Some basic tips on how to make smart phones and electronic gadgets safe for kids

In a world where internet is riddled with porn and other adult contents, leaving smart phones with children can be dangerous. At any given time, they could click on a wrong link and end up accessing contents that are not appropriate for them. If we do not monitor the online activities of our kids, the smart phones and gadgets that we give them for self-engagement and entertainment may end up ruining their future. The findings from research studies tell us that the early exposure to pornography and sexually explicit contents can negatively affect the overall development of a child. It is said that those who get exposed to pornography or graphic materials at their early age lose the ability to form positive relationships with people as they grow up and can often become aggressive.

How BBS Television can be made more accessible for the visually impaired and illiterate viewers

For decades, the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBSC) has been playing a crucial role in informing the nation and influencing important decisions in the country. It has been one of the most popular sources of news and information for the general population. But in a bid to reach out to the larger audience, it seems to have forgotten those who need additional adjustments to avail its services. As the only national television channel in the country, the BBS TV has the moral responsibility of making all of its contents accessible for the entire population. But with some of its contents not at all accessible for the visually impaired and illiterate segment of the society today, it is not doing justice to the nation as a whole. It sounds unfair why only the sighted and literate audience should have the privilege to access the channel without any hinderance when the nation has all the resources to make it fully accessible for all.

Technology and unemployment: the two sides of the same coin

With the continued growth of science and technology in the world, the modern era has seen some of the greatest changes that had never been recorded in human history. The advent of advanced technology in every field of work has transformed the world we live in, making our lives easier than ever. Today, our homes and offices are filled with electrical appliances and sophisticated equipment that enable us to carry out our daily tasks without having to drip even a single drop of sweat. Be it in the field of agriculture, education, health, manufacturing industries, transport, tele-communication or entertainment businesses, the technological advancement has given a new dimension to our lives, shaping our society as per the needs of the moving time. It is the evolution of modern science that has helped us close our door to the primitive society of the past and embark on a new journey into the modern world. But the greatest danger of living in such a sophisticated era is that if we can’t keep pace with the technological advancement of the day, we can be left behind and pushed aside from the rest of the population. The advanced technology has created job opportunities for millions of skilled workers in the world, but at the same time, it has also forced so many unskilled workers out of their jobs.

Smaller deeds done are better than greater deeds planned

It is said that a young man was once walking along the seashore when he saw the beach littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed up by tidal waves. He instantly got down to his knees and began the most arduous task of rescuing the helpless creatures. He picked them up one by one and threw them back to the water. A few hours later, an old man who had been watching him from the distance approached him and asked him how much difference he would be able to make by doing so, because there were still thousands of starfish on the beach. Without uttering a word, he bent down, picked up one starfish and threw it into the water. He then turned around, smiled at the old man and said “I have made a difference at least to that one”.

The monetization of online news in Bhutan and its impact on visually impaired readers

While it is understandable that the decreasing revenues and the increasing cost of production are compelling news agencies to come up with creative methods of monetizing their products, the Kuensel Corporation’s latest move to monetize some of its online news articles has come at a wrong time for the visually impaired readers in Bhutan since E-Kuensel is still not yet fully accessible with screen-reading software. In the absence of braille news magazines and other reading materials for the blind in circulation, KuenselOnline had become one of the most accessible sources of news and information for persons with visual impairment in Bhutan over the years. But now with readers requiring to register for E-Kuensel to access certain news articles, the visually impaired readers would be missing them until the day E-Kuensel is made fully accessible for the blind.

Truckers: the unsung heroes on our roads

As the world below disappears into a miasma of fog and darkness, the driver slows down his truck and decides to stop for the night. He parks his fully loaded truck on the edge of the road and asks his assistant to start preparing dinner. His assistant takes out an old kerosene stove, lights it up and cooks a simple meal for dinner. Once the food is ready, they have it together and after cleaning up the mess, they climb back to the cabin of the truck to sleep. They get up early in the morning the next day and continue their journey. Such was the life of truck drivers when I was a young boy and I think they will have the same stories to share even today. They have no time for their families and friends. They spend almost their entire life on the road, hauling goods from one place to another.

A true love never dies, as this video shows

Life is just like a dream. We won’t know when we would be jolted awake to face the ultimate fate. Today, we find ourselves enjoying our life to the fullest, always laughing and smiling, but the bitter truth is that nothing is permanent in the world. No matter who we are and where we are, death is inevitable in life. It is a natural phenomenon we all must go through someday but when you know that your days are numbered, dealing with your impending death would definitely be a different experience. It is said that at this juncture, we realize who our real friends are and what matters to us. This is the story of a man who has immortalized his love for his beautiful daughter and wife after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.

The positive and negative energy that charge our mind

The meaning of our life is defined by how we look at things around us, not by the kind of world we live in. Even the hell can be a better place if we can find beauty in what we see. But if we let our negative thoughts overshadow our mind, we cannot find peace even in heaven. The inner happiness that lights up our life is basically determined by how positive we are. If we cannot recognize and sift the negative energy out of our mind, we will never be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel when we get caught up in a mess. Only those who have the heart to see beauty in things around them can understand what it means to be optimistic and positive in life. If we always focus at the darker side of what we see, we cannot find the strength to overcome challenges and move on. For a positive person, even a crisis will have a silver lining. But for someone with a negative attitude, it is the end of everything. A pessimistic mind filled with negative energy can never lift you up from the mess once you have fallen down.

Plastic pollution, one of the biggest environmental concerns of our time

The recent decision of the government to reinforce the ban on plastic bags has triggered some interesting debates on social media. Many people still believe that plastic pollution can be addressed better through public education, not through policies or levies. But the experiences that we have got over the past 20 years tell us that these two should go together. When the ban on plastic bags was first introduced in 1999, there was no enough public awareness on the harmful effects of plastic wastes. As a result, the single-use plastic bags and other plastic products continued to appear in the market and litter our natural environment: polluting our soil, air and water. Of course, there was a time when we started getting Doma, meat and some other products wrapped in newspapers but with no proper public education and monitoring system in place, this initiative could not last long. Today, most of us are aware of the adverse impact of plastic wastes on our environment and health, but with no active policy in place, we have become complacent over the years.

A tribute to my precious Guru, Lama Singye

My dear Lama, you have been my real source of light
For, you have shown me a path, so tranquil and bright;
I have until now wasted so many precious years in the dark,
But now I can’t thank you enough for igniting in me a magical spark.