A study associating video game playing to improved laparoscopic surgery is the tip of the iceberg in the hot topic that is the positive effects of video games.

According to Mitchell Wade, co-author of The Kids are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace, “When you see studies that show surgeons or pilots improve their real world skills by using computer based simulations, aka games, you seethe line between real and not-real is fuzzy.” Wade conducted extensive research on the effects of video games playing and its uses on the real world.

Volunteer Learning Environment

Video games are a great venue for kids to engage in global interaction voluntarily. With the fun that games provide, kids are not even aware that the games actually help to build team spirit, cooperation and encourage risk-taking in a risk-free environment. They quickly get rewards in the form of virtual prizes when they complete a certain task, and discover through repeated trial and error that it’s okay to make mistakes.

Wade discovered that lessons learned become more important than the visuals displayed. Gender typing in videos and even violence and sex in graphics are less powerful than lessons on teamwork, success, and failure. Mitchell’s study also revealed that four-fifths of young adults played video games growing up. He says, “Part of growing up is ‘norming’ to your peer group, and those who didn’t play video games find it harder to build bonds because they lack common experiences.”

Investigative learning

John Black, a professor at Teacher’s College of Columbia University said that he has seen kids grow in learning when they can manipulate variables or events. An example of this is Civilization where players can change historical facts and see how it would have impacted the world. These kinds of games stimulate students’ interest in history. Changes such as not having Spaniards introduce horses to Native Americans, can play out with many consequences no matter how simple that event may be in history.

Games provide learning from experiences rather than lectures. Games let players explore options and discover certain outcomes. They roll into the data and learn as they investigate more possibilities.

Uses in the Real World

Ganes nowadays continue to change and mimic reality more, and are being used to improve real skills, The new wave of Wii games engage physical bodies in what are called “augmented reality games”. Wii sells better, even with cartoon graphics, than other companies’ games using the state of the art graphics.

Computer simulated roller coaster rides at video arcades allow players to experience and overcome fears without riding a real roller coaster. They can program simple loops or dangerous thrills and rolls.

The military has also optimized games such as the Flight Simulator, to help with eye-hand coordination in pilot training. The CIA and Army provide games to personnel to train agents and prepare soldiers for real war-game experiences.

Doctors working with young patients in pain encourage video playing because it helps block out pain without drugs. When children engage in something stimulating it takes their mind off the pain.

How Much Playtime is Enough?

A laparoscopic surgery study showed improvement with only three hours of weekly play, anything beyond that can cause problems. In Korea, due to sitting in the same position for long hours, some gamers developed deep vein thrombosis that caused leg clots. Children need physical activity.

Wade found that game playing happens in waves. Children may spend hours shooting baskets to improve a skill and then wane in interest once they master it. Children may also spend hours to gain computer proficiency and then move to another activity.

Interact with your sons and daughters to discover what interests them in a game, what lessons they learn, and monitor time spent playing. Play some games with your children and promote breaks that get your kids moving physically and interacting in real settings.

People often ask the question: “How do I get a security clearance? Or how can my business get one?”

My first response is market yourself. There’s nothing you can do about getting a clearance until somebody sees value in your product or your service and sponsors the business for a security clearance.

Value is simply someone who has a tangible need for a particular product or service and they want to put you on contract already classified contract to be able to use your products or services.

There are many jobs that require security clearance or services and some of those jobs include janitorial services, engineering services, secretarial, you name it. There are many opportunities out there to get a security clearance. However, one cannot just get a security clearance in preparation for the work. The work offer comes first.

The first step is to be sponsored by a federal government entity, a government contracting agency (GCA) or an another contract or defense contract. Once a business entity has established a need, then they can be sponsored for a security clearance.

Government contractors are awarded classified contracts as part of doing business

A few years back, I was on a radio television radio talk show and I really didn’t get to say too much because the talk show hosts went on and on about their surprise that the government allowed businesses to have security clearances and work on classified work and their opinion. In their opinion, there was no oversight and it was irresponsible to allow anybody other than a government entity to have classified information.

I spoke as much as I could on the topic but I was shouted down. There was no use in trying to address the irrational thought there, but I just wanted to let you know that yes civilian employees and civilian business entities can have a security clearance.

The way it works is the GCA, which is a federal government agency such as the department of defense or department of energy. They will have a contractual need to acquire services or products from contractors. But let’s go back real quick. The GCA is a designated original classification authority, which means they are capable of classifying information. At the highest level, the U.S. President is the original classification authority. However, the president of the United States does not go through an investigation process. By their position they get to enjoy the benefits of having a clearance so they can do their job as president.

They delegate their OCA responsibility to the department of defense, department of energy, CIA, FBI, all these other government organizations. The government organizations are the ones who deem what is classified. Contractors or civilian organizations do not do that. They are what is called derivative classification authorities. They can only use and produce things that are already classified.

Listen to our Podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/268353/episodes/2131592

This is to set the record straight. There are several explanations of the SQM CLUB appearing on the web. Some of the articles are rather illusive. Perhaps the SQM acronym takes on several meanings. Definitions range from a club that features health care product samples to a social organization that features a fancy physical fitness spa.

I’ve come to realize the value of the SQM CLUB which is a nonprofit organization that measures Co2 emissions. They take readings from private and public establishments and help them where needed. It’s a rather well-known fact that industrial organizations have been recklessly destroying the earth’s environment with an overabundance of C02 emissions and other disrespectful practices. We see this has been a reality starting way back from the industrial revolution.

“The Squak Mountain Club,” as it was commonly known from its humble beginning, has been in existence since 1954. The first organization was founded by William H Bonney Jr (a park ranger at Squak Mountain State Park in Washington USA) and David File ig (a local botanist). Their success allowed them to advance and change the name. The SQM CLUB, as it’s now known, is a nonprofit organization that reaches globally offering a practical solution to Co2 emission. Co2 emission is a prime factor in air pollution. The official transformation date of the club we see today is 2009. Their records reveal saving members millions of tons of Co2 waste. Switzerland especially has been the most successful country so far using the organization’s tools and resources.

The Club’s general focus is undoubtedly cleaner air as opposed to just manufacturing things for profit, with no consideration for our environment. Disregarding nature is no longer fashionable or aloud. We know the planet is changing. There are stark indications of danger almost everywhere today. Reports of plastic waste beginning to overload the 7 seas and ocean environments are changing wildlife and inadvertently humans.

People are more likely to take action against air pollution upon thoroughly understanding the problem. This is where the SQM Club excels and takes action by providing individual and organizational solutions globally. They developed a calculator that measures the amount of CO2 being emitted. This is how each organization can compare and take safety measures needed to ensure a healthy atmosphere.

