Today’s Tech Turning Us Into Sociopaths?

Folks, here’s another article I think everyone should read (and really think about).

* Today’s Apps Are Turning Us Into Sociopaths

“While I am far from a Luddite who fetishizes a life without tech, we need to consider the consequences of this latest batch of apps and tools that remind us to contact significant others, boost our willpower, provide us with moral guidance, and encourage us to be civil. Taken together, we’re observing the emergence of tech that doesn’t just augment our intellect and lives — but is now beginning to automate and outsource our humanity.” Read more..

Ready for more good news?

* The NSA may not be listening to your private phone calls, but it has been watching your private parts

“The U.K. and U.S. government’s ability to tap into webcams — and directly into your living rooms and offices — shows the biggest and most blatant lack of respect for people’s privacy by Western governments in living memory.” Read more..

Yes.. it is kind of hard to take that all in. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture. But we need to be thinking about this stuff now. (Actually.. yesterday would have been better, but..)

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Today’s bonus video: 15 Inaccuracies Found In Common Science Illustrations

Today’s quote: “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” ~ Albert Einstein

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

Today’s Must Read (And a bit about Bitcoins)

For Those Thinkers Out There.

Folks, a quick reading reco: Privacy concerns about data collection may lead to dumbing down smart devices

“A new wave of smart devices sensors and Internet of Things collecting data will make it hard to remain anonymous offline. Will the public wake up to the risks all of that data poses to their privacy?” Read more..

Keyword there is “offline”.

(And people can hope.. as the article says.. Ahem.)

I highly recommend you read that whole article.

News: Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World

“The most prominent Bitcoin exchange appeared to be on the verge of collapse late Monday, raising questions about the future of a volatile marketplace.” Read more..

(I think that’s kind of funny.. What’ya expect from an unregulated, ‘virtual’ [meaning non-existant artificiality] currency?)

Today’s bonus: Cyberattacks fallout could cost the global economy $3 trillion by 2020

“The global economy has yet to mount an adequate defense against the rise of cyberattacks, according to new research. The impact could be $3 trillion in lost productivity and growth.” Read more..

Bah. Peanuts! (And, it probably already has. But no one can/will say so.)

Today’s quote: “War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.” ~ George Orwell, 1984

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

From Russia With Love (Not Olympics, Sorry)

Bonus: Sunday Beauty #147

This spam comment, posted on my Practical advice for online safety article, is an interesting study in human psychology. (And is an interesting bit of irony as well..)

You do look at the URL, don’t you? The ‘dot ru’ domain is Russia. (For a list of the main domain names, click here.) And btw? Most of you will never want to click a Russian-hosted website. (aka “don’t”)
Yes, buy your Russian Twitter followers here. Russia makes great followers!

Good deal! Very affordable! Certainly want to improve your relevance and trustworthiness …………

Let me be blunt: if you think it might benefit you and your “revenue stream” to acquire ‘friends’ and ‘followers’, and you’d cheat to do it, please see a psychiatrist. There’s something seriously wrong with you, IMHO.

Even if this is not you, I think you’d have to agree there’s something seriously wrong with a system that encourages such thinking.

No I’m not naive (I don’t think) .. I know it is all about “monetize”..

Yes… change the rules.. (at least they’re honest about it: get ’em hooked/addicted, then jack the price. Works for drug dealers.)

Today’s Pretty Picture:

Click on image to see more by this artist (as good as a trip to the zoo)

“Schildturako im Tierpark Hellabrunn” by Alois Staudacher, courtesy of Flickr Commons

Well, today’s the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. Maybe now life can get back to normal..

Today’s quote: “If all of your friends are Facebook Friends, I’m seriously scared for you.” ~ Tony Robbins.

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

OneDrive

I see Microsoft has – once again – decided that changing the name of something will somehow benefit them, increase sales, and that they are now going to call their “SkyDrive” cloud service “OneDrive”.

Whoopee!

Yes, I feel much better about cloud computing now. Sign me up!

For those interested:

“Take a tour of the great new features in OneDrive and find out why it’s the one place to store and share all of your favorite things.  Learn more

Want to earn more free storage? Get up to an extra 8 GB by following the steps to enable your camera roll backup and by referring your friends. Log in at OneDrive.com.”

I’m sure the very highly paid People In Charge at Microsoft are a lot smarter than me. But I’m not seeing all that a bright a future for them…

Friday Fun video:

What can I say? That video has more than 10 million views…

Today’s quote: “Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.” ~ Jim Rohn

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

A Quiet Place..

Here’s another pretty picture for your weekend. (Because sometime we all need to find a …)

Click on image to see more by this artist (reco’d)

“quiet place” by rosmary, courtesy of Flickr Commons.

Today’s bonus: Featuring Zero Dollar Movies

“To keep you busy this weekend; especially if you are snowed in, check out Zero Dollar Movies. What Zero Dollar Movies is a collection of over 15000 full length movies that are available on YouTube. My guess is that many of these are not theatre quality movies, but all the same there may be some […]” Read more..

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Loved this…

Today’s quote: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

The Tech That’s Here Now, That’s Going To Change Everything

Recently I was asked about how some of the newest tech gadgets and gizmos were, quite literally, gamechangers, and how we are entering (or, about to enter) a quite different world. The person was thinking about things like GPS-aware smartphones, “wearable” tech (like Google’s glasses), and in-the-home spy units like the Xbox One, and how society’s concept of privacy was changing.

Which was appropriate, as we just had had Data Privacy Day, and Tuesday was Safer Internet Day.

But I think the real gamechanger is 3D printing. And I think it is going to effect everything humans do (or, how they do it).

Before too long, we’re not going to be nuking frozen pizzas, we’ll just print one. We won’t go down to Sears and buy a socket wrench set – we’ll print one.
We won’t buy a Picasso as an investment, we’ll simply .. well, you get the idea.

Already, they’ve ‘printed’ a replacement (“bionic”) human ear, which, ala the 6 Million Dollar Man, can hear far better than a ‘real’ ear.. (see, “Bionic” ear merges electronics with tissue)
Just think on that.. (printing living flesh/cells)

3D printing is in its infancy, and there’s no telling, yet, just what it’s going to do. But it sure is going to disrupt every status quo, and cause many legal and ethical debates (in fact, it already is starting to).

I highly recommend anyone interested in why I think 3D Printing is the gamechanger read this article: 10 industries 3D printing will disrupt or decimate

“As it evolves, 3D printing technology is destined to transform almost every major industry and change the way we live, work, and play in the future.” Read more..

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Some things probably won”t change:

Looks scary. I better open it and see why someone expects me to appear in court…
Failure to appear is a crime in itself..

Today’s quote: “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ~ Lao Tzu

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

Everything Google

Folks, I’ve only time for a quick reading reco today. I found this (rather lengthy) article an informative and interesting read – and I think it gives us a reasonable foretaste of things to come in the next few years.

* The 2014 Google tracker—Everything we know Google is working on this year

Google’s plans for Android, gaming, smart homes, healthcare, robots, and much, much more.” Read more..

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Ashley’s one determined gal..

FUBAR = *Fouled* Up Beyond All Recognition

Today’s quote: “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.