The Ultimate Internet Filter

Shocker alert: Pornography usage has skyrocketed with the advent of technology. You don’t need a study to prove it, although there are many studies out there that do. Many within Orthodox Judaism have come together to fight this new bane, while others continue to mock the struggle.

The Jewish world has been fighting the use of pornography within the community through the promotion of filters or outright removal of the source of the issue: i.e. the internet. In focusing on the minutia of filters and accountability technology, I fear that we are missing the forest for the trees. Realistically, even with the use of promoted solutions, the problem is worse than ever and it seems obvious that there is something missing in the discussion.  Here’s what I think is the bigger picture:

There has always been pornography; nothing has significantly changed over the last 500 years. One of the earliest times in history that pornography was documented was in 1524, when Marcantonio Raimondi was imprisoned for creating erotic engravings. 

The only real change between 1913 and 2013, and for that matter between 1993 and 2013, is accessibility. With the invention of each new form of media, the pornography industry has become larger and more available to the average user. From the printing press to cinema, to television to the internet, and most recently to mobile devices, if there is a visual medium, it will be used by the pornography industry to expand its reach.

While twenty years ago pornography was only relatively easily accessible if a person knew where to get it, today practically every person in America has a hand held device that can access pornography. There is no need to go out and actively buy a magazine or movie because a much better and wider range of material awaits in a person’s pocket.

This “small” change, however, has been the catalyst for the enormous permeation of the use of pornography within the Orthodox Jewish community. No community has ever been free from pornography, but there is no question that the pornography issues that the Orthodox community deals with today are far worse than they were twenty years ago.

In my opinion, the real problem is inherent in the way the desire for pornography works. Most people, when fully logical and non-impulsive, don’t want to look at porn, be it for health, religious or moral reasons. (For the purpose of this blog post I’m referring to a male who is not addicted to porn. While most of what I write applies to those addicted to pornography as well, my focus is for those not addicted.) Like all impulses, people succumb to pornography when they are aroused and therefore weak. Even people who don’t inherently want to look at pornography will many times succumb to their impulses if all the ingredients are right.

While saying there are three factors that must be present for an ordinary person to commit fraud,  Donald Cressey, a noted criminologist, explains a general rule regarding impulses. A person needs motive, rationalization, and opportunity to commit a crime. To deter fraud, a person must break the triangle.

A person will only commit a crime and/or sin if he or she is motivated, can rationalize why it’s okay, and have the opportunity to act on the idea. Knock out one ingredient, and a person’s chances of a person resisting impulse greatly increase. 

This applies to the problem of pornography today. Having all three of these ingredients is a recipe for disaster. The third ingredient of opportunity that did not exist before is the third leg of this trifecta. This is the accessibility wildcard that changed over the last twenty years. Of course there were ways to get pornography twenty years ago, it just wasn't always readily accessible.

(Before we continue it’s important to note that in regard to motive, sexual desires are human nature and are meant to be used in the right ways. Hashem created us with these desires and it would be harmful to shut them off. However, it is our job to channel them properly.)

  

The natural reaction to the completed triangle is to dispose of what has changed in the past two decades. Knock out the opportunity: don’t have internet (at least at home), and if you need it, use a filter. It seems that simple. We would go back to only having motive and rationalization but no opportunity.

However, let’s be realistic. In today’s internet driven society, it’s practically impossible to completely knock out opportunity. Most homes need and will have internet. Even homes that don’t have a direct connection can very often access WiFi very close to the home. It’s getting harder and harder to get a cell phone plan without internet, let alone a cell phone that’s not internet capable. Filters and accountability barely work and have more holes that the Mexican border.  Mobile devices change and get updated so often that software makers simply can’t keep up. There simply is no way to make your device “safe”. Unfortunately, when the filter is put to the test, it fails very often. It’s simply not something we can rely on. The fight against opportunity in 2013 is pretty much lost before we start.

I want to be clear: I’m not for one second suggesting that one should not have a filter. Filters are a required tool to use the internet. It’s your first line of defense and a basic level of protection. But relying on filters alone is setting yourself up to fail.

So if we can’t knock out opportunity, we need to fight the battle the rationalization front.

  

Rationalization is essentially the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination). The Yetzer Hara tries to get a person to rationalize his or her behavior. Although in normal conditions one won’t rationalize that pornography is OK  one’s decision making when aroused is severely hampered. Arousal gives a huge advantage to the Yetzer Hora. Dan Ariely, in Chapter 6 of Predictably Irrational, tests and proves that when sexually aroused, young men are more likely to undergo an action that they would not normally consider when not aroused.

