Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Virtual Identity
What is our virtual identity? Is it a replica of our real-life identity or an enhanced or simplified version?
I often wonder how one uses identity online. Which characteristics of your identity are imperative to show and which characteristics are assumed or more blended in the Internet world. Why are some more hidden?
Identity politics is a term often used in social science academia and I sense that it's something that will become more and more complex as society becomes more interactive and dependent on virtual interactions. What can you omit online that would not be as simple in person?
What will you mold your online identity into?
I often wonder how one uses identity online. Which characteristics of your identity are imperative to show and which characteristics are assumed or more blended in the Internet world. Why are some more hidden?
Identity politics is a term often used in social science academia and I sense that it's something that will become more and more complex as society becomes more interactive and dependent on virtual interactions. What can you omit online that would not be as simple in person?
What will you mold your online identity into?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Email=time mysteriously dissapearing
Thank you to all who participated in my first blog poll! I appreciate your participation and contribution in shaping the content of my blog.
For those of you who missed out on this most exciting opportunity, I asked readers to respond to the question of which technological function they spend the most time using. Response categories included: 1) Cell phone, 2)Facebook/networking sites, 3) work-related email and 4) non-work related email . Respondents were able to check more than one category and to my expectation, " non-work related email" was the winner! Guess that means we have a lot of g-chatters out there :)
I realize that you are all probably dying to participate in the next poll ( even losing sleep with anticipation) so please stay tuned for the upcoming poll on technology-related challenges in the workplace!
Until the next....
-Twisted Composure
For those of you who missed out on this most exciting opportunity, I asked readers to respond to the question of which technological function they spend the most time using. Response categories included: 1) Cell phone, 2)Facebook/networking sites, 3) work-related email and 4) non-work related email . Respondents were able to check more than one category and to my expectation, " non-work related email" was the winner! Guess that means we have a lot of g-chatters out there :)
I realize that you are all probably dying to participate in the next poll ( even losing sleep with anticipation) so please stay tuned for the upcoming poll on technology-related challenges in the workplace!
Until the next....
-Twisted Composure
Monday, April 19, 2010
RSS Feeds: More out of your time online
Happy Monday, everyone!
One of my loyal readers (thanks Mom!) commented on sharing the utility of RSS feeds. This is something that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who feels like their bookmarks are filling up or for anyone who spends more time remembering and typing in each site address than they actually do perusing the site. RSS feeds provide an efficient way to catch up on all of the sites that you frequently visit in an organized, one-stop fashion! Goodbye bookmarks!
Learn more at: What is RSS?
Also, if you haven't checked out Google Reader, now is the time! Take your RSS up to the next level through Google Reader's enhanced layout. I love how Google has connected different platforms all into one space, my email, google docs, my calendar and now all of my RSS feeds in one window! Talk about a time-saver... Love love loooooves it.
Onto the next one...
-Twisted Composure
One of my loyal readers (thanks Mom!) commented on sharing the utility of RSS feeds. This is something that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who feels like their bookmarks are filling up or for anyone who spends more time remembering and typing in each site address than they actually do perusing the site. RSS feeds provide an efficient way to catch up on all of the sites that you frequently visit in an organized, one-stop fashion! Goodbye bookmarks!
Learn more at: What is RSS?
Also, if you haven't checked out Google Reader, now is the time! Take your RSS up to the next level through Google Reader's enhanced layout. I love how Google has connected different platforms all into one space, my email, google docs, my calendar and now all of my RSS feeds in one window! Talk about a time-saver... Love love loooooves it.
Onto the next one...
-Twisted Composure
Friday, April 16, 2010
Time-savers
Today I decided to share some innovative and time-saving websites that I enjoy and that allow me to spend more time with the people I love.
The first source is the one and ONLY magazine that I subscribe to: Real Simple. For those of you who aren't familiar with this magazine, it's devoted to the simplicities of life and to identifying solutions to the messes and catastrophes that are the result of our consumer-driven lifestyles. The title of the magazine says it all! For those who are not interested in buying or reading the magazine, at least visit www.realsimple.com and click on the " Time-Saving Tips" tab for their breadth of resourceful ideas on making our complicated lives more simple!
My next promotion is for a site devoted to book worms who don't have time to go to the library but who don't necessarily have time or money to peruse the book store for new books either. Welcome to Netflix for books!! (Why didn't I think of this?) The site is called Book Swim and it works the same as Netflix. With monthly plans ranging from $10-$50, you can finally tackle that long reading list that you've had since 2002.
