Are we so connected we're alone?

Sherry Turkle writes in her new book, "Alone Together," that technology may be changing our lives for the worst. The MIT Prof and clinical psychologist writes "Our networked life allows us to hide from each other."

In a review of the book by Michael Rosenwald in Bloomberg Businessweek, he has this great quote: "Face-to-face connections have been reduced to 140 character tweets."

At least one wireless service provider has picked up on the theme with one commercial showing a girl breaking up with her boyfriend via mobile device while sitting across the table from him. Another spot has a mother breaking the news that grandma and grandpa are moving in via text, with all of them sitting together at the dining table.

OK, a bit of a stretch. But are we becoming addicted to social media to the point of being anti-social? comScore reports 30% of us check in on Facebook while in the bathroom. Getting an info dump while-uh-taking a....never mind.

Last night four of us were gathered together watching American Idol. Sort of. Between us there was an iPad, iPod Touch, Laptop and iPhone all in use at the same time.

Tap Tap Tap. A whole new cottage industry may evolve dealing with Carpel Tunnel Thumb Syndrome. Way, way back in the day a singer named Gilbert O'Sullivan sang a song called "Alone again, Naturally."

He might revive his career with a reprise entitled, "Alone again, Digitally."

A real thumb tapper for sure.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Amazon has its head in the Cloud.

Someone asked me recently what the heck "Cloud Computing" is. I told them it's like throwing a huge party, at someone else's house. All the fun without the mess and very little cost.

BusinessWeek has a great article about Cloud Computing by Ashlee Vance. Vance makes the point that Cloud Computing is now living up to all the hype.

It wasn't that long ago if you has a project that needed huge amounts of computing power you'd have to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure, staff, servers and power for it all. Now, as Vance points out, all you need is an Amazon gift card.

Companies like Amazon now rent out their own enormous computer capacity to businesses that only need it once in awhile, often at pennies per hour. Companies like Google and Microsoft are getting into what is going to be a very competitive business.

Where there's competition, there's value for consumers both big and small. Even if you're not a Zynga or Northrop Grumman, you can still use the cloud. It can be something as outsourcing your ever growing data storage needs. Got the next great idea? As long as you have a computer and access to the cloud, all the computer processing power in the world, literally, is just a few key strokes away. You use as much or as little as you need.

So in this case, instead of getting your head out of the clouds, it's best to do just the opposite.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

McDonald's Fruit 'n Yogurt just Yogurt.

The incredible, shrinking Fruit 'n Yogurt at McDonald's. It just got smaller. Today at DIA I ordered one for breakfast and got just....yogurt. Even though it was labeled FRUIT 'n Yogurt. No berries. Also gone was the granola. Instead of a spoon, I got a knife and fork.

Knives are handy for eating yogurt.

This all has been happening for quite a while. Not that long ago the Fruit 'n Yogurt was almost a breakfast in itself. But it started to get smaller and smaller. Now the fruit is gone. I guess the next step is the yogurt without the cup. Hold out your hand please.

One thing that hasn't changed is the price of course.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (We do it better on a full stomach though)

Never on a Sunday. Almost.

Those of a certain age may recall the film, "Never on a Sunday." No it wasn't about the Broncos recent record but the story of a lady practicing the world's oldest profession, who drew the line at conducting business on Sundays.

Immersed as I am with social media during the week, and often Saturdays I'm trying to take a break from it all on Sundays. One can sit in front of a computer screen, iPad or PDA just so much. This past Saturday I was shopping with my family and checked my PDA at least 3-4 times.

Why? Habit.

So yesterday I began the process of weaning myself from the constant barrage of information available to me each and every second. Other than a morning check of online news on my laptop, that was about it. The hardest part was not checking my PDA, which I did several times. Again, habit. But I'll work on that more moving forward. If someone truly wants to get a hold of me they can always call. If I'm traveling some place on Monday, I'll check the weather.

Never on a Sunday, well almost. It's kind of a nice break. Just one day from being "connected." I survived just fine.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

What's that Square Doo-Hickey?

So what the heck is that square, blotchy thing? They're popping up everywhere.

It's called a "QR Code." QR stands for "Quick Response" and in this digital world quick is cool, make that mandatory.

Here's how they work: You basically download an app to your smart phone, then use your camera function to scan the QR Code and you are provided information about any number of products or services.

As Don Reisinger writes in CNET News, the technology has been around for quite some time in Japan, but relatively new here. But it's here and here to stay. Reisinger offers up some of the best apps to help you use QR codes.

They're worth a try because you'll be seeing more and more of these at trade shows, places where you shop etc. Scan, learn, connect. Pretty cool.

Don't be square, check out the square.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Cancer devastating physically and financially.

March is Colorectal Awareness month. I'm sharing a story this morning about a friend, who is a colorectal cancer survivor.

When 58-year-old Erika Brown knew something wasn't right with her body, she went to a doctor, and then a second and third doctor. After 2 years of examinations, the best they could come up with was that she had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). When she was finally diagnosed correctly, it turns out she had final-stage colon cancer. In a matter of days she had surgery, followed by 6 months of intense chemotherapy and a full-year of recovery.

Today, she's healthy. Unfortunately, she can't say the same about her finances. Choices she made in her treatment cost her financial well-being, sending her into bankruptcy. In hindsight and with the information she now knows about chemotherapy, she would have done it differently.

Erika is the Mayor of "ColonTown," a vibrant community of colon cancer survivors active on both Facebook and Linkedin.

Erika's story is all too common, says Kristin Gustafson of Chemo101.com. More than 1.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer annually; of those who undergo chemotherapy treatment, nearly 40% wind up bankrupt. Unfortunately, when they need it most, patients who are diagnosed with cancer rarely have easy access to information about their treatment options and costs.

While the focus is on colorectal cancer this month, it's really about awareness of all types of cancers and the impact they have on patients, caregivers and health care providers.

A key element in the fight is information. Do yourself a favor and conduct a health insurance checkup of just what your benefits are, what's covered and not covered. Attend open enrollment meetings where you work, or check with your HR department. Ask questions, be prepared-- just in case.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

News is what's new. Sheen isn't news.

I don't know about you, but the sheen is rapidly coming off this whole Charlie Sheen thing. Frankly I don't care about how he lives his life. It's his business.

What's becoming very annoying is not being able to escape the incessant coverage of how he lives his life. I'm an early riser and within in moments of tuning in the local news at 5:30am I learned that Charlie now has 670-thousand followers on Twitter. Despite switching from channel to channel, local and national, it was all Charlie all the time.

I thought that's what TMZ.com was for? You know, if you're interested in this sort of thing, you have a place to go to. But the media has taken that choice away from me.

Having made the news sausage at one time in my career, I understand at least partly why. NBC and ABC are all over it because it's a chance for them to slam CBS which airs "Two and a Half Men" under the guise of news. Pretty sneaky huh?

Local stations struggle to fill gigantic multi-hour news blocks and Charlie coverage is easy. Cut, paste and air. Plus you also fill air time when the anchors giggle or shake their heads.

Impactful stuff. Meaningful on Main Street.

My news writing mentor Merv Block, who used to write for Uncle Walter taught me "News is what's new." Hollywood "celebs" self-destructing isn't news. So please, can at least one news outlet NOT cover the life and times of Charlie Sheen? I'd like to tune in for...uh...news.

Thank you.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"