And here we go once more...

And once more, back to our old game of Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis. Here goes.

Thesis: In school computer labs, since there are not enough PCs to go by, children sharing a PC must take turns at the mouse. Antithesis: Though there are not enough PCs, and children must share them, it is not necessary for them to take turns at the mouse. Synthesis: Create software that allows multiple mice to be connected to a single PC, using multiple USB ports; let each cursor be of different colours and shapes so that they can be recognised.

Sounds fairly simple, doesn't it? It is simple. And it is actually the solution that Microsoft Research India is working out. The additional plus of this innovation is that apart from allowing for better sharing, the system encourages a lot of collaborative learning among children.

Here's one more.

Thesis: If one wants to check whether an official document is original, then he has to get the document verified by the issuing authority. Antithesis: It is not necessary to get the document verified by the issuing authority. Synthesis: On one corner of the document print a bar code that carries the same information as the document. If the information in the bar code corroborates the information in the document, then the document is genuine.

As the one before, this solution too is fairly simple. And elegant. Being developed by HP India, the additional advantage of this approach is that it is easy and cheap – unlike sophisticated technologies like holograms or RFID chips, it can be simply printed by an ordinary printer.

So before I sign off, once more, what is your Synthesis today?