Speed of Communication

The age of texting and emailing is here to stay, at least until there are superceded by something even faster.

For many, texting and emailing have proved a liberation, the ancient burden of grammatical correctness dealt with and removed.

The comma, for instance, has lost its mythical aura and the full stop has become a pointless dot. Unhappily for those of us, who love the form and rhythm of perfect grammar, the world has simply gone mad! The beauty and poetry of language, built over thousands of years, has been all but destroyed by mobile phone texting and internet emailing. What remains is a gratingly new form of shorthand.

The Humble Vowel

Take the vowel for example. Using the aforementioned shorthand a person can say what they need to And be easily understood, using a limited number of consonants almost (thankfully not completely) dispensing with the once essential vowel.

To convey by phone text that you will be late, you could simply text something like the following:

`Wl b lat gt dlayd shd b 2 u by 8.'

Admittedly the time it would take to text this message is seconds as opposed to making a voice call, which could be argued may wander in all directions and take up several minutes - or for the more garrulous, like myself, probably much longer. So, cost and time-wise, the text message, despite its assault upon conventional language, stands out as a more effective option.

Punkgramma

What about the current generation's ability to write clear well-punctuated prose? What's happening to that?

Recent tests and surveys are already showing a marked decline in general comprehension, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. These surveys are aimed at students as high as university degree level.

It's not only the young. Even grandparents are jumping on the band wagon in a need to be always and quickly available, taking brave steps into the world of `punkgramma.'

So the question must be asked;`If all and sundry become Punkgrammatiks, who is going to be left to carry the flag of the English language as it once was flown?

Time and Business

Perhaps time is the thing? Today everyone seems to be short of it. Our income-earning activities are so demanding that to get away we often take expensive overseas holidays. We hear it said all the time, ”I have to go overseas to get away or they all expect me to be on call,” “If I just stay home and potter they will always find me,” “The only way I can have a break is to leave the country.”

So with all these expensive holidays - and many have young family to take with them making it an even more costly exercise - comes the need to keep working to pay for them.

Remembering that more and more companies are employing their staff on a commission-only basis, where speed and time-management are critical to making the sale, this creates an added burden. They HAVE to come back and work harder than ever, not only to meet the mortgage and the bills, but to pay for the holiday and all its inevitable add-ons.

Subsequently determined real estate agents, car sales people, keen retailers and professionals, will extract your details from you in whatever way possible and, if they are true to their calling, seeing you as a potential `sale,' will stay in touch, often by the lesser-intrusive text or email. Anyone serious about making a sale (so they can eat) will be using whatever means are available to ensure you remain their `hot prospect.' If you have attended an open home, wandered onto a car lot, chatted with a switched-on Harvey Norman/Walmart/Harrod's sales person, you will have experienced the after-calls and follow-ups.

In fact it has become common practice for businesses and services to jog forgetful minds by text or email reminders to avoid empty time slots. And, never to be outdone, even our politicians are streamlining their own communications along similar lines.

21st century lives are busy, busy, busy. It's no wonder we don't stop and think about where the comma should go or the sentence should end. We simply haven't the time to think about it because to do so might put us behind by a second or two. And heaven forbid that we should worry about such superfluous ciphers as commas and full stops, let alone speech marks and semi-colons.

They will all come back, of course. They have been around too long to be discarded in quite such a casual manner in the worldly pursuit of brevity and speed. Fortunately (well, hopefully), there are still enough pedants and `lovers of the word,' who will continue to laud the attributes of our wonderful language in all its fullness and wealth and keep it blossoming.

It has to be this way because, without these precious folk, the alternatives are all too ghastly to think about.

Imagine a language where the aahs and oohs, the eeehs and ughs, are replaced with bland colourless mmm's and grrrr's, hmmm's and brmmm's, fzzz's and whzzzz's.

Expedient? Efficient? No-nonsense and practical?

For my part the word, `horrifying,' comes far quicker to mind.

This is the strangest clock/calendar I have ever seen. It's really cool!

Cool!!

