gofer articles

Wait til computers really take over! Bid farewell to blank envelopes! They’ll be history. All those science fiction movies that depict a world taken over by computers show something really diabolical, but the reality of it all is much more prosaic (at this point!). Well, actually, for those thrown out of work by computer automation, it’s probably just about as sinister, if they really thought about it.

Now it’s true that technology has always changed our lives, often in a most disruptive manner, and blank envelopes won’t be made here again anyway – and even then, by machines. After all, papermaking used to be quite a skill, and yet machines have long taken over that trade. But even these overseas workers will be thrown out of work soon enough thanks to all the wireless communications that’s revolutionized just about every facet to how people interact.

Is there anything better than firing off an e-mail or text message at practically the speed of light? Nothing to be printed out, no postage to fumble around for, and never a necessary wait on a response – never mind having to go out and do a drop-off at the nearest mailbox! Well, not unless one’s corresponding with a sloth in Australia!

The need for blank envelopes is at an all-time low these days. It’s now hard to find them, even, and one must resort to dedicated stationary stores oftentimes. All thanks to the computer revolution that’s upended whole industries worldwide. It’s nothing like the first envelopes used by man, which would appear to us today to be more like pottery than anything else, made as they were from clay that were dried or even baked in order to be “sealed” – never mind the breaking necessary to be opened!

Changing technology has always changed our lives as a species. It is, moreover, dramatic in impact but not necessarily in that immediate, visceral way of fiction. Hence, the actual year of 2001 gives us unmanned drones and the worldwide web while the film 2001 envisioned moon bases, space travel, and artificial intelligence.

Ergo, no more blank envelopes. That’ll be one of the most prevalent effects of computers taking over even more than they already have by now. People won’t know what an envelope is in just another three or four generations!

When considering GSM cell phones, make sure to get the best for your needs. Of course, this ain’t exactly news, yet you’d be surprised how many people fall prey to marketing hype and purchase handsets completely at odds with what best suits their actual real-world usage patterns. Oddly enough, it may be that having so many options on the marketplace to choose from contributes to this situation: embaras de riches, as the French say. In other words, the cornucopia of choices out there seem to confuse people more than anything else.

People who research consumer behavior know all about this situation. Whether it’s GSM cell phones or anything, really, people just have a harder time — and feel the attendant anxiety — when confronted (yes, “confronted!”) by too many choices. Even though such a finding might sound crazy, there are quite a few good reasons for it. After all, about half the population — the half known as “guys” — don’t like shopping. And why’s that? In a word: instant gratification. Guys just want to “get it over with.” It doesn’t matter if the purchase is simple and straightforward, no matter if it’s as innocuous as getting toiletries or running out for sundry supplies. So just think how much more aggravating it is when something as complex as electronics is involved!

To be sure, guys generally like technological gadgetry, since guys are typically enamored of toys to begin with. They like objects they can manipulate. Yet modern technology has lead to an incredible variety of features, with feature-sets that no one but true geeks and nerds would really like to spend time studying…guys or gals.

And let’s not forget the ladies, yes. Ladies who typically enjoy shopping — except for when it comes to electronics and the like.

Thus many if not most cell phone buyers couldn’t really care any less about the plethora of competing features available on the market today. Is it any wonder, then, that they fall prey so easily to marketing hype? Thus, not knowing the latest from the greatest, they sometimes wind up with gear they not only don’t need, but which may actually hamper their daily mobile communications!

So when in the market for a cell phone, a little introspection of sorts is in order. Just what is it that you wish to do with a handset in the first place? Do you need to send audio-visual material? Must you have an on-board radio? Are games that important? Will you need WiFi capabilities as well, or would the data stream of your carrier’s cellular network suffice?

With a reputation as diploma mills, Caribbean medical schools are dedicated for-profit businesses that serve rejected applicants from the United States – but they still depend on American hospitals for the crucial clinical experience required during the second half of a medical education. Recently, however, an effort has begun in New York City to limit their access to local hospitals since there are only a certain number of spots available for such field work, and charges of elitism are flying. But how is it possible for foreign medical schools to threaten turf belonging to American ones?

Because Caribbean medical schools are first and foremost businesses, they take just about anyone able to pay, especially those rejected by more prestigious American schools. At an elite institution like Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, donors from investment banker Sanford I. Weill to real estate developer Isaac Toussie provide a lot of money, resulting in tuition and fees of about forty-five thousand dollars a year. In contrast, a Caribbean medical school can charge as much as sixty thousand dollars!

Now, due to such high fees, it’s no wonder that Caribbean schools can easily pay New York hospitals to let in their students – and no wonder, what’s more, the movement to restrict such access to American schools, which otherwise lose out.

Thus the turf war.

Traditionally, hospitals agree to mentor, in effect, a medical school’s students because they like to be associated with prestigious names. And though Caribbean institutions are not prestigious, they have tons of money, which is a most important consideration, naturally.

And what administrator is going to do without such money, especially in this economy?

Did you know that neoprene gloves came about thanks to a Catholic priest? Neoprene is the trade name for a brand of polychloroprene synthetic rubber made by DuPont. It is stable and yet flexible, chemically speaking, and can maintain these qualities over a wide range of temperatures. The material has quite a diverse variety of applications and is found in just about everything from orthopedic braces to protective gloves.

And the Catholic priest? That was Reverend Julius Aloysius Nieuwland, whose scientific studies on acetylene inspired the subsequent invention of neoprene.

If it’s Blu Ray Media you want, then look no further than today’s superb variety offering from twenty-five to fifty gigs of storage on each disc! Wow, that sounds impressive all right, but really, what could one possibly do with all that space?? Okay, if you’re authoring some definitive edition of an artsy-fartsy flick crammed with interviews, out-takes, and behind-the-scenes stuff, fine, maybe, but the average consumer is just buying recordable Blu-ray media for capturing some frisky girlfriends on video, that’s all! But let’s face it: some guys do get all the luck, don’t they, and may need such capacities to properly document their harem!

Check out their front window and you’ll agree that On Off Digital World seems to have all the latest in consumer electronics, yet their real bread and butter comes from selling to tourists some desperately needed photography equipment. After all, the store is practically in the heart of the city, near most of the major attractions. Naturally, folks on vacation aren’t going to spend their precious time bargain hunting for specialized photographic equipment and supplies and therefore often pay whatever the price is in order to get on with their holiday.