Newly single Madonna was recently spotted
having drinks with her ex-husband Sean Penn (not
that ex, her ex ex!), and what's more — they're text buddies.
I personally don't keep up with my exes via Facebook, phone calls, or texting, but I have many friends (usually the currently single ones) who have added each other as friends on Facebook and MySpace and keep in contact that way.
Whether they're playing with fire, completely and utterly mature, or just think that electronic relationships aren't the same as regular friendships, I think it says a lot about you.
There are so many confounding studies related to teens and technology, that it's getting more difficult to decipher if tech is a help or hindrance on an adolescent's development and overall well-being. First we heard that teens aren't
sleeping enough because of their gadgets, but then we find out that cell phones and texting are good because it
improves the parent-teen relationship.
And now, a new study that was conducted over the course of three years in the US with 800 teenagers, found that
online time for teens is important for development.
I remember my excuses for not having or doing my homework to have been pretty lame, but as for tech excuses, like my computer "ate" the file — well, let's just say I'm sure I made them do it too. A study found that these days, the new
homework excuses are tech-related, such as blaming hackers for getting into your laptop to snag just your 10-page paper on 12th century witchcraft.
So has one of your gadgets ever eaten or ruined your work, somehow?
Even though I always tell people that
the Kindle will never replace books, but just supplement them, I never fail to hear people say that they will never get a Kindle because they like the feel of paper books so much.
But geeky as I may be, there is technology I'm not inclined to adopt either (not yet anyway).
Last week I lamented a world with only
digital versions of magazines, since I love seeing fresh new issues in my mailbox each month.
After hearing about the
umpteenth person to lose their job or otherwise get in trouble because they posted something on Facebook, the message is clear: It's not Facebook, you may just be oversharing.
Whether it's the wrong time or the fact that you're flaunting an event that you lied about being at to someone, you are in control over whether you endure the consequences for it — from Facebook anyway. Below, a few common sense guidelines.
"So you're not a computer geek," Jim told Pam on
this week's episode of The Office. It was kind of sad to hear, knowing
Jim is geeky himself, but I know they can get through this.
It also made me grateful that I myself am in a mutual geek relationship — we drool over new tech announcements together and scheme about what our next home tech purchase together will be.
The concept of word-of-mouth seems so quaint now. Recently, when a pair of my friends got engaged, I was close enough to be a lucky one who got a phone call; later when I asked mutual friends if they'd heard the news, so many people said, "I heard about it on Facebook!"
I had a thought: Is Facebook the new newspaper?
Did you know that digital TV viewers in the UK spend an average of
three and a half hours a week channel surfing? The results didn't indicate whether the participants (aged 16-20) had DVRs, which I'm assuming would alter the total amount of time. Ever since my TiVo entered my life, I no longer have to worry about bouncing around from channel to channel, hoping to find something that peaks my interest — because I always have hours of taped shows that I know I'll love.
In the
Twilight trailer, we see Bella get rescued from being hit by a van by Edward (goosebumps). I'm not as concerned with the fact that a teenage boy can stop steel (because he looks so hot doing it) as much as I am with the fact that Bella was in the parking lot with her earbuds in. No, no!
Lessons can be found in every corner of
Star Wars. Your father could be your nemesis. Your love interest could be your sister.
