Band Name of the Day

09/08/04’s illustrious band:

Tech Tonic

Brought to you by my convenience-loving self.

Here are my top 10 favorite technological innovations, in no particular order. (They’d be in reverse order if I could figure out the HTML coding, but I can only get my list to run from 1 to 10. Sorry.)

The printing press. I could never have become the bibliophile God clearly meant me to be if someone had not invented a method for reproducing books. Thanks, Mr. Gutenberg!
Electricity. It’s a key ingredient in ice cream, you know. All that cream and sugar and stuff is great, but they ain’t nuthin’ special without the freezy part. And that doesn’t happen without electricity, or at least not for long.
The Internet. I consider the Internet a personal gift to me from the Great Creator. The ‘Net provides the addictive printed word in every format, on every topic, from every part of the world, every minute of every hour of every day. And it even has pictures! Bonus! I can read almost anything I want, communicate with almost anyone I want, buy almost anything I want, and virtually go almost anywhere I want, whenever I want, for a ridiculously small fraction of my income. The only thing the ‘Net cannot replace is actual human contact, which I need a heck of a lot more than I need the ‘Net.
Heated car seats. The Subarushi is my home away from home, and my actual home is in a chilly climate. Heated seats make it slightly less difficult to pry myself out of bed on a cold winter’s day.
The self-scooping cat litter box. Sure, it’s noisy for a few seconds while it’s doing its duty, but the fact that I don’t have to scoop poo myself more than makes up for that. I cannot recommend this product highly enough. It’s so cool, you should get one even if you don’t have a cat.
Coca-Cola. A flawless delivery system for sugar, caffeine, and effervescence. What’s technology for if not to provide us with a few simple pleasures?
Sweetened chocolate. For gazillions of years, human beings flavored food and drink with the cacao bean, and it was OK. But then along came somebody with the bright idea of making it sweet, and a pleasure -- and an addiction -- for the ages was born.
Sunglasses with UV protection. My eyes are a bit sensitive to bright sunlight, so I could never enjoy the great outdoors without my shades. Lens coatings that ward of ultraviolet rays are just icing on the cake. Mmm, icing . . . cake . . .
Fiberglass (and other) insulation. See “Heated car seats.”
The capacity for space travel. As fantastic as this world and its gadgets are, they’re only the beginning. Technology gives us vehicles for the dream of finding out what else is out there.