"wunderlust" lost on level 10?

[Frank]

I copied this from the Compac Owners forum.

"A meeting with Medusa

There was an interesting show on the Discovery Channel tonight. They've been advertising it all day, and we couldn't wait to see it. Some scientists on a research ship off the coast of Japan have caught the first known film footage of a giant squid in its natural habitat. Parts of them have been found washed ashore, and half-digested carcasses have been retrieved from the stomachs of dead whales. Occasionally, rotted corpses have been found floating at sea, or tangled up in fishermen's nets. But this is the first time we've seen an intact, living specimen, filmed in color from a small research submarine. It is absolutely fabulous.

The show lasted two hours. It contained photographs of many dead specimens that have been recovered, as well as animations of what the creature must look like in its natural habitat. The history and lore of what little is known about these creatures was covered pretty well, too, with ancient drawings of big squid attacking old-timey sailing ships and gobbling up sailors. Film was also showed of similar (but much smaller!) species of squid. There were also interviews with the scientists involved in the hunt, and lots of footage of them living and working on their ship. The show was fascinating, and we all sat down and watched.

My ten year old step-grandson (visiting from up North) watched with us. He parked himself on the carpet in front of the TV with his laptop and played computer games. For the whole two hours that show was on, he played games, or watched Youtube videos. I could clearly see what he was doing. He didn't look up once. He was wearing headphones, and he kept on grunting and squealing under his breath as he played the games, not loud enough to disturb us, but loud enough to make it clear that his real attention was not on the genuine and very real monsters on the show. He was much more interested in the imaginary ones he was "interacting" with on his computer. He did not look up once. I am not exaggerating. Not once.

The giant squid was first photographed by a robot sub with a flashing light lure (it mimicked the bioluminescent display of a jellyfish trying to startle a predator). Once the video was brought aboard the research vessel and the creature positively identified, a scientist went down in a manned submersible carrying a dead bait to attract the beast. Eventually, the big mollusc came out of the dark and attacked the bait. The sub crew got six minutes of video, not all of which was shown on the show, in beautiful color and exquisite detail. It was something no other human eyes have ever witnessed.

The animal was gorgeous, so unlike the shapeless blobs of half-rotted flesh you see in grainy films or in museum freezers--this was a sleek and beautiful animal, graceful and alert, the master of his domain. They live a half-mile down in the cold and dark, studded with weaponry and bristling with sensors, they have no enemies except the great sperm whales which hunt them.

This specimen had probably survived an encounter with the spermaceti, his two long feeding tentacles seemed to have been amputated, but the rest of him was intact. The color was a beautiful tan, the same hue as the Cedar Waxwing's feathers, and its enormous eyes were a startling blue. I wasn't a very large one, about 30 or so feet long, of which half was tentacles. The narrator mentioned no one knows how big they grow, but they suspect the largest ones have a body about the size of a bus.

It was absolutely spectacular video of an incredible scene, and a remarkable human achievement. But the youngster missed it. I guess he had something better to do"

My reply :


""Give the kid a break !!   He was almost at level 14 !!     









Sad isn't it







While visiting a friend recently I noticed that every single person in the home....well....wasn't (mentally)

Each kid was up in there own room on a video game or face book 

Mom was doing her e-mails

All were wired to somewhere "outside" the house.

As my buddy and I spoke...pizza arrived. everyone came down from their room....grabbed a piece and returned upstairs.

I thought 'how sad'....this is what a 'family meal' has come to....

Yep....ain't technology great!""


On my re read....I WAS on my computer reading and responding. You are on yours reading this!  Thoughts??





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[Godot]

I have the feeling that there is a lot of online burnout going on. I know lots of folks who are cutting their facebooking/emailing/googling time down. Mine is probably a quarter what it was three years ago. Someday I'll probably just quietly disappear from the online world as I spend more time in the real world.

The future...what comes?

Oh, and I don't watch much television and didn't see the squid special. Sounds awesome.

[Chris]

Funny(Ironic) I'm here , writing on a commercial break from Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown which is all about experience and epiphany in real time... This time in Salvador, Brazil...beautiful Portuguese, big snapper on homemade charcoal grills, powerful cashasa and beer. Times are harder for many there than here but there is no technology to hide in so people have each other for loyalty, friendship, love; the best sort of distractions that are not really distractions at all but the point after all. I enjoy gaming with my erzats grandkids sometimes but they are limited by their parents in how much time they can sit in front of the "big eye".  I am no ludite, nor am I an atheist but am happy to believe that so many technological distractions serve as wonderful insulators...the new version of the " opiate of the masses". I for one sit here knowing how much I would rather talk about this than write about it... But I am old and tired of "progress" in so many ways. Blah blah blah...

[Sea Rover]

Technology has managed to connect people like never before while simultaneously isolating them. What an incredible paradox. I see it all the time. Bars are full of people not talking with each other, just playing on their phones. Since it's apparently a crime to let your kids play in the yard unsupervised nowadays they find connection with social based games... inside. I even see it at work on towboats. I'm sitting here typing this from my phone which I use entirely too much, but it's how I stay connected to a world that I am physically isolated from.

I'm not sure if all this is a good thing or not, though I lean a bit towards not, I am just as guilty as many. That's one of the many reasons I bought a small sailboat with plans to cruise. I want to disconnect and enjoy the Now all around me. Right after I check my Facebook one more time...

[Frank]

I gotta tell ya....I truly am torn on this. Am I simply getting older and responding to normal value shifts? Do I simply not like change? After all...here I am...on a computer...responding to this!! How much is ageing? What are "real-legitimate" issues with youth being too connected and anti social? Is it simply an ole guy hating change and things not being 'as they were'?  No matter what...I still HATE seeing an empty park and the thought of all those kids sitting inside on I-pads!!!!

[Mike]

This is something I think about a lot. Not sure how I will handle the device issue yet when it comes to my own kids... I am one of the generation who grew up with computers, albeit not ipads and iphones, which I personally think is a whole other ballgame. I make my living from computers (I'm a graphic designer) but when i'm done with work, I dont even look at my computer until the next day, I think moderation is something that needs to be practiced with everything one does. There is no doubt in my mind that kids are spending too much time on their devices, and the only people who can change this are the parents, but generally they just let it happen because it means less dealing with their kids...

However, I actually think computer literacy is not growing, the kids I have seen dont know how to use traditional computers very well because they are so used to using their fingers, not a mouse and keyboard. When I grew up (late 80s/ early 90s) If you were into computers you were pretty much labeled a geek, you had to actually know what you were doing to use a computer. Now with the iphones/ipads, it simplifies the experience of using computers, and as a result these kids are not prepared to use actual computers (the ones needed for jobs/work) any better.

So my thoughts are basically that parents need to do a better job of moderating their kids "device time" as well as teach their children computer literacy. What is appropriate to post to facebook/intsagram/etc... And how posting stuff now can affect you later in life. Kids do not grasp this, especially when they are as young as 7 or 8.

This is not to say I don't think adults spend too much time on devices as well, I think that is absolutely true. I think as long as we all step back and assess our usage individually and make sure to moderate, then devices can be a great source of enrichment to our existing lives.

my 2 cents