Unplugged

October 10, 2011 Comments off

The second-place winner in Unplug & Reconnect’s essay contest, Lori Quiller of Alabama, writes about discovering sights and sounds around her after she unplugs from technology in this essay titled “Unplugged.”

 

By Lori Quiller

 

I’m definitely an iPod girl. It’s like my wallet, cell phone, checkbook and credit card – I never leave home without it.

Music is soothing, or it can rev you up during the lull of the day. It can push out the minutia of not-so-white noise that can so quickly envelope and drown you when you are least expecting it. But, it can also be the blanket covering up some of the most beautiful sounds of our world that we have learned to tune out.

Where I work requires me to walk three blocks from a parking deck, down a hill, crossing busy intersections, and navigating vehicles filled with hurried drivers. But, there’s so much more.

When my iPod’s hard drive and battery died, I quickly ordered a new one thinking I just couldn’t survive without this little device I’d grown so accustomed to for the last seven years. (No, it wasn’t old. The tech at The Apple Store smiled graciously when he carefully chose the words, “well loved,” when he described my poor, ailing little iPod that was about to be retired.)

There were several days in which I walked those three blocks each morning and afternoon bare-eared! Gasp! Not knowing how long I was going to survive without my tunes, I constantly tracked the shipping logs to find out how long before the replacement would be at my doorstep.

Then, I began to notice things I hadn’t before. First was walking past the construction site outside my parking deck. There was a chorus of mechanical tunes inside the structure. Metal on metal. Welding. Ringing. A loud pinging from deep inside. I slowed my pace. That’s when I noticed the loose manhole cover in front of the bank. I stepped on it, and it cracked like a cymbal.

I was quickly reminded of an episode of Sex and the City when Carrie dated a jazz musician who tried to get her to listen to the sounds of the street as they walked. That episode was playing out in my head, and I was in the middle of it!

The vehicles whirring past me, trying to make the next light, then squealing to a halt at the last second. Children at the daycare laughing and giggling while playing outside on the jungle gyms and in the sandlots. Birds calling to each other as they flew over my head playing their own version of “Tag! You’re it!” The sound of the light breeze tangling in the trees followed me down to the building where I worked. Finally, the thump, whirr, thump, whirr, thump, whirr of the rotating glass door entrance of the building.

It took just more than a week for my new iPod to make it to my home, but I have a confession. While I still take it wherever I go, there are days in which the sounds of the city are just are as beautiful as anything I have loaded into my tunes. It’s a different way of plugging in.

 

A Farewell to Steve Jobs

October 6, 2011 Comments off

At the taping of the “Today” show this morning, host Matt Lauer asked members of the audience to hold up their Apple products in tribute to Apple founder Steve Jobs. Almost everyone gathered outside NBC’s New York studio raised their hands, proudly waving iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Yesterday, Jobs, the man responsible for introducing these well-designed, user-friendly gadgets to the world, died following a seven-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56.

In his life and especially after his death, the Apple and Pixar Films founder has been lauded as a visionary on a par with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

Since launching the first Macintosh personal computer in the garage of his parents’ suburban California home, Jobs has helped to change our relationship with technology. Along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, he introduced smartly designed personal computers that were less intimidating and more intuitive to operate. One woman, speaking of her first “Mac,” told an interviewer, “I didn’t know whether to turn it on or hug it.”  Later, Jobs found a way to popularize digitized music with the introduction of the iPod. His iPhone allowed us to carry miniature computers in the palms of our hands.

At Unplug and Reconnect, our concern is that sometimes we become too preoccupied with technologies such as those introduced by Apple – to the detriment of the people and events that are meaningful in our lives. It’s then we need to achieve a new balance in our lives.

Jobs’ Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak might agree. In an interview a few years ago, he lamented the complete dependence on technology that many possess and wondered if there should be a 12-step program to help cure technology addiction.

“All of a sudden, we’ve lost a lot of control,” said Wozniak. “We can’t turn off our Internet. We can’t turn off our smart phones. We can’t turn off our computers.”

But that’s not to say we don’t appreciate the technologies introduced by Jobs. The iPhone, iPad and iPhone certainly make our lives easier, our work more efficient and productive, our spare time more entertaining. One can only imagine where Jobs’ creative genius would have taken the world next.

As we like to say, “Love Technology . . . Love People More.”

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.

 

Disconnecting From Social Media in a Few Easy Steps

September 9, 2011 Comments off

The two most popular social networking sites Facebook (750 million  users) and Twitter (200 million users) offer you ways to deactivate, hide, or downgrade your accounts. Facebook offers a few ways to distance yourself from it, become less dependent. You can start by turning off the notifications to your email, deleting the application from your smartphone, or even go as far as deactivating your account. Deactivating your account just means that you’re “turning off” until you’re ready to use it again.

 

 

Here are five easy steps on how to deactivate your Facebook account.

  1. Click Account on the top left of your page.
  2. Go to Account Settings.
  3. Select the Security tab
  4. On the bottom of the page you’ll find the button to deactivate your account. Click it.

5.   Scroll to the bottom of the next page and click confirm.

 

Don’t be fooled! Facebook will try to lure you into staying with a notice saying “Are you sure your want to deactivate your account?,” accompanied by pictures of loved ones, to convince you to stay active on Facebook. You should probably give your loved ones a call and see them in person instead!

The process to deactivate your Twitter account is similar to Facebook’s. Start by turning off notifications and weaning yourself gradually. If that doesn’t work, deactivate your account.

 

Four Simple steps to deactivate your Twitter account.

  1. Click on your name in the top right corner
  2. Click Settings
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page where there is a “Deactivate My Account” button and select it.
  4. On the next page, confirm that you want to deactivate

Social networking is an amazing way to stay in touch with friends and family, close and long distance. The problem arises when it is used as the only means of communicating with people. Allowing social networking sites to monopolize your communication methods is a slippery slope, as it can easily become your default form of communication, to the total exclusion of face-to-face interaction. Don’t let yourself get too attached!

 

International Students Benefitted from “Unplugging”

April 8, 2011 Comments off

College students attempting a 24 unplugging challenge rate their experience.

A recent study by the International Center for Media & the Public Affair surveyed students in 10 countries who were asked to unplug from all media for 24 hours.  Read more [+]

How is Social Media Affecting our Children?

March 18, 2011 Comments off

The American Academy of Pediatrics(AAP) published a new clinical report on “The Impact of Social Media Use on Children, Adolescents and Families.”
The report warns parents to be aware of some problems associated with social media use, especially for teens and tweens. Facebook depression, cyberbullying and sexting are some of the new hazards associated with online media.
Read more [+]

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