MOBILE SUPERMAN-IAC

MOBILE SUPERMAN-IAC
http://content.msn.co.in/Contribute/Technology/UCStory6342.htm

Would you have ever imagined that a simple telephone invented to talk to people over larger distances would transform so drastically and evolve into a multitasking gadget?

The simple telephone instruments in the yester-years with the dialing facility was the plain vanilla type of landline, which could be used to make calls to other such telephone lines through an exchange…after many beeps …and lots of hopes and prayers! The only other function they could perform was to serve as a paper-weight!

“Hello, How are you?”, is the friendly manner in which we used to begin our conversation in those days. With the advent of the mobile phones, we now begin the conversation with, “Where are you now…?”

That is going to change now once again. With the advent of the Global Positioning System, it would now be possible to locate the exact position of the person being called.

Our conversations now begin with “Why the hell are you in the Bar? You were saying there is some work in the Office!”

Anyway, on the positive side, with the new age mobile phones you can already do a lot of things, besides talking, as you know. FM Radio, Camera, Instant Messaging, emails, alarms alerting you for meetings, birthdays, TV programs.

With Bluetooth, Infrared, and what-have-you, it would be possible shortly to link up with your other gadgets and probably use it like a remote for your TV; turn on your AC; or defrost your refrigerator from anywhere in the world!

I would not be surprised if the miniature wonder gadget would even tell us of our Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, pulse etc have gone out of the normal range… or even call up your doctor or send him a message on its own, without you having to move your finger, in such eventuality!

I wonder whether we will still call it a Mobile Phone? Or a Mobile Personal Assistant?

I foresee that it is not far away that I shall be in the Bar, My wife will call and say “You have had enough…I understand from the breathalyzer function installed in your Mobile Personal Assistant that you have already had 4 large ones!”

To which, I can only proclaim “Oh., Hell!”. Times would have turned a full circle from “Hello” to “Oh, Hell!”

Write Something!

http://content.msn.co.in/Contribute/Lifestyle/UCStory6317.htm
Write Something!
-by Gopinath Mavinkurve Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Blog this story

One of the emails I got from a reader, in response to a piece I wrote for the MSN Contribute recently, urged me to write more…”hopefully, something positive”, it says!
I had begun writing since I was in college for my college magazine and though it has been a long time, I am not a prolific writer, I must admit. My friends and close relatives always prod me to write more. But one of the basic problems when it comes to writing “something” is, “What do I write about?” The trouble is that any subject from Price Rise to the US Recession, from Raj Thakeray’s attack on Amitabh to Mayawati’s take on Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Dalit homes, I know very little about! And as to what I think about these incidents….well, what do I think? I normally don’t!
So let me write about writing! The first thing I was advised is to read a lot of books, newspapers and magazines. Back then in the ‘70s there wasn’t such a phenomenon as internet. My English teacher had a very useful tip to improve my English language. “If you want to perfect the language, not only talk in English, think in English!”. Believe me, this came in very handy!
In some of my initial articles, I had used very flowery language to show off my vocabulary. My friends would ask, “It was good… but what did you mean when….” An anecdotal tale from my well-wisher, which I treasure till date is about the writer, who always wrote and spoke flowery language, to such an extent, that he forgot simple, common words! It is said that this writer was trapped in a building, which caught fire! He opened the window and shouted, “Conflagration! Assistance!!”. The Poor fellow died! If only he were to shout “Fire! Help!!”, his life would have been saved. My next lesson was learnt. Use simple words!
Some of my initial contributions were just too long! They came back to me like a boomerang – along with the rejection slip, of course! This is when the lessons of “Precis-writing”, so laboriously learnt in school, came to my help. A well-known part of literature goes thus: “I could not make this letter shorter as I did not have much time”. This sentence, besides being a paradox, also impressed upon me that it takes time and effort to be brief and yet to express with precision and clarity. Indeed, Brevity is the soul of wit!
Finally, I got loads of feedback. I once even went across to some senior editors, who encouraged me to write! (inspite of my several shortcomings). It was only one of them who shared this anecdote on writing which goes as follows:
“A budding writer, who approached a well known author with his writings. The renowned scribe was kind enough to read them all and told him, "Your work is both original and interesting….” . The young lad was thrilled! “ …But the original part is not interesting and the interesting part is not original”, he concluded. The young lad’s heart sunk!!” I have been lucky indeed!
:“Why don’t you write?”, they would still go on! “I still do …but nobody publishes!” – I would never tell them!