Topic: Absolutely random thoughts

Why is it that we park in a driveway, but we drive on a parkway?

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

When you come to a fork in a road take it.

@Kairu I would say that is fair game, but then I'm not really a traditionalist when it comes to these things.

My favourite costume of my own was when I dressed as a devil. Not very original I know, but I certainly looked the part and got a lot of attention. I was dressed all black, but my hair, face, arms, neck and legs (to show through the rips in my jeans) were covered in red glow in the uv light body paint. So that all glowed up in the nightclub. I had black make up on my nails, lips, lashes with black contact lenses which all made the red stand out more. My t-shirt had a led panel which flashed out 'I'm the D E V I L.... The Devil!' And I had a tail and a toy trident. 😂

There have been loads which I've seen over the years which have impressed me, but unfortunately do not remember any specifically as this was about 20 years ago. And I would never, ever do anything like that these days.

Moonfall is officially the dumbest movie I have ever seen. After Youtuber Critikal went on a tangent about how much he loved it for being hilariously bad I went in expecting a fun so bad it's good movie but it wasn't even that, it was just bad and It literally just kept getting worse and worse with every minute which in a way is really impressive. Dumbest plot I have ever seen in a movie and I have seen, The Room, Sharknado, Troll 2, Fateful Findings, Samurai Cop, Miami Connection AND Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Hello everyone.
Just a random question for a random forum topic: Do any of you use or plan to use a feature phone these days? I do use this Nokia phone as my main phone (not a replacement):
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71OT+HjWlOL.jpg

And btw, no, I am not crazy. No, its not a joke. I am (mostly) sane, serious about it. The smartphone became an issue for me so I took the nuclear option and went for the simplest of phones. Now I get a bit less distracted and go to sleep without holding any electronic devices in my hands (obviously a laptop is way too bulky compared to a smartphone). Well, I do miss the advanced features from time to time, but other than a rough couple of weeks, I have made it through around three months now and haven't died from "lack of smartphone" or Fear Of Missing Out.

Does anyone else live in the early 2000 here?

@avatarian From time to time I’ve considered tossing the mobile phone in the ocean and living off the grid. For all the convenience it brings, it is also a noose around the neck sometimes.

I don’t think I’d ever go so far as to step backward away from the smart phone to a featureless, calling-and-texting-only phone. More power to you for doing it though. But for me, the things I dislike most about mobile phone technology isn’t the internet and app features, but rather the constant tethering that mobile phones do to us, whereby you are never really out of reach from people getting ahold of you. With mobile phones, there is no escape from your work, your family, your friends, etc. Obviously this is a good thing for emergencies and convenient communication, but it’s difficult to never truly get ‘away’ from the world and it’s stresses. For me, that’s the worst part. And so having and old-school cell phone doesn’t fix that. In fact the apps and web features like visiting Push Square during idle time, watching videos and shows at my leisure, checking sports scores, etc. are some of the best parts of having a smart phone. It’s the calls, texts, emails, and constant interruption of daily life that gets me.

I really need to utilize the “do not disturb”
feature of my iPhone. I thought about that last night when my sleep was interrupted by a spam text. Drives me nuts.

My grandpa, who lived a very simple life in the rural country, used to say that telephones were the rudest inventions ever created. That we would be expected to drop what we’re doing and run over to answer it at some other person’s beck-and-call is quite ridiculous when you think about it.

Now I say all this with the caveat that I follow a pretty strict personal policy of “social media avoidance.” I don’t have an account on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, etc. I rarely even utilize any social features on PSN.
So I’ve already put up a few barriers to minimize my dependence and emotional reliance on the phone tech. Nevertheless, I am impressed that you’ve made the change. Very few people are willing to do that. 😄

@avatarian
Similar experience for me as well - Except I got one of the 3310 reissues so your phone looks pretty high tech to me! Smart phones and social media made me a bit crazy so I took a step away from them some years ago and don't really regret it, I just use the phone for calls, texts and alarm clock. I only really have issues when people from work look bemused when I tell them I can't access apps or email or something I am supposed to be able to do on a phone - they act like I am stuck in some dark ages fantasy world!

This is actually a real story in more ways than once. It is not rare to find the latest message before midnight then snowballing to a long discussion about whether cereal or milk go first in the bowl and three more hours without sleep. Skipping the conversation often doesn't feel like a choice even through you know nothing of importance will happen.

To be fair, it is nothing impressive besides the obvious discomfort associated with everything related to the smartphone suddenly not an option anymore (no Google maps, no WhatsApp, no apps), and the occasional dubious stare from other people. So it kind of needs some planning ahead before going back to the feature technology.

But you can take a bullet (or a few) if they land on that phone.

I recall the thousand memes about that thing, and the thing about people questioning your life decision of getting rid of a phone probably is the reason most people have a smartphone nowadays. Still, it is sad to see a group of people sitting together only to stare at their phone screens 😢
I know I am the guy left out when it happens (staring at the window but sure as hell not taking the phone out of my pocket) but come on.

@avatarian I have a feature phone for work purposes, mostly because of the great battery life so I can forget about it. I am very keen on the idea of "downgrading" my main phone, I use my smart phone a lot but I know overall I'd be happier without it. It's tough though, that full keypad, Google maps in a jam, music streaming... it's a tough one to give up. I should just get into the habit of turning my phone off entirely when I am at home.

Actually one of the features I missed the most from some smartphones was the automatic turn off/turn on feature to avoid giving in to temptation (or at least, to make checking something extra bothersome late at night). I also hear a lot of music from the feature phone, but the UI on the music player is bare-bones and clumsy compared to even the earliest of smartphones.