Mobile phone use in class

A few years ago it was game machines that were "ruining" kids. Now, apparently it's cellphones. People have been harping about kids' behaviour for thousands of years: 2,500 years ago, Socrates wrote the following:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

As for predictions about new inventions that will potentially destroy humanity -- heck, those even happen here at DI. No names. I think some people "scaremonger" because they like the attention they get. They're usually people way too smart to believe their own bafflegab. Not evil - just eccentric.

 

Another old guy - younger than me, about 65, sat down on the couch across from me at the mall the other day. So, two old gummers, he and I started talking.

He started in about the evils of computers and cell phones and I said "I don't think they're quite as bad as you say..." He proceeded to tell me that's because he's a more astute observer than I. Ummm...OK. He said phones could be used to kill people. He recounted seeing two teenagers with cellphones who met up; one flashed his phone screen to his friend saying "see - I got you." I tried to tell him it was obvious the two had been playing an interactive game, and one boy had "got" his virtual opponent. He wasn't having any...

He went on to tell me, "Did you know that mental retards (his words, not mine) are storing computer files in Outer Space?" He was obviously referring to Cloud Technology, which he did not understand at all. Apparently, he gets all this stuff from a GROUP of aging Luddites that he belongs to. Hope I never get like that...

 

@Mac Juli -- this bit has nothing to do with YOU. I think you know that.

 

*acts startled*
*looks up from smartphone*

What? Er, no, everything's fine.

* returns to candy crush game, completely absorbed*

 

Aside from the r-word, how is that supposed to be a bad thing? It sounds pretty cool to me!

 

Right, it is. But some aliens have complained to me about our using their turf as a "data dump." I tried to explain it's what the Linux folks call a Repository --- used to store and dispense software to users, but that didn't go over well. They're having a Grand Council meeting. I think there could be real trouble....

 

Just wait until they DECIPHER all that stuff...

 

They can always sell it to Microsoft...
"Make THEIR good ideas OUR good ideas." (Steve Ballmer CEO Microsoft, 2000-2014.) Yeah, he actually said that - I heard him.

 

In fact, Windows 11 has "Windows Shell for Linux" (WSL) available. Once you have it running, you can install and run Linux programs on your Windows machine. There's an easier option, I find. Start with Linux --- forget all about Windows 11.

 

Another fun option, even if you've got Linux already, is to use VirtualBox to install another Linux inside the first one.

 

Use Virtual Box to install Windows inside Linux. Then CLOBBER it. It feels soooo good!