Tag: internet

On technical difficulties…and movie trivia

You may or may not have noticed that I’ve been a tad quiet this week.  I’ve not been taking a break from the blog…at least, not voluntarily.  My internet went on a temporary vacation, preventing me from doing anything here.

That shouldn’t happen.  I have uncapped internet.  It’s 3G, so at times there are signal problems, but this wasn’t the signal.  I know because Facebook worked fine.  And Twitter.  And all my programs’ automatic updates downloaded fine.  But nothing else.

I don’t have a problem with Facebook as such, but it’s a tad frustrating to not be able to access anything else for forty-eight-plus hours.  And Twitter is full of links.  I couldn’t click on any of them.  No Wikipedia.  No Google.  No news websites to read where I can be upset by the comments (actually that was a relief).  No blogs!  It was torture, I tell ya!

Thankfully, all’s back to normal now.  Updating my browser seemed to do the trick, though I have no idea why the previous version which had worked fine until two days ago suddenly didn’t.  I also don’t know why both Chrome and Internet Explorer (yeah, I was actually THAT desperate) developed the same problem at the same time.

Whatever the reason, I’m glad to be back.  Though when I consider that I spent the first two-thirds of my life without internet it’s a tiny bit disconcerting that two days without it now affects me so.  I might need to take an enforced internet vacation soon for the sake of my sanity.

But enough of that.  Here’s a bit of movie trivia:

This powerful wizard from a galaxy far, far away was also a vampire, a dentist and a pastor and in real life caught Nazi war criminals before becoming an actor.

Comment with the name of the actor and all the movies referenced if you can figure it out.  First person who gets it right wins a walk for two under the full moon on Saturday night (not with me, though, unless you’ll spring for my plane ticket).

On fixing what ain’t broke

I’m human (for those of you who were wondering), and like most humans, I’m not completely comfortable with change.  We like the familiar.  That’s why we invent traditions and customs – to ensure future generations do things the same way as us so that we don’t have to change.

However, along with a significantly smaller proportion of the world’s population, I also recognise the need for change.  As stated previously, without change we run a big risk of stagnating.  Blindly adhering to tradition is usually more damaging than not adhering to tradition at all.

But, and this is a big but, change for the sake of change is pointless, causes unnecessary stress and just makes life difficult. Continue reading “On fixing what ain’t broke” →

On how smart phones are making us dumb

When I wanted to shock the kids I used to teach, I’d just tell them that I only got my first cell phone after I had left school.  My father didn’t want to struggle to reach me, so when I left for college he gave me his old Nokia.  It had an extended battery.  Thrown with enough force it could bring down a cow. (No, I never tried).  Most of the time the thing lay in my cupboard in the hostel and I only switched it on to phone home (why do I suddenly have an urge to watch E.T.?)

Having a phone ring in class was the most embarrassing thing that could happen and to send a text while having a conversation was the worst faux pas you could commit.  I had one friend who was a self-confessed cell phone addict and we teased her endlessly about it – it was that unusual.

Fast forward a few years and I was working with teenagers who had cell phones at least since they had started high school.  For the first time I experienced what it felt like to try and have a conversation with someone who was having a conversation with someone else at the same time (especially after Mxit came into the picture).  Luckily I was an authority figure, so I could make them put their phones away, but I’m pretty sure they were still typing texts in their pockets while listening to me.

Then came the smart phone. Continue reading “On how smart phones are making us dumb” →