Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: inventions

  • What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

    What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

    Imagine having a secret ability that can prepare you for the future. Not in a dramatic way, but in a practical way that makes life easier and smarter. If I could choose a hidden skill, it would be the power to see what’s coming just a little bit ahead of when it really happens.

    One of the biggest benefits would be financial preparation. With the ability to predict the future, I could start saving money before things get difficult. If a recession or job loss were on the horizon, I would already be prepared. Instead of reacting to problems, I would be ready for them. (Such as the current economic situation.)

    This skill would also be incredibly useful for innovation. Many successful inventions come from noticing problems just as they begin to affect people. If I could predict the future, I might recognize a growing problem before anyone else. That would give me the chance to create a solution, like developing an app that helps people solve that problem right when they start experiencing it. 

    Even in everyday life, predicting the future would make things easier. Take the weather, for example. I have carried around an umbrella all day because the forecast said it might rain, but it didn’t. If I could truly predict the weather, I’d always know exactly what to bring and what to leave at home.

    While predicting the future might sound like a superpower, the real value would be the ability to prepare, adapt, and make better decisions before challenges even occur.

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?
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  • The most important invention in my lifetime is the smartphone

    The most important invention in my lifetime is the smartphone

    The most important invention in my lifetime is the smartphone because it is a true space-saver and an all-in-one tool. Just think of all the things you used to carry around just to do the tasks that the smartphone now offers you: camera, calculator, planner/agenda book, map, etc. (Especially if you had to fit all that in a purse or backpack!) Daily life has become simpler and more efficient.  

    Before smartphones, people needed separate items for each task. Cameras were bulky, paper maps took up space and quickly became outdated, notebooks were needed for ideas (and useless if you forgot your pen), and planners kept track of appointments. Now, all of these functions exist in one device. Online searches allow instant access to information anywhere, and notes can be typed on the go.

    The smartphone camera is especially versatile. It can be used to take photos, scan QR codes as digital business cards, and even act as a magnifying glass to read small text. This makes it useful in both professional and everyday situations. In addition, built-in timers and alarms help with simple tasks, such as knowing when food is finished cooking and when to watch your TV show!

    Overall, the smartphone saves physical space, time, and effort. By combining so many essential tools into one compact device, it has changed how we organize our lives, communicate, and access information, making it one of the most important inventions of our time.

    Daily writing prompt
    The most important invention in your lifetime is…
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  • Let’s Un-invent the Handshake

    Let’s Un-invent the Handshake

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
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    If you could un-invent something, what would it be?

    It’s a competition and it’s awkward. Those are just two reasons I would un-invent this one thing that most people in the world consider as polite interaction.

    Let’s find ourselves a time machine and travel all the way back to ancient Greece, ancient Babylon, and ancient Rome, when handshaking was practiced. Then let’s remove all memory of the first handshake! It was a form of greeting, like tipping a hat, or showing that you weren’t carrying hidden weapons.

    Let’s un-invent the handshake! I’m more in favor of the courteous bow for many reasons. 

    1 Handshakes reveal a power imbalance

    Enough of men seizing my hand and squeezing so hard that my small fingers become crunched together in a triangular shape, reminiscent of the painful process of Chinese foot-binding. My sole impression of this person is pain. Do those men have no control over their bodies? Do they grab a sandwich with the same force as pulling a car?

    I also question the intention of men who immediately twist my wrist to the side like we’re arm wrestling, so that his hand is on top as he shakes my hand. Why the gestures of dominance? Handshakes were a form of greeting, not a moment to show who’s the boss.

    And on the other end of the spectrum, I feel so domineering when I shake a woman with a spaghetti grip: the kind of grip where her fingers are like limp string.

    2 Handshakes are awkward

    On more than one occasion, I’ve been sitting in an air-conditioned room, or just stepped in from the cold, and my hands are freezing. I can see the other person trying to look polite and calm (and not electrified) as I offer them my ice cube hand. 

    Let’s not forget about the times when an introduction takes place at an awkward moment. For example, when I wash my hands in the company kitchen and a coworker introduces me to a new employee before I can find the towel. Awkward! Damp-skin handshake after I do a quick pat down on my own clothes.

    Or the time you watch someone enter the room and touch door handles, sneeze and use a tissue, and grab a sticky muffin. Then the meeting starts, and handshakes are exchanged. If you’re germophobic, do you now use your handshake hand to grab a muffin from the table too?

    What do you think? Do you like the handshake as a form of greeting?

  • How Often Do You Say Hello?

    How Often Do You Say Hello?

    Some random trivia I came across today: the song “Hello My Baby” was meant to poke fun at some trendy slang from the time. That new word was “Hello.” Alexander Graham Bell suggested “Ahoy!” as the proper way to answer this new invention called the telephone. Instead, people were taught that “hello” was the proper way to answer the phone. The song (shown below) made fun of how people sounded when answering phones was still a new phenomenon. How far we’ve come since then! Hello is now just a regular part of the English language.