Just ranting a bit here.

Is it just me or does everyone feel a little ADD as a result of the sheer multitude of new images, text, video and ideas that fire from web to phone to computer and any other device you might use to keep up to date? While it feels empowering to soak in so many details in short time, I have to wonder what percentage of time we spend sifting through the noise until we find applications and ideas that are actually useful, productive or just really fun.

So if we try to resist being drawn to the shiniest objects and continually retrain ourselves to ask “How does this make my life easier?”, “What are some examples of this tool being used well?” and  “How might the utility of this tool be maximized across the larger population?” among other questions, then maybe our time will be more fruitful. After all, technology is most useful when it adds to the meaningfulness of human interaction and sustainability.

These sentiments are bound to ensue after I dig deeper into my RSS feeds. At first pass, it seems that the world is spinning all the faster considering some of the headlines and article titles but much of what’s written when everyone wants to feel “in the know” is that the same info gets nauseatingly regurgitated. The Twitter hashtag brings some order to this but I need more.

Is social media really like herding cats? Are we really learning anything from the wisdom of crowds? The answer to both questions is, of course is YES. But to date it takes great effort to connect the dots from point A to point B and draw meaningful inferences thereof.

My dreams were limited back then to taking my school science projects to a whole new level.  Call me a nerd, but when I wasn’t spending Saturday afternoons with my best friend re-enacting Little House on the Prairie in open fields near our home, I was busy with pencil and paper sketching out wings that could attach to my arms to take flight above the neighorhood or drawing plans for a wooden pick-up truck, propelled with foot pedals that could be pimped out with nailheads.

Sometimes I had more sartorial plans, depending on which doll really needed a style makover. In any case, I’ve always been curious about how advances in technology and communication impact our personal relationships and the world around us.

I’m hoping to use this space to tease out more about these thoughts – my own and also those of folks who I encounter who have some thoughts of their own to share.