TTTNE 452: The Spam Ball.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

For teh lulz[emoji13]

[Steve Stark]

i ain't laughing my friend i am saluting...not only do i not have a smart phone i don't have a cell phone at all. my nieces all spend between 75 and 150 dollars per month for phone... i tell them "do you know how many cocktails that is..."

and i couldn't agree more people don't know how to act around each other. my pet peeve is people checking out of a store or market. at least have the courtesy to acknowledge the clerk with eye contact and your undivided attention. what does it take a minute...perhaps two...i have spoken rudely to people who act like a clerk, that has been standing on his/her feet all day waiting on assholes like that and are expected to remain polite and upbeat, is no different than an ATM machine...and for a person at a table eating a meal with someone else who has to keep looking at phone, touching phone....well they should take phone home and eat by the light of their screen saver, because they don't deserve the company of another human being...particularly a beautiful woman...<steps off soap box>

...just the opinion of this salty old fucker...

:smoking:

Rocksniffer, my friend, thank you for being on the same page as me.

If my wife ignored me and was playing Candy Crush on her phone, or browsing Pinterest or Facebook notifications instead of spending time with me and our children, I might be offended.

IF and when my children get older and get a device such as that, if they abuse it I will most certainly stop paying for it. "You want to be a jackass, pay for it yourself." My son is only 5 and my daughter is about to turn 3 in May, but I'm already trying to establish a family card game/movie night and have us eat dinner at the table with no electronics every day (when we can, anyway). Trying to keep that "face to face" ability alive in my children in a world of IMs, social media and texting.

[Steve Stark]

Where the heck is everyone? :crying:

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

I realized too late that my spawn was not ready for computer/kindle/apps.

So I have hidden most of the technology until he matures a bit. Which means lots of outdoor play and crafts and such. Subsequently that means no moments of rest for me. At all. Ever.

It is sooooo tempting to let technology entertain your child and take some of the burden off of you. But in our case it's not gonna work like that.

I remember being little and wondering why grown ups were always sitting. Always. They never wanted to play or have fun. I never understood what was so great about sitting.

Now that I'm a grown up, all I want to do is just sit for a freaking second. Just. Let. Me. Sit. In. Peace. For. 5. Minutes!!!

Funny how things change.

:lol: this is very much true!

I was one of those weird kids who (one day a week at least, when my grandparents came over) just liked to sit and hear my grandparents talk about "the olden days" :P I could spend hours listening to those stories.

I can well imagine how tempting it is to let technology look after him for an hour or so, yeah.

Morning spam

that is very sweet

Where the heck is everyone? :crying:

sleeping!

and I meant to quote your previous one as well:

as a mom and wife, let me make clear, we need time away from husband and kids, just a little bit. You hadn't specified the amount of time the hypothetical wife was playing candy crush or checking her notifications. FB is the only way I can keep up with the majority of my friends, and I need my friends to keep sane. And sometimes we just need a freaking break.

to be clear, my family is 90% of my world, but I did not stop being an individual person with my own set of needs when I got married and had kids. We all need that 10% (at least!) for ourselves.

[Steve Stark]

Oh I hear you. We all use it. Well, most of us anyway.

But there is a difference between taking breaks, using social media, using your phone...and being absolutely glued to it.

Even when not spending time with others. There are other things to do, such as read a book, paint a picture, hike in the forest, in the park, work out, go for a run, do yoga, make a sandwich, learn something new, and the list goes on and on. Instead people stare at their phones for hours upon hours at a time.

Just imagine this: You bring back Albert Einstein from the dead, and he is alive here in 2015. He'll be in awe of our planes, of our cars, of a great many things. Someone decides they'll show him their smart phone. "Hey Einstein, with this little device, I can contact dang near anyone in the entire world in a matter of seconds. I can look up the answer to almost any question. I can look at a picture of almost any place. Get directions. Translate different languages. I can do almost ANYTHING with this device, and nearly everyone has one. Even small children." And Einstein would be like, "Astounding! A window to the world in your hands. You all have made it so far. I'm so proud. What do you use it for?" "Oh, I'm level 546 on Candy Crush..."

[Steve Stark]

And to be fair, my wife has photography. She gets out of the house and away from the kids, away from me too. Probably not as much as she'd like to. :P

I bowl every Friday night. I read and write quite a bit. We take turns running around with our dogs just to get out alone in nature.

So I COMPLETELY know where you're coming from. I think we're just too dependent on our phones and technology. Technology is a tool to be used to make life easier. It shouldn't take over your life. And the more we let it, the more it happens to our children.

