Wednesday 10 December 2014

Sun rises in the east - learnt the hard way

We all know that sun rises in the east. Even I know, but when there was an application of this, I missed the mark way out. 
Once I wanted to go to a beach to see the sun rise. It is generally believed that beaches are the place you get to see the sunrises and sunsets. So me and a group of my friends went to a beach to see sunrise. Unfortunately that beach was on the western coast and we could just see the light coming and no sun. After so time of pondering we realised that amazing fact that sun rises in the east and we were facing west towards the beach. While we were facing there, the sun rose behind us in the buildings. So, if you are on any eastern side beaches you get to see the sun rise while if you are on the western side, you get to see the sun set. A lesson learnt the hard way.

Eye contact problem in video calls



Have you ever noticed that it is very difficult to establish eye contact during video calls? Be it in Skype, hang out or in face time you have to look at the camera to establish eye contact with a person rather than looking in the eye which is on the screen normally below the camera. 
This is feature is same for laptops, webcam enabled desktops and even in mobile cameras. The only way to establish eye contact is to look at the camera. 

This has some major disadvantages. People are comfortable talking to another if there is no need of eye contact. This is the reason telephone calls are more preferred these days rather than face to face talking. It has become much more easier through chats and SMS where there is even no need for voice. This gives extra confidence to the user. 

The progression of distance real time communication is as follows
1. Skype (real time video, no eye contact)
2. Telephone calls (real time audio, no visual, no eye contact)
3. Chats (real time, no audio, no visual, no eye contact)

If people continue in this, there will be  difficulties when they actually need to talk directly to a person. That is, a person who is accustomed to video calls will have much difficulty to establish eye contact with a person when required. 

How to keep doing something - jogging, studying


On every year beginning, most of us take resolutions. I will run for 30 mins daily in this year. I will read a chapter of a book daily. I will learn a new hobby every month. These are some of the many resolutions we take every year. 

However it happens almost always that we loose track of our resolutions two weeks down the lane. How to stay put in your resolution is a challenge which everyone is facing. One of the ways to achieve your goals is to create a network. This is being in the company of people with the same interests. The time you loose motivation to run, you will get motivated seeing others take to the road. Whenever you stop reading a book, the group which keeps on reading motivates you by discussing stuffs they read last day. 

Such small peer pressure keeps you going and helps you achieve your resolutions. So when you decide to start something, get into a group that is already doing it.

Future of Jobs-Online delivery

While looking at our future, we look at things like moving  to an IT hub for get better jobs, the moving to a city which promotes education of your children etc . I know people who sacrifice the time they spend with their loved ones while pursuing their dreams. So is it required that we move to cities, other job hubs in the future also. This may require us to shift to developed countries also. Will this be our the future?
I guess not. The future looks bright because of internet. In this age where majority of population is moving from primary and secondary to tertiary sector, there are chances that jobs can be on-line. Of-course agriculture and manufacturing cannot be done on-line. However, if there is programming, teaching, designing kind of works these can be delivered on-line. We look at a future where we can work from any corner of the world which just need to be connected with an internet. Work allocation, group discussions, submission review etc can be done using video conferencing like Skype or Google hangout. Also, such kind of delivery will enable each of us to work from the comfort of home being with our loved ones while at the same time bring savings to owners of office charges, convenience charges etc.