This is the coolest handwritten clock/calendar that is very impressing. You may want to keep this in your PC. But, if you want an ambient clock, you should authenticate with Google to connect your Google Calendar to your clock here.

10,000 Coins Topple

There's a cool youtube video showing you 10,000 coins topple like dominoes. Those coins appear to be thicker than American nickels. Some of the motions may be a bit unnatural from the point of physics. It sounds boring when the coins move up and down the ramps made of stack of coins to the end. You may scream, “Coins, c'mon, move on!”

Greeting Hello in over 800 Languages

Now, you've no problem to greet the world “Hello” in more than 800 languages. But how accurate is it? I am doubt of its accuracy. I think some of the “Hello” phrases in Japanese are no longer used in everyday conversations. Of course, “konnichiwa” is always heard, but the dialectical phrases, particularly the “Kansai-ben” will probably appear awkward to the local people there as they are rarely used for conversation these days.

Get Lose in this Game!

This is claimed as the world's most addictive game. The U.S. Air Force Academy uses it to train its pilots. They've to stay alive in this game for as long as 40 seconds. The first couple milliseconds are the hardest part, but it will eventually become easy to pass through. Once you get passed 10 seconds, it'll go very fast. Its speed generally varies accordingly with your network connection or computer.

Can You Spin the Pen Like This?

Now, follow the music, and start spinning your pen as shown in the video. It's interesting, right? Can you do most of the tricks shown to pass your time?

What Codes are These?

These codes appear to me as ASCII art, and this website seems to be very odd and pointless. It was the weirdest website created in 1995 and its HTML source code reveals a detailed diagram of a hydrogen bomb. It is said to be a diagram plan for 2 types of nuclear form which can be found here.

What s Your BMI?

This is a type of BMI calculator used to measure your ideal weight. It requests your height, and frame size but does not ask for your gender. It will then give you a simple way to decide your frame size. You might have shocked at what you should really weight! But, I recommend the other website for an accurate calculation. Give yourself a try here!

Have This Website to Waste Your Time!

These are by far the most interesting and fantastic flash games to waste your time. There are a variety of games here to kill your boredom. These games are awesome, I particularly like “Turbo penguin”.

Very Funny Video Clip!

This is a funny youtube video clip. One yoga guy fights with 2 Kung Fu fighters in the movie called “Kung Fu vs Yoga”. Can a Yoga guy behave like this way?

Beware of TeenScreen!!!

TeenScreen is part of Bush's National Mandated Mental Health Screening program. This test takes 10 minutes to diagnose the mentality health of the kids. When it was done in Colorado, America, 71% of the kids who involved in this test were diagnosed to have a mental disorder. I am wondering how Bush would do on this test…Below is what I quoted from Wiki:

"This has become a source of controversy as some have alleged that TeenScreen is merely a scheme to market psychiatric drugs. [10] In addition, some of TeenScreen's executives and advisory board members have ties to pharmaceutical companies. [11] Some of the symptoms that TeenScreen uses as indicators of mental illness can also be caused by physical illnesses, allergies, poor nutrition, lacked of sleep, drug abuse, and toxic exposure. [12] TeenScreen refers students flagged by the screening process to psychiatric professionals."

Music GenreVisualization

This is a very cool but awesome website that you should give it a try. It's an iPod-like radio which enables you to listen to songs from many genres. There's a huge variety of music to suit your needs. Just click somewhere in the matrix: energetic/clam and dark/positive. The more on the right you click on, the more music to satisfy your ears. One unique interesting feature is that you can choose which years you wish to listen.

Build Your Own Search Robot!

This awesome website sounds great to you, right? Now, you can build a Search robot to place in search engines like Yahoo, Google, and other Web 2.0 sites. It'll also continuously scour social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, Digg and even other websites. Your searchbot is brilliant enough to search the web by color and the mood as well. Why don't you give it a try?

And You Thought Your Eyes are Good?

