The Web-Deprived Study at McDonald's

Yikes. What a conundrum. People increasingly need the internet to help complete school assignments, research and apply for jobs, stay current with the news, and be connected with their networks. Not everyone can afford Internet, so they look for places offering free WiFi. Cue McDonald’s, the home-base for all things unhealthy, to offer that service at more than 12,000 locations. Health issues are tied to economic status. If you’re going to McDonald’s to use their free WiFi, you’re in a demographic that is at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. This is not the greatest scenario. But, who else is stepping up?

Chris has been watching math videos (huh?!), so I tuned in for a few, including this video introducing differential equations. They’re really easy to watch, follow, and learn from, and the instructor is an absolute delight. It’s impressive to see lessons that are considered ‘upper level’ math presented with such ease and in such manageable chunks. I am sad that my last math class was 8 years ago; these mini-lessons are just enough to fill that void for awhile longer!

Even if you’re not a math person, there are videos for you! The Khan Academy is an online-based nonprofit with a mission to make quality education available to everyone. They have nearly 4,000 videos on topics from biology, to animation, to finance, to history. I love the mission and the execution; two thumbs up. Now go learn about differential equations!

Gmail being down feels scarier than expected. Realizations: I am so used to having it passively open at all times that I feel disconnected and anxious when it goes away. There is so much personal history / record-keeping on it that if something ever were to happen with gmail, I would lose that life data. I should research and cover backups in my gmail class. Google is assumed to be fairly perfect. It has changed how things on the Internet are done. We trust it, partially because there’s little choice not to and partially because there hasn’t been a convincing reason not to. Will this change trust? Probably not. Should it? Not sure. Others share my addiction to gmail, need to connect, and fright. Citing: Twitter. It’s back up now (kind of; still not working properly), like that last 5 minutes were a strange blip in my reality, but these thoughts remain.
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Gmail being down feels scarier than expected. Realizations:

  • I am so used to having it passively open at all times that I feel disconnected and anxious when it goes away.
  • There is so much personal history / record-keeping on it that if something ever were to happen with gmail, I would lose that life data.
  • I should research and cover backups in my gmail class.
  • Google is assumed to be fairly perfect. It has changed how things on the Internet are done. We trust it, partially because there’s little choice not to and partially because there hasn’t been a convincing reason not to. Will this change trust? Probably not. Should it? Not sure.
  • Others share my addiction to gmail, need to connect, and fright. Citing: Twitter.

It’s back up now (kind of; still not working properly), like that last 5 minutes were a strange blip in my reality, but these thoughts remain.

What's Wrong With #FirstWorldProblems

Check out this short but to-the-point look from The Atlantic at #firstworldproblems, which you’re undoubtedly familiar with if you’re on the internet. (If you are not familiar, click on the hashtag and read a few.)

A teaser:

I don’t like this expression “First World problems.” It is false and it is condescending. Yes, Nigerians struggle with floods or infant mortality. But these same Nigerians also deal with mundane and seemingly luxurious hassles. Connectivity issues on your BlackBerry, cost of car repair, how to sync your iPad, what brand of noodles to buy: Third World problems. All the silly stuff of life doesn’t disappear just because you’re black and live in a poorer country. People in the richer nations need a more robust sense of the lives being lived in the darker nations. Here’s a First World problem: the inability to see that others are as fully complex and as keen on technology and pleasure as you are.

I have always felt mixed about this hashtag, because it’s kind of self aware and kind of perpetuates (often gross) dichotomy and/or ignorance. It also sounds flippant, and maybe shouldn’t be taken so lightly, although that irony and flippancy is also part of what twitter is great for.

Not only did this phrase of (in)sincere commentary grow online, but I have observed many (including myself) saying it offline, or IRL. If one of the goals of social connectivity online is to spark conversations offline, maybe there’s something here. BUT, perhaps unfortunately, the phrase is said more as a giggling joke than as a conversation about poverty or abuse or injustice; it’s just a way to characterize the (lack of) true importance of a problem.

Use it, don’t use it….whatever. I get it, and am still uncomfortable a bit by it. And maybe keep the conversation going?

Via USA.gov: How and Why You Should Write a Social Media Will

Social media is a part of daily life, but what happens to the online content that you created once you die?

If you have social media profiles set up online, you should create a statement of how you would like your online identity to be handled. Just like a traditional will helps your survivors handle your physical belongings, a social media will spells out how you want your online identity to be handled.

Like with a traditional will, you’ll need to appoint someone you trust as an online executor. This person will be responsible for closing your email addresses, social media profiles, and blogs after you are deceased. Take these steps to help you write a social media will:

  • Review the privacy policies and the terms and conditions of each website where you have a presence.
  • State how you would like your profiles to be handled. You may want to completely cancel your profile or keep it up for friends and family to visit. Some sites allow users to create a memorial profile where other users can still see your profile but can’t post anything new.
  • Give the social media executor a document that lists all the websites where you have a profile, along with your usernames and passwords.
  • Stipulate in your will that the online executor should have a copy of your death certificate. The online executor may need this as proof in order for websites to take any actions on your behalf.

