FARK.com: (3747377) Hi-tech distractions cause chronic time-wast - hang on, lemme go check my email, texts, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace and RSS feeds before submitting this headline

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		Hi-tech distractions cause chronic time-wast - hang on, lemme go check my email, texts, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace and RSS feeds before submitting this headline (guardian.co.uk)		58
		More: Scary

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4582 clicks; posted to Main » on 20 Jul 2008 at 11:47 AM | Favorite | share:

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thisdaydreamer		2008-07-20 08:45:29 AM

Interesting article.

Now I will post about it in my blog, including links to the most relevant parts, and I will send it to everyone on my "send links to" email list. I should also check to see if there are more articles that touch on the subject - whether they are for or against avoidance and why. After that, I will check my email list some of those people need to see this, too.

And should I Digg this? Or is that too ironic? I really don't know.

I do know that this is a wake-up call for those of us who spend too much time online. I just need to tell everyone whom I spend online time with.

UNC_Samurai		2008-07-20 10:37:23 AM

thisdaydreamer: And should I Digg this? Or is that too ironic? I really don't know.

Digg the Fark thread. Start the greatest and most ironic waste of time in history.

Nick Nostril		2008-07-20 11:52:59 AM

Fark mysteriously absent from Subby's list.

seminole87		2008-07-20 11:54:05 AM

I don't even have a blog.

/I'm pathetic

Bob55		2008-07-20 11:54:27 AM

It's a good thing I've been preparing myself for this for years with 8 hour Diablo and World of Warcraft binges. Browsing a few websites for an hour is actually considered "productive" where I come from.

Enuratique		2008-07-20 11:54:58 AM

UNC_Samurai: thisdaydreamer: And should I Digg this? Or is that too ironic? I really don't know.

Digg the Fark thread. Start the greatest and most ironic waste of time in history.

I think that's already been done before :/

Malinki		2008-07-20 11:55:54 AM

seminole87: I don't even have a blog.

/I'm pathetic

Bah.

I check email once per day, have no device capable of receiving SMS, no Flikr account, no Facebook, no MySpace, and don't subscribe to any RSS feeds.

Hold that thought, Hadden just spawned...

skinink		2008-07-20 11:57:08 AM

I have three things I have to do for my college writing class, and all are due by midnight tonight. Yet here I post on Fark instead.

But I think I work better under pressure anyways.

Royale With Cheese		2008-07-20 11:59:05 AM

I know someone who has wasted so much time that his birthdays are measured in negative numbers.

CygnusDarius		2008-07-20 12:00:08 PM

Webcomics, man. That, my email and Architecture Design.

/Damn you, Order of the Stick!
//Although I preffer the distractions in the form of boobies

RadiantAerynSun		2008-07-20 12:02:01 PM

I've never understood how "spending" time doing something you enjoy is considered "wasting" it.
Wasting time is watching Ninth Gate. Spending time is reading about something you find interesting or emailing friends, etc.
/doth she protest too much?

shackelford		2008-07-20 12:04:52 PM

seminole87: I don't even have a blog.

/I'm pathetic

I don't have a blog either, but had thought of creating one to post pics of my whore ex-wife.

/still mulling it over

w_houle		2008-07-20 12:07:01 PM

This article is worthless without a nod toward fantasy football.

serial_crusher		2008-07-20 12:07:06 PM

I got an iPhone on Friday so I didn't get any work done for the entire day.

Now I am working on Sunday. Damn you, technology.

serial_crusher		2008-07-20 12:07:45 PM

shackelford: seminole87: I don't even have a blog.

/I'm pathetic

I don't have a blog either, but had thought of creating one to post pics of my whore ex-wife.

/still mulling it over

pics or...oh wait.

Nick Nostril		2008-07-20 12:08:07 PM

w_houle		2008-07-20 12:12:10 PM

I gotta go pick up more oranges!

The Angry Hand of God		2008-07-20 12:13:24 PM

Am i wasting my time when I read an article about wasting my time?

skinink		2008-07-20 12:14:10 PM

shackelford
"I don't have a blog either, but had thought of creating one to post pics of my whore ex-wife."

During pillowtalk, she told me you have no such pics. Then we did it doggiestyle again...

StreetlightInTheGhetto		2008-07-20 12:17:19 PM

My car got wrecked by a high-as-a-kite 16 year old (in my lane, with her lights off) about two and a half years ago.

So I started taking the bus, which ran from within a block of my house to the front steps of the building all my classes and work were in. But it took 50 minutes to get there, instead of 5 to 10 if you drove straightaways.

So I tried bringing my laptop a couple of times to get work done... tricky as hell. Read textbooks for awhile, but too much distraction to get much of anything done. Only had texting on my cell after they finally noticed I had been getting internet access for free, and I never did feel like paying for it after that.

So I started grabbing the free student paper on my way to the stop and started doing crosswords.

So am I a hipster because my now-damn-near-addictive distraction is decidedly Lo-tech?

/probably not
//my brother would still call me one
///Left the paper in the car so I could get work done
////Didn't work out that well, obviously

serial_crusher		2008-07-20 12:17:58 PM

w_houle: This article is worthless without a nod toward fantasy football.

Fantasy football is just D&D for jocks.

CigaretteSmokingMan		2008-07-20 12:18:06 PM

I first saw this article using StumbleUpon while at work.

siromega		2008-07-20 12:20:15 PM

You forgot to check twitter...

w_houle		2008-07-20 12:22:05 PM

No truer words have been spoken... I call DM!

actionjacksn04		2008-07-20 12:26:43 PM

The Angry Hand of God: Am i wasting my time when I read an article about wasting my time?

