Brave new world. But… ok!

Yes, we are super connected these days. And people often post their worries about it. But I was out and about on errands before and it felt pretty good.

First I put on my new “partially in ear” earbuds, and you can barely notice or feel them. Here I am before going out, and when I stopped at 7-Eleven.

I listened to Taylor Swift’s “Red” while walking. Am I becoming a Swiftie? Somebody recommended the album and it’s pleasant to listen to while walking. I sort of like “Everything Has Changed.” I could check to see what song was being played on my Apple Watch, which was also tracking my walk.

While walking, my Watch also notified me that somebody had favorited my Mastadon post of Pao. And I got a LINE message from a neighbor (Pao’s sister’s owner.)

When I got to the bank I waited and relaxed by making my next move in Words With Friends (where I am wiping the floor with my sister – though she wins sometimes too). Then I sat back and continued reading the legal thriller novel I’m into on Kindle.

And I checked my battery levels in a widget to see how I was doing.

I’m thinking how it was oh, about, 30 years ago when I got a paper accepted for SIGGRAPH. I was really excited and ended up making a lot of international phone calls to friends. My phone bill that month was like $500! Or how I was hospitalized once in the 1980s and hand-wrote letters on one of those obsolete inexpensive postal envelopes to tell family and friends where I was. What were those called?

Despite legitimate worries, things are generally better, I think. And of course I can just silence notifications and turn off the music if I want.

For a more worrisome view, check out my latest blog post on the upcoming Supreme Court decision and social media censorship: https://unitednewsreports.com/2024/02/26/supreme-court-readies-for-major-social-media-free-speech-battle/

Everything has changed.