The SQM CLUB membership is said to be just over one thousand members worldwide. I personally find that not enough considering the consequences at stake. A problem as immense as Earth’s total destruction is more serious than the average person would imagine. Hollywood has made movies depicting what would happen. Religious scripture exclaimed consequences beyond the scope of this article. The point here is we can help prevent total disasters individually. Solutions are now found at home.

Yes, more civic health awareness comes into effect as a result of the Covid -19.Pandemic. Families were hit hard by what I refer to as “atmospheric disregard.” You may call it what you want, but it’s all the same thing. The general population of the said free world is in denial. It’s wonderful to see a few people focus upon issues of such importance. A little over 1,000 inhabitants uniting for the purpose of securing a said 7.89 billion earth’s population is plausible.

Go figure. We need help. I’m not a member of the SQM CLUB mainly because of not being aware and most other folks have no clue. The ClUB’S presence is not as popular as Walmart or the CIA. I say this jokingly but everyone really needs to understand what they must do about planet pollution. Cutting down on liquid chemical cleaners at home is the beginning. I’ve found a new “inexpensive technology that completely eliminates the need for chemical cleaners” at home and in business. You can find out more about being safe by following my links

So you you want to start a business? Or perhaps you already have one going but you want to make sure you’re maximizing both your profits and accessibility to clients. Either way, you’re going to want to make sure that you go out of your way to guarantee you the biggest take, don’t expect your customer to do it for you. In this article I’m going to go over the importance of payment processors, as well as talk about how they work and how you can find one that best fits your business’ needs.

What is a payment processor? Sticking to the intent of this article, I want to talk specifically about credit and debit card processors. In this age of digital gadgets and plastic money, you can’t be relying on everyone to be carrying cash around with them, or even checks for that matter. Today, most people have more plastic cards in their wallet than anything else, and for good reason. Your clients know that credit and debit cards provide a convenience that is unmatched by handing over cash and waiting for someone to fumble through a tray of coins for the correct change. Honestly, how do you think your company will be perceived if you deny them this convenience? If you said “poorly”, then you guessed it and are ready to move on to the next paragraph. If not, well, have fun sticking to your guns while the rest of the commerce world passes you buy.

So we’ve basically established that card processors allow your customers to pay in multiple forms of currency and can greatly boost your sales and profits by providing flexibility at the checkout. When you look for a processor, you’re going to want to be attentive as you look through a few things. First of all, these companies are, just like you, out to make money. The way they do this is by giving you a micro-charge on every transaction they process for you. Intuitively, you’ll want to look at what rates they charge for transactions in your shop. Swiped rates should hover around 1 to 2%, and keyed in transactions should be below 2% as well to be competitive. If you’ve never used a credit card processing machine or service before, make sure that the company you choose from is personable enough to teach you how to set things up. Most companies are not opposed to this and even encourage you to undergo a brief training in order to maximize the potential clientbase for both you and the processing company.

Cell phone technology has been moving forward at break neck speed, and sometimes we may not notice it, but think back to just a few years ago and you can see all the new feature integration and race in the marketplace – a race to “wow” consumers and get them to choose a specific device. But before we talk about the current trends in cell phones and smart phones, let’s discuss the past evolution of these devices.

Since, I had one of the first mobile “cell” phones – I’d like to tell you a quick story to start out this discussion.

My first cell phones were state-of-the-art at the time, but if you saw them today, you’d laugh. One of them I actually kept; a Mitsubishi Transportable. This phone is about the size of a six pack cooler that you might take to your child’s soccer game, and it was quite heavy, as I recall it is well over 10 pounds. This of course included the battery pack to power up to 3 Watt phone.

Remember that Ion-lithium batteries at the time were just coming off the assembly lines and were quite expensive – they did not exist in this size for anything but NASA and military usage. These original cell phones I had were nickel hydride powered, quite an inferior battery technology for modern cell phones.

The Mitsubishi Cell Phone has a strap on it so you can carry it like a purse, and I often felt really stupid carrying it, until of course it rang, and I unzipped the top, pulled out the handset on the phone and began talking. I can recall that everyone stared as if I was a secret CIA agent, was working for MI6, and my name wasn’t Lance, it was really James Bond. You see, at that time not very many people had the cell phones and they were very expensive.

Another one of my first phones was a Audiovox 1000 model, which was quite large and it was mounted in my car, a car phone – cell phone. The box that ran the Cell Phone was mounted under the seat, and there was a cradle that held the headset. The headset had a cord on it just like a phone at home, before the cordless phones that is. Under the seat the box was about 3 1/2 inches high and the size of a laptop with a 17.1 inch screen.

This Cell Phone or car cell phone was wired directly to the battery with a couple of fuses. When I turned on the vehicle, the Cell Phone would automatically turn on. If I turned off the vehicle, I had to leave it on accessory with the key in the right position, unless I left the phone on which by-passed the ignition. When the phone rang and actually honked the horn, which got me into trouble a couple of times when the horn went off while I was driving behind a police car stopped at an intersection. I have a lot of stories to tell you about all those early days with the first cell phones, and you may e-mail me if you are ever interested in such experiences.

Folks today take all this for granted, as they don’t realize how cumbersome the original cell phones were, or how stupid they were compared to modern day smart cell phones. Today they give you a free cell phone when you sign up for service – back then you had to pay $1000 for a car cell phone, and as much as a couple hundred dollars to have it installed. It was quite a procedure, if you have a stereo system, and an XM radio put in your car at the same time, that is about how much work it took to do this. Therefore, at today’s labor rates you could easily pay three or $400. That’s definitely something to think about.

If I was talking to someone on the phone while the engine was running, if I turned off the car and moved the key to the accessory position I would dump the phone call, as I cut it out during that transition. However, having a cell phone in my car helped me increase my business. At the time I was only 17 years old – I had an aircraft brokerage firm and aircraft finder’s service and I would work off of fees whenever an aircraft that I represented sold. I also had a small aircraft cleaning service and was able to contact customers from my vehicle on the flight line, and my crews could call me when they were done with the job as they would use the local payphone to call me.

Thus, this mobile technology allowed me to make more money, and remain more efficient than the competition. Remember at the time this was leading edge technology, it was state-of-the-art, and I had it – the competition did not. No longer was I stuck in an office, I could run my business from anywhere and it allowed me much freedom. Often people today do not realize what it was like before mobile cell phones. Anyone who is in business now over the age of 50 certainly realizes, because they remember a time when there were no cell phones.