My last website for today is actually Kelly Ripa's website on "Green Ideas" Exchanges. Not the biggest fan of Kelly Ripa, however I admire her dedication to pushing the Green agenda. Check out some of the tips!
Look out for more websites and tools to help keep life simple!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Until the next....
-T.C.
" I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it."
-Laurence Oliver
The first source is the one and ONLY magazine that I subscribe to: Real Simple. For those of you who aren't familiar with this magazine, it's devoted to the simplicities of life and to identifying solutions to the messes and catastrophes that are the result of our consumer-driven lifestyles. The title of the magazine says it all! For those who are not interested in buying or reading the magazine, at least visit www.realsimple.com and click on the " Time-Saving Tips" tab for their breadth of resourceful ideas on making our complicated lives more simple!
My next promotion is for a site devoted to book worms who don't have time to go to the library but who don't necessarily have time or money to peruse the book store for new books either. Welcome to Netflix for books!! (Why didn't I think of this?) The site is called Book Swim and it works the same as Netflix. With monthly plans ranging from $10-$50, you can finally tackle that long reading list that you've had since 2002.
My last website for today is actually Kelly Ripa's website on "Green Ideas" Exchanges. Not the biggest fan of Kelly Ripa, however I admire her dedication to pushing the Green agenda. Check out some of the tips!
Look out for more websites and tools to help keep life simple!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Until the next....
-T.C.
" I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it."
-Laurence Oliver
Thursday, April 15, 2010
More T.V.!!
Even though echo-boomers are the first generation to have access to computers for the majority of their lives (who remembers America Online chat rooms?), the television was the defining invention for baby-boomers. Imagine how life must have transformed! Live, visual entertainment, right in your living room!
From numerous conversations with my parents, this of course wasn't always the case. While I imagined the invention of the T.V. as something where everyone immediately rushed out to the store to buy several(wow how things have changed), for the first couple of years, most people did not even own their own T.V. First you would have that one family in the neighborhood with the T.V. who would invite you over to watch weekly programs like the Ed Sullivan show (kinda like the Late Night Shows of today), which was more likely for those who grew up in suburbia or urban areas. Gradually, ( basically as the price went down) people started to buy their own sets but no, not like today. One television per household please!
What's so fascinating to me and why I highlight this short excerpt in history is to show the ways in which technology (and entertainment) has brought us together. In the '50s and early '60s, families reached out to those without televisions to share in their excitement and experience of watching television. T.V. was strictly a social activity. Today, despite media and technology-driven isolation and distancing oneself from others, I think we still have the opportunity to make technology social and in fact, often do. We can definitely do more in terms of transforming the ways in which we think about individual activities with electronics ( e.g. invite a friend over to play Xbox instead of playing it alone)and we can also be aware of the time we spend alone with technology and time we spend with others.
When I think about families gathering around the T.V. to not only be entertained but to use the television as a way to get together, I'm reminded that I wouldn't be able to do that since I know NONE of my neighbors. In fact my father who visited and was in my building for less than 48 hours, knows more people who live their than I do. Is that rare? I think this is a growing trend and what does that say about our culture? I consider myself to be a bubbly, social being, however I've failed to connect to my community and environment and am for the most part OK with that because I'm aware of it and choose to connect in other ways.
One of the reasons I enjoy using Facebook is because it allows me to re-connect to old friends and family that I don't otherwise regularly keep in touch with. One could argue that bringing people together to sit in front of the T.V. is not the best way to " connect" to each other and also that spending 30 minutes on Facebook a day (my rough estimate for myself)is a waste of time. However, I don't think it hurts to look for different and creative ways that technology bring us together.
Isn't that the point anyway?
From numerous conversations with my parents, this of course wasn't always the case. While I imagined the invention of the T.V. as something where everyone immediately rushed out to the store to buy several(wow how things have changed), for the first couple of years, most people did not even own their own T.V. First you would have that one family in the neighborhood with the T.V. who would invite you over to watch weekly programs like the Ed Sullivan show (kinda like the Late Night Shows of today), which was more likely for those who grew up in suburbia or urban areas. Gradually, ( basically as the price went down) people started to buy their own sets but no, not like today. One television per household please!
What's so fascinating to me and why I highlight this short excerpt in history is to show the ways in which technology (and entertainment) has brought us together. In the '50s and early '60s, families reached out to those without televisions to share in their excitement and experience of watching television. T.V. was strictly a social activity. Today, despite media and technology-driven isolation and distancing oneself from others, I think we still have the opportunity to make technology social and in fact, often do. We can definitely do more in terms of transforming the ways in which we think about individual activities with electronics ( e.g. invite a friend over to play Xbox instead of playing it alone)and we can also be aware of the time we spend alone with technology and time we spend with others.
