Things That Go ‘Beep’ in the Night

I am a self-proclaimed lover of technology. It's a passion that has caused me to be called a few names, and it occasionally costs me a little more money than I should be willing to part with. But it's an incredible and overwhelmingly won- derful field.

Technology is a pretty broad term and I am fond of that. Of course my love for all things that go "beep" in the night isn't constrained to the MyFace status updates or those six Chirper posts every second. My love for technol- ogy isn't even confined to electronics.

But of course, electronics are so abundant now that it's hard to talk tech and refer- ence anything else.

The thing I find so mag- nificent about technology is that anyone can use it. More importantly, it's become ubiquitous to the point that nearly everyone uses it in some way or another.

Advances in technol- ogy brought us electric lights and amplified sound sent around the world. We have machines to wash clothes and dishes and a box full of plasma that displays shapes to make us laugh, cry and think.

For me, it's all about com- munication. With family liv- ing all over the country, I like being able to keep in touch. My parents and extended family live on the other side of the state, so we send emails and text messages back and forth, along with phone calls and - my mom's favorite - video chatting.

With technology, my family can watch my broth- er's Division 1 NCAA base- ball games as he pitches for Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala. Between innings we can tab over and look at what kind of weather my sister can expect during her first year at Rochester University in Rochester, NY.

Time zones and thou- sands of miles are spanned with the push of a button. We can even use technol- ogy to get together virtually to procrastinate working on projects and homework.

Even those of us, myself included, who proudly tout our preference for printed products, bow to the technol- ogy required to create that printed product. We may even rely on technology to repair our means of examin- ing that printed product.

My friends, family and co-workers know I rarely leave the house without a barrage of electronics, or at least my cell phone. Now, as I depart from the Times and into a new job, I will remain plugged into the community I've called home for the last year with technology.

And while I'm thinking about it, I just got the best idea for a status update.