 On The Net
with Chris Goh
A Mothers Love
I used to visit a local nursing home, where I'd always see this elderly lady who'd wait as close as she was allowed to the entrance of the home. A nurse told me that she'd been taken there by her son and wife one day. They told her they were just going to leave her at a friends place for a few hours. She's been there just over a year, waiting for her son to pick her up. It's a sad to realise how common this actually is.
Then one day, to the surprise of many, the son had rang to say he was coming in, and you had never seen a lady so happy. On the day, she put on her best dress, the nurses helped with her make up and for the first time in a year she stood just past that door in eager anticipation. Every few seconds she cry out 'He's coming, he's coming'. For the first time, the nurses could smile and say he was, without feeling they were lying.
He came, we watched. It only took a minute for the smiles to vanish when kissed her quickly on the cheeks, said goodbye and left. An exasperated volunteer came over and said, 'You wouldn't believe what the bastard did'.
The only reason he visited was because he wanted the keys to his mother's car. While we were angry at him, we had to pause when his mother appeared with a big smile on her face, delighted that he'd visited her.
Who but a mother could love their child so much? It was a humbling experience, and a reality check in my own life and relationships. Sometimes the simplest pleasures, like a smile or laughter, are all you need.
I read recently in The Echo's Around Town that Caroona Nursing Home needs volunteers. I'd encourage anyone, especially the young, to give these people a hand - you'll most likely learn a lot as well as enjoying the joy of sharing. Ring Paula on 66248356 for details. Training is provided and scheduled for mid March.
HotNews
Pirating music is now old news, but its impact still packs a huge emotional, as well as financial punch. Microsoft's foray into the music world via its XP software has new security features for the WMA file format. No doubt Microsoft doesn't view their efforts as helping the music industry, but more a strategic move to ensure the music industry has to rely on Microsoft's control of digital music distribution. Interestingly the District Court dealing with the Napster case has asked the record labels to prove they have the rights to the music the court has prevented Napster distributing. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel is questioning whether the big five record companies are colluding to create a monopoly in their industry.
UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations, is about to publish a study which identifies half the worlds 6000 recognised languages are about to disappear. The irony in this information age is that in order to share information, a common dialogue had to be agreed upon. But there is hope. On Hokkaido Island in Japan, only eight elderly people were left that spoke the native tongue, Ainu, in the late 1980s. As part of new language policies by the Japanese government, Ainu and number of other languages have been recorded for not only for posterity, but also to teach the language to others. As a result of keeping these languages alive, they have uncovered herbal remedies, cultural history and even a distinct humour. Australia and the United States are recognised as the worst countries over the last 100 years when it comes losing languages - hundreds of Aboriginal languages have been lost due to assimilation policies for much of the 20th century.
Jamaica is trialling a new rehabilitation program in maximum security prisons. Prisoners are given instructional lessons on how to use a computer, surf the internet and create videos. The program's exponents say it provides the prisoners with skills and 'cognitive challenges'.
The HP/Compaq saga continues with March bringing the shareholders vote. Compaq is looking likely to be a big loser, despite the fact that an 80% of product overlap exists and Compaq is the market leader. It just doesn't make sense that HP takes majority control. But after Ansett, HIH and One Tel, business doesn't make a lot of sense these days.
Hotsites
This week, I thought I'd look at the virtual pet area, which was all the rage some two years ago, but they still have a bit of legs left.
www.neopets.com
First, a warning: this site can be very addictive. For more than two years, especially at the height of the Tamagotchi craze, Neopets has let people to keep and care for a virtual pet in a virtual world. It's hooked millions of people all over the world, and not all of them teenagers.
www.daliworld.net
If you want to have realistic looking virtual fish floating around your PC with the potential to create new species and interact with other users, DaliWorld is a pretty nifty piece of Virtual Creation.
www.adoptme.com
Adoptme is yet another virtual pet site that's very well presented. It gets kids competing in shows and even buying toothpaste for their pet.
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