The matrix is real: modern enslavement to tech

Source: informationclearinghouse.info

By: John W. Whitehead

If ever Americans sell their birthright, it will be for the promise of expediency and comfort delivered by way of blazingly fast Internet, cell phone signals that never drop a call, thermostats that keep us at the perfect temperature without our having to raise a finger, and entertainment that can be simultaneously streamed to our TVs, tablets and cell phones.

Likewise, if ever we find ourselves in bondage, we will have only ourselves to blame for having forged the chains through our own lassitude, laziness and abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos that render us wholly irrelevant.

Indeed, while most of us are consumed with our selfies and trying to keep up with what our so-called friends are posting on Facebook, the megacorporation Google has been busily partnering with the National Security Agency (NSA), the Pentagon, and other governmental agencies to develop a new “human” species, so to speak.

6 Tech Traps We All Fall Into (And How To Avoid Them)

By: Lindsay Holmes

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Technology can be a beautiful thing: It connects us to our family across the country, it exposes us to captivating stories, real and fictional … but it also has its downsides.

Admittedly, we’re all a little guilty of indulging in our devices too often, whether it’s checking our texts one too many times while we’re out to dinner or just wasting precious minutes dissecting our old roommate’s new romance. Luckily, there are ways to avoid these pitfalls in order to approach life in a more mindful manner. Below are six tech traps we constantly get sucked into and how to fight your way out of them. Take that, smartphone addiction.

1. Snapping a picture of the moment instead of savoring it.

That sunset may be beautiful, but if you’re not truly enjoying it — without your phone — you may not really remember it. Research suggests that our phones aren’t the best cameras, our memories are. A 2013 study revealed that people who took photos of art remembered less about the work than those who just stopped to soak it all in. And while photos are an incredible way to preserve a memory, we shouldn’t be experiencing every important moment in our life through a screen. Next time, let the mind do the image capturing.

Why tech CEOs limit their children’s technology use

By: Nick Bilton

Source: nytimes.com/

When Steve Jobs was running Apple, he was known to call journalists to either pat them on the back for a recent article or, more often than not, explain how they got it wrong. I was on the receiving end of a few of those calls. But nothing shocked me more than something Mr. Jobs said to me in late 2010 after he had finished chewing me out for something I had written about an iPad shortcoming.

Documentary: East meets tech (Video)

 101 East heads to Silicon Valley to investigate the Asian influence on America’s high-tech boom.101 East is Al Jazeera’s weekly Asian current affairs programme. We cover a dynamic region with diverse cultures and conflicting politics. With special reports, interviews and debates, 101 East tackles the issues that unify and divide Asia.
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