How good are your eyes? Can you find the “C”? I think this website is good for checking your eyesight too. If you can't spot the alphabet, then you've to get a pair of spectacles. Now, try this below, can you spot the “O” hidden among the “Q” alphabets? How many "O" did you find?

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300+ UFO Photographs

Do you believe in UFO? By browsing through these photographs, you can feed your eyes with over 300+ photographs at your fingertips.

Creating the Stuff of Your Dream

This is a pretty odd, cool and weird website. Just click on the image and it'll change from a random set of images. Sometimes, you'll get the same combination of images for several times. There are 15625 possibilities to create your dream. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Also read

• Eight extremely powerful interactive websites to blow your mind
• Nine crazy and hilarious websites that went far away from the internet application

Yahoo Babel Fish

It translates text and websites among languages: English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish. You can enter up to 150 words for translation.

Dictionary.com

It translates text among languages: English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish. You can enter up to 800 words for translation. You can translate from American or British English.

Google Translator

It translates text and web pages in more languages than previous translators. The additional languages are: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Dutch, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Swedish, Tagalog, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. I have entered 1500 words, and worked well. It does not show the maximum words you can enter.

Windows Live Translator

You can enter up to 500 words. Translate text and websites among languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Also, it has a translator assistant called Tbot who help you when you are chatting in MSN. To use Tbot add this to your MSN contact: mtbot@hotmail.com

Free Translation Online

It translates text among languages: English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Italian and French. It combines translator, spelling checker, voice engine that converts text into a voice, also has multi-languages keyboards. You can enter up to 500 characters. This software is for personal and non-commercial use.

Remember translators programs are not perfect. They cannot replace a human translator. They just help you translate the text. Enter the text to be translated without errors in spelling or grammar. If possible, enter short and simple sentences, without abbreviations. Translate on both sides to verify. For example: If you want to translate English to Spanish, first translated into Spanish, open another window with this translator and do from Spanish to English again. Check to see if you understand this document. Correct this document so that it has the meaning of what you want to convey. Repeat the procedure again with this document. You can repeat this procedure several times, until the document translated from Spanish to English has a pretty rough meaning you want to convey. The information changes every day and too fast. Stay updated with the new appearing on the Internet.

Short Videos Lessons

It easier to learn some small pieces that a big whole thing. Videos of 3 to 5 minutes are good candidates. If a video has more than 5 minutes and your internet is not too fast, upload a video can take more time. Also if you do not understand something in the video you can repeat again, and you don't get tired or bored so quickly.

Every Part has Good Numbering Identification

Videos numbering identification like: "Video Number/Total of videos". Example: "1/3","2/3","3/3". This style of numbering makes it easy to locate all parties and how many divisions has a course.

Videos Examples:"How to Do It"

You can learn quickly when you see applications that show and explain step-by-step how to do it.

References

If you see the video's channel, you can find the name of the author,  website and information about this video.

Using videos is a great way to learn. You must be careful. You can find not only good videos, you can see many bad, vulgar, etc. That is called "Freedom of Expression". Take advantage of the positives things!

1. Digital Films

   Let your creative juices flow at DigitalFilms.com as you prepare to produce your very own digital movie that you can email or share with your friends and family. Choose your own background scene, characters, animated actions, dialog, introduction and ending credits and everything that you will need to produce your own digital film for free. Let your creativity shine online and share your creation with the world.

2. Food Fighting

   Start a food fight online among your family and friends by throwing virtual food at them via email. Simply select the type of food you wish to toss their way from red ripe tomatoes to cream pies without having to clean up any mess. This concept is simple, but fun when more people get involved.

3. Strange Reports

   We all know someone who likes playing practical jokes and pranks on unsuspecting people. Now get ready for some sweet payback by creating a virtual prank with their name written all over it. Send a fake news report with your victim named as the sole suspect that the police are looking for via email. You create the news report using the tools that StrangeReports.com provides and then you simply forward the report to your victim's email address and let the fun begin.

