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July 23 [Toastmasters] My Second SpeechIts been a while that I have posted anything. Meena keeps bugging me to add to the blog... I finally did my second CTM speech, so have something to talk about! It was a last minute preparation due to work overload, Economics mid terms and the Leadership Mentoring assignments. The speech went very well, even though I wasn't really prepared for it. I did manage to get the Best Speaker Award for the evening, though I thought the other speaker was quite good. The topic was to speak on something that I was familiar with in a convincing fashion. With background in computing and following the developments of computers since the Xaverian days, what else could have been more convincing for me to narrate than the history of computing itself. The Speech titled - 'From Abacus to Athelon' covered the brief history of one of mankind's greatest invention!
Following the speech, I was grateful and honored to have my speech evaluated by Anne Martin. She is one of the most experienced speakers in our club! I was so surprised to know her level of knowledge and indepth understanding of Indian Literature! Though she was not my official evaluator, she took the time to write an assessment. I hope I can rectify the limitations that I have in the subsequent speeches!
John From Abacus to Athelon It is difficult to imagine a life without computers. These days computers are everywhere; especially in the developed world. Some of us spend a major part of our work life sitting in front of the computer. Whether we like it or not, end up utilizing the computer either directly or indirectly. They come in different forms. On one end of the spectrum you have the huge servers that are hosted in server farms and on the other you have the handheld and the desktop computers. With the advancement of technology and miniaturization we have computers pervasive enough to be embedded in devices like television, VCRs and including cars.
The Question
The Pre history
The History
Modern Computing
With the advent the tabulating machine and its economic success, several individuals and institutions started working on computing device. The University of Pennsylvania devised the first electronic computer called the ENIAC (which stood for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator). This was followed by Harvard's Mark I.
Along the same time frame, companies and academic institutions across the Atlantic also worked on competing inventions. The Mark I was designed in Manchester. The advent of war and the usefulness of the computer to break and encode enemy messages accelerated the growth of the computer.
Several large computers were funded and designed by the military on either side of the Atlantic. The next major step in computing came with the invention of the transistor by Bardeen, Brittain and Shockley in the 70s. This resulted in the miniaturization of the computer into the Mainframe and Mini Computers. Similar trends continued until the microprocessor was formed, which gave birth to the microcomputer in the 80s. The Time Magazine named the Microcomputer as the MAN OF THE YEAR in the year 1980.
With the advancement in the field of electronics resulted in further miniaturization and production optimization, due to which we have computers pervasive in a plethora of devices around us.
The Future Sections of Anne's Feedback and suggestions Subject: Your Web Page and Speech
Dated: Sunday, July 23, 2006 7:54:50 AM Hello John: First of all, thank you for sending me your Web Page and Ice Breaker. It was an adventure for me to read it - just as exciting as reading a new book from one of my favorite authors. The content plus photographs were a delight! Your experiences were amazing (education and travel and learning of other cultures) and I am somewhat envious of all you have accomplished in your young life. I can visualize what life has in store for you when you have come this far already!! Wow!
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Your Speech itself was very well constructed. It had a beginning, a middle and an end (from 300 BC in China to the present day and even into the future). However, it's my feeling that the Speech contained too much information. If you were giving this Speech to an audience of advanced computer intelligencia it would have been perfect but in this case you have to consider your audience and their expertise. Our Toastmaster group is not mainly a computer literate group (including me) and they probably felt a little lost digesting so much information. I'm not saying you should "dumb down" your Speech but to just consider your audience and what they can swallow in seven minutes. What might have helped is "props". Perhaps an Abacus to hold up and maybe even demonstrate its use, a Punch Card to demonstrate the beginnings or even an enlarged photograph of the old computers that took up a whole room, and then maybe one of the miniaturized computers or devices. (I loved your last line...."we will be living in a world of science fiction very soon.") I realize my voicing this opinion is like telling Shakespeare how he should have written one of his plays but if you give this Speech again to a lay audience you might cut it shorter which will also give you more time to speak slower! Now about your performance: Let me compliment you on your delivery. You have an excellent speaking voice - it was clear and well modulated and could be heard around the room. Your knew your Speech by heart and I only saw you glance once at your script. Excellent! However, it was delivered at a fast pace because you had a lot of information to impart. I know computers are near and dear to your heart but sometimes you just can't tell it all and a compromise has to be met to balance the delivery. As Patrica did mention, you did hang on to the lectern. I know this was just your second speech and you used the lectern as a crutch. Try to use more hand gestures and in this case, the props would have helped. As for coming forward in front of the lectern, this is really not too necessary in a second speech but try to work on this next time. This will give you the opportunity to use your whole body in gesturing and moving and making more contact with the audience. Your eye contact was perfect! You didn't appear nervous (even if you were, you're a good actor!) Your facial expressions were good - smiling - pleasant - good posture! On the whole, John, it was an excellent presentation and I was honored to listen to you speak. I sincerely look forward to your next Speech at Toastmasters!! Email me if you have any questions about any of this evaluation. Anne July 12 [Travel] Taste of ChicagoI was in Chicago over the July 4th weekend visiting Meenakshi. We did a short single day overniter to Ann Arbor, Mi. Neat little university town! Like the coffee shops and the academic atmosphere!
Anyways, back in Chicago we did have some time to visit the Taste Of Chicago. Take a glimpse of our visit here:
Cheers,
John [Climbing] Sahale ArmLike the other years, I made my first annual trip to the North Cascades last weekend! The scenery was just stunning. Just spectacular! No words can ever describe the beauty of the place! No picture can ever do justice to the scenery. You have to be there in person to see it for yourself.
However, I have tried to capture some of the moments and the scenery here In Pictures.
I plan to revisit the Cascade Pass area again this year and hopefully will be able to get some high altitude photos! As usual, comments suggestions and recommedations are welcome!
Enjoy!
Cheers,
John July 07 [Climb/Hike] Camp Muir - Mount RainierIt was an excellent day. An early start helped me reach Camp Muir on time and enjoy the stunning morning scenery.
The photos can be viewed here:
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