Modern human beings are the result of millions of years of evolution. But not just physical evolution: we are also the result of a series of innovations and inventions of technology that make our lives livable today. But I'm not talking about the latest iPhone. My pick for the top ten human inventions begins 1.7 million years ago.
On my first day as a small-town newspaper editor, the publisher handed me a book of procedures. It explained my deadlines, the stories he liked and the ones he didn't want to see, how to deal with the columnists, how to operate the fax machine, how to answer the telephone, how to lay out the copy and how to get the storyboards to the printer every Tuesday by midnight.
World champion boxer Mike Tyson once said, "Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face."