LAW 133: Thinking about Technology and Other Issues

I know, i know, waw, waw, waw, my computer died the same week our internet access went south here at the marina... Such first world problems. But seriously folks, don't we all rely, and rely heavily on the Internet, and it's attendant tools for information searches, for complete and instant communication? You bet we do. In my opinion, sometimes far to extensively.

Hey, every blog post needs a cat pic, right?

Most of us use portable computing devices(aka, smart phones) constantly. We take for granted the sheer power and speed of our phones, and we bitch continuously, and loudly when they don't work as advertised, when our data stream is too slow, when the wi-fi isn't working, and, and..... Remember we launched the first men into space using chalkboards, chalk and human calculators. If you haven't seen Hidden Figures, you should.

It took less than a week to replace my trusty old Mac laptop. Sadly i have yet to recover my files from the old hard drive. This is a very sad thing. Yes, i do know that i should be backing up my files, and yes, i have learned my lesson. Still, i have lost, hopefully not for good, an enormous image file, family photos, and eek! all of my own art images. Time to send the hard drive out to a professional company, and time to get my camera out, again.

Magellan, the sleeping cat, working on my hard drive problem

It took close to three weeks to get reliable internet service, truly an eternity in the digital age. This was just a little scary, Don was still working, my only access to the outside world a text only wifi only smart phone. No internet, no wi-fi, no, you get the drift......

What rubs me against the grain about the whole smart phone phenomenon? The phone seems to be taking the place of face to face communication. Spend some time in pubic places watching people. Watch people at dinner, at the bar, at a party, hell even people sitting together under the trees, enjoying the view. If there are four people there, its likely that at least three of them are on the phone, texting, talking, playing music, surfing mindlessly. We are becoming a culture that seems incapable of being present in the moment.

Sunset mirror

I don't want to live that life. I do try, really, to put down my phone, pay attention to the people around me. I try to pay attention to the beautiful world around me.
Now about my e-reader.......
really honey, i just want to finish this chapter.....

Full moon rising over StoryTeller

More later, mainly about art next time, i promise.
gail