Category Archives: April 2017
Editor’s Letter
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
Albert Einstein
I am a technology resister- without a doubt more Wilma Flintstone than Judy Jetson. I read books not tablets – I love the smell and feel of paper over the subtle hum of electronics. My daily planner is one of those cumbersome paper ones and it never leaves my office. While some might view this as an inconvenient method to run a business, as I need to be physically in my office to schedule anything – for me it is a luxury. Continue reading Editor’s Letter
A Brilliant Discovery by an Obscure Mexican Scientist
By Brooke Gazer
At the tender age of 26, a young chemical engineering student from Nayarit made an astonishing discovery while working on his doctoral thesis. This discovery placed the name of Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas into the American Inventors Hall of Fame, alongside Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Alexander Graham Bell. A group of Nobel laureates named his breakthrough discovery as one of the most important inventions of the last 2,000 years. However, unlike other important inventors who have become household names, his has drifted into obscurity. Continue reading A Brilliant Discovery by an Obscure Mexican Scientist
Electronic Devices: Positive or Negative Social Effects?
By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken
When is the last time you were in a public place in Mexico or, for that matter, almost any place in the world, when you did not see a person staring at a mobile device screen? At restaurants babies propped up in highchairs are transfixed by brightly colored images dancing across little screens while their parents and older siblings tap away at apps on other hand-held devices. Often loud laughs are accompanied by exchanges of smartphones to share the source of merriment. How pervasive is this phenomenon? And does it have a positive or negative effect on individuals and their relationships? After reviewing the evidence, we’d say the answer is, “primarily negative.” Continue reading Electronic Devices: Positive or Negative Social Effects?
Perfect your Spanish!
Word of the Month: Echar
By Julie Etra
Echar is complicated! It is very idiomatic but fun and versatile. There are lots of ways to use this verb.
Common meanings: Throw, launch, toss, drop, throw out Continue reading Perfect your Spanish!
San Miguel De Allende: Why We Return
By Carole Reedy
It’s easy enough to understand the draw of San Miguel de Allende for first-time visitors. The sheer number of articles in newspapers and magazines, its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the awards it’s received from Travel + Leisure just in 2016: Number 1 City in Mexico, Central, and South America; Number 3 in the World’s Best Cities; and Fourth Friendliest City in the World continue to attract tourists from all over the world. Continue reading San Miguel De Allende: Why We Return
Technology – A Little Goes a Long Way
By Leigh Morrow
We wake to our digital alarm and a high-tech world that tells us what we are missing in our fridge or how to avoid traffic, re-routing if not driving, us to work. We program the front door to open, the furnace to start, the lights to dim, all through technology. We text our friends and family minute by minute, look for a date, send reminders on our virtual calendar to our mate, pay our bills, book a plane ticket, watch the latest Trump antics, even vote, all through the marvels of the Internet. As a result of this massive virtual power, we have become inseparable from our phones. It’s seductive, all this distraction, in a device so small it fits in the palm of your hand. Continue reading Technology – A Little Goes a Long Way
Top 5 Things you can watch on a screen that explore the human relationship to technology
By Jane Bauer
- Black Mirror (2011-now)
A television anthology series much like The Twilight Zone that shows the dark side of life and technology. Every episode is mind blowing, using just enough real technology and logical human behavior to make the viewer sit up and be self-reflective. Each episode stands alone as a mini-film with top actors such as Bryce Dallas Howard, Jon Hamm and Oona Chaplin to name a few. Available on Netflix. Continue reading Top 5 Things you can watch on a screen that explore the human relationship to technology
Top Ten Technological Advancements This Past Decade in Oaxaca
By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.
Infrastructure together with socio-economic and political matters continue to be problematic in Oaxaca, but there have been gains which impact all of us. So here are the top ten technological advancements that I’ve noticed over the past decade or so, the only caveat being that to me they are technological, but to others they may be minor improvements and little more. Continue reading Top Ten Technological Advancements This Past Decade in Oaxaca
Cell Phones
By Julie Etra
If you come to Huatulco on vacation there is no need to buy a Mexican cell phone. If you live here, or stay for an extended period of time and need a Mexican cell phone, here are some tips. Continue reading Cell Phones
