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Wednesday, May 28, 2003 |
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Instant Messaging in Business Here's one more piece on IM being a slow starter in the business environment - how long before it catches on ? This new generation 'culture of use' is calling. "Use of Instant Messaging in Business (via Headshift)More good linkage from iWire: IM in Business, which adds some context to three recent articles about the use of Instant Messaging in a business context: "The other intriguing thing that occurs is how long it has taken for articles like this to appear. With 20 million american kids using IM everyday, it has taken a three or four years for business to wonder whether this might be useful or dangerous. This doesn't bode well for other types of social software first used outside of businesses." 12:29:34 PM  comment [] trackback []
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Women & Multitasking - Goddess Durga  Durga10:06:25 AM comment [] trackback []
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Multitasking in a Woman's World Was chatting with a friend online this morning ... while talking to him i happened to speak over the phone with my mum, got the door for the garbage collector, was reading the news in my aggregator, marking emails i need to respond to urgently, planning the day, having breakfast, sweating after a work-out ... and reported all these activities to him .... he said i'm NUTS ... i said i'm just a woman .... and women can multitask better than men (came out pat, to my surprise) ... his response - maybe but they get less done and move around in circles I'm no feminist,but i agree with Helen E. Fisher when she cites studies into the structure of men's and women's brains, to make the point that women multitask better. One region of the prefrontal cortex--the part of the brain that controls the ability to multitask--is larger in women, and the two halves of a woman's brain are more strongly connected--which may explain why women are better at integrated thinking. Had me thinking up examples and stories to support this ... and the most vibrant image in my mind was of a crowded ladies second class compartment in the 6.25 local train from Churchgate to Borivali in Bombay. In the train ... there's not a spot of space to breathe. What you see .... when you can look beyond the sea of bodies fighting for space, are colourful purses, plastic bags, vegetables, vendors of all sorts of ware like hair accessories-snacks-sarees-dusters, prayer books held in hand. And most interesting of all is to observe the women Ö their conversations, their activities Ö while clinging on dearly to each other for life. Women discussing their day at work .. all the office gossip shared ... at the same time thinking of pick-up times for their kids ... and planning the menu for the next day ... interspersed with jokes and laughter and swapping of recipes and home-remedies ... some whispering about personal problems ... others airing them aloud. All this while chopping vegetables for dinner .. knife neatly held between the index finger and thumb ... vegetables dropping into a clean plastic bag. And knitting ... and braiding someone's hair ... and sharing photographs ... and bursting into impromptu song ... and simply dozing ....
1:08:13 AM comment [] trackback []
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The ritual of boarding the train and finding yourself a seat in 0.25 seconds is an amazing sight .. will keep that for another story once i get a good picture of it.
While the men in the next compartment doze ... or discuss the stock market ... or read the newspaper ... or occasionally sing religious songs (bhajans) in groups, cymbals clanging loudly ... or play cards ... one activity at a time ... one day at a time ....
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Copyright 2009 Dina Mehta
