What happens when you forgot your phone

What digital gadget does to us is pretty scary, I recently watched a video online. Charlene deGuzman, a 29-year-old L.A.-based actress, came up with the idea for the video, “because there is a moment happening right now in front of you, right this second, and you’re missing it," she told WSJ.com. 

The video depict a series of scene where people should be completely present but aren’t because they’ve fallen prey to the siren call of their cell. Looking at this video the way it has been documented it pretty much describes the digital generation. We can’t deny the fact that we always thinking about our phones the anticipation of incoming call or texts messages is always haunting us. It happens in every second our life, whether you having a lunch with a friend or driving for that matter.

Who knew what our phones do to our mind, guess what it does a lot of alterations to our mind. The wide spread uses of contemporary electronic media tools are replicating the process of synaptogenesis (the creation of synapses, or neuron pathways) in users by altering the neural circuitry in the brain. These kinds of adjustments are mostly bound to influence the way our mind operates. 

Here are some tips by Susan Cross

1. Set timers. I used to respond to every text and email the second it arrived. Now I set my phone’s alarm and only reply at predetermined times—morning, midday, and evening. Guess what? The world is still turning.

2. Basket case. My family drops their cells into a basket I keep on the kitchen counter so we aren’t tempted to text during dinner.

3. Check mate. A friend told me about a little “game” she plays with friends when they have a girls’ night out, and I can’t wait to test this one: They all put their phones facedown on the table, and whoever picks theirs up first also picks up the check.

Source:
http://www.shape.com/blogs/cross-talk/hang-your-cell-phone-addiction
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/09/05/219266779/our-cultural-addiction-to-phones-in-one-disconcerting-video
 

Who uses tech gadget?

I recently had a chat with a little friend a neighbour too who is currently eight years of age. What amazes me about this little girl is the amount of knowledge that she has about tech gadgets. The techie’s stuff that she does, I haven’t even tried it myself and she picks up things so fast. She took me back to my childhood and made me reflects at things that I used to do at that age, actual the dissonance is quite vast. In my childhood children used to play outside all day, riding bikes, playing sports and hide and seek. Believe me those games used to keep us entertained almost the whole day especial during school holiday period. Children nowadays don’t really partake in those activities they use technology for the majority of their play and even school tasks. She started using internet when she was six, when given tasks at school to research on Google as she say. The amount of time that they spend in entertainment technology (TV, Internet, video games, iPads, and cell phones) has doubled so rapidly. 

What impact these technologies have on these little ones. Cris Rowan a (Paediatric Occupational Therapist) states that technology devices grossly limiting challenges to their creativity and imaginations, as well as limits necessary challenges to their bodies to achieve optimal sensory and motor development. I personally agree with this judging from the lifestyle these kids live it complements this. In most occasion kids always occupied by their gadget, and that has an impact on child’s development both physical and psychological.   

Parents need to start monitoring these tendencies at the early age because this can result to drawbacks to children academic due to the dependence on technology. Either way, society has to adapt to the fact technology is a staple in life and this is not likely to change any time soon. If anything, technology will continue to progress and become even more immersed in daily living.

Parents need to take part and start to be educators and moderators to their kids when it comes to children engaging in virtual technologies. Know what your kids are up to in these platforms.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-rowan/technology-children-negative-impact_b_3343245.html

Social network can cost you your career

My fellow designers this one is for you guys, as we stepping into creative world. Social media is a very dangerous tool to have especially, at the work place. But it depends who you add on your list of friends, things we need to consider when sending or accepting a friend request. I just want to share with some incidence that has occurred to some online community fellows.

It seems a great idea to add new friends at the office onto your social network accounts in the first few weeks. Sometime it can be difficult task to juggle work friends, real friends, old friends, family and those people you don’t really know. The excitement of meeting new people and making new friends can be overwhelming. What we need to careful about is the industry that we will be tapping into which is very small and people mostly know each other from different agencies. Socialising is common in the creative industry people meet after work and have drinks. It is a social norm for creative to hang out and discuss work share ideas and obviously the office gossip will obviously come up. People are getting into trouble for being connected to social events, saying information that could be taken out of context or talking about their workplace in some way. This could result to serious offence when it come to the other party it could be your management. These connections are extremely risky ultimately could cost you your reputation.

I want us to go back to our online accounts and clean up some content that could decrease our chances of getting employed.  Let’s be careful and make sure that our connections are with the people that we trust and be aware of the information that we post online.

Source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206491/Woman-sacked-Facebook-boss-insult-forgetting-added-friend.html

How my picture went viral

The term viral marketing relates to the process of spreading or replicating something and spreading it. Quite akin to a biological virus that replicates quickly and spreads with contact between an infected person and an uninfected one. Similarly viral marketing focuses on the key social networking groups that help a website, blog or video to gain popularity simply because of the number of people who know of it and talk to others of it.

How my picture went viral is the campaign that I have created for my research design solution. The phrase is quite a catchy phrase especially for teenage girls who are social network fanatics. I guess they will do anything that will put them in a popular position or makes them appear cool amongst their peers.  

The campaign is inspired by young girls who find themselves in situations that are beyond their control. Teens enjoy taking photo’s when hanging out and share them amongst friends and family. Some teens who actually find themselves in situations that are beyond control are girls who take semi-nude photographs and distribute them. Semi-nude photographs are photo’s taken posing half naked, those bath room photos. These kinds of images are posted on social network or shared amongst their peers.

The campaign depicts a series of public service awareness posters aims to educate young teens about the dangers of exposing yourself in social network with provocative images. This highlight when an image goes viral and you no longer have control, it can get to the wrong hands. The subject matter in this campaign is to exposed the “not nice part of it” when it gets to the wrong hands. I have exposed different characters viewing a photograph of a little girl, which is a bit paedophilic.

Characters you wouldn’t want your image to be viewed by,

·         It can be your parent 
·         Sexual predators 
·         Prison gang

Be careful and really make sure your connections are with people you can trust. Remember, people talk about people and all of us need to be careful of what images or information we post online and who we associate with. Be Smart. 

Be Careful and consider keeping your profile more professional.