This was a period in our nation’s history where there were pay phones in every shopping center, every gas station, outside of every fast food restaurant, and people used them all the time. Business People who didn’t smoke filled their ashtrays with coins so they can stop and use the pay phone. Thus, allowing them to call clients, customers, vendors, and maintain their operations in the office. When cell phones first came into play they displaced the old Motorola technology of push to talk phones, which worked off a mountaintop repeaters, these phones were very big in the military, construction industry, and all the executives with large corporations had them.

Since this was radio technology, they worked farther than the first cell phones which had to be within 10 to 15 miles of a cell tower. Today, the cell phones are less wattage than they were back then, so the average cell tower is 6 miles or less apart. Back then the cell phones worked off three Watts, and now with 3G technology the wattage is under 1 W. This is probably good for the human biosystem, as it is putting less microwave frequency radiation into your brain, there will be fewer brain tumors, brain cancer, and other issues. There have been many studies including several with the Swiss researchers which seemed to indicate that the 3 W phones were quite unacceptable for human health, and they would slowly cook your brain as one researcher said.

Luckily, for the cell phone industry they were able to bury most of these problems and objections, as well as the studies that the Swiss did. Although, there were studies here in the United States, you would be hard-pressed to find those research studies and data on brain tumors, brain cancer, and their relation to the cell phones that people used. In fact, if you go to Google Scholar today you will be hard-pressed to find anything that would suggest that the cell phones could cause such horrible conditions. This of course is all still up for debate, but we try not to talk about it.

Perhaps, by going to 3G wireless, and lower wattage the mobile cell phone industry dodged a bullet of huge class-action lawsuits, and we may never know the damage we had caused. Nevertheless, as we talk about Six Sigma efficiency in corporations, or using modern management techniques in small businesses, no one can deny that increasing communication speed and reliability is by far a factor in the increase productivity in the 80s and 90s due to cell phones.

At the time I was literally running 1000 to 1200 minutes per month and although that service was much cheaper than the other choices such as the Iridium Satellite Phones, non-cell phone mobile units, as they did not use cell towers, rather satellites – you can imagine the costs of the original cells. They did not have an unlimited plan and once over your minutes, you paid the premium for each minute on that cell phone, my bill was usually $500 to 800 or more.

The other mobile phones at the time were not cell tower-based phones, they were push-to-talk and came in a brief case – it was considered quite James Bond at the time. And this was back in the 1970s, and I remember this, because I started my business when I was 12 years old washing airplanes at the local airport. Many of the businessmen who owned corporate jets had these types of phones. They were basically for the rich and famous, and business person. They didn’t work everywhere and you had to have pretty much line of sight to the nearest tall mountain, and that mountain had to have a repeater on top of it, which was hardwired into telephone lines, and the rest of the system worked with ground lines.

All this is very interesting, and we must consider that many folks today have never been alive when there were no cell phones. They have no clue how hard it was to run a business back in the days when there really was no mobile communication. The same repeater systems on top of the mountains that Motorola owned or which used Motorola hardware, also controlled the pagers. These pager systems were quite popular with people on call, such as doctors, and service personnel. Two-way radios, which work basically the same as the two-way push to talk briefcase phones, were used through a dispatcher for companies very often.

Later, just as cell phones came into play, someone came up with the idea of 1.5 way and two-way pagers. Instead of a one-way pager, someone who had what they call an “alpha mate” device could page someone and ask them a question (using a text message) on that page and the recipient could press a button for yes or no, Y. or N. and that information would be relayed to the dispatcher. People actually got pretty good at communicating this way. And you could send text type messages for the user of the pager to read. In reality these were the first text type messages, so the concept of having a mobile device and using text messaging is not all that new.

Two-way text messaging via cell phones is merely a re-introduction of that similar technology. Once people had cell phones they didn’t need to use the text pagers anymore, and that technology was leapfrogged as the price of the cell phone services was lower, as competition increased between companies like Sprint and AT&T. There were many other regional smaller players, but they eventually got bought up by the big boys.

The cell phone industry grew so fast in the late 80s and early 90s, that eventually there was coverage everywhere. Then something really weird happened, the promise of 3G wireless came into play, and folks started switching to that new system. I can tell you this – my first cell phones were much more powerful and worked much better than the cell phones of today.

Occasionally, I had a call dropped and there were not as many service areas, yes there were more dead zones, but the signal was much more powerful because it was 3 W, and since it ran off my car battery or a large battery pack in a small carry case, it had ample power to maintain that strong signal.

Today, when I use my AT&T cell phone, I am often cursing because the service is so bad, I wonder why I am even paying for it. In fact, the loss of productivity from dead zones, and the cell phone calls dropping, I feel as if AT&T should be paying me. Apparently, I am not alone many people feel the same way. Nevertheless, the 4G wireless is on the way and everyone will be switching to that so that they will have Internet access allowing them to do e-mails, twitter, video, and real-time text messaging without the use of ground lines

A good many folks do not know of a time when there was no email or internet. And most people who are in business today, who are under 50 years old do not remember a time when we didn’t have fax machines, the reality is that fax machines came into play about the time of the first cell phones. Mind you, there was still no Internet, no e-mail, and although ARPANET was being used by the military, and by think tanks, research centers, and top universities, it wasn’t really available to the public in the way we have it now.

Fast forward to today and now no one goes anywhere without a cell phone. Social researchers have noted fewer people wearing wrist watches. They don’t need a wristwatch because that is a standard feature on all cell phones now. Of course, this doesn’t help companies like Rolex who are catering to the young up-and-coming BMW crowd, if you look around you will see that most young executives don’t even wear a watch and most of our younger generation doesn’t wear a watch either.

It seems that the wrist-watch replaced the pocket watch, and the cell phones seem to be replacing just about everything. These days people use their cell phone or smart phones to do their e-mails, and these same phones act like a PDA, no one carries day planners anymore, although a few people do, myself included perhaps out of habit from using a day planner from the time I was 12 years old in my business until I was in my mid-40s. Perhaps, I am giving away my age, but sometimes old habits die hard.

Today with many laptop notebooks, PDAs, and smart phones, it seems none of that other stuff is needed. Including your human memory say many psychologists, who argue that this technology is causing the human brain to rewire itself differently because there are different needs to get along in the world. After all, all your best friends are on the speed dial and you don’t have to remember phone numbers anymore. And all your contacts and information is on your smart phone, in your e-mail program, or on your laptop.

