The encapsulation of the thoughts, feelings and emotions of a person who sees that at this point of time, strength is at its greatest and is to be used for that which can only grow greater.
So I HAD to lock myself out of my own house with a lock that has been okay the last 20 years but decided to jam today. So I was stuck outside of my own house while trying to open the lock which resulted in me breaking the 15 year old key inside.
So the locksmith came and like most elderly working people, I always ask about how long they’ve been in the business. What made me think was the result of that question.
Me: So uncle how many years have you been a locksmith?
Uncle: (Still working the lock) It doesn’t matter how many years. If I can’t open this lock, it makes no difference.
I paused for a moment and thought about that statement and realized what uncle said was very profound. I’m sure he didn’t mean to be all philosophical all of a sudden. I think that it is out of our principles and values that we can come to such conclusions; just like uncle did.
I suppose the underlying meaning that struck me from what he said was that it doesn’t matter what success you have had in the past or how long you’ve been doing something. What matters is now.
A Smarter Future for Our Kids PARENTS BE WARNED – there is an insidious cult out there that is sweeping the nation. It will have your children in its grips, if they are not prisoners already. Even you, against your better judgement, may have fallen victim to its deceptively innocuous charms.
What is the name of this craze, this new religion? Angry Birds. Virtually every child over the age of four is a seasoned veteran of the game, catapulting feathered soldiers of war into wood and stone structures with ease. The commercial offshoot is enormous; one cannot walk into a shopping centre nowadays without bumping into carts laden with chubby bird toys and poultry-embossed phone covers.
But why is Angry Birds so addictive? The reason lies beyond the cute characters and repetitive gameplay.
There is something irresistible about being able to manipulate an image with your fingers, adjusting aim with the slightest movement and feeling the tension in that catapult as you pull back the rubber band. The sensation of touch is much more satisfying than any mouse or joystick because it is a natural function.
An American company called Smart Technologies had the foresight to capitalise on touch technology even before Apple did. In 1991 they released the first interactive whiteboard, a digital interface that links to a computer and allows users to write in computerised ink with mock markers.
Similar to an iPad, touching the 77-inch screen can open and close applications, and drag and rotate objects. Students can listen to stories with sound effects, match words to pictures, play games that enhance math or language skills and even watch YouTube! The difference is that the SMART Board uses cameras and sensors to detect movement and writing. No radiation is emitted from the screen itself, which makes it completely safe in a business or classroom environment.
It was in 2010 that Vital Years, a specialised network of early English literacy centres in Malaysia, took notice of the SMART Board and the revolution it was causing in other parts of the world. Unlike phonics, the Vital Years program develops young readers naturally and effortlessly. With SMART Board also exploiting a child’s natural instinct, it was a match made in heaven.
"There is something irresistible about being able to manipulate an image with your fingers, adjusting aim with the slightest movement and feeling the tension in that catapult as you pull back the rubber band."
FYI. There is no rubber band in a touch screen, much less a smart board.
"With SMART Board also exploiting a child’s natural instinct, it was a match made in heaven."
FYI, a child's natural instinct is to explore and discover. Not be content with the restrictions of a 3'' x 5'' glass screen or a 77’’ ‘touchscreen’ which I think is no different than a giant mouse touchpad.
***
My point is, that the person who wrote this has a skewed perception of the role of the Smartboard and IMHO, the acquisition of language. Language acquisition 101 dictates that a child acquires a language based on WHO the child spends most time with, which ultimately determines the child's language acquisition process.
I have seen and used the Smartboard in action. As an educator, I feel that the main reason why a screen has to be so big is so that it can be used to demonstrate interaction with multimedia to a class; opening up a new way to use flashcards, play games, which otherwise would be left to the creativity of the teacher to use the material he/she has.
I doubt the use of the Smartboard has any real potential in replacing the "irresistible something" of manipulating an image as we do the real thing in our classrooms anyway. If anything at all, the introduction of new technologies should actually bring children back to realize that nothing is better than really taking a rubber band and having an adventure of the imagination of which memories of it will last a lifetime.
