There goes your social life

I’m all about IT and support advancements in. This hold virtual world stuff has me going back and forth, though. Sometimes, I’m all about it and sometimes I get little freaked out.

When I was back in Arkansas looking at business school, virtual tours were very helpful to me. I’d spend my time looking around campus and classrooms so that I could get a feel of the different schools.

Now as for virtual education, I’m not too sure about it. I guess it depends on the different learning styles. I know that I need to be in a classroom with real people so that I can stay engaged in what’s happening.

I consider myself a people person and maybe a bit of a social butterfly as well. I enjoy my social life with in-person interactions and conversations. Sometimes I feel like the virtual world is starting to take away from that.

Huh???? What is all this?

Lawrence Lessig talk, “Speech, Privacy, and the Internet: The University and Beyond,” is packed full of information. Lessig has truly spent some time getting an understanding of how the Internet has evolved and what’s going on with it today. I was trying to multitask while watching the video but, I quickly had to stop everything and focus on the video. I was starting to get lost.

As he was explaining how far the Internet has come, one of his funny points is about spam email from porn sites. I was reminded of the days when we all first got Hotmail accounts. We were terrified of getting into trouble if anyone saw the emails from porn sites that would come in daily. Now, we click the “Report Spam” button and go on with our daily lives.

My main takeaway is that we have come a long way with the Internet. It is difficult for us to understand it all and we must always be mindful of how we use it, especially when dealing with privacy.

24/7 Networking

Networking in DC is essential. No matter the situation it’s happening all the time and there is no way to get around it. I love Liz Ryan’s article on the "Top 10 Myths About Networking" because it is so true and on point.

The article starts off saying that it’s all about quality and not quantity. Trying to meet too many people at an event can be dangerous. You run the risk of getting all your facts confused and end up looking like a phony when you can’t recall one thing about a person.

In a world of such advanced mobile technologies we have everything related to work and personal life right at our fingertips. Because of this there is a very fine line, if any at all, between work and personal life nowadays.

This is not a bad thing. We have finally learned how to handle whatever comes our way with little stress. And some even believe it’s better to have a work and personal life that is more integrated together.

Since everything becoming one, we are networking 24/7. I’ve finally dropped all concerns about the “What do you do?” question. It’s just a part of getting to know someone on any level. And no matter if you’re out and about with your significant other you’re always on the lookout for that next job opportunity, or potential new client.

The Virtual Leash

As my co-worker is leaving his desk to run errands he always says to me “I’ll be back. If anybody needs me, I have my leash.” If you didn’t guess it already, the leash he is referring to is his BlackBerry. I use to pay it no attention but, it does prove that we are all being placed on a virtual leash. And the ironic part is that some of us want to be on a leash.

We are all grateful for the advancements in mobile technology and you can’t deny this because most of us keep a cell phone nearby 24/7/365. We have become so dependent on them and their features. We don’t even realize that being connected all the time has it pros and cons. One of my cons is that it distracts me too easily. I often get teased for it, too. No matter what I’m doing if I hear that BlackBerry lightning bolt sound notifying me that I have a new message, I immediately drop everything and rush to my phone.

As for GPS on mobile phones… this is getting too close for comfort, especially when you talk about integrating it with my Facebook account. Being able to know where I am at any time is just too much for me.

The truth of the matter is that I’m going to have to deal with these changes because I can’t give up any of my phone’s features. For example, the other day I got off the bus in a different area of town and was completely lost. I quickly reached in my pocket for my BlackBerry, fired up the GPS, and was on my way.

I'm addicted to the Internet.

Hi, my name is Manuel and I’m addicted to the Internet…

I was reading an article by Duncan Riley and another one on NRP’s website, both of which talk about how the Internet is making us stupid. After getting a refresher of the actual definition of stupid from Merriam-Webster, I do not agree the Internet is making us stupid. However, I believe it is turning us into Internet addicts.

The Internet is changing the way we think all together. No longer are we trying to remember facts, figures, or frameworks that are drilled into our minds throughout high school, college, etc. All we need to remember is enough information to type in to the omniscient Google search box. Therefore, we have become addicted the internet as it is needed to carry out any task. I have already used several online resources just to write the first few paragraphs of this post.

Let me share my story on how I became addicted. I was in college struggling with a computer programming assignment. I was almost finished until I ran into a major problem. I had spent hours upon hours going through all of my textbooks but, I didn’t find anything helpful. Finally, I asked a friend for some help and he simply said “Just google it.” From that day on I didn’t work on another programming assignment without Goggle’s home page on standby.

The good part about being addicted to the Internet is that I feel more confident than ever about any task that comes my way. I know that no matter what is being asked of me, I will be able to use the Internet as a starting point.

Age is just a number.

This is my attempt to “crowdsource” and hopefully get some feedback on age and aging. I use to think age was just a number and no big deal. I could never understand why some people seriously don’t want to talk about it as they are getting older. That’s starting to change for me, though.

Last week, I celebrated another birthday and had a revelation. I’m getting older and it’s happening a lot faster than I realize. I use to remember distinct years. Now, everything is running together and I can’t figure out where the time went. There were days when I wished I was older so, people wouldn’t dismiss me and label me as Young & Dumb. (Yes, there have been times where this label applies.)

The good side is that I’m thinking about life and my goals from a long term perspective All that stuff Mom and Dad were talking about makes more sense than ever. Clearly, I was lost.

Age is just a number but, there is a lot more tied to it. I’m just trying to figure some of it out.

"What do you do?"

I'm not trying to start a trend or anything with these questions as blog titles but, I thought about this when I was looking over some articles on social networking. To start this off let's pretend that I'm introducing two of my friends, Steven and Enrique, to each other for the first time. Here is a snippet of the typical dialogue...

Steven: Hi, Enrique. It's good to meet you.

Enrique: You, too. Manuel has told me great things about you.

Steven: Haha, he is such a gadabout. So... what do you do?

Enrique: I work for the Federal Government.


I'm thinking it could be me, or maybe just a DC thing but, the "What do you do?" question always comes up within minutes of meeting someone new. Beware that there are many forms of this questions; it does not have to be those words specifically.

More people are focusing on building their social networks, especially with the rocky economy and unpredictable job market. It’s the whole “who you know” thing. I understand that the question can be used to stimulate conversation. Besides, you know that it’s going to happen. But, when it comes so early in the dialogue I wonder about the motives of the asker. So, what happens next?

Steven will probably begin to solicit more details about Enrique’s occupation and try to discover any commonalities and mutual friends. Steven is sub-consciously assessing the value of knowing Enrique and remembering key elements that might be useful in the future when taping into either of their social networks.

We still don’t know Steven’s occupation. Either way, whatever Steven says will be a crucial factor in how he is positioned in Enrique’s social network and will have a significant influence on the outcome of this initial meeting.

Let’s hope Steven can bring something to the table.