Cyber security analysts worry that if the system crashes or God forbid an electro-magnetic pulse, neutron bomb, or nuclear device is set off high in the atmosphere it could destroy all the electronic equipment, including all the cell towers, your laptop, your television, your refrigerator, and your smart phone. Where will you be then, and can you rely on your memory and the brain you are born with to carry on your daily endeavors – scary thinking, but perhaps we need to address this as we consider the evolution of cell phones.

Today, our cell phones have changed the entire dynamics of our society. There are unspoken etiquette issues of cell phone use in public. There are rules when we can use our cell phones and when we can’t. Issues such as driving with a cell phone and the number of auto deaths which occur while people are driving and talking on the phone at the same time. There have been major disasters caused by texting while driving a bus or conducting a train.

The reality is that as our technology has evolved, it is evolving much faster than the human brain can to take it all in. Due to the multitasking required in our society to get along and the high pace and productivity that jobs require, many brains cannot cope or adapt fast enough. And this seems to be a problem, if some people are not able to make the switch, but they attempt to, sometimes while driving with disastrous results.

Our smart phones are becoming super cell phones that have more and more features, such as the ability to store music like the iPod, and vast amounts of data like our electronic PDAs. These devices are getting more high-tech each and every year and they are feature rich. Many have five to ten gigabytes of information storage now. One recent study in the cell phone industry noted that 90% of the people who own cell phones have never used all the features, and do not know how to program them, or even that they exist on their cell phone. Most people don’t even care, they use the features they want and none of the others.

This is a common problem with new technologies, and it is something that happened with that Beta and VHS recorders. What’s that old joke, there are tons of features on your video recorder at home, but no one knows how to use them, and before we all learned that we need to learn to use these features, the VHS video recorder is out in the new DVDs are here. Now cable companies offer boxes which can record multiple shows so you can watch later or pause a live TV program while you go to the bathroom, or go to the kitchen to get something to eat. Some allow you to use your cell phone to do remote programming too.

These are all things common challenges which are encountered and similar problems with any new personal tech devices which become mass consumer products. Cell phones and our current smart phones are no exception. It’s hard to say the future what types of new features in our cell phones will have. The sky is the limit, and the imagination and demand for more features and greater technology is readily apparent. The early adopters of such cell phone and smart phone technologies are willing to spend big bucks to have all-in-one devices. Therefore, these trends will continue.

Just to give you an example of some of the crazy ideas people come up with for future smart phones let me tell you a little quick story.

Our on-line Think Tank came up with a plan to produce a PhD or Personal Health Device, which tracks your diet – on your cell phone. How it worked was quite simple, when you are at the grocery store, you would scan all the items that you bought, and they would go into storage inside your smart phone. Each time you ate one of those items you would simply select what you ate, and punch in the number of servings and you would calculate and keep track of your calories, fat content, and recommended daily allowances in the major five food groups.

The smart phone would have a scanner system on it, later subsequent versions of this smart phone and personal health device would be able to scan products via RFID tags. Your phone could tabulate and even recommend what you should eat, how many more miles you should jog, and what you would need to maintain your diet to meet your personal health goals, and weight loss program. Sounds crazy doesn’t it, yes, it does, but the venture capitalists like the idea. So too, do companies that produce high tech smart phones today, as everyone is looking to get a jump on the competition.

GPS systems by way of smart phones or cellular high-tech phones is quite possible (now available), and you don’t even need satellites to do it. If you are within the realm of several cell towers your location can be triangulated quite quickly, which pinpoints your exact location within 10 feet. Ah ha, you see the problem in this too; What about privacy you ask? That’s a good point and that is another issue that people are quite concerned about with all this new high-tech personal smart phone innovations.

Google Phone and social networking connections appear to be on horizon. That is to say, linking your smart phone with all of your social networking friends, but apparently Google got into a little bit of a problem and noted that many people are not ready for that just yet. In fact, many people who are friends on social networks and make connections, have no intention of ever meeting these people in real life, and therefore they aren’t really friends. And since you don’t really know anything about those connections or friends on your social networking site, the last thing you want them to do is know exactly where you are within 10 feet.

That should appear to be obvious, and in the future it may not be such a big deal, but people are still a little paranoid and they like to have their privacy. Meanwhile, we read more and more articles about social networking gone bad. That is to say people using social networks to stalk other people, and this also concerns parents who have teenagers, who use social networks on a daily basis, and some that use them on an hourly basis, and a good many who seem to be texting every few minutes.

One recent study of cell phone users was able to have a 93% predictability of where a person might be based on the patterns determined by their cell phone, and when it was connected to any given local cell tower. The study found that most people stay within 6 miles of their homes. These patterns of predictability are a reality in our society and how we operate as individuals – nevertheless this brings up all types of issues that have attracted the attention of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, and it also touches on the issue of privacy and paranoia, it catches people off guard.

Then there is the new trend with smart mobs using their smart phones, and having fun with and meeting up in various places all at the same time. Although these schemes are used for fun, entertainment, and socializing, these same types of smart mobs have the power to destabilize a society or civilization. Consider if you will the use of technology in Tiananmen Square – should governments be worried about your smart phone technology, or the future of 4G wireless cell phones? They probably should be concerned with it, especially if it is used by a foreign government to provide mass protests against what would be a normal stabile government.

In other words it has uses in warfare, the CIA, in bringing down corrupt regimes which are enemies to United States. But rest assured – the same thing could happen in the United States where perhaps a communist rogue nation state decided to have protests in the United States in our major cities on Mayday. It could easily happen especially with our own technology being used against us, due to all the interconnectivity that it offers.

1. Does this mean that our government has to find a way to turn off all the cell phones in case of something like this happening?
2. Do they need a device to turn off certain cell phones from the system, while leaving first responders cell phones activated for communication?
3. And what about hackers, which might be able to send out tens of thousands of bogus text messages, or call masses of people into a trap, or stage a riot?

These are all questions we need to answer and we need to understand that the same technology we create to improve our productivity, our society, and help us in our daily lives with our families and friends can also be used against us.

And what happens when our smart phones become smarter than us? Some believe, as I do, that they already have. Most of the smart phones today have artificial intelligence systems within them, for instance a text messaging program which guesstimates which keys you are going to press next or what you are trying to say and it offers you suggest is so you can fill in the blank. Making your texting very quick. This is very similar technology that Google uses when doing a search and offer suggestions as you are typing to save you time. This is just one form of artificial intelligence in our smart phones and cell phones today.

There are many cell phones that allow you to use speech recognition to dial phone numbers, search your databases, or navigate the screens on your cell phone. The newest smart phones will be able to tell you when you are in proximity to a Starbucks and then give you GPS directions to find that location. This has big implications for retailers, advertisers, and consumers alike. They will begin to know your patterns and habits. All these technologies are available now and we will see them in the near future. Your cell phone will even become a payment device, hooked to your credit card information. All this technology exists today.