Is he wasting his time by writing an article about people using technology to waste time, then posting said article online?

The Painful One		2008-07-20 12:28:46 PM

"Obvious" tag trumps "Scary" tag.

Atypical Person Reading Fark		2008-07-20 12:29:02 PM

What am I supposed to be doing with this wasted time? Does anybody know?

medius		2008-07-20 12:35:07 PM

time's a wastin'

Slick Johnson		2008-07-20 12:36:56 PM

The biggest time waster since Fark.com. It's a productivity killer of the worst type. (p)

thebigmike1983		2008-07-20 12:43:23 PM

Slick Johnson: The biggest time waster since Fark.com. It's a productivity killer of the worst type. (p)

/shakes fist at webgames, then goes back to playing them

adamgreeney		2008-07-20 12:44:13 PM

I'm ignoring customers to read Fark, so I'm really getting a kick out of these replies.

someahole		2008-07-20 12:44:14 PM

Has this guy ever given a thought about what a catastrophe it would be if people didn't have diversions? Sure, most people coast through life, but then again most people are assholes.

If everyone spent all their time driving as hard as they could toward their "goals", we would have a world torn apart by about 6,828,000,000 wanna-be Napoleons, Oppenheimers, and Hitlers.

freakdiablo		2008-07-20 12:44:18 PM

I would have submitted this, but I have to check my email in 26 minutes.

arghyematey		2008-07-20 12:49:53 PM

Speaking of time wasters, guess what I played yesterday for the first time in ages? Snood.

Rodeodoc		2008-07-20 12:49:58 PM

shackelford: I don't have a blog either, but had thought of creating one to post pics of my whore ex-wife.

/still mulling it over

I, sir, would like to subscribe to your new blog.

zvoidx		2008-07-20 01:01:51 PM

i'm a poster!
i'm a possssster!!!
read my possssssst!!
i'm a poster!

crunchief		2008-07-20 01:13:18 PM

Sufferers are also more likely to have accidents at home involving unmended appliances. Tim Allen replies... "Don't worry honey, the 7500 watt generator hooked up to your dildo is a battery saving device"

crazywisdom_uk		2008-07-20 01:14:10 PM

someahole: If everyone spent all their time driving as hard as they could toward their "goals", we would have a world torn apart by about 6,828,000,000 wanna-be Napoleons, Oppenheimers, and Hitlers.

So if Hitler had a MySpace page, WWII would never have happened?

/interesting idea

TheTranceFan		2008-07-20 01:15:03 PM

"time-wast?"

He checked email, texts, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace and RSS feeds before submitting but couldn't be bothered with the one check he really needed.

MightySausage		2008-07-20 02:08:46 PM

Thanks to RSS feeds, particularly Fark's, I never get anything done.

onecoolshe		2008-07-20 02:25:12 PM

The psychs just want more money. Maybe I'll just go back to reading from books and watching TV and writing letters hoping the postal service delivers them in a couple weeks..then they'll be happy.

themindiswatching		2008-07-20 02:36:39 PM

onecoolshe: The psychs just want more money.

You really should get that adult ADHD checked out. I heard about this new drug called Focasil that's supposed to help.

/side effects include headache, nausea, dry mouth and the desire to take over the world

feelgood47		2008-07-20 02:42:39 PM

Christ, even all the time I spend on Eve Online has deprived me of sex

euge		2008-07-20 03:09:04 PM

I waste time like no other using hi tech advances that have saved me lots of time so I have more time to waste.

freakdiablo		2008-07-20 03:17:22 PM

feelgood47: Christ, even all the time I spend on Eve Online has deprived me of sex

Well yeah, it takes an hour to do anything in that game. Go cross system, set to auto pilot, if you're still at it when you get there then you are a god among men.

SpinalTapp		2008-07-20 03:25:32 PM

At least people surfing the internet are reading and/or doing something interactive on a minimal level. It's better than sitting in front of the tv, watching the latest whores battle it out for 15 minutes of fame on the Real World or whatever crap Fox has people eating for money these days. I'd rather someone spend an hour browsing wikipedia than spend 10 minutes watching commercials on tv any day.

CerusVI		2008-07-20 04:01:08 PM

SpinalTapp: At least people surfing the internet are reading and/or doing something interactive on a minimal level. It's better than sitting in front of the tv, watching the latest whores battle it out for 15 minutes of fame on the Real World or whatever crap Fox has people eating for money these days. I'd rather someone spend an hour browsing wikipedia than spend 10 minutes watching commercials on tv any day.

Totally, I used to get bashed by my roommate that I spent too much time reading online, but he always spent hours and hours sitting on the couch watching sports and other dumb shiat...

Haoie		2008-07-20 04:36:32 PM

As I'm currently writing this response up from work instead of actually doing any work, I'll agree.

smells_like_meat		2008-07-20 04:44:24 PM

Procedural Texture		2008-07-20 06:51:03 PM

CerusVI: but he always spent hours and hours sitting on the couch watching sports

Very true.
I cannot think of an activity with fewer redeeming values than watching sports on TV.

But I really do need to cut down on my web surfing time, especially Fark and Facebook. Though I do learn some interesting things and the latter gets me out to some fun events, it's easy to get sucked in for an entire day.

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