4. Folding U.S. Paper Money

   After stumbling across this interesting money folding activity on Bored.com, I knew that this one activity that would blow your mind. You can fold U.S. paper money using the techniques shown on this website to see the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on fire or you can see Osama in The Pentagon and so, much more by simply folding your money correctly. This exercise will blow your mind. I promise.

5. The Dialectizer

   This website lets visitors convert any English text into several comic dialects from Pig Latin to Redneck and several other dialects. Simply type the URL of any website written in the English language, select the dialect of your choice, and then click Dialectize, so you can see your favorite websites converted into the language that you selected.

6. Cave of Magic

   Originally I had my doubts about this mind control magic trick, but admittedly it blew my mind, because it worked. Cave of Magic is a card trick that guides visitors through a series of short exercises, before it has you pick a single card, and then Simeon (your guide) mysteriously reads your mind and picks the card that you have selected. It's wild, weird and most importantly, it really works.

7. Crazy Images

   This is a must see website that offers its visitors a wide selection of amazing interactive activities that will keep you busily entertained for hours. Choose from image menu an activity that you want to see, and then using your mouse take control making the images change right before your eyes. Hidden within some of the images are nuggets of treasures that will reveal more websites and activities that will blow your mind. I'll leave finding these Easter Eggs embedded within some of the activities on this website up to you to discover, because it is part of the fun.

8. Fortune Teller

   Just for fun, let's see what your fortune has in store for your future. You can choose from nine different kinds of readings that are each focused on a different aspect of your life. Similar to tarot card readings, but using a regular deck of playing cards these readings are pretty dare accurate.

9. Match Age

   Try to accurately guess the real ages of the people shown on this site using only the photograph that the user has provided or upload your own photo and let other people try to guess your age. This is an extremely addictive activity, so you might want to avoid visiting this site until you have more free time available.

10. Get MakeOvers

    Have you been considering changing the natural color of your hair or getting a new hairstyle, but are a little nervous about what the changes might do to your look, then before you do anything too extreme checkout this website first. You can upload your photo and change your hairstyle, makeup, glasses, and many other things until you discover the best new look for you and before you actually do anything to yourself in real life. This is a really useful website as well as a lot of fun to unwind while using.

Amazing, isn't it.

But there is more to Google than just a web search. It can search images, video, YouTube, your own computer, or even the world!

It's quite amazing how much it can search isn't it, but there can be more to searching Google than typing something in the box and clicking go. If you click the "Advanced Search" button you will get a list of optional changes you can make to your search.

Another thing that google has but tries to hide is it's preferences link hidden at the side with a couple of others which can be used to increase the number of results on a page or select the language of the pages you search for.

That is all the basic parts of Google covered, but Google does much more than that. It can do mathematical calculations.

But more than just adding numbers, it can use some other mathematical things, like find pi, or use pi in a sum.

I think that's stunning.

The Google calculator can do almost anything, it can use

1. Addition +
2. Subtraction -
3. Multiplication *
4. Division /
5. exponentiation (to the power of) ^
6. modulo (remainder after division) %
7. root exponentiation (root of nth number) 5th root of 32
8. Factorial !
9. And much more!

Google can also tell you stuff in its calculator that you wouldn't normally get such as typing in “Speed of light” will get you:

The speed of light = 299792458 m / s

But calculator is only a small part of Google's search.

Google can also be used as a dictionary.

To get Google to define a word you can either type:

1. What is
2. Define:

Say we wanted a definition for the word dictionary

Or

Its simple isn't it. All you got to do after that is find the correct result.

This is only a small amount of what Google can do. If you want to find out more all you have to do is Google it.

I'm sure I don't have to explain how to do that, it is the reason Google is here isn't it. It did start as just a search engine. Now it's everything you need and everything you don't need.

Then again, that's what you get with everything now-a-days.

1. News Podcasts

   Every major news network provides some type of podcast, whether it's an audio file or video. Most networks provide their popular new programs in a shortened podcast format. This shortened format is great for people who want to keep up to date on news, but don't have a lot of time to do it. Examples of this are CNN's AC360 podcast and NBC's Today show podcast. But for those who want it all, some shows do offer the entire show in video, such as NBC Nightly News or Meet the Press.

