I have a voice

Any programmer will tell you, there are at least 67 different ways to get to the end goal of any programming project.  It never fails to amaze me that I’ll suddenly learn some new trick or method.  It speaks to our continued flexibility that, as we age, we continue to learn, grow and adapt.

I think we’re a product of our time, with technology continually producing new gadgets to do a wider range of things.  We have to keep adjusting to stay abreast of all the new stuff.  This wasn’t the case for our ancestors.  The growth of technology was historically slow in, for instance, Abraham Lincoln’s time.  It was only the people who were constantly trying to invent or improve something whose brain was continually challenged with new concepts.

In the age of printed news, staying up on what was happening in the world was a challenge.  It would sometimes take months to learn of the aftermath of a big quake.  Today we have minute by minute coverage.  We can eschew local and national televised news and listen to first hand accounts of events right from the effected country . . . in our own language.  Instead of hundreds of thousands dieing in a quake/tsunami as history tells, the loss is now restricted to tens of thousands.  Communication allows time for those in harms way to evacuate.

Technology is an awesome thing.  I watched a video today of a man using robotic legs.  His joy at being upright and mobile after years in a wheelchair was science at its best.  The mobility isn’t as immediate as the Segway wheel chair which lifts the occupant up to eye height with others, but it does give the ability to walk upright again and climb stairs.