I've had to make adjustments. I noticed one day my daughter was glued to our Kindle Fire, watching Dora the Explorer on it. And she would NOT give it up. It was the whole "baby blanket" thing, but instead it was her Kindle. So one day I just got rid of it. Andrea, my wife, asked me if I had seen it and I said it was gone. She agreed with me that it was probalby for the best. It was in the trunk of my car. We have it still, and Dani uses it when we travel or if my wife absolutely needs quiet time while she does something for college or for her photography business. But she doesn't use it every hour of every day.

My own sister is 22. She grew up with text messaging and living on her phone. She gets nervous around people, doesnt' know how to communicate. And writes (even if it's for school) as if she's texting. It's horrible. She can't even talk to me unless it's over social media. My dad and my sister's mother did a horrible disservice to her. They should have made her get out, get a job when she was 16, or join a sport, drama, or play an instrument. She's doing fine now, but she's way behind the power curve and has to figure out how to communicate all over again. It's hard to get hired by a company when you freeze up.

Sorry, I ramble. This isn't an attack on anyone. We all use these things, and they're great. Even necessary in today's world. But we abuse them, and it's just a huge pet peeve of mine, obviously. :P

EDIT: Watch this, and you might understand me, plus Louis CK is hilarious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEY58fiSK8E

Crap, that's not the one about cell phones. But at least I got the technology part and people being assholes right.

[honeyed chicken]

I realized too late that my spawn was not ready for computer/kindle/apps.

So I have hidden most of the technology until he matures a bit. Which means lots of outdoor play and crafts and such. Subsequently that means no moments of rest for me. At all. Ever.

It is sooooo tempting to let technology entertain your child and take some of the burden off of you. But in our case it's not gonna work like that.

I remember being little and wondering why grown ups were always sitting. Always. They never wanted to play or have fun. I never understood what was so great about sitting.

Now that I'm a grown up, all I want to do is just sit for a freaking second. Just. Let. Me. Sit. In. Peace. For. 5. Minutes!!!

Funny how things change.

LO, you always impress me. You are very good mom and a savvy parent.

I know "kids" who are in their late 20's or early 30's that had the family's vcr for a baby sitter. And 'sniffers and my generation had plenty of kids raised by Capt. Kangeroo and the Mickey Mouse Club and etc. Tech has been infiltrating into all our lives and brains for several generations now. It's an ongoing struggle.

I did orogami with the napkins :lol: and there was always aome decoration or fish tank or something in the restaurant to admire.

And we made chains out of gum wrappers and folded note paper into trangular "footballs" and played "kicking" games in the library. Time wasting is nothing new.

Rocksniffer, my friend, thank you for being on the same page as me.

If my wife ignored me and was playing Candy Crush on her phone, or browsing Pinterest or Facebook notifications instead of spending time with me and our children, I might be offended.

IF and when my children get older and get a device such as that, if they abuse it I will most certainly stop paying for it. "You want to be a jackass, pay for it yourself." My son is only 5 and my daughter is about to turn 3 in May, but I'm already trying to establish a family card game/movie night and have us eat dinner at the table with no electronics every day (when we can, anyway). Trying to keep that "face to face" ability alive in my children in a world of IMs, social media and texting.

Steve,

I think I missed your birthday - Happy belated Birthday, man. Hope it was a good one. What date was it? My father in law (82), and good friend, Scott are on the 22nd and my friend Kevin,the blacksmith/lock maker/sitar & bag pipe player is on the 23rd.

Game night is a must! The great thing about that in addition to the honing of your kids competitive drive, social skills and reasoning ability, is you'll have game players around for when you're older. My chickee and her cousins are nearly all grown up now (the youngest is a college freshman, the oldest has her first post college job.). When we all get together, our favorite board games come out and we all sit down and play.

:lol: this is very much true!

that is very sweet

sleeping!

and I meant to quote your previous one as well:

as a mom and wife, let me make clear, we need time away from husband and kids, just a little bit. You hadn't specified the amount of time the hypothetical wife was playing candy crush or checking her notifications. FB is the only way I can keep up with the majority of my friends, and I need my friends to keep sane. And sometimes we just need a freaking break.

to be clear, my family is 90% of my world, but I did not stop being an individual person with my own set of needs when I got married and had kids. We all need that 10% (at least!) for ourselves.

Lany,

:grouphug: I have been following your substitute teaching posts with interest. I am so happy for you to have work you enjoy and clearly do well.