But what about the technologies which are just over the horizon?

We’ve recently seen at Comdex and CES shows the first generations of projection cell phones, that is to say video conference enabled cell phones which allow you to project to the other party onto the nearest wall or onto a table so you can watch. This will obviously be followed by the Holographic cell phones, which were similar to those that we saw in the Star Wars trilogy.

All these things will be available in the next five years, and you will most likely have them if you buy one of the high-tech cell phones in the near future. At first these technologies will cost a lot extra, but those prices will come down as the number of units built goes up and as more Chinese also purchase their first cell phone, adding another billion people who own such devices, therefore bringing the cost down for everyone – significantly!

By the year 2025 your cell phone will be a brain chip inside of your head, and you can think that you’d like to contact someone and it will dial the number and contact them. By 2050 you will be able to do thought transfer via the small devices, brain implant – perhaps smaller than a dime. And people born after that will never know what time were “thought transfer” did not exist, just like right now there are many people who have never known a time when mobile phones didn’t exist. And since Moore’s law also seems to apply to the cell phone and smart phone industries we can expect a size reduction as well as a power reduction to run this technology.

In other words, your biosystem will be able to power up your brain cell phone chip, just as it does your current human brain which works on about a maximum of 20 W. of energy, and you will be able to have an eyelid screen, so you can close one eye, and surf the Internet. It’s hard to say what the Comdex and CES Show in Las Vegas in the year 2025 will look like, it is probably impossible to pinpoint what these shows will look like in the year 2050. In fact, there may not be shows at all, you may be able to experience these trade shows in your holographic living room, video gaming center.

Walking the virtual halls of the trade show using your avatar and talking to other avatars explaining all the new technologies that are available for you might be the new reality albeit an Augmented or fully Virtual Reality. That appears to be where we are going, although it’s hard to imagine considering where we are today. Nevertheless, I can assure you people in the 1950s could not really have imagined the way in which our smart cell phones have evolved in the present period.

Currently, there seems to be a very big push in the larger cities like Atlanta and Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle, Boston and New York, Miami and Houston towards the 4G wireless, obviously this will continue. That is the full broadband Internet surfing on your smart phone, the ability to watch TV while driving in a car on your cell phone. And next comes the ability to project that TV onto any screen or flat surface that is nearby or available. The technology is getting more robust, it’s getting smaller, it’s getting smarter, and you have to decide how far you want to go with it.

Perhaps, I should write a quick eBook on this topic and explain chapter by chapter, the evolution of this ominous communication technology, and the future of smart phone personal tech devices. Let me know if you know any interested potential co-authors.

At the current pace we are moving, and at the speed in which we are interfacing with the Internet, social networks, e-mail, and television, it’s hard to say exactly what you will be carrying around in the future in your purse or pocket, but I daresay it will be something that is truly incredible, and in the next 10 years it will be hardly imaginable from this point in time to know exactly what it will be, or what it might be able to do. I hope you will please consider all this. And contact me if you’d like to discuss this further at the Online Think Tank.

Author Nick Redfern exposes monsters and government secrets

For Your Eyes Only – Dossier of Fantastic Beasts

Why would any government care about the Abominable Snowman, the Loch Ness Monster, or any far-out camp-fire stories? And yet they do, and with alarming consistency. Blowing the lid off of accepted strange creature lore, prolific author Nick Redfern does not settle for stale explanations, instead in Monster Files, he delivers at every turn, a compelling view of possible government involvement of a clandestine nature. Monster Files is just what the name suggests; a probing of government secrets, freedom of information act documents, first-hand accounts, investigations of tall-tales and dogged research. The result is a fascinating blend of paranormal and conspiracy.

Following a general timeline of monstrous events, the book starts off with Teddy Roosevelt’s Bigfoot story and ends with modern day beasts.

Not every creature is necessarily the target of government interest; some monsters are presented to serve as an introduction to the next tale of official involvement. Yet, it is not so easy to lump each case into narrow classifications. Some monsters are ‘used’ by governments as clever misdirection, a ‘wild-goose-chase’ to hide top secret projects and advanced weaponry. At other times, these same agencies have a curious interest in all things paranormal. At times, they seem fascinated or even frightened as with the case of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Ocean Service (NOA) both protesting loudly thatMermaids do not exist!

At other times, the government has technological interests, as with vanishing beasts of the werewolf and Bigfoot variety, where multi-dimensional super technologies could be used for our governments own nefarious purposes.

In Monster Files, Nick Redfern shows that he is an author and researcher who is willing to offer original conclusions and concepts to what might otherwise be familiar lore. His explanation for the origins of the somewhat famous, or infamous, Flatwoods monster sighting of 1952, in the small town of Flatwoods West Virginia is original and more than a little thought provoking.

The files of oddities are frequent and varied in form.

Government research into the psychic abilities of cats and dogs to spot for hidden mines? It’s true! That research also showed that cats and dogs transfer ESP information between one another.

FDR green-lighting a project to use bats as living-bombs? Yes! It’s here too!

Monster Army and Ape-Human Hybrids

A book about monsters would not be complete without the scientific Dr. Frankenstein creations, real or rumored. Redfern explores the tale of Russian physiologist Ilya Ivanov, who was hired, allegedly by none other than Joseph Stalin to create an army out of a race of genetically spliced half human/half ape men in late 1920’s. The book is good at digging for the truth behind such wild claims and its author is not one to simply accept such stories at face value. There is something here for skeptics’ and believers’ alike. Redfern covers all of the bases.

And concerning the reality of the Russian ape-men?

“What we have here then, is a saga that has some truth to it, that describes very real attempts to create human-ape hybrids that were undertaken by the Soviet Union’s scientific elite, that were funded by the Soviet Academy of science, and thatdid have the support of the Bolshevik government.”

(Reprinted, with permission of the publisher, from MONSTER FILES © 2013 Nick Redfern. Published by New Page Books a division of Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. 800-227-3371. All rights reserved.)

Stalin’s involvement, however, as the author points out, remains to be see.

There are other ape-people here too, those of the long-lost-cousin variety, and a few stories of possible Neanderthal’s show up for a visit.

The best is the last one in chapter 3, (again from the U.S.S.R.) recounting the story of a Lt. Col. Karapetyan in the Soviet Army’s Medial Service in World War II. A strange looking man had been captured; who the Soviet’s initially thought was a spy. Covered in a long brown coat of shaggy hair, six-feet tall with powerful arms, the beast had to be kept in a cold room because it could not bear heat.

