Distance

Staggering steps... feeble walks..... the u turn ....  the realization !!!
 A reality, an acceptance... or understanding facts... the rights and wrongs; blended into one whole being or kind of inheritance, the qualities of righteousness harnessed of what we or rather what I am or what he has given me. Of course, it's about my dad, holding whose fingers I have walked through all these years, to this day, where he wanted to see me.
 Happy to know that he actually always wanted to see me born as a son and not  a daughter; hardly ever knowing, or rather astonished to see that he had been failing in understanding me; and proving him wrong that daughters are better than sons, why the gender bias. Why the differentiation?
Simultaneously, overwhelmed to know that seeds of goodness that he had sown years ago had borne fruit. Happy to know that we had always been missing him... in good times and bad.... more often than ever after the demise of my mother.
 Prayers answered and wishes fulfilled, though not all, while some dreams shattered at the hands of fate, not a word spoken against nor a revenge taken. Still trying to figure out the secrets, unfold the mysteries and understand God's word. To set right the wrong ? or Forgive the wrong and move on as if no one existed in his world, feeling lonely or leaving lonely, the world that he had created... ahahhh !!!
 
Together wishing had mom been with us; the unspoken lonely words struggling to break free; at the same time trying to hide emotions. Words of patience only spoken to give courage to his heart and mind promising to live till the wrong will be corrected; on a journey to peace and eternity.

 Love you Dad
 

The Chronicles of Higher Education

As Review by: Hartmann, Werner

The possibilities created by information and communication technologies, and in particular by the Internet and the Web, have often been hailed as revolutionary with regards to education. In May 2004, Steve Jones, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, conducted a survey among more than 2300 professors in the US on the impact of the Internet and the Web on education.

Three major findings of the survey are summarized as follows: “When asked whether the Internet has changed the quality of student work, 42% of professors in a recent survey said they had seen a decline, while only 22% said they had seen improvement. But a majority of 67% of the respondents said the Internet had improved their communication with students.” Plagiarism was cited as a major problem. Almost half of the respondents in the survey observe an increasing “Google and Copy” way of working by their students. Only about a quarter of the respondents has no qualms with unauthorized copying of source materials. Two thirds systematically use tools to check for plagiarism.

Many respondents also point out changes in the writing abilities of their students. They believe that the use of software such as spell checkers and automated translation services has a negative impact on the quality of writing. For example, expressions which are used only rarely are often rejected by such tools, and students replace them with simpler, more common expressions which are accepted by the tools. As a result, the students’ texts are less rich in expression and become less individual.
More than 80% of the respondents say they use the Internet a resource of information for their daily business and cannot imagine education which does not include the use of the Internet. About 40% say they are online 20 hours or more per week. However, as the survey was done online, these numbers may be skewed in favor of power-user professors.
Almost all respondents use email for communication with their students, which makes email the most used Internet service, by a large margin, among the respondents. On the negative side, respondents noted students’ expectation that they be online 24h on 7 days.
Only 16% of the respondents have experience with online courses, and half of those note that the time for preparation for such courses is much higher than for more traditional forms of education such as lectures.
The study ends by noting that at institutions of higher education, there is still much uncertainty about the efficient and effective use of information and communication technologies for education. The authors recommend more further education for professors which focuses less on the use of the technologies in general, but rather more on the use for teaching particular subjects.

People may think it is a luxury and times are hard, but the times are changing and the next generation need to know how to use the latest technology.

Fun with Kalligrafi

Callos- Beautiful graphos- Writing.



The discovery to add beauty to alphabets has given calligraphy the place it deservs. Anything beautiful is appealing to the eye and an inspiration to the soul. If you have a flare for writing and want to present in a creative way, then all you need is a pen and a paper. It is an art which does not require expenditure nor space. Anyone from a young lad to an old person can develop this art, irrespective of whether he/she is an artist.

This art can be out of your interest to keep you busy in your leisure time. But, calligraphy can also be a source of income who want to showcase their creative talents and earn at the same time. Those who want to earn those extra bucks can look ahead into this art. But one would wonder how one can earn through this fanciful writing. Why not ! Here are a list of things where calligraphy can be put to use- Greetings for all occasions, invitations, certificates, posters, Business cards, awards, poems, and many other things like mugs, T-shirts etc.


  Paying attention to the strokes and holding the pen is what counts, while one sits down to create beautiful inspirational writing. There are two levels - the basic level is for beginners who can master the upper and lower case alphabets and move to 3-5 letter words. As you advance, you will find yourself enjoying the journey to present beautiful quotes and poems with this creative partner. Trying your own way out with different styles would be a wonderful research. Although there are many websites, to guide you through the process, practice and patience is what is really needed!



So what are you waiting for, explore the beautiful way of presenting your ideas, the next time you send a greeting or a quote to someone you love ! Enjoy and propagate the art.