Is technology taking over your life?

Blogs.

Tweets.

Feeds.

Not too long ago if you had told someone that you spent a good chunk of your spare time with these things, they wouldn’t have had a clue what you were talking about.

As citizens of the new virtual landscape, we are pioneering new technologies at what seems like lightning speed.

It’s Hard To Fly Underwater

The ancient Greeks tell the story of Daedalus and his son Icarus. Trapped on the island of Crete (home the vicious and anatomically incorrect Minotaur), Daedalus skilfully crafted two sets of wings for him and his son thus enabling them to fly away off the island in an impressive escape.

But as they made their getaway, Icarus started to become quite enamoured with this new gift of flight. He flew higher and higher, closer and closer to the sun…

You know the story.

I think this parable could very easily be about our modern relationship with technology. Please, don’t get me wrong. I’m not against technology at all.

In fact, I’m madly in love with it. The new tools available to us today would have been unthinkable in any other period in history. It’s exhilarating to say the least.

But as we integrate more of these “tools” into our life, venturing deeper and deeper into the unknown, we have to realize we are taking a risk. We are flying higher without checking to look at the state of our wings.

Technology wants more and more of our limited time and resources. And as if right on cue, we keep on flying higher and higher, oblivious the wax melting all around us.

No one knew Twitter could spark a democratic revolution.

No one knew that blogs could provide news better and faster than traditional media outlets.

But no one knew either just how heavily addicted to and reliant on the internet we could become. No one knew that World of Warcraft could cost you your job or your marriage. No one knew that without warning their self-esteem could become dependent on how many anonymous “subscribers” or “page hits” they receive on a given day.

Who could have known?

I’m not here to bash technology. (This is after all, a pro-technology blog is it not?) But what I’d like to say is that in our adoption and usage of technology, new and old, we should be careful not to fly too high.

I wont pretend to have all the answers, but here are some guidelines to enjoy a smooth flight away from the evil Minotaur of the interwebs.

Take A Time-Out

Have you ever counted just how many hours you spend online?

Give your self a time-out every once in a while. My wife and I do our very best to be completely done with our computers by 9 pm every night so that we can actually spend some time together.

It’s shocking how hard that can be sometimes. But it’s amazing how much you can think of to do when you’re not on your computer.

Prioritize, Then Move On

Read only the blogs you want to read. Remove the bookmarks and feeds that aren’t quite contributing to where you want to go.

If you have too many sites and social media services in your diet, you are overfeeding yourself. Your body won’t be able to digest it all and it will start to make you sick, depressed, and lonely.

Figure out what is actually important to you and then swiftly and deliberately cut out all the rest. Do online what you came there to do and then move on to something else.

Discover Your Inner Chimp

Humans are social animals. The internet is a great playground, but it’s not always the ideal place to foster healthy and deep relationships.

We are genetically predisposed to want to interact with other human beings. Did I say want? I meant need.

An avatar will not provide the same warmth and connection as another person in the flesh. Find real live human beings in your neighbourhood to play with. I promise you they are more fun and they will (almost always) respond to your comments.

I’m no psychologist but the place where I find deepest and most lasting fulfilment? Yep, it’s offline.

Get Sober

About a month ago, I realized something was wrong. After about a year and half of being a die hard fan of Netflix, I realized that the amazing miracle of streaming movies and television had taken hold of me.

I was watching more than I planned to. It was keeping me up later than I wanted it to. And all of a sudden, it was hurting more than helping.

I love Netflix and think it’s a wonderful company. But it was time for it to go. I had to break the spell it had over me.

You see, I had a goal of reading more books and to improve my writing. But without sacrificing a few episodes of Burn Notice, this blog post would never have been written.

Find out what technological “tool” has a hold over you. Examine where your bigger goals are not matching up with your daily technology habits. Then get some freedom. Sober up.

It’ll be hard but it’s worth it.

Spread Your Wings

So what’s the big take away? Make sure that these new wings of yours are flapping for you.

Or in other words:

Make sure technology is your slave.

Otherwise you might unknowingly become its slave.

And if you are a slave to technology, the only place that will lead… is down.

Happy flying!

Is your smartphone too clever?

