After reading this, I’ll avoid the “fun” apps, not link the phone to other devices, and save Facebook, Twitter and company for the home computer.

And yet, the seductive siren call of Instant gratification and convenience are virtually impossible to ignore.Though, it seems that the fun apps are the most dangerous. Though a friend was able to pull together her entire family through social media with hep from her cell phone to witness the birth of her nephew. That’s a pretty powerful endorsement for social networking. I’m still not sure, as monumental as that experience was, that it’s worth twitter and facebook and all things google having access to the footage,text messages, and every participants email address.

As for convenience, buying a ticket or making reservations when you’re dead tired after a long,stressful flight is wonderful,except that conducing money exchanges on a cell phone with unknown links to who knows what company really might trump aching feet and heavy luggage. And we don’t really want to think about the nasty individuals who may eventually develop false apps and cell phone viruses that allow access to contacts and finances.

Seems paranoid, but if ,God forbid,someday we went through some awful government takeover and curfews and military rule became the norm, generations of a family could be rounded up and wiped out within hours simply by downloading one family member’ s cell phone data. IF this were Nazi Germany, the Nazis wold have an easy time picking of not just “undesirables”,but anyone who ever “friended” one.You don’t even have to touch the home computer yet.

Extreme? Not so much. In Iran after the so-called Twitter revolution young people were tracked down and paid heavily for all that electronic freedom of expression.

Anyway,thanks for the forum.

Slick Willie