Technology as a Pacifier

In today’s hectic world, technology is a welcome relief from the constant bombardment of the daily life of work, travel, and home – repeat and recycle. Having a mechanism to give one’s self a break from the outside world can be a welcome and necessary relief.

To a certain extent I think that this is even more so necessary in today’s world where there is a technological connection for most people from virtually the moment we wake up until the time we go to bed.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with using technology as an escape, perhaps to listen to music, play a game or read something online but I often wonder if sometimes we’d be better off just totally unplugging ourselves, even for short periods of time.

I had a conversation with my girlfriend not too long ago and she mentioned how she had noticed so many children being handed iPads or other devices on the subway by a frustrated and weary parent. It caused me to think that she was right. As a parent, I can understand and appreciate the desperation we can have with a finicky child. However, I’m really wondering if using technology as a pacifier is such a good idea.

I do think back at earlier years though and I remember a time where the parent would be taking the child on their lap to read with them or read to them, or perhaps to invent and play a travel game with the child. Call me “old school” but I think that it’s not such a bad thing to have the parent being the source of relief for the child.

It’s probably not so different from when many of us were children and we were plunked down in front of the television – the electronic baby-sitter of the day. For the most part we turned out okay, but with today’s technology at every turn of our daily lives, the temptation to rely on the technology is difficult to resist.

What message do we send to our children when they are upset, frustrated or tired and we respond by handing them the electronic device instead of paying attention to them and spending that time with them? Is this the message that we want to give them, that the best way to deal with the stress is to reach for the device?

It’s a difficult road being a parent and I’m not naïve to think that I’m not guilty of the above. In some respects a parent will – and should – use whatever tools are at their disposal to help with parenting. I’ve had those days when it is absolutely necessary to steal an hour and keep one of my kids engaged with technology, but I’d like to think that it was just enough to allow me to regroup and recharge my batteries. A parent that selectively uses technology isn’t a bad parent; sometimes it will help them to become better parents as they can have that break in the day.

I suppose that I’d feel more comfortable with this technology if I saw a parent and a child at least sharing this technology together. I’d much rather see a mother and a son on the subway cuddled in together as they play some game or the child reads a story to the mother. At least then, the parent is there, in the moment and I think that’s what this article is really all about.

What3Words - A New Way to Share Directions

One of the biggest problems with the exchange of directions is nearly similar street names, or perhaps that the directions themselves are somewhat ambiguous "Meet me at the corner of King and Yonge" bring the most basic question - WHICH corner.

Well, a new website addresses all of this, in a very unique, creative and detailed manner. What3Words.COM has divided the entire world (well - probably the vast majority of it) into 57 trillion 3mx3m squares. What they have then done is assigned three words to this physical location and this combination of three words is unique to that specific location. The beauty of this is that this means that when I'm giving directions to the family cottage, I can just reference the three words associated with it - and a link to What3Words, and they will get the precise location.

The extra little tidbit of cool information is that you can purchase your own "one word" for that location on an annual basis - basically like a vanity plate for a car - or at least to make it easier to remember the What3Words key. I am seriously pondering "buying" the key for the cottage and using the name of the cottage as it's reference. It's a really unique way to communication a physical location!

Life Through a Lens

I was down at Harbourfront with my girlfriend as we watched the Canada Day celebrations. As we stood there watching the fireworks, the one thing that really struck me was how many people were watching the fireworks, but watching them through the lens of their camera.

Although they were indeed capturing the moments for posterity, it occurred to me that by focusing (pun only partly intended) on the filming, they weren't fully experiencing the event; they were only watching the fireworks through the rectangle of their device and therefore oblivious to the surroundings. For me, half of the fun was to experience not only the fireworks, but also the reaction of the people – especially seeing the joy of the toddler on his dad’s shoulders.

Upon further reflection, it seems to me that this isn't an isolated demonstration on how we can sometimes use technology as a “filter” in terms of our real world experiences. I watch people who think that it’s necessary to tweet or text message at a movie theatre. I don’t know how many times I’ve almost been clobbered as I walk down the streets and someone turns a corner, completely immersed on their cell phone, not aware of where they are going.

There are many more examples where life is experienced vicariously through an electronic device. The irony of this is that the true and full experience is easily obtained, just put down the device from time to time and look around!

Taking pictures or filming special moments help us to capture, reminisce and cherish those moments. Photography enhances our lives just as technology can. I’ll always like my tech toys and I’ve found things like my GPS or my smartphone (and the many Android apps that are installed on it) to be a wonderful resource the enables me to get directions, find restaurants, check account balances or even to check news or sports. I’d be pretty lost without technology, it’s an intrinsic part of my daily routine.

I think of this issue as if I were using a camera that had a macro lens and I was focusing in on a flower as I was photographing it. My field of vision would be greatly reduced and I would be missing out what was no longer visible in the periphery compared to a regular lens.

I’m not suggesting that people abandon their cameras – or their devices – to get the full experience. There’s something to be said for having a record of moments in time, that’s why many of us take pictures or videos. All that needs to be done is to stop and observe and experience from time to time.

