The first remote controls were wired. And called 'Lazy Bones'.

And they gave birth to the couch potatoes of today.

They were originally invented to mute the volume when the ads came on.

And the early designs were like guns you pointed and shot at TV screens.

Basic functions were to change channels or move volumes up and down - and there were just four buttons to begin with.

The number of buttons expanded to accommodate the proliferation of cable channels. And awkward, complex user interfaces arrived.

We developed channel surfing behavior that continues to this day.

Our habits have also been defined by the 'click' to change anything.

And remote controls morphed from being adblockers to essential accessories.

Over time, everything on TV could be controlled by a single or multiple clicks.

The compulsive need to check if there was something better to watch became ingrained.

Like Bruce Springsteen's classic - 57 channels and nothin' on

The lyrics predict the world we were moving to:

"We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn

There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"

Remote controls were our first search devices.

We're still clicking away all the time.

Compulsively seeking but never sure of what we really want.

The true loner is a rare species

Being single is not the description of a loner.

They may not like attending parties or public gatherings

That's more about being socially awkward than being reclusive

But the true loner shuns human contact completely.

Lives without any creature comforts in the midst of nature - forages for food and has the bare essentials of protection from the elements.

There is a documented case of The North Pond Hermit

He left home and disappeared into the woods at Maine where he lived for the next 27 years.

No conversations with any other human beings 

He survived by stealing food from empty cabins.

The family he came from did not report his disappearance to the police.

The National Geographic wrote an entire feature about him after he was sighted and captured.

What comes through is a man determined to avoid human contact at all costs.

Unseen by anyone even though he lived in an area that had several private cabins and dirt roads.

How he managed to go for years without being discovered is still a mystery.

Being a true loner is hard because we are dependent on social structures to survive.

The mobile phone recluse is no loner.

Smart gardening in your kitchen

Indian housewives are obsessive about fresh vegetables

And getting curry leaves for free.

Bunches of them are picked out and handed over at the end of weekly shopping.

Over time, that became a habit and even swanky new vegetable stores were forced to follow suit.

They could charge huge sums of money for a tiny bunch of fresh coriander but the curry leaves had to be handed out for free.

Strange are the ways of doing business

Precision agriculture is trying a direct approach via the kitchen.

You can pluck fresh coriander, chilies, rosemary or mint leaves, every time you need them.

Or a set of exotic herbs if that is more of your kind of thing

You don't have to settle for packaged infusions of herbal tea.

Go straight to your garden every time you feel like the need to indulge.

Will it work?

Well, the products are beautifully presented and the promise of having to do little adds to the charm.

They also guarantee that if the plants don't grow, you will get a free replacement.

Did you ever think that regular greens in the kitchen could become exotic luxuries?

And would you consider growing them?

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