2. Language Podcasts

   There is no reason to stop learning just because you are out of school. And what's better than learning a new language? Whether you are learning a new language for a trip you are planning to take, or if it's just to learn how to flirt in another language, it's a great and inexpensive way to challenge yourself. Many languages are available, from German to Japanese, Spanish to Italian. Some podcasts even offer websites for extra learning, such as JapanesePod101. Their website and podcast offer a total package for learning Japanese.

3. Movie Review Podcasts

   Don't know what movie to go and see this weekend? Not sure if some of the classics are worth buying? Check out some of the movie review podcasts available. These podcasts will not only give you movie reviews for those new and exciting flicks, but can also steer you toward the best of the classic movies available on DVD.

4. Cartoon Podcasts

   Want to relive your childhood? Try downloading a cartoon podcast, such as Vintage ToonCast. Vintage ToonCast allows you to download and view videos of old cartoon that are in the public domain. From the beginnings of Disney to Popeye's crazy adventures, you'll find it all here. Vintage ToonCast also has a second podcast with even more classic cartoons for the kid in you.

5. Make Your Own
   

   If the idea of podcasts intrigues you, and you think you have something to say, try creating your own podcast. See if your ideas appeal to the podcast world. It's easy to do, and can be lots of fun.

All podcasts are not created equal. Because of this, it's good to check out many different podcasts and see which ones that you like best. Happy listening!

1. AltaVista- Babel Fish Translation

   This website is helpful for about any language. It is a translation website that translates words and phrases for you, so no more flipping through a Spanish- English dictionary!

2. Spanish Verb Conjugation Help

   Don't know how to conjugate a verb? Go to this website! It has all the Spanish tenses with a tutorial for each.

3. Spanish Grammar Tutorial

   This website gives you a great overview on Spanish grammar and has free lessons for each.

4. Type Spanish Accents Online

   Hate the alt + something method of typing accents? This is the ultimate substitute. All you have to do is click on a button and tada! Accent! You can also use this website for a variety of other languages like German, Portuguese, and more.

5. Spanish 101

   Saving the best for last, this is the ultimate website to help you with nearly everything that deals with Spanish. From conjugations to vocab lists, it contains a lot of information on Spanish.

1. Corsinet.com

   Believe it or not, sometimes learning new [educational] facts on the Internet is the best way to pass time. I like this site simply because there are numerous categories of trivia and whatever catches your attention you are bound to find pretty interesting information about it. My personal favorite categories: geography, language, and superstitions.

2. Braingle.com

   I love this site because it gives you so many options on how to exercise your brain on the daily basis. I stumbled upon this site a month ago and have come back to it quite often. “Mentorobics” has this simple game that tests your reaction time. A blank square appears and you have to click on it as soon as a color square appears. A good reaction time is 0.20 seconds. The first time I did it took me 0.48 seconds. Instantly I wanted to do better so I kept at it until I got 0.19. Seems easy? You'll see! And of course, the trivia quizzes are pretty hard so that'll keep you busy for quite some time…trust me.

3. Bored.com

   This is just a classic site on how to fill your brain with useless information, nonetheless, very entertaining. I would say this is a guilty pleasure site because it has superficial links to: guess that celebrity, age guessing game, name humor, and my personal favorite “which is worse.” There is something in this site for everyone. If you have time in your hands and clearly don't feel like being productive, then you have found your stop.

4. Theodora.com

   Sometimes I get a nerd kick and feel like actually learning something. This is a great site if geography is one of your interests. Clearly, it is one of mine. It's a pretty thorough site if you are looking for a specific time period and country. If you enjoy learning facts about other countries, this is it.

5. Travelblog.org

   If you have always wanted to travel somewhere or are planning to go somewhere, this is a very resourceful site. One is because people are actually experiencing what is typical of the region. Two you get to see photos of the place as is right now. Lastly, you go better informed (through journals) than if you had read five books about that place. If you are not traveling any time soon, live vicariously through someone else!