Technology - 18th Day of Gratitude

In our house we have 2 iPhones, an iPod, an iPad, an iMac an old PC and only three (3) people! Not to mention 2 iPod/iPhone docks and many chargers in many handy spots around the house, oh, and the school issued laptop.

And tonight, I am using the iPad to type my blog post.  Last night I used my iPhone forgetting I could have used the iPad. This is why there were no photos in my blog yesterday, nor will there be any today or, I dare say for a couple of days.

You see, the teenager is 'off site' and also, therefore, is the best Laptop!

You might think that number is excessive for one small household, I happen to know, by comparison, it actually isn't.

Just consider it is predicted that this year there will be more active mobile (cell) phones in the world than there are people.  Also, remember *that* figure includes all the people who don't even have access to food let alone phones or electricity, and, that also includes all the children and babies! And THAT is only phones being referred to!

A 2012 Census in India found more people own mobile phones than have access to a toilet!

Having now pointed out how ridiculously focused on technology we seem to be as humans, I must also say how grateful I am for my technology.

You see I am reasonably housebound most of the time for various reasons and without my technology, I wouldn't have a clue what was going on outside of our little home.

I also use my technology to research information that I hope will improve our lives such as things like parenting, nutrition, education, learning methods for people with Down syndrome, local activities for the kids etc.

Yes, I am grateful for my technology.

(Even if I'm not a techno geek.)

For my wonderful "Laggard" friends.

This post is dedicated to my friends.  No, not another one of these posts no tissues will be required ... unless you would like to laugh yourself silly at us until you cry?

For those of you who were not aware, (i.e., didn't read this post) I am 50 years old, and therefore, many of my friends also spring from that era.

These were some of my friends in the 1970s! Pic from here

However, I have many friends of many ages and so when we are talking "Generations" we might well site the whole alphabet, and Baby boomers too!

Which brings me to the matter at hand.  While I now have my Blog, (which I am always very excited about when I tell people), I have not always been "so Techno", and, by the simple use of that term, you can probably glean that I am still not "so Techno".

When I was growing up, there was no microwave, we barely had colour TV, the toilet was in the back yard and was emptied once a week by a very large smelly man who Dad gave a six pack to every Christmas, (which to my mind is a gross underpayment), the milk came in glass bottles and was left near the letter box in the "milk box" every morning, telephones were so heavy you could hardly pick them up and the "Cordless" had not yet even been invented! As for Mobile???? What the hell is that?

This was our home phone! Which is now referred to as being "Antique". Pic Source

So, it has been no surprise to me to find some of my friends, unlike me, who spends many hours on Facebook, Twitter and, if I have not previously mentioned, HAS MY OWN BLOG, are a little unfamiliar with the idea of a Blog and such "Techno" stuff!

To confuse the issue, me, who has my own Blog, tried to introduce them all to the world of blogging with a few tips on how they could help me "get my Blog off the ground". I had found some great tips on a tutorial that I stumbled upon via a link on Twitter that spells out how to make your Blog look more appealing so to encourage others (who are not your closest friends) to read it and ultimately comment! One method to appeal to an audience, is to have comments on your Blog so it appears that people read it, hence it is interesting ... easy I say!

I sent an email to all my friends that described how they could "follow" my Blog, how they could "subscribe" to my Blog, and how they could "Comment" on my Blog, with all the rules they should follow in diligent commenting and told them why this was all so important! And then, I waited ...

I have now had some notification from a couple of friends that they tried to comment on my Blog but once they had finished some beautifully composed and well thought out literary pieces, they have hit enter, and the whole thing disappeared, hence the lack of comments on my Blog ... I know that feeling, it happens to me when I try to comment on other people's Blogs on my iPhone, ALL. THE. TIME. - SO ANNOYING!

And so, understandably, I have nothing but sympathy for them. My first thought "OMG, my Blog is broken" how the hell am I, "The Techno One", going to fix that? My second thought, "Maybe I could do a TEST COMMENT?" ... and so I did! The result?

So without further ado, here is a quick instructional piece on:

HOW TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON MY BLOG.

1st Read a post or skim over it depending on your level of interest. 2nd At end of post click on the orange link that is "No Comments" or "1 Comment" (may have a different number than 1). 3rd Type your comment in the white box that will appear. 4th Where it says "Comment as" select Anonymous from the drop down box (unless you have another option there that you recognise, depending on your level of "Techno"). 5th Hit "Publish". 6th fill in the little security box thingy with the images you see and again hit go (or whatever it says), then you wait, not there at the computer, you will probably want to log off and check it out next time you think to ... I will then be notified by email that I have a comment to "moderate" and will happily do so, your comment will then appear in all its glory on MY BLOG, in the comments section. The whole process outlined above will make the orange link that may have said "No comments" read as "1 Comment", it will be yours!

Keep in mind, these instructions may only work for my Blog, from my experience, all Blogs are different and I am still learning too have no idea what I am talking about!

So to my "Laggard" friends, I love you all and thank you for your support and I would assume I will find many Anonymous and abusive comments at the end of this post!

The Happy Ending - Today, we have all learnt something!

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.

Rabindranath Tagore