When I think about families gathering around the T.V. to not only be entertained but to use the television as a way to get together, I'm reminded that I wouldn't be able to do that since I know NONE of my neighbors. In fact my father who visited and was in my building for less than 48 hours, knows more people who live their than I do. Is that rare? I think this is a growing trend and what does that say about our culture? I consider myself to be a bubbly, social being, however I've failed to connect to my community and environment and am for the most part OK with that because I'm aware of it and choose to connect in other ways.
One of the reasons I enjoy using Facebook is because it allows me to re-connect to old friends and family that I don't otherwise regularly keep in touch with. One could argue that bringing people together to sit in front of the T.V. is not the best way to " connect" to each other and also that spending 30 minutes on Facebook a day (my rough estimate for myself)is a waste of time. However, I don't think it hurts to look for different and creative ways that technology bring us together.
Isn't that the point anyway?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Cell phone battle
Should I leave my cell phone sandwiched between couch pillows at home all day or do I take it with me, checking it ever five minutes, continuously distracting myself from being 100% present?
This is a dilemma that many of us are faced with. How to balance the use of gadgets and ways to communicate via Internet versus being free of these dependencies and perhaps feeling isolated from our entire network of friends and family. How did we get to this place? Where are we headed?
Not that long ago I remember an abundance of magazine articles and etiquette books preaching about the proper etiquette for cell phone use. Ha! Remember when it was socially unacceptable to talk on your cell phone in public areas? I remember people glaring at you or pouting and making annoyed sounds as if your phone conversation was so unbelievably disruptive to their shopping experience. It's kind of funny to think about it now. People have conversations on their phones in ANY public space, even in private spaces or small social settings, answering the phone regardless of what situation you're in or who's around.
I support cell phone use and am grateful for the ways that they have transformed our lives. I'm also amazed at what a wide selection of choices we have and am always excited to hear about the next new product! I probably wouldn't make it through the day with out my texts and I love the convenience and efficiency that cell phones can bring to us. Despite these benefits I see a deterioration of Intuitives ( people who grew up with computers and tend to intuitively understand technology as a fluid and every-changing thing) letting their day be dictated and distracted by their cell phone.
Five indicators that you let your cell phone take over your life- just food for thought!:
1. You have your phone in plain sight 24/7 ( OK I am guilty of that!)
2. You post the most random and unappealing photos taken by your phone and put them on Facebook under " Mobile Uploads"... haha
3. You have to charge your phone once a day
4. You text more people than the number of people you have face-to-face conversations with
5. You sleep with your phone
Five ways to re-connect to your day and relieve yourself from your cell phone!:
1. Instead of taking your lunch and deciding to call a friend, invite someone from work to eat with you and call your friend at night ( free minutes anyway!)
2. Set some boundaries around texting and calls e.g. I will not make or answer any calls after 10pm
3. Keep your phone in your bag or briefcase for half of the day; at work you can put it in your drawer (not the best idea for people who are more inclined to check their phones when the obstacle is greater)
4. Turn off your phone when you go to bed or when you take a nap ( only for the adventurous!
5. Find different ways of communicating with friends and family. Send an email, text, call from work, send an IM.
I'm not trying to be a hater....just intend to provoke your thought!
Until the next....
-Twisted Composure
"I don't answer the phone. I get the feeling whenever I do that there will be someone on the other end." ~Fred Couples
"Cell phones are the latest invention in rudeness" ~Terri Guillemets
"I like my new cell phone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!"
This is a dilemma that many of us are faced with. How to balance the use of gadgets and ways to communicate via Internet versus being free of these dependencies and perhaps feeling isolated from our entire network of friends and family. How did we get to this place? Where are we headed?
Not that long ago I remember an abundance of magazine articles and etiquette books preaching about the proper etiquette for cell phone use. Ha! Remember when it was socially unacceptable to talk on your cell phone in public areas? I remember people glaring at you or pouting and making annoyed sounds as if your phone conversation was so unbelievably disruptive to their shopping experience. It's kind of funny to think about it now. People have conversations on their phones in ANY public space, even in private spaces or small social settings, answering the phone regardless of what situation you're in or who's around.
