Education

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How Will Our Lives Change In 20 Years

I am usually very skeptical when I read the following words “must read article”.  I started reading this with the expectation that I would be done in less than a minute. Double yowza – there are some great predictions. The following are the ones I found fascinating.

  • Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.
  • Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don’t want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver’s licence and will never own a car.
  • Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. Energy companies are desperately trying to limit access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar installations, but that can’t last. Technology will take care of that strategy.
  • Health:  The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There are companies who will build a medical device (called the “Tricorder” from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breath into it.
  • It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medical analysis, nearly for free. Goodbye, medical establishment.
  • If it doesn’t work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st century.

Read the full article. I would love to get your feedback.

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What Would Life Be Like Without The Internet (Part 1)

The initial sobering thought is that you would not be reading this post if there were no internet. The thought of  LWTI (Life Without The Internet) came to me in sort of a wave of experiences. The front edge of the wave led me to admit sometimes I use my smartphone and its connection to the Internet to avoid human contact. Yes, if I am restless at dinner or a Poker game, I take out my phone and check email or scan world headlines. Every time my phone vibrates I take it out, often interrupting an ongoing conversation. In short, I am addicted to the stimulation of the Internet.

What was life like before the Internet?

  1. Communication – There were F2F meetings, often requiring time- consuming travel to meetings. There were long distance phone calls. There was snail mail. In the 1960’s, I can remember patiently waiting in my college dormitory post office to find out if my family’s care package shipped 10 days ago had arrived today.
  2. Banking -Ah, the days of standing in line to make a deposit or to pay a vendor. It was licking a stamp on an envelope and mailing the bill to the provider of your services.
  3. Libraries – Walking to the library and hoping that the reference book you needed for your report was available and paying the library fines often.
  4. Movies – As a child, Saturday afternoons were special for my bother and me. I fondly remember going to a matinee where admission and popcorn for the both of us cost less than a dollar.
  5. Employment. There was no such thing as working online. You dressed for work. You commuted to work. More often than not you worked from 8-5 and commuted home.
  6. Television. For the first 18 years of my life there was one T.V. in the house. We watched together as a family and of course there was no streaming, Youtube or viewing on a tablet or smartphone.

Was life slower, better, more enjoyable before the Internet? For my grandchildren there are no comparisons. All of their lives they have experienced Email, Google, Facebook, iPhones and ordering from Amazon and receiving their products in the same day.  They don’t know the meaning of film and typewriters.

Could we exist today without the Internet? Does the child growing up in the Internet age lack personal communication skills? Do we as adults keep our personal communication skills sharp?

In Part 2, I will discuss a need to return to some of the skills we had before the Internet.

 

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Friends In Foreign Places

Yesterday Sharon and I had the privilege of attending the launch party of the Kindle Anthology – Friends In Foreign Places. All the proceeds for this book go to the Ecuador Earthquake Relief Fund.  Sharon and I have stories in the 5 volume anthology.

  • Sharon: “I Never Met A Stranger”
  • Lenny: “My Teacher, My Friend”

So for $5.99 you get to help the Earthquake victims and read 36 great short stories. Such a deal.

Here is the link to purchase the book.

ffp

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Ecuador – The Royal Tour

This post is mainly for my subscribers who do not live in Ecuador. Peter Greenberg  comes to Ecuador and is given The Royal Tour by El Presidente Raphael Correa. There is a very positive chemistry between the President and Greenberg.  Thhe viewers get to see (what Ecuadorians already know), a beautiful country full of bio diversity. Don’t miss this one.

 

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Smartphone Photo And Editing Course – May 9, 2016

Are you fumbling with your Smartphone Camera and you missed a great photo. On May 9th you will learn how to better use your camera and create fantastic movies. The course information is here. The class is limited to six students.

The picture below was captured on my Nexus 6 and edited with Google Photos. The movie was created from past smartphone photos.

Dos Campasinas