To fight rationalization, we need to strengthen our fight against our Yetzer Hara. We must teach ourselves and our children that the ultimate filter for the internet is ourselves. There is no way to live in today’s world without relying heavily on our own brain to filter out what we look at and what we don’t. We can and should use “3rd party” filters and the like to help us succeed, but the key word is help us. The opportunity to do bad will always be there. There is nothing we can do about that. What is in our power is that we can attempt to limit opportunity, and we should do everything we can to do that. But at the end of the day the buck stops with us. There will always be ways around whatever filter we choose to use. It’s our responsibility to try not to find out about them. There will always be a way to get pornography, and it is our responsibility to fight our Yetzer Hara.

Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski writes, “While restricting access to the internet would appear to be a logical solution, it is simply not realistic…. Filters can be effective to prevent accidental exposure to improper scenes, and can be helpful for people who sincerely want to stop. But the Satan has become overpowering and is claiming victims, destroying spiritual lives, marriages and families.”

It’s brought down in many places that Yiras Shamayim (fear of G-D) is what helps us fight our Yetzer Hara. Strengthen Yiras Shamayim, and a person will have an easier time fighting the Yetzer Hara.

It’s beyond the scope of this blog post (and the author’s field of knowledge) to delve deeply into how to strengthen Yiras Shamayim,  but there are many resources that can help a person do that, starting with, if not most importantly, your Rabbi. Rabbi Dr. Twerski deals extensively with these topics, and I highly suggest taking a look at his material.

  

While the integral fight against opportunity rages on through filters, accountability software, and decreasing access, it’s important to not lose focus and realize that equally as important, if not more important, is the fight against the Yetzer Hara’s rationalization. Our self control is the first line of defense. We need to strengthen our Yiras Shamayim. We need to teach ourselves and our children that we can’t let our guard down for a second and mistakenly think we are adequately protected, for it is you that is the ultimate filter.

Are you ready?

"Don't go out until you know you are ready to get married."

Probably the worst advice I ever received in my life. But yet everyone says it and (almost) nobody follows it.

People asked me when I started going out, "So, you ready to get married?" I used to answer "No. But I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Despite the fact that "it's the biggest decision you'll ever make in your life," how am I supposed to know if I'm ready for something when realistically I don't know what that something is?

The advice should be "Don't go out until you think you are ready to face whatever marriage may throw at you - despite having absolutely no clue what that may be until you commit." Now that is good (and totally useless) advice.

An at-the-time-newly-married friend of mine once said to me, "I don't know what to answer people when they ask 'How's married life?' If they are married, they know already. If they are single, they have no frame of reference for which to compare it to."

There are some things in life that you will have no clue what they really are until you experience them. If you are going to wait until you know you are ready for it, you'll be waiting forever.

Shortly before my wedding day, one of the many people who felt compelled to give my free life advice said to me, "Getting married is the second to most life-changing event you will ever experience." It took me by surprise. "What is the most?" I asked, taking the bait. "The day your first child is born," he responded. "Going from single to having to care about constantly keep in mind another adult is life changing. But add worrying about a baby, now that's completely changes your life." Good chance that piece of advice was actually accurate.

Was I ready to be a parent when my daughter was born? Ha! Am I ready to be a parent now 2 1/2 years later? Double ha!

A few weeks ago someone told me "While the first child changes your life, when you go from having one child to having multiple children, your life changes all over again." (Can someone please coordinate all these sayings and get them straight?)

A father of six once told me, "There is no such thing as an experienced parent. Every child is different and no previous experience can ever prepare you for the needs of any child." Touché

On Monday, my wife gave birth to our second child; a baby boy. Am I ready? No way, but I can't wait!

Re: Check out these Documents!!!

<Caution: A bit geeky. - You have been warned.>

Recently, at work, a number of employees and friends of employees have had their email accounts compromised and send out fraudulent emails on their behalf. 

Once a user receives said fraudulent email, he is often fooled into thinking that the email is real, and blindly follows the directions. The email requests the user to click a link and enter their email passwords so they can see an important Google Document. The link opens a page that is designed to look like a Google sign-in page; however, in truth, it is not. Once you enter your username and password, the spammer has your account credentials. He then sends the same fraudulent email to all your contacts, asking them to click on the link. If and when they do, the cycle continues.

The variant of spam being used here is called phishing. Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing and often directs users to enter details at a fake website, the look and feel of which are almost identical to the legitimate one.

People generally don't think about clicking on links in emails that were sent from an email address they know and trust. However, you should always be suspicious, if not paranoid, that an email is not legitimate.

I sent out an email to all the staff explaining to people what was going on and how to avoid falling into this.

