3G to the help for disabled

3G (Third Generation) technology has of late been very popular in India. Today I was coming back to hostel after paying a visit to my LG's(Local Guardian) home using the newly introduced city bus.  After 3-4 stops I saw a group of 10-12 commuters entered the bus. They all were wearing I-cards. They were looking particularly normal as I could see from the second last row of the bus. Some of them got seats and were seated. There were 3-4 women too in the group. Seeing the woman stand their male companions gave the seat to them. And at that moment they started communication  using their hands. I instantly recognized that they were using sign language to communicate. They were mutes(people suffering from the disability to speak). Though it was difficult for the common folks to understand what each sign meant,they continued to pay attention to them. Then we saw a lady from the group holding a mobile phone. I wondered they can't speak then why is she holding a mobile phone. On paying attention I found out that she was actually making a video call using 3G. Using the front camera to communicate with the person on the other side using video calling using 3G technology she got one of her query answered perhaps. Well this thing better than writing sms and way better than writing letters to get a bit of help. These people had all the attention till they got down at their stoppage. It was inspiring to see how technology has been of so help to the disabled and the way they were utilizing it. This has bought me a smile for the day. +1 to the line "Technology is Boon".

There are many correct ways to answer a question

Image courtesy :Coach O on Flickr

Must Read !!!!

R.L. Loeffelbein, a physics teacher at Washington University in St. Louis was about to give a student a zero for the student's answer to an examination problem. The student claimed he should receive a perfect score, if the system were not so set up against the student. Instructor and student agreed to submit to an impartial arbiter, Dr. Alexander Calandra, who tells the story.
The examination problem was: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer."
The student's answer was, "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, and lower the barometer to the ground. Then, bring it back up, measuring the length of the rope and barometer. The lengths of the two together is the height of the building."
I, as arbiter, pointed out that the student really had a strong case for full credit since he had answered the problem completely and correctly. On the other hand, of course, full credit would contribute to a high grade for the student in his physics course, and a high grade is supposed to certify that the student knows some physics, a fact that his answer had not confirmed. So it was suggested that the student have another try at answering the problem.
He was given six minutes to answer it, with the warning this time that the answer should indicate some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. Asked if he wished to give up, he said no, that he had several answers and he was just trying to think which would be the best. In the next minute he dashed off this answer. "Take the barometer to the top of the building. Lean over the edge of the roof, drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula S=½at2, calculate the height of the building.
At this point, I asked my colleague if he gave up and he conceded. The student got nearly full credit.
Recalling that the student had said he had other answers, I asked him what they were.
"Well," he said, "you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and length of the building's shadow, then use simple proportion to determine the height of the building. And there is a very basic measurement method you might like. You take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb, you mark off lengths of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks to get the height of the building in barometer units.
"Of course, if you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of 'g.' The height of the building can, in principle, be calculated from this.
"And," he concluded, "if you don't limit me to physics solutions, you can take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When he answers, you say, 'Mr. Superintendent, I have here a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of this building, I will give you this barometer.'"
Finally, he admitted that he even knew the correct textbook answer -- measuring the air pressure at the bottom and top of the building and applying the appropriate formula (p=p₀e^-ay) illustrating that pressure reduces as height increases -- but that he was so fed up with college instructors trying to teach him how to think instead of showing the structure of the subject matter, that he had decided to rebel.
For my part, I seriously considered changing my grade to unequivocal full credit.

Source:  http://www.mycoted.com/There_are_many_correct_ways_to_answer_a_test_question

Credit goes to the original author for sharing this nice piece of article.

89. Lost Generation

Very inspiring video ...

Please watch the complete video
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