I support cell phone use and am grateful for the ways that they have transformed our lives. I'm also amazed at what a wide selection of choices we have and am always excited to hear about the next new product! I probably wouldn't make it through the day with out my texts and I love the convenience and efficiency that cell phones can bring to us. Despite these benefits I see a deterioration of Intuitives ( people who grew up with computers and tend to intuitively understand technology as a fluid and every-changing thing) letting their day be dictated and distracted by their cell phone.
Five indicators that you let your cell phone take over your life- just food for thought!:
1. You have your phone in plain sight 24/7 ( OK I am guilty of that!)
2. You post the most random and unappealing photos taken by your phone and put them on Facebook under " Mobile Uploads"... haha
3. You have to charge your phone once a day
4. You text more people than the number of people you have face-to-face conversations with
5. You sleep with your phone
Five ways to re-connect to your day and relieve yourself from your cell phone!:
1. Instead of taking your lunch and deciding to call a friend, invite someone from work to eat with you and call your friend at night ( free minutes anyway!)
2. Set some boundaries around texting and calls e.g. I will not make or answer any calls after 10pm
3. Keep your phone in your bag or briefcase for half of the day; at work you can put it in your drawer (not the best idea for people who are more inclined to check their phones when the obstacle is greater)
4. Turn off your phone when you go to bed or when you take a nap ( only for the adventurous!
5. Find different ways of communicating with friends and family. Send an email, text, call from work, send an IM.
I'm not trying to be a hater....just intend to provoke your thought!
Until the next....
-Twisted Composure
"I don't answer the phone. I get the feeling whenever I do that there will be someone on the other end." ~Fred Couples
"Cell phones are the latest invention in rudeness" ~Terri Guillemets
"I like my new cell phone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!"
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Grocery stores and strangers
One guarantee in life is that when you go to the grocery store you're sure to either 1) run into someone you know, or 2) meet a stranger. Last night I decided to take a walk to the grocery store(ipod free!)and ended up having two or three different conversations with strangers. Now this may not sound that odd to people who seek encounters with strangers in the grocery aisle of the opposite sex (or the same) in hopes of a date or people (like my father)who meet someone new everywhere they go. On the flip side, those of us who are used to gluing the ipod headphones to our ears whenever we are alone, for us meeting strangers is a rare and in my opinion, a refreshing feat.
One of my encounters included a man and a woman caught up in a grocery cart traffic jam. I happened to be scrunched up against the side of the aisle, attempting not to knock over the bottles of olive oil and vinegar, when the woman let the man pass through and said "you can go ahead, what's the rush". I thought in my mind, that's right! What IS the rush? I smiled and nodded in agreement as they both passed me by.
For those of us that live in metropolitan areas I don't think I'm alone in saying that we've all observed the peculiar ways in which people rush while they're walking and dart through each other like they have the most important place to be. This occurs at any time of day and also despite how many people are around. I frequently witness one, sole person rushing through an open space, huffing and puffing as if the slightly faster paces will make their day that much better.
I used to walk fast everywhere I went as well. Most of the time I wasn't in a rush, I just did it because I was always thinking 10 or 20 minutes ahead of me. Finally one day I slowed down and decided that " I'll get there when I get there".
I made it my goal to purposely walk at my own pace and to pay more attention to what surrounded me and my feeling in that moment. It's amazing how one simple task can bring a glimpse of peace to one's day. Despite the fear of being late (which is usually not decided by fast paces or slow ones) or missing those 3 extra minutes of my day, life proceeded as normal. I think most of us walk quickly and fail to recognize what's going on internally and externally as we do this. Walking quickly and anxiously immediately diverts our attention to the future, the place we want to get to. What happened to where we are now?
Until the next...
-Twisted Composure
" What's the rush!?"
-Grocery store oracle ;)
One of my encounters included a man and a woman caught up in a grocery cart traffic jam. I happened to be scrunched up against the side of the aisle, attempting not to knock over the bottles of olive oil and vinegar, when the woman let the man pass through and said "you can go ahead, what's the rush". I thought in my mind, that's right! What IS the rush? I smiled and nodded in agreement as they both passed me by.
For those of us that live in metropolitan areas I don't think I'm alone in saying that we've all observed the peculiar ways in which people rush while they're walking and dart through each other like they have the most important place to be. This occurs at any time of day and also despite how many people are around. I frequently witness one, sole person rushing through an open space, huffing and puffing as if the slightly faster paces will make their day that much better.