Below are 12 things that may have tipped one off that this email wasn't real.

Click the image to enlarge.

1 - The subject starts with Re:. Re stands for regarding and almost always is in response to an email you sent them.

2 - Very generic subject not referring to anything. Usually the sender will include information in the subject as to what the email is about rather than the actions you must take.

3 - Three exclamation marks makes it look like this was written by a 13-year-old girl rather than a work email in a professional setting.

4 - This email wasn't sent to you specifically. You were bcc'd and you can't see anyone that it was sent to - a telltale sign that this was a mass email not meant specifically for you.

5 - Many times (as in this case), the email was sent at an odd hour. (Fun fact: It's easier for spammers to send emails at night than it is during the day.) In this case in particular, it was sent after 10:00 pm on a Friday night from an Orthodox Jew.

6 - The email didn't address you (or anyone) by name. This is very coarse way of sending emails, and not usually done by people who know you.

7 - Other than the fact that this is not the way most people would write this sentence, it doesn't indicate the topic of the document at all. (This sentence in a legitimate email is more likely to read: "I created a document regarding next year's lesson plans using Google docs.")

8 - Emails linking you to Google Docs are generally sent from Google Docs itself, or will show a Google Docs icon. While someone can link to the document themselves, it's not at all common.

9 - Hovering over the link will allow you to see where the link will take you. Looking at the site, you will see that it's clearly not going to a Google sign-in page.

10 - Most people don't include tech instructions in their email - unless it's sent from me :)

11 - Total lack of proper punctuation and spelling (i.e. there should be a period after document, a capital I and an apostrophe in "its"...)

12 - Another vague attempt at making this email sound important for you to quickly open it without actually giving you any details as to what it is.

13 - No signature. Most people will include their name at the bottom of their emails - especially important ones.

Why Men and Women Cant be Friends

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to share this video. I think it was extremley well executed and makes his point clear (even if he did have to edit out the people who had different answers).

I may follow up with a more in-depth post about this next week, so be forewarned and leave your comments.

It's Yom HaShoah - But Do We Really Care?

Today is Yom HaShoah. Or at least a whole bunch of people I'm friends with on Facebook told me so. I read the following status about 10 times today:

It's Yom HaShoah, the day we commemorate the 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Jews with names, families, and stories that were mercilessly cut short. But after all these years, the Nazis still did not fulfill their goal: we are still here, standing strong. Remember the horrors of the Holocaust. WE MUST NEVER FORGET. Please, take 6 seconds and make this your status, to honor the 6 million lost souls. (Some change "lost" to "holy" and yet others just cut off at "6 million", must've been a machlokes.)

Now, I'm not against what Yom HaShoah stands for, and I'm certainly not against honoring and remembering the victims of the Holocaust. However, does making those few sentences your status really honor the victims? Do you think the murdered families find peace and feel honored from that fact that you changed your Facebook status? The status even prides itself that the whole thing only takes 6 seconds. Wow! What an honor! It must take such dedication to spend a second of your time for each million Jews killed. (Not only that, it's not just a regular 6 seconds, it's 6 precious seconds taken away from using Facebook. Now that's dedication.) Who are we fooling? Of course if you were one of the disgusting people that didn't change your Facebook status, you must be a right-wing hater. It must be incumbent upon any self respecting Jew to immediately go change his or her Facebook status before it's too late.

The thing is that we fool only ourselves. We fool ourselves to think that we care - when we really don't want to admit to ourselves that it's difficult for us to relate. We should care and we want to care, but we can't because we are too busy with other important things. Other things like spending time on Facebook. We console ourselves with the fact that we are doing something (albeit nothing meaningful) by changing our Facebook status. "See," we tell ourselves, "I do care; and my Facebook status proves it."

Now many people reading this will be all mad by this point. You're probably screaming at me in your mind: "Speak for yourself. You're the one that doesn't care. You're the one who doesn't feel bad." You know what? You may be right. I have a very hard time caring and feeling bad about something from which I'm so distant; it happened so long ago and I have a hard time relating. We have grown numb over the past seventy five years. Almost everyone who lived to tell the story is dead by now. The ones still alive, are living in nursing homes. I've been to the holocaust museums, but frankly it felt like a movie. It all doesn't seem real. We are so distant from it.

But I will never try to convince my conscience that I am doing my part when I'm not. I will never try to convince myself that I care and feel bad when I have such a hard time trying to relate. Stop fooling yourself.

But you know what I do feel bad about? You know what I do care about? I feel bad about the fact that I'm too distant to feel the pain and I care about the fact that it's becoming lost to my generation. That's why I wrote this post, and trust me, it took more than 6 seconds.