Oh I hear you. We all use it. Well, most of us anyway.

But there is a difference between taking breaks, using social media, using your phone...and being absolutely glued to it.

Even when not spending time with others. There are other things to do, such as read a book, paint a picture, hike in the forest, in the park, work out, go for a run, do yoga, make a sandwich, learn something new, and the list goes on and on. Instead people stare at their phones for hours upon hours at a time.

Just imagine this: You bring back Albert Einstein from the dead, and he is alive here in 2015. He'll be in awe of our planes, of our cars, of a great many things. Someone decides they'll show him their smart phone. "Hey Einstein, with this little device, I can contact dang near anyone in the entire world in a matter of seconds. I can look up the answer to almost any question. I can look at a picture of almost any place. Get directions. Translate different languages. I can do almost ANYTHING with this device, and nearly everyone has one. Even small children." And Einstein would be like, "Astounding! A window to the world in your hands. You all have made it so far. I'm so proud. What do you use it for?" "Oh, I'm level 546 on Candy Crush..."

I like this picture you paint - I see the story teller dad coming out. ;)

I imagine Einstein's first act on line would be to google himself and see how he and his work are remembered. He might be dismayed to find he's been reduced to a caricature of himself and the meaning of his work largely not known or understood outside the field of physics.

And it's not just about the candy crush (or Snood in my case) but the ordering of goodies, like that cool fishing reel you saw in an online ad while you were getting the March Madness results on espn.com - or whatever. How quickly has the world economy come to depend on the interwebs? Not even safe from the ad monster here on Westeros fer cryin' out loud.

So personal Q you can ignore or not: are you & your family still in Germany or are you back in the states now.

Re: that horrible plane crash last week has me feeling bad for all of you in Germany, Adara, KT I, Yomi.

[Steve Stark]

LO, you always impress me. You are very good mom and a savvy parent.

I know "kids" who are in their late 20's or early 30's that had the family's vcr for a baby sitter. And 'sniffers and my generation had plenty of kids raised by Capt. Kangeroo and the Mickey Mouse Club and etc. Tech has been infiltrating into all our lives and brains for several generations now. It's an ongoing struggle.

And we made chains out of gum wrappers and folded note paper into trangular "footballs" and played "kicking" games in the library. Time wasting is nothing new.

Steve,

I think I missed your birthday - Happy belated Birthday, man. Hope it was a good one. What date was it? My father in law (82), and good friend, Scott are on the 22nd and my friend Kevin,the blacksmith/lock maker/sitar & bag pipe player is on the 23rd.

Game night is a must! The great thing about that in addition to the honing of your kids competitive drive, social skills and reasoning ability, is you'll have game players around for when you're older. My chickee and her cousins are nearly all grown up now (the youngest is a college freshman, the oldest has her first post college job.). When we all get together, our favorite board games come out and we all sit down and play.

Lany,

:grouphug: I have been following your substitute teaching posts with interest. I am so happy for you to have work you enjoy and clearly do well.

I like this picture you paint - I see the story teller dad coming out. ;)

I imagine Einstein's first act on line would be to google himself and see how he and his work are remembered. He might be dismayed to find he's been reduced to a caricature of himself and the meaning of his work largely not known or understood outside the field of physics.

And it's not just about the candy crush (or Snood in my case) but the ordering of goodies, like that cool fishing reel you saw in an online ad while you were getting the March Madness results on espn.com - or whatever. How quickly has the world economy come to depend on the interwebs? Not even safe from the ad monster here on Westeros fer cryin' out loud.

So personal Q you can ignore or not: are you & your family still in Germany or are you back in the states now.

Re: that horrible plane crash last week has me feeling bad for all of you in Germany, Adara, KT I, Yomi.

Hey thanks for the bday wishes. I turned 30 on the 25th. You know, thirty, the decade of sexiness. Well that's what I'm calling it, anyway.

You bringing up Einstein looking himself up cracks me up. I can totally imagine him "googling" himself.

And yep, still in Germany for another 2+ years. I'll have spent a total of 7+ years here off and on by the time I leave in 2017. And yeah, I have a friend who flew out of Barcelona not too long ago in the same type of plane and it really freaked him out. Plus, those poor people. This is going to sound ridiculous, because I'm in the Air Force, but I don't particularly love flying.

I'll be taking my wife to Barcelona next year for our 10th anniversary. I'm going to interview both pilots before I get in I think.

How have you been? What's new?

