Digital Homosapiens

I feel somewhat annihilated with the latest concept of being referred to, with all the rest of computer users, as 'digital natives', people who navigate through Internet. I have been called all sorts of things: unemployed, self-employed, consumer, client, customer, subject, citizen, teacher, model, patient, voter, user, but 'digital native'?

I guess it's not meant to be degrading or disrespectful, just means that we are part of the generation that's born to, brought up with, or simply having been caught off-guard by the unavoidable wave of modern trends that sweeps up and carries off by the digital revolution. According to the Association Press in New York, Marc Prensky is the father of this denomination, in opposition to 'digital immigrants'.

This writer and author of didactic video games, sustained that those born in the digital era - Digital Homosapiens employ technical resources in the natural manner almost innate, different from those born in the analogical era, who are obliged to immigrate to the digital world, who use the new resources with the inheritance of the older technology. Much Like one learning a new language as an adult: however fluent, always exist some accent compared with the native speaker.

There's another kind, me for instance, that are practically illiterate in anything technical or technological, not even qualified as digital homosapiens. What are we? Digital Apes?

Tags:digitalape,digitalhomosepien

Diamonds Are Forever?

Has anybody else read or heard the incredible report, that hair can be converted into diamonds? Especially, not anybody's hair, but Michael Jackson's.

Apparently one Chicago firm has informed the media that they had obtained some hair belonging to Michael Jackson, which had been partly burnt in 1984 (they had the foresight already then to have kept it till now?) while he was shooting the commercial for Pepsi Cola, and they are now planning to create a limited edition of diamonds with it. Adding to the announcement: "This is not a joke", said Dean VandenBiesSen, founder of LifeGem, that had patented the process to extract carbon from hair, to transform in crystals then in high quality diamonds.

Sub-products emerging from the slightest connection with any big name celebrities sell, no matter the product itself is of any practical value or not. Very limited in my knowledge of such science, I simply can't fathom how hair could have any contribution in the fabricating of diamonds. Aren't they supposed to be natural stones, something rock hard, but based on something so fragile as hair?? Brittle as well after being burnt???

That was about 4 years ago. I would dearly like to know how this is possible and what kind of process is necessary. More than anything, I would like to know the why of it all. So that you can show off your engagement ring saying it contains a bit of Michael Jackson? And, most of all, why such sensational news is heard no more??

Tag:hair,diamond

Current Mood: Blah

Inner Peace

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy

to give you any time,

If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs ...

Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!

And you thought I was going to get 
all spiritual with this, huh?!

Tags:familydog 

Current Mood: Amused

Somebody Or Nobody, Everything And Nothing ...

Apart from doing translations, English/Spanish and vice versa for a construction firm, I also give private lessons of these 2 languages to adults, mainly business people, or whoever seeks my help. A new Spanish student of mine seemed to have problem with distinguishing the correct usage of the English words: somebody, nobody, anybody and everybody. And, whether the verb that goes with each should be singular or plural. When she looked perplexed despite my having painstakingly explained with examples of each of these words, I had the following little story written down for her to study.

This is a story of 4 people, named Somebody, Nobody, Anybody, and Everybody. They have an important job to do and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Somebody would have to actually do it. In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

For homework, I asked that she wrote a story to illustrate the correct usage of another 4 words: Something, Nothing, Anything, Everything.

Would you like to write that story for her?

Tags:nobody,nothing

Current Mood: Accomplished