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Just reported in The Independent this morning, Ray Kurzweil (inventor of the first machine capable of reading books to the blind, the first music synthesizer to perfectly duplicate the sound of a grand piano, and educational software, which helps students with learning difficulties) believes that by 2040, you’ll be able to upload your brain! I should also add that he believes we’re on the brink of a new age – the ’singularity’ – when technology will allow us to email each other toast, run as fast as Usain Bolt (for 15 minutes), and live forever! Yeah right! Click the image below to read the article…

Ray Kurzweil

BIG congratulations, happiness & love wing their way to Christian, Ditte & family in Copenhagen, who are celebrating the arrival of baby Lea Olsen, born yesterday afternoon and weighing in at a very healthy 3.9 kilos. Another girl in the family – hooray! Can’t wait to see the pictures 

On October 22nd, Microsoft is launching Windows 7 in an attempt to rid itself of the disaster that is Vista. I’ve read quite a lot of reviews to date, and I’ve looked at most of the new features and changes, and it does look like it’s the real deal; finished! It looks like the first decent product that they launched in years; recent releases are all desperately memory hungry, however Windows 7 only uses memory for the active window – not those minimised to tray & there are other notable improvements. I’ve been holding off on upgrading from XP for years and if 7 lives up to all that it appears to be (allowing 6 months for a ‘bedding in’ period), I’ll be upgrading next Spring.

It’s a shame that Microsoft couldn’t have put more effort into their launch video – themed as a ‘Windows 7 house party’?! Eh? It really is THE most boring and senseless video I have ever had the displeasure to view (thanks to Stephen Fry for the link).

If you like light art, more specifically projection art, then you’ll LOVE this! Sound on, full-screen. Thanks to Derek Skelly for the vid.

Been fighting off a chest infection/cold for the last 2 days – breaks my heart…haven’t been able to go near Katrina since Wednesday, but what can ye do. This morning, I woke up feeling even worse…achy, etc. so I stayed in bed. Been up now for about an hour, but I’m going back to bed soon. TTFN.

Sunday 20th update: Well it’s not swine flu – thank goodness – although a week’s course of anti-biotics is on the cards. I was a little fearful for what it might be seeing as the little Katrina sleeps in our bedroom.

Nearly two weeks ago, my next door neighbour, Ida Gossage, died suddenly. She’d been ill for a while with cancer, but it was still a bit of a shock. I knew snippits about Ida’s life, but it was at her funeral last Friday that the gaps were finally filled in. She led an interesting life, having left Poland at the end of WWII – then aged 7 – when her father was executed. After some short periods in refugee camps, she and her family sailed to the U.K…eventually settling down in Liverpool. She met the love of her life, George, and moved to the U.S. for some years, before finally returning to U.K. and moving into their own place in the house next door to mine.

She was a lovely woman, always cheery and pleasant, and she always had a positive outlook, even when she became ill. It’s a shame, but then again, that’s life for you – one new life comes into this world, and one departs. She’ll be missed.