Learn more about what else you should include in your will and how to create an effective estate plan.

This is a really interesting blog post (especially for USA.gov!) topic. It sounds so morbid, but what a smart idea. The internet allows for more eerie reminders of someone who is no longer alive, whether it’s gmail suggesting other people you might want to include on the email or facebook pages that become interactive memorials. It would make sense that there be a way to control what happens; however, as with “regular” wills, I imagine it has the potential to cause fighting among family and friends and layers of interpretation. With the internet and privacy settings constantly changing, too, it’s likely that the wishes documented in a social media will wouldn’t even be able to be entirely honored.

Don’t worry guys, I sometimes do morbid posts about certain angles of death; it’s just fascinating. I’m not going anywhere, so jenbokoff.com isn’t either.

Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone? A TED talk well worth watching. Please do share your thoughts in comments if you watch; I’m very curious to hear them as I haven’t fully formed my own.

We all need to focus on the many many ways that technology can lead us back to our real lives, our own bodies, our own communities, our own politics, our own planet; they need us. Let’s talk about how we can use digital technology, the technology of our dreams, to make this life the life we can love.

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THANKS!

Homeless people have become Internet hotspots at SXSW through a partnership between the festival and Front Steps. They can make money through PayPal donations, and the idea behind it is that it’s more useful to attendees than selling newspapers. It’s edgy and certainly controversial. I like it*. Each hotspot’s success - like any other enterprise - is largely determined by the money it nets and the function it serves. The money earned is currently unknown to me, but the purpose of the business is completely viable. Ethics are also an important determinant of sound business, and despite criticisms that this partnership is dehumanizing and horrifying, it doesn’t feel nearly as second-class as dudes in Rx costumes outside of pharmacies at flu season waving people inside AND nobody is forced to participate! Plus, for people who enjoy interacting with people and are good at it, this certainly could be both financially worthwhile and enjoyable. I’m curious what these employees have to say about the experience when it’s over, but I am comfortable with this innovative approach to helping homeless people productively earn money. What do you think? * based on what I know about it; I am not experiencing this in person
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Homeless people have become Internet hotspots at SXSW through a partnership between the festival and Front Steps. They can make money through PayPal donations, and the idea behind it is that it’s more useful to attendees than selling newspapers. It’s edgy and certainly controversial.

I like it*. Each hotspot’s success - like any other enterprise - is largely determined by the money it nets and the function it serves. The money earned is currently unknown to me, but the purpose of the business is completely viable. Ethics are also an important determinant of sound business, and despite criticisms that this partnership is dehumanizing and horrifying, it doesn’t feel nearly as second-class as dudes in Rx costumes outside of pharmacies at flu season waving people inside AND nobody is forced to participate! Plus, for people who enjoy interacting with people and are good at it, this certainly could be both financially worthwhile and enjoyable. I’m curious what these employees have to say about the experience when it’s over, but I am comfortable with this innovative approach to helping homeless people productively earn money.

What do you think?

* based on what I know about it; I am not experiencing this in person

Spam can be fun

My friend Kent who I met at the library just began a blog in which he reposts noteworthy spam. I am very much a fan already, as his first post truly captures the beauty of a well-written spam email. A blog like this can transfer the frustration and eye-rolls expressed upon receipt of spam to wonderful laughter and celebration of this crazy world in which we live.

In this new light, I revisited my Spam mailbox. My favorite that was caught in its web was just brilliant:

Good day my dear Friend,

How are you doing together with your entire family, I hope all swell am contacting you for a confidential business proposal and please care full reading understand my reason of contacting you through email. My Name is MR.Rifat Muhammad. The Director of  Foreign Remittance Unit via Bank Groups OF African Development (BOA). West   Africa

Here. I am contacting you because of an abandoned fund which was deposited by ablate customer of this bank called Mr. Rafik Bahamas Edine Hariri. 

My stand to contact you now is that, a foreign has the legal right to put claim to such deposit followed by you will proof your claim with the bank. There fore, I want you to apply as his business partner. 
And all the information and data’s you will need to make successful claim of this fund in the bank here are fully ready with me here. 

Note Well: Please urgently confirm your willingness and interest to assist me by filling and sending back to me the needed information below. 1. Your full name; 2. Your phone Telephone and fax numbers;  3.Your age;  4.Yoursex; 5.Your occupation;   6.Yourcountry and city. 

Thanks and best regards. 
MR.Rifat Muhammad. M.sc (ECONS

Sorry dear friend, you’ll have to go at this new venture alone, and gosh am I sorry to forgo this amazing opportunity. Please forgive me in the form of giving me your bank account number to treasure always.

Then there’s always stuff like this, that people on the internet crazily figure out ways to see past. (Typos? Where? Exclusivity? Good thing they sent this only to 3 others…whew! Promises of internet fame? AWESOME!)


I, of course, love it, and feel thrilled that no longer will this phenomenal comedy on sincerity steroids be relegated to the murky depths of the oft-emptied spam folder. Thanks, Kent, for the blog spam. I’ll take it.

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