I can't believe I sat through 2 minutes of that waiting for it to get to the point, only to find out in the end that it got to the point in the first 5 seconds.
People always sing "Happy Birthday" too slowly. You gotta first think about the key, so that everyone can join in, since it covers about an octave, and then start it fast, so that they don't all slow down to the point that the end of the universe happens before the candle winds down.
This is a real problem in the classroom, too. I now have a cell phone clause in my syllabi, letting students know that text messaging in class is not appropriate. Of course, these days it's hard to know WHAT they are doing with those phones, since some of them download their books and homework lessons straight to their iPhones. (Don't ask me how they can read books on those small screens...but they say they do.)
That was really very interesting to me - others see that problem with pretty good clarity. I don't often hear as much from that quarter. The propaganda and manipulation all comes in from the other side.
Technology is scary, blah blah blah. It's the the 70s all over again.
And: If only the world really were like this. It's an introvert's dream come true. Interacting with other people face to face is usually awful after the first 5 or 10 minutes.
I'm 31 and don't have a smart phone. My phone does talk and text and that's it. I've refrained from a smart phone because of cost but mostly because I'm a SAHM and know my children would bear the cost in my attention and present-mindedness. I really do worry that our mobile devices are changing us for the worse.
My wife went out to dinner last week. There was a family of three sitting next to us. I don't think there was a word spoken between them the whole night. The wife was staring at her IPhone the whole time, while the son played on his IPad with his earphones on. Which was bad enough, but kid was about 5 years old. Meanwhile, the dad just stared into space the whole time.
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14 comments:
I can't believe I sat through 2 minutes of that waiting for it to get to the point, only to find out in the end that it got to the point in the first 5 seconds.
I have never owned a cell phone, and it is amazing at how angry not only me friends feel about it, but total strangers get pissed at me too.
People always sing "Happy Birthday" too slowly. You gotta first think about the key, so that everyone can join in, since it covers about an octave, and then start it fast, so that they don't all slow down to the point that the end of the universe happens before the candle winds down.
Cell phone reception would be terrible in a cave.
This is a real problem in the classroom, too. I now have a cell phone clause in my syllabi, letting students know that text messaging in class is not appropriate. Of course, these days it's hard to know WHAT they are doing with those phones, since some of them download their books and homework lessons straight to their iPhones. (Don't ask me how they can read books on those small screens...but they say they do.)
Bob, I'm just pleased they sang Happy Birthday at all.
Fallout from the lawsuit charging Warner with 80 years of copyright fraud by collecting royalties on a song that is in the public domain? I hope so.
That was really very interesting to me - others see that problem with pretty good clarity. I don't often hear as much from that quarter. The propaganda and manipulation all comes in from the other side.
I, for one, welcome Google glasses. Anything but this.
Anyway the craze will end. All crazes do, especially stupid ones like useless use of phones.
Technology is scary, blah blah blah. It's the the 70s all over again.
And: If only the world really were like this. It's an introvert's dream come true. Interacting with other people face to face is usually awful after the first 5 or 10 minutes.
I'm 31 and don't have a smart phone. My phone does talk and text and that's it. I've refrained from a smart phone because of cost but mostly because I'm a SAHM and know my children would bear the cost in my attention and present-mindedness. I really do worry that our mobile devices are changing us for the worse.
And to think we used to have our noses buried in books.
What? Oh, sorry. I was reading.
To think I used to not even take photos, back in my early 20s, because it seemed lame and I wanted to be more in the moment, more there.
Was that just me?
My wife went out to dinner last week. There was a family of three sitting next to us. I don't think there was a word spoken between them the whole night. The wife was staring at her IPhone the whole time, while the son played on his IPad with his earphones on. Which was bad enough, but kid was about 5 years old. Meanwhile, the dad just stared into space the whole time.
Went to breakfast at Coco's with the wife last week, and the waitress told us to "put our toys away and eat our breakfast".
Didn't say a word to the couple reading their newspaper at a nearby table.
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