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Lany,

:grouphug: I have been following your substitute teaching posts with interest. I am so happy for you to have work you enjoy and clearly do well.

Thanks! I do really enjoy it a lot. I don't think I have posted here enough lately, but I can't always remember if I have just posted on fb or not :rolleyes:

I love the little ones, but they are so exhausting! My current job is pretty easy though, so I am happy. Being at my son's middle school is always interesting as I am likely to run into kids I know, largely from cub scouts. Right now I have a class of 10 8th graders first thing in the morning, then I help a 7th grade science class (helping the kids with the reading and scribing for them, if needed) then I have a 6th grade class that includes the boy who lives across from us and a boy from scouts.

Oh I hear you. We all use it. Well, most of us anyway.

But there is a difference between taking breaks, using social media, using your phone...and being absolutely glued to it.

I figured this, but since you didn't put a time frame on it, I felt I needed to make it clear :)

[honeyed chicken]

Lany, I didn't know you were cub scout leader (makes perfect sense). My mom was a cub scout leader as well (with a strong Norwegian accent - that must have been interesting!).

Steve, I don't think it's that weird to be a non-flier in the Air Force - they have all sorts of jobs and skills and flying's just a tiny part of that. I have this great coffee table book of really fantastic b&w photos from World War II. The DOD commissioned a world class photographer named Eichen to follow the navy through he Pacific. Granted Navy, not Air Force, but many if not most of the photos focused on aircraft carrier pilots. Still you could see that the carrier had hundreds of men on it - if not a thousand or so. Maybe 50 were pilots.

Just a note: clearing out my inbox for gaming purposes. If I deleted a thread with you it's not sign of anything. Always happy to start a new chat thread anytime. :)

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Lany, I didn't know you were cub scout leader (makes perfect sense). My mom was a cub scout leader as well (with a strong Norwegian accent - that must have been interesting!).

I wasn't THE leader, but I was one of the trained peoples (leaders, really). Cub Scouts require that parents always be present (they are age 6-11, so that makes complete sense) so we get to know all the other boys and their personalities.

[HexMachina]

Thanks! I do really enjoy it a lot. I don't think I have posted here enough lately, but I can't always remember if I have just posted on fb or not :rolleyes:

I love the little ones, but they are so exhausting! My current job is pretty easy though, so I am happy. Being at my son's middle school is always interesting as I am likely to run into kids I know, largely from cub scouts. Right now I have a class of 10 8th graders first thing in the morning, then I help a 7th grade science class (helping the kids with the reading and scribing for them, if needed) then I have a 6th grade class that includes the boy who lives across from us and a boy from scouts.

I figured this, but since you didn't put a time frame on it, I felt I needed to make it clear :)

We've not heard so much about your teaching lately, though you did tell us about working in your sons school atm (specifically at their request iirc?) but that is okay, you are a busy bee. Just update when you can, it's so wonderful hearing how passionate you are about what you are doing, and it's about time that you were able to do something you enjoy!

Hope you feel better soon, btw.

What is your favourite subject to teach?

Anyway, I am at home atm. Unfortunately my family are all ill right now, so it's a bit quiet here. I'm enjoying being back with El puppo though, we went for a 3 hour walk today. Doing some work this lazy Sunday afternoon. The more I read this CJEU opinion the more they come across as petulant children breaking the toys because if they can't play with them then NOBODY CAN! :p

Anyway, happy Sunday all, enjoy your days

[Buckwheat]

I imagine Einstein's first act on line would be to google himself and see how he and his work are remembered. He might be dismayed to find he's been reduced to a caricature of himself and the meaning of his work largely not known or understood outside the field of physics.

Eh? Of course he is not going to be understood outside of the field of physics, the guy worked in advanced physics which, you know, somebody not dedicating their life to physics is not going to understand. Just like architect geniuses will be mainly remembered and understood among other architects, and doctors among other doctors etc.

Anyway, I am at home atm. Unfortunately my family are all ill right now, so it's a bit quiet here. I'm enjoying being back with El puppo though, we went for a 3 hour walk today. Doing some work this lazy Sunday afternoon. The more I read this CJEU opinion the more they come across as petulant children breaking the toys because if they can't play with them then NOBODY CAN! :P

Anyway, happy Sunday all, enjoy your days

Is it a strange feeling for you too to come home home now? On the first day back here, I felt like a visitor with my parents and valonqar, it is odd to think I have the other home somewhere else.

