enhances) then it should be avoided. To clarify, here are definitions of these key terms from Merriam-Webster Online:

simplify: to reduce to basic essentials; to diminish in scope or complexity; to make more intelligible

enhance: to increase or improve in value, quality, desirability, or attractiveness

Note that both of these words are transitive verbs. What are they acting on? Your life! So when you go to purchase a new computer, cell phone, television, or internet service plan, consider these definitions. Ask if a device really does enhance or simplify. Hold the products you are thinking about up to these standards. If they don’t meet them just say no.

Every product review I post to this site will consider these requirements. Come back soon for my review of the Eee PC 900 to see how this will work in practice.

If you have a different answer to the question “Why technology?” I’d love to hear it. Just leave a comment below.

Every weekend I plan to post a simple (& possibly silly) “tip, trick or tool”  here on Gidget Goes Home! Maybe you already know about these things (if so, feel free to comment on why they’re so awesome!), but who knows, maybe it will be something new to you!
FYI: “It’s the absolute ultimate!” is one of the most famous lines from the movie Gidget, spoken by my cute little namesake.

“Cook Time: a Simple Oven Solution”

I have on occasion been known to forget to turn off the oven after I take out the yummy home-cookin’ that was inside. I’m not sure if this is some sort of subconscious rebellion since my dad is a fire chief, or if I often just have too much on my mind and flat-out forget. Either way, this is the last thing you want to do on a scorching hot day!

Last night when cooking a yummy family recipe called Crusty Pineapple (sounds a little odd but it tastes delicious!), I decided to try a button called Cook Time (not to be confused with Timer, which I’ve used before). Cook Time not only let me set a timer, but then when it was done, it kept beeping until I turned off the oven! Brilliant! Now, if there was only a similar feature on bathroom candles…. er, Dad, I hope you’re not reading this.