The possibility of what any of these ape-people could have been makes any future visit to my local zoo’s ape exhibit, a disturbing one.

Indian Jones: Monster Hunter

Adventurer Tom Slick, the possible real-life inspiration for Indiana Jones is profiled in his possible involvement as a spy for the CIA. Slick studied at Harvard and MIT, served in the Navy during the Pacific engagement of WWII and was also instrumental in three groups that later became the Texas Bio-medical Research Institute and the Southwest Research institute. For all intense of purposes, Slik was a man who had solid connections to important people. He was also a globetrotting adventurer who had a very real passion for mystery beasts like the famed Yeti, A.K.A. the Abominable Snowman.

The real reason, as some have theorized, for Tom Slick’s 1956 trek to Tibet wasn’t just to search for the Yeti but also to use the expedition as a cover story for a secret CIA mission to spy on the encroaching communist Chinese government that was attempting to takeover Tibet. The evidence that is presented in Monster Files certainly lends credibility to Slicks clandestine role. Redfern presents a document from the US State Department from 1959 titled: Regulations Covering Mountain Climbing Expeditions in Nepal – relating to Yeti.

And it doesn’t end there. That chapter continues to link the loose threads of the JFK assassination, Bigfoot, and the budding career of none other than George H. W. Bush (AKA Bush 41) and ties them all together neatly into one tight bundle!

The real scare comes at the end of that chapter with the mysterious death of Tom Slick on October 6th of 1962. Returning from a hunting trip while flying over Montana, Slicks plane seems to have disintegrated in flight. As you can imagine, the sinister notes of a conspiracy can be heard. Did the CIA monster hunter know one-too-many secrets, secrets that doomed him to an early grave?

Locking Down the Mysteries of the Loch?

Our friend Nessie, the great Loch Ness Monster is visited and re-visited numerous times and for different reasons throughout the book. The good thing is that this never gets old. You still have so many questions. Sure, Nessie could be a ruse by the British government to hide sophisticated weapons, argues Monster Files, but then, that does not explain the sightings that date back before submarines were invented, as the author also notes.

And then there’s British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s interest in protecting Nessie for Scottish tourism!

The hot idea for me in Monster Files, was how could there be so many sighting of a large creature that could not possibly survive with such a scant food supply provided by the Loch? The possibility that Nessie could in fact be the ghost of an extinct dinosaur, is a mind-blowing concept.

Bigfoot: What the U.S. Government Doesn’t Want You to Know

Mount Saint Helens erupted with terrible violent force in May of 1980. Once all of the volcanic ash had settled, there were rumors and scattered reports that several beasts resembling Sasquatch were whisked away by the US Army Corps of Engineers’. Chapter 18 holds more surprises too, but the reason for any government involvement can only be speculated. The book points to the idea that these beasts, Bigfoot, have some sort of special ability that the military is studying.

There’s a chapter here too on UFO’s and Bigfoot. The possibility that these creatures can jump into other dimensions and that they have psychic abilities are the possible reasons given for government/military involvement.

Monster Mash-Up

There are many stories that haunt and fascinate and the brief tale of the US Government trying to hot-wire a common house-cat to work as a spy, was for me, a show-stopper. It is just one of many that make this book a must have. The case of the dissected Bigfoot, Princess Di and the large black killer cat, the WWII werewolf; it’s all page turning stuff! There are so many good tales here highlighting any one story does a disservice to the other weird tales. Nick Redfern’s Monster Files delivers mysteries, monsters, conspiracies and excitement. It’s a book to read and read again.

Monster Files by Nick Redfern

New Page Books 15.99

Paperback 288 Pages

Most commentators agree that the Greek Republic of Cyrus has been unfairly treated by the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary fund. The requirement for a national government to impose a levy on deposits was a surprising and deeply disturbing innovation. The pain for the government of the Greek Republic of Cyprus was lessened by their decision to penalise deposits in excess of 100,000 euros. This meant that most small depositors, that is, the majority of the electorate, would not suffer losses. Those depositors with funds in excess of 100,000 face a most uncertain future. Their accounts are frozen and they are likely to incur losses of up to 50%. Many of these depositors are Russians and they have made a major contribution to the economy of South Cyprus in recent years.

The conspiracy theory runs as follows –

1 The EU has been frustrated and angry with the Greek Republic of Cyprus since 1974. The EU was led to believe that both North and South Cyprus would agree to the terms of the Annan Plan and that the island would be re-united. Referenda took place in both parts of Cyprus. Voters in North Cyprus were in favour of reunification by a large majority, but voters in the South rejected the Annan plan. In the South, the government, church and most of the media publicly criticised the Annan plan and promoted its rejection. This was badly received in Brussels.

2 The ongoing and persistent hostility of the Greek Republic of Cyprus towards Turkey’s application to join the EU has been a severe strain on relations between the EU and Turkey. The increasing importance of Turkey as an economic power in the Middle East and its crucial role in a resolution of the conflict in Syria have led the US to broker better relations between Turkey and Israel. The US has been quietly working behind the scenes to smooth the path for Turkey’s accession to the EU. While the Obama administration can claim some success in the recent thawing of relations between Turkey and Israel, the predictable intransigence of the Greek Republic of Cyprus has been a source of ongoing irritation in both Washington and Brussels. The fact that President Christofias was a communist and publicly admired Fidel Castro brought him to the attention of the CIA. Both Presidents Bush and Obama refused to sanction CIA ‘dirty tricks’ aimed at discrediting President Christofias.

3 The response of the Greek Republic of Cyprus to mounting financial pressures was to seek and secure a 2.5bn euro loan from Russia in 2011. This was an attempt by the government to circumvent the Troika and its financial disciplines.

4 Based on the above factors, a decision was made to punish and humiliate Greek Cyprus. The proposal that all bank accounts should be levied emanated from the EU, who were well aware that the implementation of such a proposal would be political suicide for any government.

5 The EU expected the Greek Cypriot government to run to Moscow in order to secure further loans. The Greek Cypriots had several proposals for the Russians. They suggested that Russian investors buy out the Laiki or Cyprus Popular Bank and they were prepared to offer the security of the large and untapped natural gas fields surrounding Cyprus as long term collateral.

6 The natural gas resources of Cyprus are a contested resource by the Greek Republic of Cyprus and Turkey, who argues that both North and South Cyprus should share the benefits of the resource. Turkey was briefed by the EU on the impending financial crisis in South Cyprus and made several announcements concerning the natural gas fields and the likely routing of pipelines to Turkey. It was also made clear to Russia that any exploitation of the resource by Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, would require the active cooperation of Turkey.

