Brad Marley

The sign in the picture above is on the front of a restaurant that is opening soon near my house.

Whomever is opening this restaurant is taking a gamble that their investment will pay off in the long run in the form of a successful, well-respected community hamburger joint. I’m also assuming that this person thinks they have an eye for detail that one must have to open a successful franchise.

But if you look at the bottom, left-hand corner of the sign, you’ll notice one glaring spelling error.

Now, I’m not perfect when it comes to grammar and spelling, but as a public relations professional, I’m paid to be. So when I see spelling mistakes, they jump out at me. Usually, however, they’re found in first drafts and are easily remedied.

But this one…those who are making the “big decisions” don’t have access to a dictionary? My knowledge of sign-making is sketchy, but I’d guess that this sign had to go through at least three sets of eyeballs before it was printed: the person who created the sign, somebody to review it, and the printer. (And nobody caught this?)

If you were sinking a large chunk of your bank account into a new business venture, wouldn’t you want to make sure everything was perfect before the opening?

I know it’s just a misspelled word but, to me, it says a lot about the people who own this business, and it’s a terrible first impression.

I give them six months.

(Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get down from my soapbox and take my daughter to the zoo.)

If Twitter is supposed to be a two-way conversation (like everybody says it is), then how come you aren’t following me?

More specifically, how come, according to FriendorFollow, I am following 268 people who aren’t returning the favor?

Celebrities and busy journalists aside, I try to only follow people who (a) might benefit from what I have to say and (b) would probably follow me back. I want there to be some interaction, not me talking at nobody.

Yet, some of the people I’ve targeted in my given field are apparently too busy to join me in conversation, even if I’ve taken the first step.

So I wonder: am I really that boring? Do I provide so little value that you absolutely can’t add me? Is your time so valuable that you cannot possibly click ‘Follow @bradmarley’ in the drop-down menu? We all know you’re notifed by e-mail when somebody new follows us, so what’s the deal?

This is Twitter we’re talking about; I’m not asking you to opt-in to a direct mail campaign, or provide a monetary donation to your alma mater.

At the end of the day, this is merely just another way to communicate on the Web, so let’s communicate.

Are you kidding me, Brad?

You’re saying we need to slow down? If anything, we’re not moving fast enough.

I mean, look at everything that has been made available to us in the past decade because of advances in technology:

- We can stream movies instantly, directly to our personal computers.

- We can be alerted each morning about amazing deals in our hometown.

- Our fantasy football scores are automatically tabulated IN REAL TIME.

- I can bring my entire CD collection with me to the gym.

- If I had an Xbox 360, I could play a game of Madden against my friend, who lives an hour away, from the comfort of my basement.

- We can buy our groceries online.

- Robot slaves do our bidding.

If I tried hard enough, I could live, work and play without ever leaving my living room. ‘Course, that doesn’t indicate a need for speed, but it shows that’s I’m willing to embrace the technology, thus, freeing up time for other things, allowing me to do more.

So to say that we need to slow down is absurd. Look around you. Everybody is moving faster than they were the day before. Those who stop to smell the roses are going to get clipped by the hordes of people cruising down the information superhighway, like an elderly woman standing in front of Target on Black Friday.

And all of that talk about technology re-altering or brains, or something? That’s bunk.

If anything, technology is…is…wait, what was I saying?  Actually, forget it. I have to check my e-mail.

For any new readers, let me break down how the Weekly Grab Bag works.

Every Friday, I share links to stories, blog posts, etc. that have captured my interest throughout the week. While there is no set-in-stone subject matter, I try to keep it in the technology/PR/media realm. Occasionally, like the last link in today’s edition, I’ll stray outside of those topics, just to keep you on your toes.

Make sense? Good. Check out the links.

Studying the Brain Off the Grid, Professors Find Clarity (New York Times) - This is actually one part of the New York Times’ series on how technology affects our brains, and it’s fascinating with a capital “F”. I’ve always had an inkling that the 24/7 influx of information affected the way I operate, but this confirms it. I find that staying focused is a skill I need to sharpen.

Take Control Of Your Stream (Becky Johns) – This is a great post for those who are overwhelmed with the amount of information they glean from their social media network on a daily basis. The best piece of advice is that it’s your stream. Don’t be afraid to limit what you’re taking in.

How Positive Thinking Re-Wires Your Brain (Steve Aitchison) – Another brainy link, and this might be the best thing I’ve read all week. What daily trips to the gym are for our muscles, daily positive affirmation can be used to “exercise” our brains. Feeling anxious? Depressed? Sometimes, just thinking positively can help. Yay, science.

Mount Puckmore: The Four Faces Of The Detroit Red Wings (Puck Daddy) – The Puck Daddy blog has been posting the four faces of each NHL franchise while waiting for the season to start. Earlier this week, it was the Red Wings turn. Gordie How, Ted Lindsay, Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom got their faces on Detroit’s Mount Puckmore. Can’t say that I disagree.

That’s all for this week. Let me know what captured your interest in the comments.

At the time of this writing, it’s a lovely, cool late August evening in Michigan, and I’m sitting at the kitchen table with the patio door wide open, letting the breeze stream across the room. It’s a welcome respite from the stifling heat of the past few weeks, but I’m not complaining. There will soon be snow on the ground.

Somewhere outside I can hear a wind chime catch the wind as the cold front makes its way through my neighborhood. Hearing that familiar sound instantly transports me back to family vacations spent “on the farm” at my grandparent’s house in Pennsylvania.

Snuggled in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, I spent many summers at that house, sitting on the front porch with a book or magazine, while my Grandma’s wind chime provided the same clumsy musical accompaniment that I hear as I type away at my laptop.

This wasn’t so long ago that personal computers and e-mail were nonexistent, but we definitely were not living in the technology-crazy world that we inhabit in 2010.

The Web wasn’t ubiquitous; smartphones and iPods were nowhere to be found.

As far as technology goes, those were simpler times. Aside from a faint longing for my Sega Genesis, my so-called “devices” did not call to me from home, yearning for me to cradle them in my hands, swipe the screen with my finger, or send out a tweet.

But in a few short years, we have become one with our technology. It is literally changing our brains. We can’t go five minutes without checking our e-mail or looking for new Facebook updates from our friends. Smartphones that basically function as computers-in-a-pocket are constantly winning our attention over our friends and family. (When was the last time you actually talked to your friend on the phone?)

While nobody can argue that technology has improved our lives in countless ways, the attention it craves from its users with its myriad apps and alerts has put us in a heightened state of anxiety, always on our toes for something else.

Maybe it’s the familiar comforting ding! of an e-mail landing in our inbox.

Maybe it’s the satisfaction you get when you gain another follower on Twitter.

Whatever it is, we’re always plugged in, moving and thinking as fast as our Internet connection will allow.

We need to slow down.

Take a vacation.

Read a book (a real one.)

Meet a friend for coffee.

Do something. Go out and interact with real flesh-and-blood humans, not the avatars that substitute for their presence. 

But for God’s sake, forget about your technology for a few minutes.

Don’t worry – it will still be there when you get back.