Ok how we can even conduct role-playing with our mobile devices. Watch this clip to see how you can build simulations and role playing with your phone.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
MobiDiction and the Holidays
MobiDiction will no doubt affect your holidays this year. No, it's not a cardinal sin to check your pocket for texts every five minutes at the table during Thanksgiving dinner, nor is it entirely shameless during Christmas mass to snap and send a picture of the stuffy priest to one of your friends. These aren't desecrations of sacred custom, but creative new pieces to add to the holiday tradition. Pretty soon, buying last-second gifts with your iPhone on Christmas Eve will be just as precious a holiday ritual as putting that last ornament on the tree or making the first cut into the Thanksgiving turkey.
What we need is for somebody to make one of those Norman Rockwell holiday paintings, but instead of a group caroling or a family opening gifts, it will be someone pretending to listen to their uncle's endless meanderings while really devoting their attention to that Tetris high score on their phone. Let's face it, MobiDiction is fast becoming as American as preemptive warfare. Shouldn't we allow it to become a part of our holiday traditions as well?
What we need is for somebody to make one of those Norman Rockwell holiday paintings, but instead of a group caroling or a family opening gifts, it will be someone pretending to listen to their uncle's endless meanderings while really devoting their attention to that Tetris high score on their phone. Let's face it, MobiDiction is fast becoming as American as preemptive warfare. Shouldn't we allow it to become a part of our holiday traditions as well?
Monday, December 1, 2008
Crackberry
For those who seek additional tales of mobi-diction beyond my weekly dose, here's some very good news. Blackberry Made Simple, whose products my company KnowledgeShift is a licensed dealer of, recently released a 'true-crime' style book geared toward mobile addicts. It's called CrackBerry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse, but from what it looks like it speaks to all mobi-addicts, not just BlackBerry users. You can purchase it directly into your device here. It's also available in regular print edition, though if you're a frequenter of this blog you probably forgot long ago what a paperback book is. In other news, hope everyone had a very mobi-Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for new stories in the next couple days!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
MobiDiction, pt4: Phones for Felons
Today's post again comes from the news. A friend recently alerted me to this innovative new program that a correctional system has implemented in the Southeast. Here it is:
"Repeat offender rates have always been awful in our state, but in the last year they've gotten so desperate that we've had to start taking new, 'outside-the-box' measures. The most recent one is a locally funded program to give inmates well-equipped mobile devices upon their return to society.
There was considerable public outcry at first ('Why reward criminals with items that most tax-paying citizens can't afford?'), but much of that has now been silenced by the program's success. Of course it's too early to make a complete judgment, and other factors may be at play, but the fact remains that this month's repeat offender rate is considerably lower than expected.
What's the link between lower crime and mobility, you ask? We believe that the busier and more distracted ex-convicts are, the less time they'll have to commit crime. We've equipped their devices with an assortment of games and stupid videos, and limited browsing and communication abilities. Thus, now instead of masterminding heists, stealing from the weak, or murdering for pleasure, they're beating Frogger and watching 'Knock Knock.' The results are there for all to see.
Is this finally the nationwide solution we've been looking for? It stands to reason that so long as ex-cons are wasting their lives away they can't ruin others'. But only time will tell."
"Repeat offender rates have always been awful in our state, but in the last year they've gotten so desperate that we've had to start taking new, 'outside-the-box' measures. The most recent one is a locally funded program to give inmates well-equipped mobile devices upon their return to society.
There was considerable public outcry at first ('Why reward criminals with items that most tax-paying citizens can't afford?'), but much of that has now been silenced by the program's success. Of course it's too early to make a complete judgment, and other factors may be at play, but the fact remains that this month's repeat offender rate is considerably lower than expected.
What's the link between lower crime and mobility, you ask? We believe that the busier and more distracted ex-convicts are, the less time they'll have to commit crime. We've equipped their devices with an assortment of games and stupid videos, and limited browsing and communication abilities. Thus, now instead of masterminding heists, stealing from the weak, or murdering for pleasure, they're beating Frogger and watching 'Knock Knock.' The results are there for all to see.
