We Still Love Technology, Always And Forever

The internet is indeed alluring and the source of many pleasures, and locals just can't keep their hands off her. This morning, we learn that Washington state legislators are ga-ga for Facebook (late pass! but welcome) and that Mars Hill Church has given worshippers the go-ahead to tweet during services (...ugh). Careful, guys: the world wide web is a cruel mistress. Forgive the Napoleon Dynamite reference, it was unavoidable.

As avid Facebook and Twitter users ourselves, we're excited about the expanding number and quality of ways to communicate with our local government. We're even more excited about the many, many instances in the near future when the newbie famous Facebook members will forget how many thousands of people will be following their every move and say something delightfully gossip-worthy. With regards to Mars Hill, it appears they've completely abandoned the mission to challenge worshippers to focus a little bit for an hour. Exactly how worshipful can one be while one is twittering age-old ADD spiritual thoughts like "Wonder how my pot roast is doing, hope the apartment's not on fire. Mark's new haircut is soo cute #MHC" to the world? Good luck with that, crazy franchise-style megachurchers. What's next, twittering in court? Oh, wait.

Not everyone loves technology, though. Mt. Spokane High School is testing a cell-phone signal jammer that would block calls and probably data transmission on everyone's phones during class hours. Does this strike anyone else as a really, really bad idea? What if there's an emergency (and yes, we're talking Columbine here)? The school already has a policy against cell phone usage in class, and once that policy is in place, we think it's time to put energy into more creatively engaging students rather than treating them like prisoners.