Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Invention that will Change the World





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Hey guys! What's up? So sorry I couldn't post an entry last Monday, sort of miss it, no excuses though. The thing is, I wasn't home all day (like you wanted to know that) and didn't have a chance to update my writing. Funny thing though, I was in an interview and you may know how it is, there're always certain questions that can't be missed.

The classics are always present: Why would you like to join us? How do you see yourself within the next 5 to 10 years? You may have an answer already prepared (most people have one), chances are you say something that has been heard quite a lot. Just a few times there are some questions that really keep you thinking and challenge you in order to find the best answer. As you properly guessed, I was given one of these questions, as a matter of fact the one embedded in the title of this entry.

But let me narrow the question a bit, since it refers to a relatively new invention, seen on any media (TV, internet, magazine and so on). Since the interview theme was engineering I immediately began to scan in my mind any 'modern' and 'eye-candy' sort of answer. I didn't want to provide a cliché nor something completely ridiculous. Also I didn't want to say something the people asking will know beforehand, so I took my time. To be honest I thought about one or two good (but sort of boring) answers, so I tried to come up with a better one.


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All of the sudden I start talking about what was the 'background' of my actual response, in other words I was explaining why I picked the invention in question. So I began by referring this book called 'Physics of the Impossible' by Michio Kaku. This is a pretty good book, since it explains in mortals language how science is well beyond science fiction. All the things you thought as a kid were possible only by watching movies or reading comics today are most of all true. Rockets to the moon (and beyond!), electric cars, communication systems, and many others are today's reality. So if you ask me is not crazy to attempt to find the new inventions in this type of sources.

So I listed a bunch of inventions I recall reading from this book, not mentioning specifically one, but more of expressing my liking for this book... I thought I was off the hook. Politely I was told to name specifically one from my list... there is when I really started to think harder, not because I wasn't able to pick one, but because all the inventions I talked about were not a today's reality... inisibility cloaks, internet contact lenses, medical measurements on the fly, the list went on and on. What to do? Well, better pick one.

And fair to say, I did choose an option, and now that I think of it, it actually didn't go wrong at all. What would you say if you had been in my shoes? Is there an invention that has changed your life or everybody's life for that matter? Leave all you comments down below and hopefully you can come up with something really nice! I leave you all with the start of the World Cup... wait! The opening game is about to begin!


Thursday, June 3, 2010

If You'd Unfriend and Unfollow the World


And so I was reading the other day how social networks are being so popular to us, to the point when we no longer need to face someone to tell them how good friends they are. It's a no brainer, I know, but if you think about just for a bit you'll agree we are still learning from it all. From kids to adults we all use these services and all seems to be in harmony (for the time being).

Five years ago we didn't use these websites, either because we didn't know about them or some were still using diapers. Now we can spot their full potential, not only keeping in touch with people we hardly see, but also to keep in touch with people we see all the time, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Then we had the chance to upload our own pics. Long are the times where you had to take a bunch of snapshots, then you needed to go to reveal the film and come back later to get your pics and then going to some friend's house to share them and to see half of them were out of focus. And now all is done without standing from your seat.

Then it came something even better: videos. Not only we were given the chance to upload photos and share them with the world (or with anyone who would like to watch) but also our videos could be seen online. Now all this could be done in one website and in one account. The rest is pretty much history… we keep track of birthdays, invitations, friends we didn't know we had (literally!) and all in a seamless experience our parents would do anything to had it when they were our age… or even younger.


And if you noticed, I've just sticked to one website: Facebook. The other one worth talking is Twitter… whoever thinks it's just a toy they don't know its potential, because it is a toy, and then some more. Again, it all started as a way to keep track of friends activities, what they do in a regular (or important day), but then we were taught it could be done so much more. Advertisements, news, networking, trend topics and the list doesn't stop there.

People a bit more conservative think of it as a threat to privacy, a world with less secrets, and they're right in their own way. Though many are capable of turning on a gadget or a computer, not many are capable of handing such a responsibilities with themselves. I'm not saying there should be a school to learn how to use Facebook or Twitter (would be funny though) since that knowledge is called responsibility and common sense, and we gotta learn it daily in life.

The more registered friends you have or people you follow are mere numbers if you never see them in the real life, treat a friend as such, both online and offline. All this amazing services are changing the way mankind lives, to the point where some people pay more attention to Facebook's relationship status than the real status of a couple. 

And it's funny to think about the word unfriend (it's 2009 word of the year by the Oxford American Dictionary), even they can create words and make them real. As a final thought, for many people (not all, of course) if you lack of social networking is like you're off the radar, you simply don't exist in this virtual world. Everything has grown so much that it seems if you don't take part in these sort of networks is like you'd unfriend and unfollow the world with just one click.