[Sun Jun 21 16:07:46 CDT 2015]

Yeah, I know, here I go again with one of my pet peeves. But I just cannot understand this one, no matter how hard I try. Slate publishes an article signed by Mark Joseph Stern explaining how his new Apple Watch brought him the "serenity" that he hadn't had in many years. Sorry, but I still don't understand what's going on here. According to Stern:

Some Apple Watch naysayers have predicted that users could become dangerously addicted to their new gadget. Over the last week, I discovered the exact opposite: My watch has helped me unplug from technology more frequently and more meaningfully. Lunching with an old friend, I found myself pitying his frequent, nervous glances at his iPhone, which sat, face up, on the table. Mine remained in my backpack. I glanced at my watch twice. Even taking my dog on her midday walk is more pleasurable. B.W. (before watch), I anxiously updated my email and Slack, worried some news within my beat would break. A.W., I know my watch will tell me, and I can spend some quality time perambulating with the pooch. I am not the only Apple Watch user to discover that the device unchains you from your phone. This perk, in fact, seems to be one of the watch’s biggest draws.

Really? Is this for real? Are we truly so addicted to these gadgets that we cannot just turn the smartphone to silent mode or put it away? Do we honestly need yet one more gadget to become less dependent on another gadget? Did we truly sink this low? I'm sorry but, if that is the case, Stern has some big problems, and they have little to do with choosing between an Apple Watch or a smartphone (or, let's be clear, in his case, as it turned out to be, both at the same time!), but rather with a few ideas and values that, I'm afraid, are quite outdated and démodé by now, such as discipline and self-restraint. {link to this entry}

[Tue Jun 16 09:45:36 CDT 2015]

Here's a link to Dell's Linux-Desktops mailing list. Chances are it could be useful to anyone running Linux on any Dell laptop or desktop computer. The archives show a few interesting discussions. {link to this entry}