Everything a Teenager Person Should Know about Purim Drinking

I haven't posted in a while, but I feel I need to re-post this post before every Purim. As I get older and experiance more Purims, I get more and more convinced that if people would be educated in the affects of alcohol, it would not only be a safer Purim but a much more enjoyable one.

Being that Purim is around the corner, I decided to write about what bothers me every year around this time. That is: the way anti-drinking campaigns are run.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not one for free open drinking on Purim. I’m not into kids (or adults) getting carried away on stretchers or lifted and carried off of people’s couches and front lawns. And I’m definitely not into people destroying their Purim by drinking too much and not remembering anything (besides for the side effects). However, I am against the way the yeshiva world tries to stop it.

Every year we all see the posters from Hatzaloh – Don’t get carried away this Purim. Every year we see the Kol Korai in the Yated, and every year we see the letter to the editor in the Hamodia from some innocent 17 year old who wanted to have an awesome time the previous year and instead ended up in the hospital who writes, “it’s mamesh a nes nigleh that I am alive to write this letter today.” We see letter after letter, sign after sign and fact after fact of the dangers of drinking on Purim. The facts are enough to scare anyone, and they do, except for one group of people – teenagers.

You see, the Just Say No style campaigns that (just about) every yeshiva, shul, community and school use have very little effect on what and how much teenagers want to drink on Purim. It may affect how easy it is to get the alcohol, as adults are more cautious about dispensing alcohol to minors, but it has a much smaller affect on the group that needs it the most. The reason this approach does not work on teenagers is that most people who get drunk on Purim don’t end up in the hospital or have their stomachs pumped, and their friends certainly know it. To quote the authors of Buzzed – The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy, “when horror stories are used as the principal tools in drug education, people soon recognize that such stories do not represent the whole truth. The educator then loses credibility.” Basically, when teenagers see their friends and a lot of other people get drunk on Purim without crazy horror stories, they start ignoring all the people telling them not to drink because they might end up in the hospital. (Ironically, while typing this post, I got an email from a Shul near me telling everyone that Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky reportedly said that getting drunk on Purim is an Aveira. While it may be true, that won’t stop most people.)

Unfortunately, the ones who ignore the message are the key audience that we need to reach to help prevent the true dangers of drinking on Purim. To do this, we must switch Just Say No to Just Say Know. When a person knows the facts regarding how alcohol will affect his (or her) body, that knowledge can lead to safer drinking and help avoid excess. Will it get teenagers to stop drinking on Purim? Absolutely not. But it may help reduce the incidents of hospital visits.

So, with that I present – Everything a Teenager Should Know about Purim Drinking.

First off, you should know that every person’s body will react differently to alcohol. Body size, history of drinking and gender all play a major role in how the alcohol will affect your body. One thing that is important to know is that even if having a higher tolerance means you may not feel the same effects of alcohol on your body as other people who drank the same amount, you still have the same amount of alcohol in your blood and therefore the effects are still there whether you feel them or not.

Next, let’s talk about BAC – Blood Alcohol Content (or Concentration). BAC is the amount of alcohol present in the blood after consuming alcohol. Below you will see how your body reacts to different level BAC’s. After we will discuss how alcohol affects your BAC. Remember: The effects of alcohol intoxication are greatly influenced by individual variations among users. Some users may become intoxicated at a much lower Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level than is shown.

0.02-0.03 BAC: No loss of coordination, slight euphoria and loss of shyness. Depressant effects are not apparent. You might feel mildly relaxed and maybe a little lightheaded.

0.04-0.06 BAC: There is a feeling of well-being, relaxation, lower inhibitions, and a sensation of warmth along with euphoria. There will be some minor impairment of reasoning and memory, and lowering of caution. Your behavior may become exaggerated and emotions intensified (Good emotions are better, bad emotions are worse)

0.07-0.09 BAC: Slight impairment of balance, speech, vision, reaction time, and hearing. Euphoria. Judgment and self-control are reduced, and caution, reason and memory are impaired, .08 is legally impaired and it is illegal to drive at this level. You will probably believe that you are functioning better than you really are.

0.10-0.125 BAC: Significant impairment of motor coordination and loss of good judgment. Speech may be slurred; balance, vision, reaction time and hearing will be impaired. Euphoria.

0.13-0.15 BAC: Gross motor impairment and lack of physical control. Blurred vision and major loss of balance. Euphoria is reduced and dysphoria (anxiety, restlessness) is beginning to appear. Judgment and perception are severely impaired.

0.16-0.19 BAC: Dysphoria predominates, nausea may appear. The drinker has the appearance of a "sloppy drunk."

