Tag: technology

Going #Gray(scale)

I struggle with staying off my phone. #everything lives there. I’m not the #techie type, but it has gradually choked out all resistance I once had to keeping up with the times (and #Joneses). Every Sunday, my screen time notification lets me know how much of my life bled into #cyberspace.

This week will be different. It won’t be the ghastly #imnotsaying hours it is every week. Nopity, nope. It will be less. I’m cutting it in half. People say researchers say setting your phone to #grayscale will significantly reduce the amount of time you spend on your phone.

#bluelight #screenaddiction #doomscrolling all of the things will improve. So they say. I had to look up directions, because, you know, the #reel I watched went too fast and there I am, taking another #screenshot to add just one more photo to my 10,000+ collection I carry around every day. How much would that weigh in actual #photos?

Is it the #placeboeffect? I have reduced my time, although not by half. It’s about a third. What I have noticed is I #cantfindanything. My apps are organized just so…by #color. I have slowed my scroll because I have to read my screen. (Funny how I’m always telling the kids “Slow your scroll and #readyourscreen!”)

My bank account is a little happier, but Amazon is not. I’m not clicking on useless items to bulk up my #shoppingcart. I’ve taken less screenshots because I’m not scrolling as much. My messages may be a bit off since I’m struggling to find the right #emoji 😃

I do turn it on for a few minutes, especially if I’m getting (more) photos from family members, but overall, I switch it back. It’s #cumbersome to toggle back and forth and I’m not creating a shortcut. Also, it isn’t hurting my eyes. Well, my eyes don’t necessarily hurt, but it isn’t as jarring.

How long will I maintain this? Who knows. I’m curious to see how much of a difference it makes. I can go on with my life #inlivingcolor.

March 12,2025

That Pinkie Toe Implant Again

Yesterday, I actually read a WordPress post about the new and improved comments box. Always trying to keep up with the newest innovation (without interference from my pinkie toe and except for maybe using AI to probe my writing like an alien might probe a human-might-because there’s not a lot we know about them…and there Alice goes, down the rabbit hole…) I decided to read the entire post. Not skim. Not scroll read, but actually read. Go back and pay attention. Read the screenshots.

Slow my scroll and read the screen.

I heard myself sing what I often sing-song to students during research lessons, “Slow your scroll and read the screen!” I took my advice.

Here I go, I’ll be fancy and embed the link in the text when I comment. I noticed other people doing the same. It wasn’t hard, it looks like a typical WordPress block. The link icon is there. I drafted my piece and made sure to include the link to the original post inspiring me to write about five of my favorite things (only five?)

I’m usually a PM poster, sometimes late at night. Yesterday it was early (for me). I hyperlinked my slice, hyperlinked Tammy’s Day 13 post and went on my merry way.

I popped back in to comment and noticed my post was under moderation. No other posts appeared after mine for a while. First thought? I broke WordPress, yikes! It’s my pinkie toe acting up again.

I left it at that, went to lunch with my husband, spent some Barnes & Noble gift cards (they did away with their educator discount program, but I got a nifty bag and the free premium membership for a year-I must remember to cancel), came home, and popped back in for more commenting.

My post was approved. Nifty new tool, but if it kicks everything over to moderation before posting, it may not be the best tool to use for this writing challenge. Then again, I noticed a few comments on my posts at the beginning of the month that went to spam.

I don’t think it’s my pinkie toe after all. Some settings that are out of my control must’ve been what happened. So much for trying to use the next best thing. Sometimes innovations aren’t so innovative.

…but, I would like a search feature to only search the comments for key words or slicers I’d like to revisit later in the day…

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Stories That Move Too Fast

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Stories have changed. I listened to stories my grandmother told me. Family stories, but stories nonetheless. Words crafted through inflection, intonation, pauses, unique voices, language-Spanish for us, and sometimes even songs. Words held in the air after they’ve been spoken as they traveled to listening ears. Some documented, but most absorbed into memory either to be retold or forgotten.

Stories have changed. I enjoy lingering over the words in a book, connecting with authors I’ll never meet and those who have long been gone. It’s an intimate space, those pages of a book, where writers pour out their creativity and share vulnerability through their characters and finely crafted thoughts through words. Perhaps some stories happened or they are inventions of things that wish to have happened, wandering all of the places in the world where readers will find them.

Stories have changed. We once waited a week between episodes of favorite TV shows, anticipating what’s to come, figuring out plot twists and who-done-its. Now we can gorge ourselves on Netflix series throughout a weekend, but is it any different than reading a book cover to cover in a day?

Stories have changed. What once was a well captioned Instagram photo or Facebook post is now “too long” for us to read. Use less words, but lots of hashtags. How does that even make sense? We have to post to stories that disappear in a day. What do we put there that makes us want it to disappear?

Stories are moving too fast-the ones that are run by algorithms at least. I need time to think about what I’m reading. I like time between TV shows. (Is it even called TV anymore?) I’ve always been a slow reader, so maybe it’s just me who has a problem having to press my finger on a digital story so I can take in the content. Lives are flashing too fast before my eyes and it feels as if, in the age of being connected, I’m losing connectivity. Is it because I’m older? Is it because I like to take my time and don’t feel like I can ever catch up? I can’t figure it out.

It’s exciting to see how things change, but stories, they still connect us. We still share them. And I think they’re too important to shorten for the sake of scrolling.