Rise and Shine --- Something different

Good Morning and welcome to a brand, spanking-new week!

Then again, to paraphrase The Who, meet the new week, same as the old week.
So, after playing about the 500th game of Angry Birds, I decided to check out a few of the other ways the iPhone can make life more interesting.
So, I started snapping photos, then found out I can edit them with a Photoshop app. Then found out I can put the photos into a slideshow on my television. Of course, I also found out that playing with the Fios app during an especially good episode of Scooby Doo can cause a lot of yelling.
I later found an App called Color. Apparently, it's some kind of social photo app. You take a photo of what you're doing at the time and then, through some kind of crazy, big-brother type thing, it shows you photos of everybody within 150 yards who are using Color. I took a photo in the newsroom and, shockingly, there were no other users around.
Finally, I started playing with something called 'qr codes.' For those not in the know, they are those little blocks at the bottom of some advertising. You download a reader and then take a photo of the block. It sends you to a website.
There's a lot of cool sounding reasons to check them out, but none better than this:

Rise and Shine --- The password

Good Morning and welcome to the start of a rainy week!

Of course, the dark clouds will clear out, that's the beauty of it all.
Speaking of the Dark Side, anybody who has ventured into the world of the iPhone knows how addictive the gadget can be.
There are millions of aps to download, millions of games to check out. Oh yeah, you can actually make calls and check e-mail as well. It's becoming so you might not even need anything else (well, OK, maybe an iPad, but that's for another time).
The amazing part for me, though, is how easy children are able to pick things up.
We've had an iPhone since October and a day doesn't go by before the request comes in: 'Can I play on the phone?'
Once in awhile is OK, but, hey, we do need the phones for something besides games. Something like, I don't know, making phone calls.
Well, during a longer drive last week, I handed over the phone so a 7-year old and a 5-year old would at least calm down a little bit. So, after a little while of playing games, a new request came forward: 'Dad, what's a password?'
Uh, Oh.
Now, they've figured out how to get to the download page. Now, it's 'Can we get this game?' or 'Can we try this one?'
No, no and no password hints here.
Now, if they only put so much effort into schoolwork...

Rise and Shine --- Miracle of technology

Good Morning and welcome to a whole new week!

A couple of weeks ago, as Kathleen was preparing for her trip to Iraq, we went out and upgraded to an iPhone.
The thinking was a 'smart' phone, as they are called, would be easier to carry around than a phone and a camera. Plus, with the Internet at a touch of a finger, she wouldn't have to carry a laptop on helicopters.
So, we got the iPhone (scaring the salesperson after telling him we were taking it to Iraq). Got it set up with an international roaming plan (cell phone companies get you where ever and whenever they can).
So, she has the iPhone in Iraq. She was able to use the camera part, but never the phone. Apparently, there are some in the Middle East who still hate Americans. They can track cell phone usage. So, Americans are told not to use the cell phone to make calls ever.
After finding that out (in an e-mail), I was resigned to two weeks of e-mail back-and-forth.
That's when I was able to discover how to 'chat' online using gmail. It's like using the phone only typing and both of you can 'talk' at the same time. And, yes, those of you out there who can't believe it, you can connect with anybody all over the world.
So, I'm beginning to think you might not need a phone at all.
Of course, this is a little ridiculous:

Rise and Shine --- Smart phone?

Good Morning and welcome to the new week!

It took me a long time to break down and get a cell phone. It took me even longer to totally ditch the 'regular' phone and just rely on the cell.
I never felt the need to be 'in touch' 24 hours a day. When Caller ID debuted, that was close enough for me. If somebody wanted to call me(somebody trying to sell something) and I didn't want to talk to them, they could talk to the answering machine.
Then I could decide whether it was worth my time to call back (mostly no).
After a while (driving three children 35 miles a day back-and-forth to work did the trick), I was able to find the silver lining in the cell phone revolution.
I was able to get by with my non-smart cell phone all these years, ignoring (as best I could), the new smart phones hitting the market.
Last week, we broke down and got an iPhone (it's needed for an exciting project you will find out about later this week, so stay tuned).
Now, after one weekend with the iPhone, I wonder what took so long.
No longer do you need to make those $2 calls to 411. Need a map, just click on. Want to find out if the Phillies are still playing at 2 in the morning, hit the Internet button.
It's all pretty cool. You can blog. You can e-mail. You can text (whatever that is).
Still, there's a part of me that wonders if all this technology is making us dumber, or lazier.
With everything right at our fingertips, does it really stretch our brains?
OK, I don't have to walk into a scary looking gas station to ask directions, but I can also see less interacting between people.
We text. We e-mail. Do we talk?
I don't know. Besides, it's time to log off.

