Are You Listening?

With the rise of smart phones and the constant acceleration of technology, it is now acceptable and "fashionable" to be immersed in your phone while having a conversation with someone in person. Recently at South by Southwest, David Carr hosted a panel called, "I'm So Productive, I Never Get Anything Done," which was about how so many people are constantly on Facebook, Twitter, blog sites, email, and many other media outlets, rather than doing what they care about or what they are getting paid for. Anthony De Rosa, a product manager and programmer at Reuters, said that technology is causing a decrease in human courtesy and respect. The rest of the audience appeared to agree with De Rosa. It seems that when out with friends or colleges, there is a constant battle between a real face-to-face connection and the conncections in the palm of your hand. Even when a group of people are together, they are in their own world, separately on their own devices. So, how do we bring back face-to-face conversation?

Cellphone Radiation May Alter Your Brain

Is your cell phone hurting you? Last month a study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association stating that cell phone use could be responsible for altering brain activity. The change that takes place in the brain, caused by the cell phone, is an increase in glucose metabolism. This effect can happen after using your cellular phone for less than an hour. The study was unsure whether this change had any definite negative effects on our health. Further studies are being done to reach more results, however, in the meantime. The best way to avoid these effects on brain activity are to keep your cell phone a distance away from your ear and/or head. Using the speakerphone feature or using a hands-free ear piece is much better and does not cause the same effects. Even holding your cellphone away from you're ear a little bit and turning the volume up makes a difference.