Ack! One of my fears with computers, since way back when AOL first started putting ads on its chat screens, even as we had to pay $20 a month to use it in the first place, has been that somehow the Internet would find a way to put ads on my desktop! It seems that my nightmare is Ross Dunn's fantasy! Ack!

But, really, not the reason I'm posting. I just don't understand the joy behind anything that adds the ability to put Internet applications onto my desktop, (except for the Weather Channel one.) I didn't even get why I was supposed to be happy that Google could search my own files and online stuff at the same time. If it's my file, I already know what it says and where it is, so what is the point of such things? I'm not putting any of these things down, just don't understand why it seems like such a big deal. (And, I'm pretty sure it's just me, since I haven't understood the need for cell phones for everyone or even cable TV. LOL) Can anyone explain what the big deal is to me?

#1 - there is no joy in having internet apps on your desktop.... its for lazy people who dont want to click on ie or ff to check there weather, they would rather wait the extra 10 minutes for there super cool easy access weather and news to pop up... i dare say, lazy buggers where is the need to hunt!

#2 - I hate the idea of google being able to search my files, before i would willingly do that i would install windows on a mini hardrive with 50 copies of anarchists cookbook scattered throughout and maybe some notes about my disgust in world powers... this would be for the pure purpose of seeing who gets to know whats potting on my drive other than google... private my arse. Its not safe and honestly brings life to the "conspirators" theories that in the near future we wont be able to shop, eat, travel or sleep without someone knowing exactly where we are and what we are doing, unless we go live in the wild away from technology.... cave man style - booya. If you think about it, thanks to 2-11 they already listen for keywords in phone calls, how long does the personal pc have before it becomes impersonal and monitored by something other than Nortans.

#3 - Cell phones, they are amazing and i love em, unfortunately cell companies put trackers in them nowadays (ring any bells from above) and you can pretty musch track em to a few feet. If oyu push that little invasion of privacy aside you have a mini computer, phone and entertainment system in your pocket - i have a kjam, its got windows mobile 5... i have media player - 1gig storage - age of empires (google it ) Photo contacts, msn messenger, skype, mozilla, ie, excell, word, powerpoint, flash, an html editor, vpn, terminal services, wifi, edge, 2 megapixel camera (required some pimping) and a stack more. All of this is in a cell phone the size of a box of smokes.. roughly. The screen is huge so it aint a squint and read phone either. My point being, cell phones are useful and fun and useful - plus they make keeping i ncontact with people so much easier, landlines should be for broadband now

#4 - Never seen cable tv we have dstv though and as far i know its the satelite equiv of cable. So i dare say, people need to vegetate, its a natural part of any mammels life... be it lions, whales, buck, field mice, George Bush, Nelson Mandela, the guy on the couch.... no-matter what, we all need toi vegetate every now and then... thats where cable comes in, it puts you in place where you sit and not think... not one thought needs to cross your mind other than that little spark that tells your finger to change the button. Its beautiful If you think it can be the most painful thing you have ever done but its certainly worth it. If you do it for to long though... if you do it for to long... welll lets just say your house grows wheels and you will eventually find eminem knocking at your door telling you that his momma just threw a beer bottle at his head... messy



I hope this enlightened you I would urge you to stay where you are happy though, dont change your lifestyle because of societies ideas of whats normal to have in your home etc. If you are happy stick to being happy as opposed to being "learned". And trust no one... not google or the men in black outfits... especially not scrawny guys in checked shorts... government techies... trust no one! not even me.. .forget all you just read... aargh!!!! ah, crazy talk makes me smile

edit = what a pretty amassment of smileys.... weeeee

I use widgets wich are collected in my dashboard. This little applications´re allowing me to translate words, check the weather, checking the temp of my pc, I can hunt down tanks, skype, calculate, notice, showing the illusion of the day (I like that sometimes),..... Some of them are calling the internet, some don´t. I have a program running that asks me to allow each program to connect to ports, so I still have some control.

I said,

I just don't understand the joy behind anything that adds the ability to put Internet applications onto my desktop, (except for the Weather Channel one.)

Ryan responded,

its for lazy people who dont want to click on ie or ff to check there weather, they would rather wait the extra 10 minutes for there super cool easy access weather and news to pop up... i dare say, lazy buggers  where is the need to hunt!

For the record though, I mostly use it to glance at the bottom of my computer for the temperature, so I know what to wear as I'm about to go outside.

Never seen cable tv  we have dstv though and as far i know its the satelite equiv of cable.

Yeah, same thing but through ...ummm, cable.

We also have satelite, but I gave up on the "500 channels of $#it on the tube..." (as Pink Flloyd put it), pre-satelite TV. Also, still have to consciously remember it's "CD," not "albums," or "tapes," although I'm proud to say, I never fell for 8-tracks back in the day. And, I now have a lot harder time telling the difference between crazy people talking to themselves as I walk around compared to folks with hands-free, or even, regular cell phones.