Rise and Shine --- Technology sucks

Good Morning and welcome to the day before the day before the start of summer!

Yeah, summer as in, rain, rain, rain. I guess everybody who pays those outlandish fees for swim clubs are pretty happy about the late spring weather.
Meanwhile, talking about the land of stupid people, apparently people are standing in line outside of Apple stores around the country to purchase the newest iPhone.
Yay! It's here! It's here! Get out the umprellas, let's camp out in front of a store.
Look, I like toys as much as the next person. As we move into the next phase of the digital world, everybody is going to need something like the iPhone to stay connected.
To stand in line overnight to be the first to get the new one is just plain silly.
Then again...


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Rise and Shine

Good Morning, Delaware County!

Look, I, like most people (men?), enjoy a new electronic gadget when it comes out.
I transferred all my record albums (yes, there used to be such an animal) to cassette tapes when it became obvious they were the future.
I ran to get a CD player when people still thought it just a fad.
I used to get a new watch every year because, well, because it had cool things. I had one with a stop-watch. One with an alarm. One that played a different song every hour. One that had a television remote control on the face that never really worked.
I stood in line when 'Pac Man' came out for the Atari system. I advanced to an Apple with a floppy drive. Then a PC with a CD and CD burner.
I like to play with Photoshop, Movie maker, music rippers, iTunes. It's fun to recut a movie to my 'director's cut,' although I don't think the original director would like it much.
Now, though, I give up because I can't keep up.
The money thing, sure, is a big thing, but the way technology keeps going, everything you buy is outdated a day later.
There's a new iPhone coming out this week. Last year, when the original iPhone debuted, people rushed out and got one. It's a cool thing, but the new one is cooler. There's word of a better one coming out in December and some of the phones being used in Tokyo put everything else to shame.
So, to rush out and get one this week or next week is just silly. In a few months, you'll feel cheated by the new one.
We need a slow down on the gadget front. I need to catch up.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

If you have any cool links or photos, send them along to onlinedelco@gmail.com

RISE AND SHINE

GOOD MORNING, DELAWARE COUNTY!

About six months ago I was posed a question: Is the newspaper business dead?
Here's how I answered:
I don't think it's dead. I believe newspapers, and by that end newspaper companies, still have the best talent and means to get the news to people in their community. Journalists are trained a certain way. They ask the right questions. They dig for dirt when needed and aren't afraid to get their fingers dirty (at least most are).
That doesn't mean the only thing worth putting in a newspaper is doom and gloom. There are plenty of uplifting stories out there.
While television 'journalists' give us quick hits and make a big stink about being down the street with lights, cameras and action, they aren't really doing any hard work. For the most part, television 'journalists' follow newspapers. They see what stories are being reported, then react.
Newspapers, though, are changing. I believe to remain alive we need to put as much emphasis on our local Web sites as we have for our papers. It's becoming a lot easier to carry an Iphone on the bus than a newspaper.
With wireless networks all over the place, we have to morph into a hybrid of print and Internet coverage. We can give readers much more on our Web sites than any other place, be it coverage of municipal meetings, the big High School baseball game or how your neighbor is helping out by selling lemonade on the street.
Are newspapers dead? No, just different. I don't know if my daughter, now 3, will ever read a traditional newspaper. She will want the news, though, and there's no better place than right here.



If you have any cool links or photos, send them along to onlinedelco@gmail.com