Smart phones are amazing. 50 years ago who would have predicted that you could hold a device smaller than your hand that could:

  • Take pictures
  • Connect with your car
  • Listen to music
  • Send text messages (SMS)
  • Make a video call with someone on the other side of the world
  • Track your location
  • Surf the internet
  • Understand your voice commands
  • …and loads loads more

Notice anything that could be a security risk from the list above? Well if you listen to the news, you will probably have heard the bad PR iPhone have got themselves by discovering a glitch which showed everywhere their owners had been!

Is the iPhone Safe?Apple have denied that they have been tracking users, but if someone got hold of an iPhone they would be able to download a list of every place that that phones (and probably it’s user) had been to, via the use of GPS.

Do you think that all these flashy features come at a price? Is the security of our private information being exposed more and more in this modern-day ‘technology powered’ world?

The thing is, it isn’t just the iPhone – the iPad has also been tracking users locations!

If you want to find out more, check out this online Q and A page on Apples website.

Another privacy issue…

A few days later Sony announced that it was taking down its PlayStation Network service, due to hacking which affected 77 million gamers!

Sony say that that the data might have fallen into the hands of an “unauthorised person” following a hacking attack on its online service. This data it thought to include things like names, passwords, addresses, date of births and email addresses. Another reason why it’s very important not to use one password for everything.

If you think you might have been affected by this other breach in security, check out Sony’s blog post on the issue.

Your views

Are we too dependant on technology? Do we give away too much information (often sensitive) about ourselves? Do firms really need all this data from us, and do they need to take a greater responsibility in implementing more measures to keep our info safe?

How to be a great commenter

Do you read a lot on the internet? If you do, the chances are that you read in places where there is the ability to comment, be it on a blog (the most obvious place) or even a forum or website.

Why should you bother commenting?

If you have a website or blog yourself, then promoting this would be a good idea… But there are other reasons!

If you are an individual you may just wish to build your own personal reputation (or brand if you like) to make yourself more popular for social or employment, or other reasons.

Why I add comments

As an author of multiple blogs and sites, there is not much in the way of blogging that pleases an author more than a genuine (not spam – they are pesky!) comment. Bloggers describe this in many different ways, I like to say it gives bloggers a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Funny comment - Someone on the internet is wrong!So I comment to make blog owners feel good – among other reasons. I also comment to promote my website and blogs.

But we are missing the big reason why I comment!

The main reason I comment is because I love to add my opinion. If I agree with someone, I will tell them. If not I will ask them why they feel/think like they do, and I will tell them how I think/feel on something. Debate is the fuel of the blogosphere!

How can you be a great commenter?

There are a few simple rules I follow to make sure that I am a great commenter

  1. Don’t always agree – so many people think that they are a great commenter if they agree with all the points raised and don’t challenge the author. Often authors like to be challenged, that’s why they write!
  2. Don’t just add a comment, interact with other commenters – I would guess that 99.9% of people just add their comment. Read and reply to others comments too. This helps to build a great commenting community – something highly promoted on this blog. I am quoted for saying once that ‘comments often are more valuable than the article itself!’ this is due to so many brilliant people adding great contributions improving the article, giving it support, etc.
  3. Don’t just go looking for a link or PR boost – take some time to carefully craft your comment.
  4. Don’t comment on everything you read – just make your contribution on articles that matter to you.
  5. Read the article! Far too many times, I have seen so many people on so many blogs who have read the title and then gone straight to comment. It doesn’t work, and often your comment will end up being deleted, or worse, your name put on a spam list.

Commenting tools and traps to look out for

KeywordLuv and CommentLuv are two fantastic commenting tools to look out for if you own a website or blog. They really help you promote your blog when commenting, by allowing you to use your keywords, and feature one of your latest articles.

One final thing to watch out for is nofollow blogs, AKA the greedy (I was going to use scum, but that’s a bit strong) people in the blogosphere. These are people who run blogs which do not give you dofollowed or as they are also known followed links. This means that the link to your blog doesn’t pass on any link juice to the contributor.

It’s simple, no readers or commenters, then there is no point in writing. Treat your readers with respect, and they will return the favour.

Our comments…

Being a community blog we are 100% dofollow, meaning that you can guarantee you are getting great quality dofollow comments, every time 🙂

Happy commenting!