Soldiers to be issued smartphones at Basic Training

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by wet dog

I heard a friend, (and former business partner), ask a beautiful woman tonight at the pub, "while your guy answers his office emails, can I buy you a drink?"

The woman said, "Yes, whiskey sour please."

And who said old guys aren't smooth.

There is more insight in that little story than meets the eye.

[alright4u]

Originally Posted by wet dog

I heard a friend, (and former business partner), ask a beautiful woman tonight at the pub, "while your guy answers his office emails, can I buy you a drink?"

The woman said, "Yes, whiskey sour please."

And who said old guys aren't smooth.

This PC, MC, socially engineered crap is out of control. Is this for commander Obama to alert them to a tea party?

Originally Posted by alright4u

This PC, MC, socially engineered crap is out of control. Is this for commander Obama to alert them to a tea party?

I guess the real lesson is, when your eyes are down and off the target, a lot can happen. Eyes come up and one has to ask, "What just happened?"

Have you ever seen someone scan the teleprompter looking for their place and being lost, "Uhmm, Uhmm,....".

Same thing.

[alright4u]

Originally Posted by wet dog

I guess the real lesson is, when your eyes are down and off the target, a lot can happen. Eyes come up and one has to ask, "What just happened?"

Have you ever seen someone scan the teleprompter looking for their place and being lost, "Uhmm, Uhmm,....".

Same thing.

How many wrecks started from looking down to dial one number on a cell phone?

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by alright4u

How many wrecks started from looking down to dial one number on a cell phone?

I see it at an increasing rate daily.


Early this year I was eating lunch in a Wendy's Parking lot when I noticed a SUV creeping along while turning into the parking lot. While making the turn the SUV came to complete stop and was nearly rear ended. The SUV then proceeded to creep around the packing lot and eventually found a parking spot directly behind me. After about 5 minutes the drivers door opened, a couple minutes after that a leg was seen dangling out the door and eventually a woman focused on her cell phone stumbled out of the vehicle......she was totally absorbed in her texting session and oblivious to what was going on around her.

For growing number of USERS the cell phone use should be considered a mental illness or addiction, and use of the device should be limited in the same manner as a Schedule III Drug.


I consider myself fortunate to have lived through a time were the phone wasn't available 24/7/365 and you had to wait on the Postman to get your written messages.

I beleive the first casualty of the 1991 Gulf War (not combat related), was an Airmen who was run over by a truck backing up. He was killed when the truck crushed him between fender and loading dock at an airfield in country, (whiling looking down at a clipboard).

[bandycpa]

Originally Posted by Paslode

For growing number of USERS the cell phone use should be considered a mental illness or addiction, and use of the device should be limited in the same manner as a Schedule III Drug.


I consider myself fortunate to have lived through a time were the phone wasn't available 24/7/365 and you had to wait on the Postman to get your written messages.

Couldn't agree with you more, and I'm pointing the finger at me as well. Our "need" for information and constant (yet distant) social connection is hindering our ability to think and reason over the long haul in my opinion.

I firmly believe that people get attached ("addicted" may be a little strong...maybe) to hearing the ding of the cellphone. They look down at their phone in a Pavlovian reflex, and go through the motions to retrieve their phone and see what treasure awaits, no matter what "real" situation they are in at the time. Let the phone go silent for a bit, and they will endeavor to make someone else's phone ding. There is this overwhelming desire for some to receive texts, email, and calls, and it becomes an attachment. How many check their cellphone just to see if there is a message waiting? Or to be sure they haven't missed a FaceBook notification? Yet, these same people are losing the ability to interact socially in the real world.

Having said that, I will readily admit that there are many times I prefer to text instead of call because I just don't want to go through the pleasantries of a phone call. I just want to relay a message. I don't want to be stuck on the phone for 20 minutes hearing about ancillary things. I just want to let you know that Johnny's soccer practice is at 6pm (sidebar: Yes, I coach rec league soccer for 9 year olds and 12 year olds. We prefer to think of it as happy rather than gay. See post #22 of this thread).

If we thought the sitcom age reduced our attention span drastically, we should seriously examine the greater (and adverse) effect the "instant info" age is having on our attention.

I'll be awaiting a notification of a reply to this thread on my cell phone. Just don't reply while I'm driving.