Deals Deals Deals!

Blame it on the Scottish in me but one of my favourite things to do is to find deals via the Internet.  I've used Hotwire pretty frequently over the past 6 months and have found some pretty good prices on hotel rooms that wouldn't have normally been available.  Throw into that, a few entertainment related sites where I was able to get some great deals on wine tasting tours in the Niagara region, as well as other getaways, it's definitely much better than paying list price!

HowSpamWorks

The carousel of SPAM - or Internet Marketing - is ongoing.  As we become wise consumers of information online, the gauntlet is tossed our way as the Marketeers try to find innovative ways of suckering us in.

I've been caught on this a few times, most recently today on a link that was mixed in with (legitimate) "additional articles" on CNN.  I clicked on an article that sounded interesting and proceeded to read.  At the end of it, I thought to myself "hmm, why do I feel like I'm reading a commercial and not a objective news article".  

Suspicions arose and I went through other articles on this website which appears to be another "new oriented" website with sections like: News, Health & Beauty, Financial, Jobs, etc..  My first inkling was that was no Sports tab.  I know of very few information portals that would have one.  I then proceeded to pick and choose from each tab glancing through the articles and sure enough, the vast majority appeared to be a very subtle commercial.

It's not really all that hard.  If you are reading an article, then just take a moment and ask yourself, does it appear that the article is being objective.  The answer may not tell you right away if it is SPAM or not, but it will give you a sense.

I should add that I really shouldn't be referring to this instance as SPAM, as it's not being pushed to my email address, but the intent is the same as so many email messages that we receive on a daily basis.

I guess that the long and short of it is the maxim that has predated the Information Age - Don't Believe Everything You Read.

GMAIL and Email Addresses

I’ve been using GMAIL much more frequently over the past year or so and so it is with interest that I read an article on the naming convention of GMAIL email addresses that I was not aware of.

In any other email system that I’ve dealt with, the DOT is considered an alphabetic character which can also be used to improve readability of the email address. An email address of DavidOshea@yahoo.com could be setup as David.O.Shea@yahoo.com which would be different from David.Oshea@yahoo.com.

Where GMAIL is different is that it ignores the dot and although you can create an email address such as David.Oshea@gmail.com, any email to David.O.Shea@gmail.com or DavideOshea@gmail.com would also receive these emails.

GMAIL acknowledges this and calls it a feature. However, it is important for those that are setting up their email addresses to be aware of this so that their email addresses are sufficiently unique enough.

PRISM and the Digital Refraction

By their very nature, a prism is a geometric figure that refracts (bends) incoming light and changes the direction of it.

One of the hotter stories in the technology arena the past few weeks is that of the US Government PRISM program and it seems to me that their decision to name the program as such may not have been as deliberate as how I perceive it, but to me, it’s a very appropriate moniker.

PRISM is an electronic surveillance program developed and administered by the National Security Agency in the United States. The intent of this program is to monitor websites, photos, emails, and video and chat sessions in order to protect the country from foreign threats

Last week, an NSA contractor leaked documents which seem to indicate that the scope of the program has far exceeded the original intent and it is alleged that it now has direct access to the servers (and the data contained within) of Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and other major websites.

The protection of a society is always paramount and many times it’s a delicate balance to afford this, while at the same time preserving the fundamental civil liberties. A program which tramples civil liberties (despite all of its good intentions) is as dangerous as a program where the population is at risk if the government is unaware of plots and aren’t able to intercept them.

What concerns me most is how it appears that the mandate of PRISM can grow, casting a bigger net over democracy. While they may be catching some of the bigger fish, there are too many smaller (and innocent) fish being caught up in the same net.

PRISM is not allowed to specifically target any individual unless there is reason to believe that there is direct evidence of a specific threat or plot.

In addition, there is also a “guilt by association” factor coming into play. If there is a specific “terrorist” where the NSA has significant reason to believe that there is a risk, then part of their online presence will be silently monitored. Further (and for me, this is the scary part), if there are a number of incoming emails to this individual, then the NSA can expand their scope and consider the sender to be a “person of interest” and as such, while they may not specifically monitor that person, at the very least, they could be flagged.

The danger is that with the technological age, the whole concept of “Six Degrees of Separation” has probably become more something like “3 ½ Degrees of Separation”. The number of people that we communicate with has grown exponentially in the digital age with message boards, user communities, social networking and the like.

In my mind, it’s very much like the Phacebook Phriends Phenomena which seems to be that it’s all about the number of “friends” on their profile. I find it hard to imagine that people actually have 500-600 true “friends”. I’m quite happy to keep my Facebook profile very sparse, but I digress.

Much like the prism, the PRISM program seems to be “bending” the data contained within the information superhighway to suit its purposes, assuming malevolence where there is not some.

Whether the large tech companies are permitting NSA full and unfettered access to their data remains to be seen. Even if this scandal turns out to be paranoid hyperbole, I am convinced that government agencies will not be able to resist the electronic breadcrumbs that we lay down.