I used to walk fast everywhere I went as well. Most of the time I wasn't in a rush, I just did it because I was always thinking 10 or 20 minutes ahead of me. Finally one day I slowed down and decided that " I'll get there when I get there".
I made it my goal to purposely walk at my own pace and to pay more attention to what surrounded me and my feeling in that moment. It's amazing how one simple task can bring a glimpse of peace to one's day. Despite the fear of being late (which is usually not decided by fast paces or slow ones) or missing those 3 extra minutes of my day, life proceeded as normal. I think most of us walk quickly and fail to recognize what's going on internally and externally as we do this. Walking quickly and anxiously immediately diverts our attention to the future, the place we want to get to. What happened to where we are now?
Until the next...
-Twisted Composure
" What's the rush!?"
-Grocery store oracle ;)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Generation tech-challenge!
This morning, it occurred to me while stepping off the crowded metro and trying to find some peace of mind before I arrived at work that I should start a blog devoted to the the 21st century conflict of media and technology dependence versus the drive for present-grounding experiences and moments that bring us closer to nature and humanity. I realize that technology dependence is not a new phenomena ( one could argue that the 20th century brought a significantly larger and more impactful change with regard to technology and the way we live our lives , e.g. the television, the computer, cell phones) however I have a feeling that we are on the cusp of something even greater and perhaps more destructive.
I am a product of the baby boomer generation, which makes me an echo-boomer. As echo-boomers, I see my peers plagued with the attraction and familiarity of using different forms of technology at all stages of our day-almost as if our iphones and ipods have become entrenched in our souls. Though I have progressive parents who are aligned and familiar with the cultural shifts in the use of technology and new media, I witness a huge division between generations in the workplace-where it can be difficult as an echo boomer to work with baby boomers or even the generations in between. To an extreme, it has become a situation of those who are fluid users of technology ( let's call them Intuitives) and those who are not ( let's call them Baby-boomers, haha j/k no Concretists). Now this is not a blog about bashing my peers nor those who are technology-challenged (Concretists) nor those who are addicted to their Blackberrys and posting their minute-by-minute update on Facebook, but rather to comment, reflect and highlight some of the challenges we face during this technology-driven cultural revolution.
In this cultural shift of technology taking over our lives ( not if we don't let it!), we all play a significant role in the moment to moment choices that we make. Part of this blog is also about taking the time to remember life and embrace the moments we have with each other, face-to face. What is our relationship with the environments we live in? When is the last time you walked outside without your ipod on? As a Washington DC commuter who frequently uses the metro and listens to my ipod every chance I can get, I asked myself this same question and was alarmed that I couldn't remember the last time I was outside, alone, without my headphones on. I couldn't even remember the last time where I just walked and observed my surroundings!
It's the small things that I think our society can do better on. Hold the door open for someone, even if they're 10 seconds away. Communicate. Not just through email but through conversation.
Until the next....
-Twisted Composure
" The present is a gift and I just want to be."
-Common
I am a product of the baby boomer generation, which makes me an echo-boomer. As echo-boomers, I see my peers plagued with the attraction and familiarity of using different forms of technology at all stages of our day-almost as if our iphones and ipods have become entrenched in our souls. Though I have progressive parents who are aligned and familiar with the cultural shifts in the use of technology and new media, I witness a huge division between generations in the workplace-where it can be difficult as an echo boomer to work with baby boomers or even the generations in between. To an extreme, it has become a situation of those who are fluid users of technology ( let's call them Intuitives) and those who are not ( let's call them Baby-boomers, haha j/k no Concretists). Now this is not a blog about bashing my peers nor those who are technology-challenged (Concretists) nor those who are addicted to their Blackberrys and posting their minute-by-minute update on Facebook, but rather to comment, reflect and highlight some of the challenges we face during this technology-driven cultural revolution.
In this cultural shift of technology taking over our lives ( not if we don't let it!), we all play a significant role in the moment to moment choices that we make. Part of this blog is also about taking the time to remember life and embrace the moments we have with each other, face-to face. What is our relationship with the environments we live in? When is the last time you walked outside without your ipod on? As a Washington DC commuter who frequently uses the metro and listens to my ipod every chance I can get, I asked myself this same question and was alarmed that I couldn't remember the last time I was outside, alone, without my headphones on. I couldn't even remember the last time where I just walked and observed my surroundings!
It's the small things that I think our society can do better on. Hold the door open for someone, even if they're 10 seconds away. Communicate. Not just through email but through conversation.
Until the next....
-Twisted Composure
" The present is a gift and I just want to be."
-Common
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)