Jan 04 2011
So, WordPress, the makers of this blog, have pitched a challenge to its users for 2011. Can we all stick to a daily or once a week posting schedule? Well, I accept the challenge with a condition. I definitely want to post more content. Instead of just promoting my projects and the like, I’m thinking of trying something a bit different. I’ve been out of the podcasting game for half a year, and I’d love to drive more traffic to my site. How will I attempt this? I will try blogging about news items of a geeky nature that interest me, and that I feel would interest other fans. I’ll gather stuff from across the internet, link to the source, and interject my opinion. Please feel free to leave your comments, or drop me a line at kyle@ kylehebert.com. I’d love to hear your feedback.
MEDIA ADDICTS SUFFER WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS (Engadget.com)
This is a no brainer, and I can certainly attest to this observation. I am pretty much tethered to my iPhone at all times. I even sleep with it. If I’m not on my phone, checking Facebook, Twitter, email, or surfing the web, then I’m on a desktop or laptop doing the same thing. I’ve grown accustomed and downright spoiled by technology so much that I get nervous and fidgety if I can’t check my phone to text, etc. University students were asked to go 24 hours without their media vices. They reported loneliness, despite being surrounded by their peers, and that their need for a “fix” was akin to drug addiction. How many times have you been sitting at a dinner table with your friends and within minutes, everyone is checking their cell phones, replying to texts, somewhat ignoring flesh and blood people right in front of them. How restless do you become when your laptop or cellphone battery is dead? Or when you leave the house, drive down the street, then realize you left them behind. I personally feel anxious, and just about everybody I know feels the same way. If I had to go for even a few hours without checking my email or the like, I’d go crazy. Sad, eh?
How about something not sad but scary? Imagine the next big terrorist attack being aimed not at buildings or people, but directly at what our culture has become. Just think if somebody actually used technology against itself by using an electromagnetic pulse as a weapon. Doing so would render all electronics useless. All media and anything relying on computers or the internet, everything we know and take for granted, would come to a grinding halt. What sort of psychological effect would happen to society then? Journalism and social media have blurred. Anyone with a smart phone can be the eyewitness reporter. Everyone has a voice, broadcasting to the world either by sight, sound, or text. This blog is essentially its own TV channel, sending out signals intertwining entertainment, editorial and commentary.
Everyone at large seems to generally prefer using technology to communicate, thus fueling our own isolation. Walk down any street at any hour, you’ll see countless people looking down at their phones, having conversations via bluetooth, texting while driving. Meanwhile at every coffeehouse or park bench, the clatter of keyboards fills the air. I am a hopeless addict. An eternal slave to a little handheld device that keeps me connected to a world of information overload. Sure, I can hide behind a few simple but valid excuses. As a freelance voice actor, I NEED to be connected at all times to intercept auditions, to keep in contact with my daughter should I be out of the house or out of town, and so on. But at the end of the day, I want to load up an app, play a quick game, click on a link, and feed my head an ongoing supply of mental fast food. Maybe I should sign up for a 12 step recovery program. I imagine I’ll see a lot of you there. 
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