Bad Tech to Watch Out For

There’s a fine line between cheap and inexpensive, and it can be hard to tell the difference. Why buy a second piece of tech that you’ll probably forget at home? Became a phone photographer, and never look back. Camcorders have long been a part of our culture. For many years, people filmed just about every facet of daily life, generating what must be millions of miles of video tape showing family holiday get-togethers, trips to theme parks and graduation ceremonies. Move over, box of 8mm film — a box of videotapes needs some room. But just as cell phone cameras have been upgraded for still photos, their video quality has also improved remarkably over recent years especially with the introduction of many communication services. Speaking of gadgets that do double duty, back when GPS units first came to the market, they felt like the ultimate in James Bond wizardry. Here’s the thing: You probably already have one of these. No, I’m not talking about the in-dash GPS units that come as an option on your car (which are a huge waste of money). Actually, I mean that smartphone you check obsessively throughout the day. DVD players and name brand HDMI cables are also some old tech that is not worth buying.

Turn it Off

How you ever gone out with your friends and then barely said a word to each other because you were all so busy using different phone services and social networks? Instead of enjoying concerts that we paid big bucks for, we're spending the time looking through the tiny screens of our phones to capture blurry photographs that we'll later slap a Hefe filter on. Instead of catching up with an old friend over some coffee, we're plotting how to describe this moment in 140 characters for thousands of strangers to read. Our memories will be diluted to dissecting timelines on Facebook and I fear we'll just turn there to expose how we feel, how we really feel, instead of saying it out loud in person. Who do you honestly think is going to call you that is so important that they cannot wait? Maybe we need to be able to connect in other ways.

Getting the Most Out of Gmail

If you get a lot of invites in your email–whether they’re for social events or just plain old work meetings–it’s now easier than ever to add them directly to your Google calendar from an open email. Look for any dates or times in the email and you’ll see dashes appear under those words. Click the date and you’ll get a prompt asking if you want to “Add to Calendar.” ne of Google’s recent “improvements” to Gmail is customizable tabs which separate incoming email into categories; Primary, Social and Promotions. Primary is email sent specifically to you, or that you mark as important. Social is email from social networking sites like LinkedIn, Pinterest and Facebook. Promotions is where I find my Groupon emails and other newsletters that I subscribe to. More internet faxing companies should looking into this organizational structure so that it is much easier to sort through all of the important faxes and ignore the junk.

Build Your Own

When you are online, whether it is gaming, streaming videos, or just chatting with internet phone services, a freezing of the system can be the worst nightmare come true. It is frustrating, yes, but when you think about the fact that about 30% of the population does not have internet access, it can put things into perspective. As we have heard from many tech giants, internet access it a human right and it should be treated as such. Maybe it's time to take matters into their own hands. Communities beyond U.S. borders are showing the way. In rural Lancashire, England, the residents of one village have begun digging trenches and installing their own fiber optic cables. To make their homemade network run, the BBC reports, they've enlisted everyone from a "Lancaster University professor who is an expert in computer networks" to a "farmer's wife who has just retired from a career in IT support." "Farmers are being told they have to fill in forms online," Barry Forde of the Lancashire effort told the BBC. "If you haven't got broadband, you are severely disadvantaged." An ocean away, The Times of India reports, the Mexican town of Villa Talea de Castro built its own mobile network after America Movil, Mexico's largest telecommunications provider, refused to hook the town up.

Saving the World: One Connecting at a Time

What a powerful thing the Internet is. We can type out words and then have other people read them instantly as you are probably doing now. It is used for VoIP services so you can connect with people all over the world. Zuckerberg believes that connectivity is a human right. He recently posted, "The more things we all know, the better ideas, products and services we can all offer and the better all of our lives will be.” It might sound great and all that but the truth of the matter is that there is always a business angle. More Internet users mean more data, which can be sold to advertisers (Facebook) or used by the advertiser (Google), and all of which must be transmitted through some device (Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm). The corners of the world without Internet present vast, untapped markets. On the other hand, the Internet is not magic. The Internet cannot nourish, and it cannot give a homeless person a home. Just something to think about during your meals.

Working for Nothing

If you are like one of the many recent college grads, you are probably still looking for a job or have taken an unpaid internship. The unpaid internship may include answering internet phone calls and even taking out the trash. Unpaid internships are, at best, ethically iffy. A necessary precursor to jobs in certain fields, they act as both a gateway and a barrier to entry. Young people believe they have no choice. Anyone unable to forgo pay risks being shut out. Legally, they’re murky. The Labor Department holds that unpaid internships in the nonprofit sector are “generally permissible." Interestingly enough, the Labor Department does not, for example, routinely monitor job boards for suspicious ads. Nor have lawmakers on Capitol Hill tried to draw attention to the culture of unpaid internships, with task forces or hearings or education campaigns. Have you ever been in this position?

Defcon: How to Hack Safely

At the annual hacker convention, there is a program that encourages kids to hack, safely of course. One of the best things about these types of programs is that it teaches the kids about technology at an early age. It sets the groundwork for future application development and for the kids to be aware of the different type of technologies and how they can be used. It's like training-wheels for learning about the technology … having kids start sooner, getting people who wouldn't normally get into hacking sooner, and spreading that it's not necessarily hacking in the evil sense but a lot about curiosity, finding flaws and sharing knowledge. The r00tz Asylum program provides kids a safe environment in which to break the rules. Learning it in a controlled kind of environment under guidance is much better than people going off on their own and perusing it in any way they please. There should definitely be more programs such as these.