50 Days ‘til 50Day 9Social StudiesI remember when my Mom’s got their first computer. I remember the phone calls I would have with them trying to walk them through drafting and sending an email. I had already had mine for 10 years so felt the true genius when it came to all things cyber. I remember them baffled at trying to open an attachment in their emails, and then saving them to their computer and lets not even talk about setting up a printer and actually getting something to print. I remember thinking how silly when they told me they were thinking of taking a computer 101 class.Its not that hard I thought…so much for my thinking.As I’ve begun this blog journey I’ve set up new accounts with Wordpress and Tumblr. I’ve had to refresh my knowledge of Instagram and Twitter, and after making the mistake of watching endless videos on You Tube about blogging, now it seems I need to make the decision about putting up a new self named website. They say it will increase my visibility, make me more popular, give me more credit to any potential employers, and I can even MAKE MONEY by allowing companies to advertise on my blog. Who knew?? I thought I was doing ok as I already use Dropbox for my professional portfolio, have a professional page on Facebook, have multiple email addresses for personal and business use. This is surely enough isn't it? Now that I jump between PC and MAC platforms I have a multitude of unused email addresses, countless folders of unknown documents, passwords and usernames that I honestly cant even remember; and lastly, for the love of all things Steve Jobs what the hell is the Cloud anyways? All I can think of is someone sitting there in a dark cubicle for hours on end looking through all of my computer stuff and getting ready to push a big red button rendering me useless. Thank you Edward Snowden.So, if I set up this personal website that I now realize I lack, I will be more popular online they tell me and be able to reach more people to read my blog. “Well, it must be done at once”, I say. Go Daddy? Host Gator? Enom? OH MY! Now why isn’t my name available for my dot com website? I will have to use DOT whatever they come up with next as my extension. I guess I waited to long. My popularity is losing ground by the nanosecond. It’s how much a month for hosting this website? Isn’t that what Wordpress is doing? I digress here; let me go back a few hours.When did this all become so complicated and how is that a fifth grader knows more about this stuff than I do? I am 49 years old after all, fairly competent, and organized, no? So lets start with the basics. Do I need a new computer? The slimmer, shinier, quieter ones with all the newest and latest bells and whistles and terabytes of memory? Like buying a new car that loses its value the second its driven out of the dealership, I’ll opt to just be ok with the computer I have. It still works, saves my documents, and I can check my email and surf the web. I'm ok with that. I was just told in a pop up message from somewhere out there that I have so much data on my computer now that even my external hard drive needs an external hard drive. Speaking of opt, have I opted in or out of all the things that need opting in or out of? How many emails can I get from Kenneth Cole per day telling me I need new shoes? Did I just mistakenly increase my daily email intake from third party websites by saying yes to Apple when they tell me I need to update my software because the one I have now is crap and wont work with all my other cross platform hardware and software? OY! I think I need some Advil…be right back.Wordpress is a great website for bloggers and I was happy to know that many of the Fortune 500 companies use this website. I must be in good company right? Oh but wait, I have to set up a profile on this website now as well; the one that anyone who reads my blog will see. I haven’t done that yet. I have profiles out there that list my age as still 35 and living in New York City, which I haven’t done in over 15 years. Doesn’t the Cloud know this already and if it’s so smart why can’t it just adjust all of my profiles across the board to my latest photo and residence location? So I now need to choose a photo for my new profile. Filter or no filter? Funny or serious? Photoshop or no photoshop? Forget the photo, Ill leave it up to the readers as to what they think I look like. After my blog is written and saved on Wordpress I then have the post-post option to link it to my Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Drop Box, Google, AOL, and Mac accounts. It’s not just enough to write it, now I have to spend more time linking it to all these accounts? Why cant there just be one button for them all? Why does all of this press so many of my own buttons? Why cant I just talk into the air and let Siri and the Cloud take care of the rest?Back in New Hampshire my Moms have a simple un-smart cell phone they use for emergencies when on the road and its never on when they are home. They use an answering machine and their phone at home has a cord on it. They send and receive emails and can print photos and fun things to hang on their refrigerator. Why are Moms always right?jf
50 Days 'Til 50 Day 9--Social Studies
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