We were at grandparents' for lunch today and I forgot my coat. >_>

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

We've not heard so much about your teaching lately, though you did tell us about working in your sons school atm (specifically at their request iirc?) but that is okay, you are a busy bee. Just update when you can, it's so wonderful hearing how passionate you are about what you are doing, and it's about time that you were able to do something you enjoy!

Hope you feel better soon, btw.

What is your favourite subject to teach?

Anyway, I am at home atm. Unfortunately my family are all ill right now, so it's a bit quiet here. I'm enjoying being back with El puppo though, we went for a 3 hour walk today. Doing some work this lazy Sunday afternoon. The more I read this CJEU opinion the more they come across as petulant children breaking the toys because if they can't play with them then NOBODY CAN! :P

Anyway, happy Sunday all, enjoy your days

Not sure what my favorite would be. I love working with the kids with special needs. Maybe, broadly, this.

Last week I had a kindergarten class and the teacher had left a note about a couple of the students, including one girl who had a really hard time accepting change of any type, and really didn't like strangers. I didn't do anything special, but made sure I knew her name, and by lunch time she wanted to hold my hand. It was really special.

But then, I had 4th grade (10 yr olds) and a boy who had a one on one assistant and he was an absolute brat and she did nothing to correct his behavior. Problem being, I have no idea the nature of his problems or what his triggers were, but still, I am not one to take crap from kids, so when he asked me "What are you looking at?" I replied "You, not working." He was playing a game on his computer and his aid (who I think was his mom, now that IS a bad thing!!!) said "he gets 5 minutes of game after lunch" once again, I couldn't stop my mouth "Well, it has been over 15 minutes since the class came back from lunch." "Oh, my timer must not be working" yeah, right. she didn't care that he didn't work, and she certainly didn't care that he smart mouthed a teacher.

But still, I think I get the most pleasure from helping kids with special needs

[rocksniffer]

I need somebody who is not in the game to draw a picture for me ASAP.

There is no such thing as a royal sellsword, I am afraid. Sellswords tend to be ... well, disloyal. :P

Go and run around the restaurant maybe? Like, outside. Valonqar and I always did that, and there was never an issue. The inside of the restaurant is never to be treated as a restaurant, of course, but that is what yards are for.

well now that is just a evil rumor started by knights so they can get all the good gigs... ;)

I don't mind parents giving their kids their (parents') phones/tablets to play with in restaurants. What I object to is the kids owning their own smart phones...I am talking about kids as young as 10 (and sometimes even younger)

Our county has a "bring your device to school" policy that lets the kids bring them. And nearly every kid in middle school has one (not my son, we just can't afford it---but are looking at a pay as you go, no internet type phone for him...because he now goes to a lot of friends' houses and such)

the Karate Princess (12) has let us know she needs one because everyone has one but her. however her Mother and Number One Niece have let her know she must work and earn those kinds of things...now she is filled with righteous indignation and yet...still has no phone...such is life for a preteen

Rocksniffer, my friend, thank you for being on the same page as me.

If my wife ignored me and was playing Candy Crush on her phone, or browsing Pinterest or Facebook notifications instead of spending time with me and our children, I might be offended.

IF and when my children get older and get a device such as that, if they abuse it I will most certainly stop paying for it. "You want to be a jackass, pay for it yourself." My son is only 5 and my daughter is about to turn 3 in May, but I'm already trying to establish a family card game/movie night and have us eat dinner at the table with no electronics every day (when we can, anyway). Trying to keep that "face to face" ability alive in my children in a world of IMs, social media and texting.

well Steve...sounds like you got your hands full. 5 and 3 great times...when they still get the look of wonder when they learn something new, or discover something...

[HexMachina]

Eh? Of course he is not going to be understood outside of the field of physics, the guy worked in advanced physics which, you know, somebody not dedicating their life to physics is not going to understand. Just like architect geniuses will be mainly remembered and understood among other architects, and doctors among other doctors etc.

Is it a strange feeling for you too to come home home now? On the first day back here, I felt like a visitor with my parents and valonqar, it is odd to think I have the other home somewhere else.

We were at grandparents' for lunch today and I forgot my coat. >_>

Yes, it does feel a bit odd. I meant to tell you that actually. I still consider this (the North East) to be "home" but I don't think of myself as living here anymore. I know it sounds a bit odd to say that, but I know what I mean...

My grandmother still has a fractured foot. Her idea of "resting" it included pottering around the house, dusting, hoovering and carrying the compost into the shed :rolleyes: When will she learn....

Not sure what my favorite would be. I love working with the kids with special needs. Maybe, broadly, this.