7 Turkey has already demonstrated the seriousness of the Cyprus gas issue by suspending its deals with the Italian firm ENI. The Italian firm was working on the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline that will deliver Russian and Kazakhstan oil to the coast of Turkey. The contract was summarily suspended in mid March 2013 due to ENI’s license agreement with the Greek Republic of Cyprus

8 The mission to Moscow for more loans was doomed to failure before the Greek Cypriots landed in Moscow, and this left them at the mercy of the EU.

9 The requirement for 5.8bn euros to be confiscated from Cypriot bank accounts in order to release a bailout of 10bn has devastated the banking and financial sector of the Greek Republic of Cyprus. The property sector, fuelled by demand from Russians, will shortly be in free fall.

10 Greek Cypriots have compared the financial disaster to the invasion of 1974 by Turkey. They are correct. The implications of the crisis will profoundly cripple South Cyprus for at least 5 years.

11 Turkey has now positioned itself as a saviour for the island of Cyprus. The Turks have made proposals for the exploitation of the natural gas resources – Firstly, the island becomes a united state of Cyprus and there is joint exploration of the resource. Secondly, Greek and Turkish Cypriots form a joint committee to exploit and market the resource, or thirdly, there becomes a permanent two state solution for the Cyprus problem.

12 The Greek Republic of Cyprus will have very few options left, other than that of becoming more accommodating towards Turkey and North Cyprus.

A Controversial Question

At ELT English seminars, workshops and TESOL conferences, one question I’m frequently asked is whether I think computers will eventually replace English teachers. I flash back to the film “Matrix”. In an early scene, our neophyte hero “Neo” is learning Kung Fu by being plugged in to a computer. Scant hours later, he opens his eye, sits up, and announces, “I know Kung Fu!” The ensuing scenes depict how an older, more experienced mentor (a.k.a. a teacher) follows up by evaluating young Neo’s “skills”. “Show me”, the teacher asks in typical fashion. Now if you’ve been following along with me so far, you already have a clue as to my asnswer to these teachers’ question.

Computers replace a human English teacher?

Are you kidding?

“Ain’t no way, Jose.”

But English teachers, don’t totally relax just yet. What I think we DO need to do is to “re-invent” a portion of the concept of “school”. Here’s what I mean.

Reinventing the Concept of School

Schools, at virtually any level, will need to be virtually and interactively linked to an extensive array of external resources. This means that the “traditional” board, markers and OHP will need to give way to additional, integrated resources that expand the classroom environment to an almost unlimited degree. I mean the works; audio, video, internet, webcams, IM, TXTing, chat, e-mail, RSS, even real-time multi-media input feeds. The classroom and its students would be linked to additional resources like:

• Corporations

• Libraries

• Museums

• Government facilities

• Science, technology and medical centers

• Industry

• Laboratories

• Other learning Institutions

In this way, students would more normally utilize learning activities such as web quests, inter-active dynamics and virtual tours to expand and deepen their knowledge on principles and concepts. The learners would no longer be limited to the knowledge, resources and facilities available at the institution where they attend classes. Instead, the world, literally, is their classroom.

Impact on Learning

How would this directly impact learning? Well, if you’re learning computers, wouldn’t direct access to Microsoft Corp. materials and training be a real boon? Technology students would doubtless derive immense benefit from direct links with MIT (http://web.mit.edu/), Cal Tech (http://www.caltech.edu/), or Lucent Corp. (http://www.lucent.com/) Engineering students would thrive on access to NASA located online at: (http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html), Boeing (http://www.boeing.com/), Westinghouse (http://www.westinghouse.com/home.html), Dupont (http://www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Home/en_US/index.html) or a host of other high-tech corporations.

Law, Government, Human Rights and Political Science students would be at the top of their game hard-wired into Federal, State and local government databases, or FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/), the London Metropolitan Police (http://www.met.police.uk/), the CIA (http://www.cia.gov/) and ATF ([http://www.atf.treas.gov/] ) databases with their accompanying local, regional and national resources. Health majors could be up to date with real-time events in Pathology, Epidemics research, natural disaster response resource information and population health threats through the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/), medical and health networks or the UN (http://www.un.org/). The possibilities are almost endless.

So, I agree that the “traditional” approaches to teaching and learning, not only English and other foreign languages, but numerous other fields as well, will continue to evolve to serve the needs of learners, business and educational institutions. With CBL (Content-Based Learning), well-prepared TEFL English teachers, armed with knowledge, skills and continually developing technology, have nothing to fear from computers. Technology is yet another powerful tool in promoting the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, now and in the future.

What do YOU think?

Gregory Benford

The American astrophysicist reckoned for his award-winning sci-fi novellas; serving as a faculty at the University of California, Irvine; also provides his contributions as an editor at Reason magazine. He is acknowledged for his outstanding contributions to the world of science and writing. In collaboration with William Rotsler, David Brin, and Gordon Eklund; he has contributed award winning specimens. Lorde Prize for his outstanding contributions to the science in 1995 and Nebula Award in 1980 are his noteworthy achievements. His research encompasses not only physics and astronomy but also Plasma Physics and has been recognized by NASA, NSF, AFOSR, DOE and other reputed institutes. He is well known for the controversial law proposed by him on the Passion in his novel Timescape.

Gregory Benford; aka Sterling Blake; a residing in Laguna Beach; California; was born in Mobile, Alabama on 30th January 1941. Physics graduate from the University of Oklahoma, 1963; completed his Masters of Science in 1965, followed by a doctorate in the year 1967, from the University of California San Diego. After the completion of his doctorate, he got married to Joan Abbe and fathered two children. Most of the characters in his novels are inspired from his wife’s personality who died in the year 2002. Jim Benford is his identical twin brother in collaboration with whom he has produced a remarkable piece of science fiction- Void.

Gregory Benford was appointed in the year 1971 as an Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of California, Irvine; was later promoted to a Professor of Astrophysics and Plasma Physics, in 1979. In the year 2006, he resigned from the post to join a scientific team of researchers working on the cause of aging in humans. He has published more than a hundred scientific papers related to biotechnology, particle physics, plasmas, condensed matter, etc.; more than one hundred and fifty short stories and novels; a few articles and essays. His published novels depict the perfect amalgam of his scientific and literary knowledge.

He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a visiting faculty at Cambridge University, the Universities of Turin and the University of Bologna. He is a consulting faculty at NASA, DARPA and CIA and other agencies. He is one of the boards of directors of the Mars Society and an active member of Alcor, and cryopreservation advocacy group, UK.

