May 24, 2013
Unplugged: Day 28/Easier But Still Hard
I am officially 4 weeks into being unplugged. While I still miss the Internet madly, the withdrawal has worn off and I’ve learned to fill in the gaps of time so full of Internet bullsh*ttin’ with other things. My ADHD still kicks in when I’m surfing the web for business. It’s so easy to click on a headline that catches my eye. It’s so easy to open a e-mail and follow it onto the web. The compulsion to sign onto the social media sites has waned as it usually does after a few weeks away although I did post on Google+ once just to let my circles know I missed them.
There were times I broke down and use the Internet, like to get directions, addresses, or bus schedules. Could I have called or asked someone? Yes. No excuses, I just didn’t feel like it. It’s just easier to look it up in 30 seconds than to take 10 minutes to do it. I also conceded to do my banking online. Again, taking a 10 minute phone to call to do something I can do in 30 seconds online just seemed way counterproductive.
I did use the time to catch up on the awesome show, Justified. I had been stuck watching Season 1 for months because I just ever took the time to look but now I’m all caught up and watching it weekly like everyone else starting this week with Season 4 Episode 10, which was a great one last night. The characters of Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder and two of the most interesting characters I’ve ever seen on a TV show especially when they share screen time.
Unplugged: One Week Down/ADHD
After what seemed like the longest week ever at some points, I am officially one week into being Unplugged!
Before I began this Internet sabbatical, I spoke to others who had done it and one thing that was the general consensus was that it would help me “see” more clearly and I’ll be damned if they weren’t correct because it’s already happening. One thing the lack of a constant ambient distraction showed me was exactly how much time I spend goofing off. It also revealed just how productive I can be when it’s not there. It’s opened my eyes to other ways to pass my time, some electronic and others not. It’s helped me explore more of my creative side, like keeping a written journal for my ideas, thoughts and occurrences, and take on projects I had been meaning to conquer for a long time like (re)learning Spanish. I haven’t taken Spanish since junior year of High School but I’ve always wanted to be fluent in it. Fluent enough to have a conversation or understand others not only for my own knowledge but in some situations maybe my own safety. I’m reading more frequently. I’ve always had a small dream of being a music producer or a DJ, and I’ve been dabbling in that as well on a micro scale with a MixVibes DJ turntable and Cross DJ Software that I received as a birthday gift a couple of years ago. Complex enough for me to do something really cool but simple enough that a person like me who knows absolutely nada about DJing can use it. And for my producer dreams, I have the Mixcraft music production software. Now technically neither of these should require me to access the Internet with the exception of downloading updates which I will eschew.
Speaking of updates…
Unplugged: One Day Down, 45 to Go
Good morning all!
Well, I’m officially in the thick of this thing. I have gotten through my first day without the Internet. Well, barely without.
So how did my first day go?
Well I woke up about 4:30AM yesterday morning because I had a meeting in NYC at 7. I’m so used to turning over and checking my e-mail or social media on my phone or on either my desktop or my laptop, so being unable to, I just kinda sat there for about 15 minutes like , “What do I do?” Once you’ve gotten so used to a routine and its suddenly snatched from you, you feel a sense of limbo and being that the routine was my main connection to the outside world, I almost felt alone for a moment. Then I realized I was being a bit dramatic and I got up and started my day.
I’m Leaving the Internet…And Soon!
Okay, now that I’ve gotten your attention, let me explain. The title is indeed true. I am leaving the Internet……but not forever, for approximately 6.5 weeks. I’ve chosen the Internet as my Lenten sacrifice this year.
Now this post is not a religious post. I don’t plan to go into detail about what Lent is or what my religious beliefs are and I don’t want to hear about what you think Lent is either. That’s a different topic for a different post.
I’ve told a handful of people about it and I usually get one of a few reactions.
The New #Blackberry10 — Do or Die for RIM (excuse me, Blackberry)
As we all know by now, Blackberry has become all but forgotten as of late in a world dominated by Samsung, Apple, and even Windows phones/devices. Once the titans of e-mail (and still the best at it, if you want my honest opinion), a large of the business market that once adored Blackberry have abandoned it for the iPhone. So in order for Blackberry to really make a dent and get some of it’s market share back, they really need to shake things up and come up with something that will WOW the people.
Enter Blackberry 10. Today was RIM’s (who announced an official company name change to Blackberry) live event featuring the new BB10 and we tuned in via the web to see exactly what they had to say and here’s what we learned about the new device.
Having Computer Problems? We’re Here to Assist You!
In need of technical services? In addition to our request form, we have yet another way to request help.
We are now on Thumbtack!
Click the link below and access our Thumbtack profile:
Having Computer Problems? We’re Here To Assist You (on Thumbtack)
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30 Days Without a Smartphone: Final Verdict
So I officially made it, 30 Days without my smartphone! Honestly, the 2nd half of the time without it wasn’t so bad. I felt less like a slave to my phone. My little brick phone just chilled in my pocket much of the day barring any phone calls. It was somewhat liberating to be out of touch when I wasn’t at home. E-mails were handled when I was at home outside of the house I got to read more, spent way more time paying attention to my surroundings and eventually I missed the need to share everything single thing I was doing although I did still miss a lot of the things I missed in the first half of the experiment especially access to my bus schedules and the camera on my phone.
30 Days Without a Smartphone: Progress Report
So we’re more than halfway into our experiment of going 30 Days without a smartphone.
How am I faring? Stable…but I was critical at a few points. *wipes bead of sweat*
I didn’t realize just how much I truly relied on my phone for the little things until I went fully without. Many of the things I rely on have Internet alternatives or versions but many of them don’t.
So what have I felt lost with trying to do since I’ve been missing my phone? What am I missing? I’ll tell you…
30 Days Without A Smartphone: A Social Experiment
In this day and age, if you stopped someone and asked someone to name something they would run back for if they walked out of the house without or something they can’t live without, the majority by far would say their phone. Most people nowadays would say phone even before they said their wallet because pretty much everything in your wallet is in your phone now with the exception of your driver’s license (and that can’t be far behind).
App Recommendation: Process Explorer
Process Explorer is a great app from Microsoft that has been around since at least Windows XP. In a nutshell, it’s a much more robust and informative version of the standard Task Manager that comes with Windows.
I don’t know about you but there have been many moments where my PC has been running really slow and I open the Task Manager only to be left with no real answers. Granted, Microsoft has expanded the Task Manager somewhat and given more information, but it’s still lacking.
Process Explorer is a one stop shop for all the information on each process your PC is currently running. It will give you information on where each process is being run from, what registry keys, they use, how much virtual and physical memory and hard drive space they use and a whole lot more…
A great tool for troubleshooting!
“The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you’ll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you’ll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded.Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.
The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.”
[via Microsoft]
