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Thanksgiving has always been about family, tradition and gratitude. I think about my Dad carving the turkey with his large Russian hands, showing me exactly how to do it. My Mom always made the turkey until she couldn’t and I took over. We recorded her making it two weeks before she was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2017, her face and voice with instructions I’ll treasure forever.
Technology has found its way into Thanksgiving, but instead of replacing memories, it adds to them. Here are a few tech things I’m thankful for and how they help me carry a bit of the past into the present.
Remember when a quarter for a payphone was your lifeline? Dad would hand me one before I left the house. Today, my iPhone is that, and it’s my camera for capturing memories and having video calls, my connection to family far away, and my assistant to get things done.
Aunt Patty was the unofficial family entertainer, part comedian and part Patsy Cline wannabe. Dang, she could sing “Crazy.” Today, Alexa has taken on some of those roles, including playing music, telling jokes and answering trivia questions.
Videos of my mom are safely stored in the cloud, where I can watch them whenever I want. It’s not just a Thanksgiving Day recipe; it’s her voice, her smile and my heart, forever.
Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without football. I remember when we all crowded around a tiny TV, adjusting the antenna on the roof to get a picture. Now, it’s all about the big screen, where we can see every blade of grass and questionable call in high def.
Every Thanksgiving, I pull out my grandmother’s old aluminum roasting pan to make her stuffing. There’s something magical about using the same pan she did, surrounded by the smells and laughter that have filled my family’s kitchens for generations.
A stock fireplace illustration frames looping archival video of the blasting RS-25 engines that launched the Artemis I rocket to the moon on Nov. 16, 2022. The illustration includes stone tiling, a pillow and a basket of firewood, and it contains elements generated with AI. NASA added two framed pictures; one shows an archival image of the Orion capsule flying through space, and the other shows the Artemis logo. The audio features the roar of the rockets at a low level, with the addition of the sounds of a crackling wood fire.
When you set up your iPhone, invisible dots create a detailed map of your face so you can open your phone just by looking at it. How many dots are used to map a face? Is it … A.) 7,500, B.) 18,000, C.) 30,000 or D.) 50,000?
Take their number twos outdoors. About 3.5 billion people still live without access to toilets, primarily in Africa and India. Today, Nov. 19, is World Toilet Day, so I’m passing along these facts. Raise your hand if you’re reading this from your own Oval Office, porcelain throne, splash zone, commode commando or whatever you call it. 🙋♀️
You’ve probably never wondered what King Tut’s 3,400-year-old grandmother looked like. But now that I’ve said it, I’m sure you want to know! Such a cool video and perfect to share with the photo-editing nerd in your life.
A new traffic light lets a bus jump the light. What did one traffic light say to another? “Don’t look now — I’m changing!”
This art is for sale on Amazon. Can you find the hidden tiger?
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Paper maps never win at poker. They always fold.
NASA’s old tech versus new. Anyone else see a T-Rex with a really long neck?
My friend, Jason, told me he went on a second date the other day. The woman asked him, “So, what do you look for in a relationship?” Jason told her, “A way out.” She didn’t laugh.
How does the computing power of your smartphone compare to the guidance computer aboard the 1969 Apollo 11 lunar module? Is it … A.) About as powerful, B.) 120 times more powerful, C) 12,000 times more powerful or D.) 120,000 times more powerful?
Before it was called Windows, what did Microsoft name its operating system? Was it … A.) Screen Handler, B.) Interface Manager, C.) Task Commander or D.) Visual Desktop?
And, speaking of which, there was this in the ‘80s …
Did you know “Alexa” wasn’t always Amazon’s smart assistant’s name? In its earliest development stages, it was called something altogether different. Was it … A.) Echofina, B.) Beza, C.) Laura or D.) Ivona?
When Facebook launched around 20 years ago, you could “poke” someone in your friends list to get their attention. When did the poke go away and the “like” option arrive? Was it … A.) 2007, B.) 2009, C.) 2010 or D.) 2012?
This “doorway” in Antarctica was spotted on Google Maps, and conspiracy theorists have plenty of wacky ideas about it.
Before Netflix was Netflix, it had a placeholder name for paperwork: Kibble. When it was time to roll out the real thing, one name was not considered. Was it … A.) Quickflicks, B.) Directpix, C.) Replay or D.) Luna?