Is this finally the nationwide solution we've been looking for? It stands to reason that so long as ex-cons are wasting their lives away they can't ruin others'. But only time will tell."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
MobiDiction, pt3: Mobile Potty Joker
I'm able to take today's installment straight from the headlines. The following story, which comes from France, proves that mobidiction is indeed a worldwide phenomenon. Without further ado:
"A passenger on a French train had to be rescued by firemen after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet.
"A passenger on a French train had to be rescued by firemen after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet.
The 26-year-old victim was trapped when he tried to fish out his mobile phone, which had fallen into the toilet bowl, and fell foul of the suction system.
The high-speed TGV train had to stop for two hours while firemen cut through the train's pipework.
The man was carried away by emergency services, with the toilet still attached to his arm.
"He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off," said Benoit Gigou, a witness to the man's plight.
The incident happened on Sunday evening, aboard a train travelling in western France between La Rochelle and Paris." (Source: the BBC)"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tales of MobiDiction, pt 2: Texting Waitress
I received this story a couple of days ago:
"I'm not ashamed to say that I am mobi-dicted. It's the best way to stay connected to friends and keep current on news. But what happened to me the other day borders on embarrassing so I thought I'd share it with you.
I wait tables in a busy restaurant. Naturally, it's a management rule that servers can't have phones with them during a shift so that we stay focused on our tables. I always follow this rule, but one day last week I got so involved in texting a friend before work and didn't want to stop when my shift began. So I kept my phone on me and covertly typed a quick message whenever I had a spare moment. Multitasking was a little tough, but the diners stayed happy and my managers had no idea about the texting, so I figured it was all running smoothly.
A little later, when I had a spare moment, I checked to see what my friend had just texted me. He'd written: 'What are you talking about? Turkey club, filet, side of mashed potatoes? Is this a joke I'm not getting?' I didn't understand, so I checked the message I'd just sent. Indeed, I'd accidentally texted him my most recent table's order instead of sending it back to the kitchen. I froze for a second. If I'd sent him the order, what did I put into the computer to go back to the kitchen?
I raced to the kitchen. The cooks were laughing and smiling at me. "So Jenny told Maria that she was fat?" one cook said, trying his best to keep a straight face. My managers didn't find the 'mixed message' quite as funny, but fortunately it only amounted to a slap on the wrist. It's the only time mobi-diction has crept into my job, but my coworkers won't let me forget it anytime soon."
Please, keep sending your stories in!
"I'm not ashamed to say that I am mobi-dicted. It's the best way to stay connected to friends and keep current on news. But what happened to me the other day borders on embarrassing so I thought I'd share it with you.
I wait tables in a busy restaurant. Naturally, it's a management rule that servers can't have phones with them during a shift so that we stay focused on our tables. I always follow this rule, but one day last week I got so involved in texting a friend before work and didn't want to stop when my shift began. So I kept my phone on me and covertly typed a quick message whenever I had a spare moment. Multitasking was a little tough, but the diners stayed happy and my managers had no idea about the texting, so I figured it was all running smoothly.
A little later, when I had a spare moment, I checked to see what my friend had just texted me. He'd written: 'What are you talking about? Turkey club, filet, side of mashed potatoes? Is this a joke I'm not getting?' I didn't understand, so I checked the message I'd just sent. Indeed, I'd accidentally texted him my most recent table's order instead of sending it back to the kitchen. I froze for a second. If I'd sent him the order, what did I put into the computer to go back to the kitchen?
I raced to the kitchen. The cooks were laughing and smiling at me. "So Jenny told Maria that she was fat?" one cook said, trying his best to keep a straight face. My managers didn't find the 'mixed message' quite as funny, but fortunately it only amounted to a slap on the wrist. It's the only time mobi-diction has crept into my job, but my coworkers won't let me forget it anytime soon."
Please, keep sending your stories in!
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