There are many ‘short lived’ trends on Facebook and most are funny stories and such but none as viral as this video as I’ve for the last 3 days seen it on the top of my wall.
It tells the funny rant of a young man in a relationship; about none other than his other half and how being in a relationship with the girl drives him mad because of all the seemingly crazy situations he has to go through. I quote as he erupts: “Bollywood always shows young men and women falling in love but they never show what comes AFTER THAT” (emphasis added)
It struck me as interesting as I was on my way to work this morning as to why such a video might get such unusual attention and it dawned on me that many actually identify with this short sightedness - that we forget the horrors once you get into a relationship.
My take on this is that the reason why such complaints like the one you see in the video come about is because many who go into relationships forget that it is more than a friendship. That fuzzy feeling you get when you’re together? That’s just an illusion of love. The advertisement. The enticing salesman to get you into the relationship in the first place.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. Because we’re created that way. Wired to be attracted to the opposite sex. If we didn’t have that, our logical mind would have stopped us long ago and humanity would have ceased to exist a long time ago. No man in their right state of mind would do such a thing as get into a relationship. Unless of course that thing called the ‘emotion’ had a say.
But there is blessing in both being in and out of a relationship. The thing that makes a difference is whether you are ready or not for the changes that come when you are in either state.
For me, after a good 3 years in one, I discovered from the Bible that – the thing we call being in a relationship actually requires both to GIVE UP THEMSELVES rather than try to hang on to their old self.
Because being so close to someone actually takes a new level of maturity and ability to look beyond your own needs and begin to attend to the needs of others. A man when born cries when he needs something. We call that a baby. It whines, and cries out for attention. All it cares about are it’s needs. But as that child grows, it learns that there will come times where he will have to forgo his own importance for the sake of others. Letting old people go first, being patient in line. Waiting for everyone to eat before he does.
But when a child can finally and willingly give up his all for another and learn sacrifice, then that boy has learnt at least a bit of what it means to be a man.
And in that effect, has learnt a small but significant portion of what it means to love.
1 Corinthians 13:4 – 11 (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
Some days, flying to work is filled with pleasantries.
I regularly take the duke to work and when the times and conditions are right, the sky behaves like a living canvass spreading across the horizon; reminding me of the Creator.
Like a writer once mentioned, I can’t at this moment remember who - that if we think about the universe and how insanely huge it is, we might think it’s absurd that we might need so much space. But if we see from the perspective of creation being made to worship God, then such a huge expanse makes perfect sense.
These recent mornings, I’ve been literally been chased by the sunrise as I do my best to make it for work. The sun can usually be seen when I reach the DUKE around 7.05am. That’s when even more wonder happens. So beautiful the morning sky that I temporarily forget that I am half asleep at the wheel going at 140 rushing towards the day ahead.
One man awake awakens another, The second awakens his next door neighbour, And three awake can rouse the town, and turn the whole place upside down. And many awake can raise such a fuss, That it finally awakens the rest of us. One man up with dawn in his eyes (surely then it) multiplies.
What a beautiful and uplifting poem about the revival that can come!
(I sense that when I am working only with one job, I am able to give more time to God,) duh*
25-26"So—who is like me? Who holds a candle to me?" says The Holy. Look at the night skies: Who do you think made all this? Who marches this army of stars out each night, counts them off, calls each by name —so magnificent! so powerful!— and never overlooks a single one?
27-31Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, "God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me"? Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.
I missed work today because a pipe was backflowing water into Poay Ling’s house. We spent the morning cleaning up and I knew that if I went to work I wouldn’t be able to do. I woke up this morning feeling really bad because i know Ms. Steph my teacher already has it hard with the kids.
With the above verse I’m reminded that I am feeling bad on the wrong thing. I am reminded of the reminder I gave during my PKV speech about relying on God. So often I forget that in the midst of tiredness and trouble God is there to help me.
I’m sorry God for forgetting that YOU Lord are the greatest source of strength.