Last week I had a kindergarten class and the teacher had left a note about a couple of the students, including one girl who had a really hard time accepting change of any type, and really didn't like strangers. I didn't do anything special, but made sure I knew her name, and by lunch time she wanted to hold my hand. It was really special.

But then, I had 4th grade (10 yr olds) and a boy who had a one on one assistant and he was an absolute brat and she did nothing to correct his behavior. Problem being, I have no idea the nature of his problems or what his triggers were, but still, I am not one to take crap from kids, so when he asked me "What are you looking at?" I replied "You, not working." He was playing a game on his computer and his aid (who I think was his mom, now that IS a bad thing!!!) said "he gets 5 minutes of game after lunch" once again, I couldn't stop my mouth "Well, it has been over 15 minutes since the class came back from lunch." "Oh, my timer must not be working" yeah, right. she didn't care that he didn't work, and she certainly didn't care that he smart mouthed a teacher.

But still, I think I get the most pleasure from helping kids with special needs

Working with special needs kids must be extremely rewarding, I can imagine. I had some limited experience, as I mentioned before re: my coaching, and it was great. Hope you get the opportunity to work with them some more :)

I think you had every right to be annoyed with the woman and that kid, I mean...GAH! :

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Yes, it does feel a bit odd. I meant to tell you that actually. I still consider this (the North East) to be "home" but I don't think of myself as living here anymore. I know it sounds a bit odd to say that, but I know what I mean...

My grandmother still has a fractured foot. Her idea of "resting" it included pottering around the house, dusting, hoovering and carrying the compost into the shed :rolleyes: When will she learn....

Working with special needs kids must be extremely rewarding, I can imagine. I had some limited experience, as I mentioned before re: my coaching, and it was great. Hope you get the opportunity to work with them some more :)

I think you had every right to be annoyed with the woman and that kid, I mean...GAH! :

While I would love to get a Master's in Special Education, you have to be a certified teacher first, so I'm looking to just get my Masters in Elementary education (it would cost too much and take too long to try and get the certification first, and then the Masters in Spec Ed) A little disappointing, but sometimes we do what we have to, accept something that is "close enough"

and a :lol: for your granny! it can be hard to rest sometimes...there are things that need to get done. I am resting today, and my butt hurts from sitting too much. I want to do things! but I am being a good girl

[ab aeterno]

*Get off my lawn, you darn kids!* :lol:

I have to say, a lot of this comes off as just a cultural shift from the older generations to the younger ones. Having your head stuck in a phone is qualitatively no different to having it stuck in a book. The evidence for all the 'damage' that phones, tablets, and computers do is far more limited than the media or public perception make it seem, and the possibilities and shared cultural experiences that these devices enable far outweigh the drawbacks imo.

As for people being anti-social/shy/socially awkward/introverted, I suspect it's far more likely that many people keep their heads in their phones because they are introverted or socially awkward than it is the phones are making them so. Overall, I'd say the lack of social skills among young people is largely a myth, it's certainly not something I've experienced in any meaningful way. I think that often, it is a matter of changing views of what is appropriate/polite, rather than any deterioration in skills. Can overuse of mobile devices to the exclusion of human contact cause problems? Sure. Does it? Probably. Is it a particularly widespread problem? I've not seen any evidence to suggest that it is.

[Buckwheat]

well now that is just a evil rumor started by knights so they can get all the good gigs...

Fair enough. ;)

Yes, it does feel a bit odd. I meant to tell you that actually. I still consider this (the North East) to be "home" but I don't think of myself as living here anymore. I know it sounds a bit odd to say that, but I know what I mean...

My grandmother still has a fractured foot. Her idea of "resting" it included pottering around the house, dusting, hoovering and carrying the compost into the shed :rolleyes: When will she learn....

My grandparents are like that too, especially grandmother. Cannot take a rest.

It is odd that I am actually looking forward to going north again. ;)

[honeyed chicken]

Eh? Of course he is not going to be understood outside of the field of physics, the guy worked in advanced physics which, you know, somebody not dedicating their life to physics is not going to understand. Just like architect geniuses will be mainly remembered and understood among other architects, and doctors among other doctors etc.

There are lots of fields where we understand the value of the discovery though we've no idea of the details. Bernoulli's principle (helps keep planes in the air), Marconi's little invention (the radio) and so on. I'm not a physicist so I don't understand and couldn't begin to tell you the applications of Einstein's work, but that doesn't mean there are any that effect us every day. We just don't hear about them.