Phones Affect on Congolese

We often don't think about where our technology is coming from and the affect it has on people who don't even have the opportunity to use it. Many people who mine for metal are being abused and overworked. The highest demand for these metals are in the construction process of a mobile phone, and know she can do our best to help.

But does no one else find it ironic that we are asked to use our mobile phones (through texting) to help this issue primarily caused by our growing need and usage of mobile phones?

If you are unable to view this embedded video, please click this link to view it on Youtube.

Thought and Boredom

Today while riding in a taxi with my family I realized none of my family was talking: my sister was listening to her iPod and playing a game on her DSi, my mom was playing Tetris on her iPhone, and my dad was checking his email on his iPod Touch. I sat in the taxi amidst all this and thought about how the technology preoccupying them kept them from having some free time to think. I always need time to think my own thoughts. Had they tried thinking to themselves, they would have been easily bored. Even a nice family conversation on the way to dinner isn't nearly as engaging as Tetris or Tik Tok by Ke$ha.

Technology is a wonderful thing, it allows us to never become bored on the way to dinner, but I fear technology is also causing us to tire far too easily. Parents with young kids bring along portable DVD players or have televisions in their cars so their children won't get restless. Teenagers and adults have Blackberries, iPhones, or iPods. At my old school, students carried iPods in their pockets and the second they were dismissed from class, they'd pop in an earbud, which to me, and no one else in the school, seemed antisocial. They had already faced the boring drone of their teacher's 80 minute lecture and they needed something to keep them alive and awake for the ten minutes until their next class. This is a clear example of how we are becoming overly dependent on devices like this to cure us from boredom. The more we use these technologies, the more easily bored and impatient we become.

Click this link to be taken to the picture above.

Eyelashes

For information regarding eyelashes, begin watching 33 seconds into the video.

I recently watched the video above and was quite shocked. I had no idea so much money and time was really going into research for luscious eyelashes. The entire concept seems a bit ridiculous to me. Are beautiful eyelashes really in such a great demand that scientist are devoting their research time and space for them?

Technology is ever advancing, but are we using it for the right reasons? I think this shows that we really are not. As John Green mentions in the video above, malaria, and other issues, seem much more important to research and cure than small, thin, or unappealing lashes.

Blogs For Good

I find it interesting that there is an increasing number of charities, organizations, and companies that regularly post blogs.

Jill Robinson, founder of Animals Asia, an organization who aims "to improve the lives of all animal

s in Asia, end cruelty and restore respect for animals Asia-wide"

has a blog linked to the organization's website. Kiva, an organization which enables entrepreneurship and microfinance for the impoverished, also keeps up a blog written by many people who work for the organization. Sally Anderson, founder of an organization who rescues and rehomes dogs on the streets of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Dog Rescue, also blogs about her experiences and most recently about her difficult relocating the rescue.

HKDR also has an official Youtube channel and Facebook fan page. Other charities that have official Facebook fan pages include the Breast Cancer Site, the Hunger Site, and the Child Health Site.

The Nature Conservancy, an organization that "protect[s] ecologically important lands and waters" developed the idea of tweeting for nature. You can tweet a suggested post to show what you will do for nature in the new year or you can create your own post.

These organizations are realizing that they must now have a Twitter, Facebook, and/or blog to connect with the more recent generations. As technology changes, the companies and organizations must too.

Ten Red Balloons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgB8ucWqRUs

Darpa, the researchers of the military who may be better known for creating the internet, posted up ten large, red, weather balloons all across America yesterday. A group or individual that is able to submit the exact location and the number (they are numbered from one to ten) will receive $40,000. Many large groups have bound together in an attempt to get all ten red balloons as quickly as they can.

I found out about this from the video above. The vlogbrothers, a Youtube channel, and their American followers are working together to find all ten balloons, and if they win the competition, they plan to donate all $40,000 to a charity that they decide upon. I thought this was an interesting idea, because the Youtube community dispersed all around the country, making it easy to find the red balloons. While some groups may have people around the country, there is no group as large as the thousands of American Youtubers.

This just shows what internet and Youtube can do and how it can be used for good.

The photo above can be located at this website.

Word Docs for iPhones

For a while now, my mom has been calling her iPhone her "mini computer," saying it had everything a computer has and more - plus it is compact. Fed up with her saying this, I finally told her that it wasn't comparable to the computer because it did not have word documents and it could not print.

Now, to her delight, I have been partially proven wrong. Quickoffice Inc has created the equivalent of Microsoft Word for the iPhone. It is called Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite. This application allows you to open and edit Microsoft Word Documents that are emailed to you, as well as create them yourselves and email documents to others. You can cut, copy, and paste text. There are also special features like auto-correction and auto-capitalization just like a regular Microsoft Word Doc. You can change the font sizes and style of your text and make your text in bold or italics. You can set paragraph alignment and set the bulleted and numbered styles. You can create tables within your document. Plus, you don't have to worry about losing your work with the auto-save and auto-restore features, and the text wraps around so you don't have to constantly scroll left and right. This also comes with an Excel Spreadsheet Editor, which allows for generally the same functions as Microsoft Word as well as Microsoft Excel. The application has it all.

However, there are contradictory ratings on iTunes. The application seems to get either a one star out of five or a solid five. The previous version, Version 1.2.0, had some issues with email the documents and even getting the app to open. Quickoffice has guaranteed they have fixed this problem with their latest update, causing many product users to call this their favorite app. Many other reviewers, however, have commented saying the product still does not work properly. Coop61 said, "I have had this app for only 3 hours and it has crashed many, many times." I understand some customers being angry, as this app did cost them almost $10 at the US iTunes store. Others say that it is better than having no easily-accesible Word Doc, glitches or no glitches.

So now, someone needs to discover a way to print from the iPhone, and I will be thoroughly proven wrong. Contrary to my prior belief, the iPhone is becoming the pocket-sized computer.

The first photograph is from www.iphonefreak.com and the second photograph is from www.blogcdn.com

Appreciating Nature

In a previous class we talked about technology's affect on our appreciation of the great out doors. I can see both sides of the arguement. I understand that kids play video games rather than going hiking. If we never go out into nature and appreciate it, how can we ever be will to save it?

However, I realized there is a way for technology to facilitate my appreciation for nature rather than hinder it. As I was driving home from the airport in the rain today, I huge rainbow appeared before my eyes. I was stunned by its size, clear colors, and the fact that it was a full arch. Taking in the beautiful scene, I remember thinking that I just wished someone somewhere in this city had a camera with them and was talking a picture of this, documenting the beauty. He would be able to look back on the photograph as he wished and remember how splendid it was. Though, I couldn't experience that, maybe he'd post the photo on Facebook or Flickr and let others enjoy it.

Technology like cameras and Flickr allows us to recognize the value of nature in a notably different way from finding a rainbow out on a hiking trial. I would not approve of only experiencing nature through the means of technology, but seeing a photograph of a rainbow would perhaps encourage people to go hiking in the rain in search of a similar rainbow. Technology does much more than hinder us from nature. I believe it can also enable and prompt appreciation of nature.

Click here for a link to get to the image above.