All his life he has been studying the physics of the galaxy and the existence of the black hole and tries to incorporate his findings and concepts into his works of science fiction and anthropologies. His first published novel was Deeper than the Darkness (1970). In later years, he reworked the novel a republished by the name The Stars in Shroud (1978); as he thought the former version was not as sophisticated and well written.

His collaborated work- “If the Stars are God” with Gordon Eklund; bagged him another Nebular Award in 1974.The story encompasses the existence of aliens who consider the Sun as a God and the central planet.

His best solo work based on scientists and time travel, Timescape (1980) has bagged him Nebula Award, British SF Award, John Campbell Award, and also, a nomination for Locus Award in 1981, is out for printing in ten international languages. The novel perfectly describes the human folly in the present scientific world and the pseudo-science world. The story is set in 1998 when the world is struck by ecosystem disasters and the scientists of the present age try to send the message in the past; using tachyons that can travel with the speed faster than light; to warn them of the approaching disasters in the present century. To avoid the grandfather’s paradox, the message is sent in the form of staccato and displaced letters; which in turn creates more paradox. The last chapter is set in the year 1974, depicting an ongoing awards ceremony for remarkable scientific achievements; where the scientist named Bernstein, who was the first to receive and decipher the signals,; is awarded Enrico Fermi Prize. With the successful release of his works, the author has recognized himself as a best-selling hard science fiction author.

The Galactic Centre Saga is an enthralling and a pioneer publication. It is considered significant as the author dedicated a large portion; i.e. nineteen years to finish the series. The series involves three novels named Galactic Center One, Galactic Center Two, and To the Galactic Center. The series is a compilation of six good reads. A prolog called -Ocean of Night (1977); that is followed by Across the Sea of Suns; Tides of Light (1989); Furious Gulf (1994); Sailing Bright Eternity (1996). The sensory awareness and the human emotions are the central themes. The series very well depicts the upcoming future of men’s conquer over space and rising conflicts till the year 2061. The books perfectly describe the space travel and the war of the physical universe and biological mankind. In the year 2001; Jan De Bont had announced to come up with a series based on the six books of the series, but nothing was broadcasted. However, in 1969, eight seasons of the series named Galaxy Odyssey; was produced by the Japan National Broadcasting, which Benford was the screenwriter and the host.

After the successful publication of the saga; the author published a series of ‘Science Thriller’. He serves as a scientific consultant for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Benford’s novels aptly describe the conflicts of inner humanity and outer scientific space. His books are perfect for exercising a mind. Mostly science geeks and nerds are the ones who would go for them. What do we think the inspirations of the movies like Star Wars are based on? The only limitation to Benford’s writing is that he writes for the grown up geeks. His settings are complex and imagination vast. With a pool of varied characters, he performs experiments with the scientific theories. Gregory has acclaimed a distinct position amongst the scientists and SF writer with so much of hard work and awards in both scientific and literary fields. Benford is a phenomenal writer with exceptional hard SF writing skills that leaves his readers, spellbound and amused.

With six billion other people sharing the planet with the relatively insignificant number of us who are reading this article, you would think that most of us would naturally intuit that men and women were designed to get along with each other. After all, how else did we all get here?

Yet, if you look around at some of the “dating advice” and “seduction training” that is popular nowadays-especially for the guys–you’d think that the opposite sex were the Viet Cong or even Al Qaida…only more mysterious and potentially dangerous.

Seriously, are we wanting to fill our lives with great women or launch the Tet Offensive?

Who can be sure? After all, when guys get together to learn how to divide and conquer…er…go meet women, it’s almost universally called a “boot camp”. And who cares if the concept of “Sarging” was named after a cat? It has a nice ring to it-at least in this context. Some writings go so far as to openly use military-inspired imagery.

And whatever is going on, it had better be a covert “underground” operation. If the women ever found out what was being clandestinely strategized, our top-secret mobilization would be rendered useless.

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if soon someone started marketing his or her latest and greatest seduction product as “recently declassified by the CIA”. Actually, on second thought…too late.

Meanwhile, behind “enemy lines”-the whereabouts of which may be poetically summarized as the “No Man’s Zone”-the latest recon reveals the insidious plot that the “Pinkos” (Emily would consider this a compliment if taken literally, by the way) are scheming. Basically, their plan is to get the Evil Male Empire to (gasp!) DEFECT to their side. And they have their ways of making us talk. And be more sensitive. And stop being so…well…masculine.

OK, that’s enough. As much as I’m amusing myself to no end over here, my stomach can only take so much.

Here it is: We’re never going to get anywhere with the opposite sex-especially the HIGHEST ECHELON thereof-if we can’t friggin’ stand them.

Granted, maybe it’s not all that dire. My baseline opinion is that guys who dive headlong into the “pickup” community often end up participating in more of a live version of “Halo” then anything having to do with real relationships with women. Getting a bunch of digits and/or e-mails at a club and then comparing scores with your buddies at 2am sounds like a blast, frankly. But it’s more like “laser tag with a liquor license” than anything relevant to attraction and seduction. Yet, become good at “pickup” and you basically don’t have to worry about even getting alone with a woman ever again. So, then, it’s actually not a “war on women” or anything. I think most guys like women. This is more along the lines of what does a dog do once he actually CATCHES the car he’s chasing?

And that, gentlemen, is exactly as far as “paint-by-numbers” pickup game gets you. Welcome to the hidden issue at play here. The “real life video game” is a lot of fun. But that still leaves the women waiting for some men to actually care enough about THEM to show up.

As for the ladies, a female friend of mine once summed up popular “dating advice” for women quite well when she said, “I think all of that stuff is pretty much designed to help women find closure after they’ve been dumped.” That was her words, not mine. Then again, having just typed them with my own hand pretty much makes them my words too, doesn’t it?

Whatever happened to having confidence in the opposite gender? Did that go away with the pandemic rise in lack of confidence in OURSELVES that we see nowadays? Face it: two neuter creatures CANNOT become sexually attracted to each other. Neuter and spay your cats and dogs and they’ll lay around the house staring at each other. Then they’ll eat. Then they’ll take a nap. YOU, on the other hand, don’t necessarily have to live that lifestyle. You can experience the fantastic depth life offers when you take a chance and ENJOY the opposite gender because you EXPECT THE BEST from the opposite gender.

Is that too optimistic for you? Yeah, well…think like that and you may get burned here and there. After all, human nature transcends the boundaries of sexuality. But it still beats sitting around playing video games.