There comes a point in every woman's life when she must relax into the natural ageing process and, well, allow herself to look old. Botox cannot work forever - then what? -A mini facelift, according to plastic surgeons, then the full facelift, needing to be renewed at least every 15 years. But hair can be coloured right into old age. Greys can be completely covered. When - if ever - is the right time to stop?
Nothing can be more ageing for women than prematurely grey hair, which is probably why you rarely see a well known face crowned with silver. In fact it can be wonderfully shocking to see a young woman with defiant grey streaks - wonderful because you think ''good on you'' but shocking because it makes her look so much older than she really is. It's draining. Grey hair always starts at the hairline where it is most noticeable and seems to occur only in sections, never wholly which can be chic.
Modern colouring techniques mean hair can have its ''natural'' colour - or a more flattering lighter version - even when the original has long faded. Most women are colouring their hair by their 40s because they ''have to''. They have to because they’re told they have to by magazines, by the media and now by computer technology that defines a beautiful woman. Yes, this year saw two aussie scientists develop a computer program that defines what and who can be considered beautiful. It entails pictures of women’s faces being downloaded into a program, they then go through an apparent process of evaluation... then sure enough your face is returned with an mark out of 10- 1 meaning ugly and 10 meaning absolutely stunning.
Is technology prohibiting a woman’s natural aging process? Will we ever be able to grow old greyfully?
Monday, August 13, 2007
Is it technology or is the child?
In a nutshell the Daily Telegraph describes the scope of the mobile phone crisis as students and young children recording brawls, assaults, sexual activity and even material vilifying teachers on their mobiles.
Everyone seems to be quick to point the finger, pass the blame on to someone or something else- It’s the parents, it’s the teachers, it’s our technology. It’s easy to blame technology, but I think we all have to open our minds and bring our attention to the abuse that is taking place rather than the recordings. I think Years ago students got up to the same mischief as they do these days; the only difference is they didn’t have a digital camera in their pocket to record the details. No such problem for today’s students with nearly all handsets capable of not only taking digital pictures but also recording video. Having this immediate way of capturing and sharing their dirty deeds has created a numbness among younger users who don’t think twice about starting a fight or filming themselves having sex. I see the main reason for this is so they can share it with their friends or the rest of the world on YouTube.
Like I said, it is easy to blame our technology, but I think the core of the problem lies with the students who abuse this technology to ridicule, assault, attack and sexually exploit other people to make themselves look like a hero. In my opinion these students are nothing but cowards who have no compassion or consideration for others.
Do you really think taking away a student’s mobile will have any impact on reducing this kind of behaviour?
Everyone seems to be quick to point the finger, pass the blame on to someone or something else- It’s the parents, it’s the teachers, it’s our technology. It’s easy to blame technology, but I think we all have to open our minds and bring our attention to the abuse that is taking place rather than the recordings. I think Years ago students got up to the same mischief as they do these days; the only difference is they didn’t have a digital camera in their pocket to record the details. No such problem for today’s students with nearly all handsets capable of not only taking digital pictures but also recording video. Having this immediate way of capturing and sharing their dirty deeds has created a numbness among younger users who don’t think twice about starting a fight or filming themselves having sex. I see the main reason for this is so they can share it with their friends or the rest of the world on YouTube.
Like I said, it is easy to blame our technology, but I think the core of the problem lies with the students who abuse this technology to ridicule, assault, attack and sexually exploit other people to make themselves look like a hero. In my opinion these students are nothing but cowards who have no compassion or consideration for others.
Do you really think taking away a student’s mobile will have any impact on reducing this kind of behaviour?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
MySpace- Prohibiting Real Conversation
I don’t mean for this to be a forum where I complain about our merges in technology but...
For the last few months I’ve listened to my mates rave about their addictions to MySpace, how easy it is to make plans and how ‘connected’ it makes you feel. How connected can you feel through a computer screen?
Personally I haven’t fallen for likes of MySpace and face book and all the other computer networking schemes, I haven’t bothered making a homepage and I have to admit I feel quite left out of the monotonous conversations our world’s having about how addictive MySpace is. However, no matter how left out I feel I can’t see myself giving in to the temptation of having a conversation with my keyboard over a human being.
What is happening to our world? No I’m not exactly technologically savvy, and maybe my lack of interest in computers blinds me to the opportunities of computer networking, but what happened to a good old chat over a cup of coffee? Real relationships are not sustained through a computer screen, healthy social interaction requires skills- it doesn’t depend on how fancy you make your homepage.
Computers and technological communication is second nature to our generation, I’m not proposing we throw it away and step back 20 years, I’m just raising the question of excessiveness, are we forgetting how to have face to face human interaction?
The Herald Bulletin published and article by Stephen Dick, titled ‘My Space, Your Space, Our Space’. I think he really sums up this view of MySpace prohibiting real conversation and healthy social interaction. He says...
‘I see a kid typing away at his computer for hours at a time not really knowing some of the people he’s communicating with and probably never will know. When he signs off at the end of the day, he’s made a connection but it’s more theatrical than human. He’s alone when he signs on and he’s alone when he signs off’.
My question remains: Does MySpace and online networking schemes allow for a healthy free flow of information or prohibit healthy human interaction?
For the last few months I’ve listened to my mates rave about their addictions to MySpace, how easy it is to make plans and how ‘connected’ it makes you feel. How connected can you feel through a computer screen?
Personally I haven’t fallen for likes of MySpace and face book and all the other computer networking schemes, I haven’t bothered making a homepage and I have to admit I feel quite left out of the monotonous conversations our world’s having about how addictive MySpace is. However, no matter how left out I feel I can’t see myself giving in to the temptation of having a conversation with my keyboard over a human being.
What is happening to our world? No I’m not exactly technologically savvy, and maybe my lack of interest in computers blinds me to the opportunities of computer networking, but what happened to a good old chat over a cup of coffee? Real relationships are not sustained through a computer screen, healthy social interaction requires skills- it doesn’t depend on how fancy you make your homepage.
Computers and technological communication is second nature to our generation, I’m not proposing we throw it away and step back 20 years, I’m just raising the question of excessiveness, are we forgetting how to have face to face human interaction?
The Herald Bulletin published and article by Stephen Dick, titled ‘My Space, Your Space, Our Space’. I think he really sums up this view of MySpace prohibiting real conversation and healthy social interaction. He says...
‘I see a kid typing away at his computer for hours at a time not really knowing some of the people he’s communicating with and probably never will know. When he signs off at the end of the day, he’s made a connection but it’s more theatrical than human. He’s alone when he signs on and he’s alone when he signs off’.
My question remains: Does MySpace and online networking schemes allow for a healthy free flow of information or prohibit healthy human interaction?
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