On the positive side, I was selling cell phones, back in the days when they could only be used in cars, because their system was in a 15 pound case, a special antenna had to be installed around the window, and the handheld device was roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island (USA's smallest state), and at such a bargain too, merely $700 (plus half a dollar per minute for calls coming in or going out) and you too could own such a modern device! LOL

age of empires (google it  )

No need! Came free with some computers some where along the line. Never understood it, but tried it. Despite my age and gender, I was a gamer, back when women just weren't (and I had no gray hair, and could look good in tight jeans LOL) -- holding area records for Space Invaders, and just too bored after 4-6 hours (and they had no pause features, so no way of going to the bathroom without losing the game LOL) for other early games. Last game I bought though, was an addition to Morrowind (google "Elder Scrolls" LOL), but having turned into webs designer wannabe and fictional Blogger, I never have time to play it anymore. Technically, I do, but tend to spend 4-10 hours per sitting -- games do have pause now -- so really can't afford that addiction of time.

you think about it, thanks to 2-11 they already listen for keywords in phone calls, how long does the personal pc have before it becomes impersonal and monitored by something other than Nortans

I'm assuming you mean 9/11 (easy for us to remember, since it is also our three digit number, if we have an emergency -- probably part of the terrorists' thinking, but who knows, or cares?) No worries though -- the whole reason for the big investigation into why our Intelligence couldn't warn us was because we have been living with them (CIA, FBI, and who knows what other secret spy organizations we have) monitoring every single telephone call and Internet keystroke (through computerized programs mostly) for many years before, even the Oklahoma City bombing, so they did have the info -- along with tons more. Just so much info, it's hard to figure out when they want to tell (panic?!) us. Oh, and, yeah, and the latest is the question of whether each computer has something installed to monitor us or not. (I'm pretty sure it's a hoax -- for now.)

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, however, I am one of those freaky few who would rather be free then protected, so am anti-cookies, phone-monitoring, or even scanned at the airports (last one is easy to avoid -- I never fly. LOL) Kinda a bizarre trait in me, since the most scandelist conversation that could be recorded from me would have to do with such security matters as when will I be visiting my Dad, what's the best deal on soda (pop? cola?), or stuff you see me writing about on these forums. (Politics is usually covered face-to-face, which is also uninteresting, given those who I vote for generally don't get elected -- or worse yet DO! )

...not one thought needs to cross your mind other than that little spark that tells your finger to change the button.

You're writing that to the wrong gender. Female here! Not programmed to channel surf. Hubby has the remote, can click on golf, racing, or cooking shows, leave the room, and I don't even notice he left me with crap on TV for roughly 15 minutes. Apparently, I'm able to veg out with absolutely no distractions -- badly enough, I'm afraid, that we actually have a name for the place that I go, when I'm not paying attention -- Lynnie LaLa Land! LOL Then again, Lynnie LaLaLand is where I first came up with the idea of a Teddy Bear website, so not completely into Beta static, whereever my mind goes.

I hope this enlightened you

I think so....did this just end up into a simple "It's a guy/younger generation thang. You won't understand"?! (Just dawned on me -- you're actually enough younger then me not to remember "thang," and I'm quoting a cliche' from a much younger generations then me. LOL)

NYBC
OK, soooo, ummm, how often do you need to translate words, check the weather, or check your computer's temp while driving in your car? What do you need to be calculating while driving your car? What's a Skype? I hope by "hunt down tanks" you mean you are a plumber looking for a new water tank for someone's home?! And, if "Skype" or "tank" is what I'm really picturing in my mind, I really don't blame you for finding illusions for a day!

I think I might have been walking or using public transportation way too much in the last eight years. I can't even picture your widgets on your dashboard. What became of the days, when the only widget on a dashboard was a "fuzzbuster?" (Device used to notify driver when a police car with speed detection on was coming into range to detect your speed. Obviously, became illegal shortly after being sold.) Gotta say, your toys don't seem as fun as Ryan's!

Welp! Think this old lady needs to hobble back over to my (manual) rocking chair now. Where is my seeing eye dog? Heeeeere, Piggy! Here, Piggy! Where did that overweight puppy go? Always smells like he's been eating baked beans and peanut butter too much!

I swear, the last thing I do on earth is take you off tripod Lynn, LOL. I still have one site there but it is my old drum corps and we are quite broken apart to say the least although we competed in world, more national competition. Of course I was a lead player, why else would I try to keep it alive. 'We' disbanded in '93. But it was a long ago family and we are trying our best to bring it back together somehow.

Once and for all, you are moving Lynn. It will be easy and painless. Trust me. I am not tech heavy in relationship to webhosting. You will be much more proud and happy with the results.