It's official

I am the only person in United States who does not own a cell phone.

I learned today that my brother and sister-in-law purchased cell phones for my parents for Christmas. This is big. My parents are not technological. At all. Let me illustrate:

(1) Their microwave has a dial.
(2) They do not have cable. My MTV consciousness was not developed until after I entered college.
(3) They do not own a computer, and therefore, do not use email or the internet.
(4) They do not know how to leave an outgoing message on their answering machine. They refuse to leave messages on answering machines as well.
(5) They do not know how to use an ATM machine. They must see a bank teller in order to retrieve their cash.

Yes, my parents are total old school immigrants. And that is why my dad said he only intended to use the cell phone on weekends and weekdays after 9 pm because the calls were free! Ah! Thank god they're still keeping it real. I was afraid for a tiny moment.

Rest in Peace

Daily Variety - Wednesday, November 15, 2006

VHS, 30, Dies of Loneliness
The home-entertainment format lived a fruitful life
By Diane Garrett

After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old. No services are planned.

VHS is survived by a child, DVD, and by Tivo, VOD and DirecTV. It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs.

Although it had been ailing, the format's death became official in this, the video biz's all-important fourth quarter. Retailers decided to pull the plug, saying there was no longer shelf space.

Born Vertical Helical Scan to parent JVC of Japan, the tape had a difficult childhood as it was forced to compete with Sony's Betamax format. After its youthful Betamax battles, the longer-playing VHS tapes eventually became the format of choice for millions of consumers. VHS enjoyed a lucrative career, transforming the way people watched movies and changing the economics of the film biz.

The format flourished until DVDs launched in 1997. After a fruitful career, VHS tapes started to retire from center stage in 2003 when DVDs became more popular. Since their retirement, VHS tapes have made occasional appearances in children's entertainment and as a format for collectors seeking titles not released on DVD. VHS continued to make as much as $300 million a year until this year, when studios stopped manufacturing the tapes.

(Thank god I outlived the VHS! Whew!)

Awesome... but how much?

The RI-MAN is a seeing, hearing and smelling robot that can carry human beings and is aimed at helping care for the country's growing number of elderly.

This is great and all, but as you can see in the post below, human labor is probably cheaper. Not that you could hire a doula to care for the elderly, but you could easily find a Chinese lady who would cook, clean and provide medical care for your aging and debilitating loved one in exchange for a few dollars and unlimited access to Chinese soap operas.