Posts Tagged ‘Technology’

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Wireless Reading Device©2010 Lynn Rebuck

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

big-viewer-WIFI-04-small._V186834433_[1]          I’ve finally given in and purchased a Kindle. What is a Kindle, you ask? According to the Amazon.com website, the Kindle is their revolutionary wireless reading device. One can purchase and download books onto the Kindle, and it has been the company’s top-selling item for the past two years.
I have made fun of the Kindle in the past. I already own many wireless reading devices. They are called books. They are portable, do not need Wi-Fi access, and have real pages to turn. I resist technology at every turn. Just ask my GPS.
         When I was shopping the Amazon website for my textbooks for the second year of graduate school, I discovered that (more…)

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Teen Help Desk © 2010 Lynn Rebuck

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

ComputerHelp In the old days, we used to pay kids to mow the lawn or shovel snow. Now I pay them to help me with my electronics.
         “Can you help me program my remote?” I asked a kid on my street one day. “I’ve been watching the same channel for a year. I hear from the neighbors that we actually get several hundred of them. And while you’re here, can you adjust the time on my digital watch and open some childproof lids for me?”
         Kids used to set up lemonade stands to make money during the summer. Now they’re setting up neighborhood computer help desks and making a killing. We technologically-challenged baby boomers have come crawling on our knees to the rising generation, or as I like to call them, God’s newest release.
         When it comes to electronics, if you want it done right, ask a teenager. I have seen them navigate menus, scroll through screens, and deftly touch, point, and click with the precision of a skilled surgeon.
        I, on the other hand, can barely manage to make a call on my cell phone. When others ask me what features my phone has, I tell them (more…)

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“The Font of Youth” © 2010 Lynn Rebuck

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

FontofYouthCellphones     Last week a 13-year old girl won $50,000 in a national texting championship in New York City. To win the top prize she tapped out a verse of “Old MacDonald” on her cell phone in only sixty seconds besting several other teen girls in the competition. I’m guessing that the next thing she did was text her friends to tell them she won. How difficult is it to type “E-I-E-I-O” over and over? Thanks to having keys tinier than Tic Tacs on my cell phone I unintentionally tap out those lyrics every time I send a text message.
          Like it or not, texting is increasingly becoming the preferred method of communication for teens. We parents were encouraged as youth to let our fingers do the walking. With an estimated 20,000 text messages being sent per second by kids under age 18, our offspring’s fingers are clearly doing the talking.
          I have a phone with a QWERTY keyboard, which is the traditional set-up with individual keys positioned as they are on a computer keyboard. It helps somewhat. I think I am the only person that texts with a lisp. I still make lots of mistexts.
          Since text messaging condenses words, omits most vowels, and uses unique shorthand, it can be difficult to decipher. What we need is a Rosetta stone for text messages. For instance, see if you can figure out this well-known message:“4 scr & 7 yrs a/g, r dads brot 4th on dis cntnt nu ntn.” Do you recognize it as

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Something to Tweet About © 2009 Lynn Rebuck

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Something to Tweet About © 2009 Lynn Rebuck
I have good news, but first I must explain.
Since reluctantly showing my face on Facebook, and then inviting followers on Twitter, I have been continually challenged with what to post to periodically update my friends/followers.
Although I am seldom at a loss for words, I get writer’s block when [...]

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