Smartphone or Spyphone?

Fortunate

I must admit that I have drug my feet a bit adopting new smartphones over the years. In all fairness, I am lucky enough to be provided a phone through my employer and for that I am extremely grateful. Our smartphones have allowed myself and staff to answer tech tickets, research issues and contact one another, at any hour of the day. Until recently however, we have used our phones until they can no longer be fixed with electrical tape and super glue, then the spares are used until they turn into dust as well.  Because of this I hung on to my Blackberry(s) for far to long until graduating to an HTC Windows phone about a year ago and most recently a Samsung SIII. With the addition of the iPhone 5C as a choice now, we are finally living closer to what the real world has available to them.

by Mark A. Hicks

Permission
One topic that has been coming up recently in conversation with all the media buzz around NSA, security and Skynet conspiracy theories, is app permissions. Each app that I download seems to have additional permissions that seem very invasive. Don't get me wrong, eight out of ten times I am still going to download the app, however I need someone to explain to me why a flashlight app needs permission to take pictures and videos without my confirmation. Another permission that seemed a bit troubling was an app that asks for permission to my messages and asks for the ability to edit, read, receive, monitor and possibly delete my text messages without making me aware of the actions. I'm not concerned yet about Neo having to levitate in on the Nebuchadnezzar and save humankind from intelligent machines, rather where is the line for why an app needs permission for deleting a text that I haven't read yet?

Carry On
I am not going to retire my beloved Android phone because of a few app permissions I think may be stretching a bit, at least Android makes me aware of these permissions. What is a good idea is to take some time and become more familiar with why an app may need the permission it is asking for. I stumbled across "Why Does This Android App Need So Many Permissions?" article on lifehacker.com that contains a number of great resources on app permissions, why they are necessary for certain app functions and what to look out for. With close to a million Android apps and over a million apps in the iPhone app store, it is safe to say that we need to be aware of what we are downloading to our pockets. As a bonus, this may be a great opportunity to introduce our younger generation to Arnold and the T1000 in a teachable moment about becoming responsible cyber citizens!

Phantom of the Cell Phone?

Buzzzzzzzzz

www.ckler.com

So we have all heard of phantom vibration where you think your Smartphone is ringing or there is an incoming text, and when you go to check, nothing. Sometimes it is disappointing right, you were expecting your friend to hit you back or waiting for that call from your significant other and it is just your imagination playing tricks on you. I stumbled across a recent article on phantom phone vibrations, thanks Feedly, and was surprised that there are researchers that have actually studied this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, there is probably a study for just about every behavior known to the human race, but still. I was hooked however, because I have some "ring-xiety" myself and wanted to see how this was going to turn out for me.

Makes Sense
The article quotes a research psychologist who studies how technology affects our minds, Dr. Larry Rosen. Rosen talks about how technology is affecting the way our brain processes information and possible obsessive behavior with our devices and backing away from them may be a way to keep ring-xiety down. I can't help but think of other situations over the years that seem to bring on similar behavior as phantom phone vibration. If you have children, how many of you would wake up multiple times a night thinking the little one was crying, only to find them sleeping soundly. Or sitting on the couch and you think you hear a car pull up in the driveway, walk all the way to the front door to look out and nobody there. Hopefully you have experienced something similar, if not I may need to take a little time off.

                                                        Moderation

Martin Cooper

As time changes and technologies become more prevalent in our lives I am sure our brains will process things differently. Moving from a chalkboard to whiteboard probably caused some dryerase-xiety in the past, just as phantom phone vibrations are making news again now. Dr. Rosen makes a good point about backing away from your devices every now and then. We all know that to much of anything is not a good thing, so take a break once in awhile from that device, it will be there when you get back.