Bandy

[JJ_BPK]

College's attempt to block Facebook, Twitter, IMs fails
Updated 9/16/2010 7:10 PM
By Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

The Harrisburg University of Science and Technology made waves last week when it announced it would block access to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and AOL Instant Messenger from its campus wireless network for one week. The idea was to make students, faculty, and staff reflect on the role social media plays in their lives.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/educati...ade16_ST_N.htm

I think it has already reached the level of a sickness..
I wonder who will get the Nobel Science Prize for their "break-thu research"???

[Hooligan]

think it has already reached the level of a sickness..
I wonder who will get the Nobel Science Prize for their "break-thu research"???

-Obama of course....

I remember attending a 18B class with a buddy, while he and I skiped and bailed on the test review for 18E.

As we stood in the back of the class room, a large MSG, (Cadre) raised his right hand holding the trigger assembly for a MG-42, German, in 7.92mm. He said, "This will be on the test", and stomps his feet three times.

I'm now thinking, how in the hell would an online downloadable application help me.

[Crito]

Originally Posted by bandycpa

I firmly believe that people get attached ("addicted" may be a little strong...maybe) to hearing the ding of the cellphone. They look down at their phone in a Pavlovian reflex, and go through the motions to retrieve their phone and see what treasure awaits, no matter what "real" situation they are in at the time. Let the phone go silent for a bit, and they will endeavor to make someone else's phone ding. There is this overwhelming desire for some to receive texts, email, and calls, and it becomes an attachment. How many check their cellphone just to see if there is a message waiting? Or to be sure they haven't missed a FaceBook notification? Yet, these same people are losing the ability to interact socially in the real world.

I agree from having noticed this reflex in myself and moreso in others my age I am around regularly.

At my current employ I support a Blackberry Enterprise Server. I know we can restrict what access our blackberry users have. We can turn off txting, Internet access, etc.

I am not sure how one could do this with iPhones as there is not a centralized corporate server like there is with Blackberry.


I have a Barnes and Noble Nook that will hold more books than I could ever read. The battery life will last for about two weeks with me leaving the device on the whole time. Maybe something like this might be more appropriate? Of course, a drawback would be that it lacks the capability to report to my boss how despondent I am feeling.

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by bandycpa

("addicted" may be a little strong...maybe)

Maybe then..instant gratification


I find myself yearning for open range, wind whistling through the trees and grass and no phone service....nothing ruins a Scout Camp out like portable hand held devices.........My oldest daughter tells me I am just getting old and senile.

[bandycpa]

Originally Posted by Paslode

Maybe then..instant gratification


I find myself yearning for open range, wind whistling through the trees and grass and no phone service....nothing ruins a Scout Camp out like portable hand held devices.........My oldest daughter tells me I am just getting old and senile.

"Instant gratification" fits better. I must admit my faults here as well concerning electronic devices. It's just too easy to pull the computer or the Blackberry out to look up something or send a quick text to someone. I've made it a point to lay off of FaceBook for a while, and not get into texting back-and-forth as much as I did.

I mean, let's face it. There's only so many times you can read about how bad someone's day is, or get some bit of wisdom from an FB status that the person looked up two minutes before they posted it. Eventually, one burns out on FB. But, there is always that little bit of digital social voyeurism that tries to pull one back in. When they built FB, they knew what they were doing.

What we have gained in knowledge and gratification, we have lost in relationship building and social coping skills.


Bandy

[Paslode]

I think we kind of got off topic....kind of, but maybe it is related.

So the recruits can now easily look at manuals and save a tree via the smartphone. What happens if the young recruit has grown up with everything at his finger tips and there is a disruption in service?

What would happen if a new age sniper's laser range finder goes down and he doesn't know how to calculate his range the old fashioned way?

And what happens when technology fails, and all the foolish old guys with their time tested antiquated methods are no more.

[bandycpa]

Originally Posted by Paslode

I think we kind of got off topic....kind of, but maybe it is related.

So the recruits can now easily look at manuals and save a tree via the smartphone. What happens if the young recruit has grown up with everything at his finger tips and there is a disruption in service?

What would happen if a new age sniper's laser range finder goes down and he doesn't know how to calculate his range the old fashioned way?

And what happens when technology fails, and all the foolish old guys with their time tested antiquated methods are no more.

True. I went off on a bit of a tangent there. My apologies.

Good question about what happens to the recruit if service is interrupted. When information is inaccessible and common sense must prevail, will they be able to adapt to the situation?

Further than that, will focus on the task at hand be sacrificed in favor of updating your FB status or texting your buddy about how "bored you are"?

Sometimes, the more knowlege we have access to, the dumber we become.


Bandy