0.20 BAC: Felling dazed, confused or otherwise disoriented. May need help to stand or walk. If you injure yourself you may not feel the pain. Some people experience nausea and vomiting at this level. The gag reflex is impaired and you can choke if you do vomit. Blackouts are likely at this level so you may not remember what has happened.

0.25 BAC: All mental, physical and sensory functions are severely impaired. Increased risk of asphyxiation from choking on vomit and of seriously injuring yourself by falls or other accidents.

0.30 BAC: STUPOR. You have little comprehension of where you are. You may pass out suddenly and be difficult to awaken.

0.35 BAC: Coma is possible. This is the level of surgical anesthesia.

0.40 BAC and up: Onset of coma, and possible death due to respiratory arrest.

One thing that you may have noticed - BAC's in excess of 0.125% will NOT increase the pleasure, only the discomfort. At 0.125% you reach the level of euphoria. Once you pass that level, euphoria is reduced. So if you are drinking and you want to have a good time, you probably want to be close to 0.125% and not higher.

The real question is: how much alcohol do I need to drink to get to that level? First, let’s first define a “drink”. One drink is 1.25 oz. of 40% liquor, 12 oz. of beer, or 5 oz. of table wine. The chart below shows you how many drinks affect your BAC by body weight. Time plays a factor as well so subtract .01% for each 40 minutes of drinking.

	Approximate Blood Alcohol Percentage
Drinks	Body Weight in Pounds
	100	120	140	160	180	200	220	240
0	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	Only Safe Driving Limit
0	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	.00	Only Safe Driving Limit
1	.04	.03	.03	.02	.02	.02	.02	.02	Driving Skills Significantly Affected Possible Criminal Penalties
2	.08	.06	.05	.05	.04	.04	.03	.03
3	.11	.09	.08	.07	.06	.06	.05	.05
4	.15	.12	.11	.09	.08	.08	.07	.06
5	.19	.16	.13	.12	.11	.09	.09	.08
6	.23	.19	.16	.14	.13	.11	.10	.09	Legally Intoxicated Criminal Penalties
7	.26	.22	.19	.16	.15	.13	.12	.11
8	.30	.25	.21	.19	.17	.15	.14	.13
9	.34	.28	.24	.21	.19	.17	.15	.14
10	.38	.31	.27	.23	.21	.19	.17	.16	Death Possible

So, for your average teenager weighing 160 lbs., after about 6 drinks over a 2 hour period, you will reach the highest level of enjoyment you can attain by drinking alcohol. After that amount, your enjoyment will start to go downhill. 10 drinks over that same period of time can cause you to blackout.

Some other points to keep in mind:

·

Plan ahead – if you just have a bottle of scotch and keep pouring from it repeatedly, there is no way you will know how much you’re drinking. What I used to do was pour off the amount I wanted to drink into a small ginger ale bottle before Purim. That way, I didn’t drink more then I wanted to.

Not drinking too much is for your own enjoyment. You don’t want to be the guy in the corner crying who is probably in the 0.16%-0.19% range.

Little known fact - If you are under 21, it is illegal to drive after drinking even if you are under 0.08%. It is only after 21 that the 0.08 rule comes into effect. (See what court ordered driving school teaches you?)

Keep active. Don't just sit down and watch everyone dance. If you keep active, you will drink less and will be more aware of your level of intoxication.

Keep track of how much you are drinking. Know how much alcohol is poured into every glass.

Pace your drinking, allow time between drinks.

If you are going out with friends and you are afraid you will be pressured to drink more then you want to, dilute your alcohol before you leave. That way you can keep up with the drinkers while enjoying yourself more.

Have other suggestions? Write them in the comments and I will add them.

I hope that with this knowledge, people who will be drinking this Purim will know and understand how they are affecting their body. With that knowledge they will better be able to decide how much to drink and hopefully drink responsibly.

Have a safe enjoyable Purim.

*******************************************************
Disclaimer: I am not condoning drinking. I just feel that people should be aware of what they are doing to themselves.

A lot of the information in this post is from B.R.A.D. (Be Responsible About Drinking, Inc).

Device Evolution - By Philipp Lenssen of Blogoscoped.com

I'm not really the type of person that takes other blog posts and posts them on my blog, but this post from Philipp Lenssen of Blogoscoped.com is just to good not to share. I wish this was my own.

***GEEK WARNING***

Device Evolution - By Philipp Lenssen

Watching evolution is fun, especially when it happens right around you, and happens so fast. A mutation we saw yesterday was a new animal scientists gave the name “Chrome OS Notebook”, but it’s surrounded by other smart animals of all kinds and shapes. What do they fight for? Their nature are our offices, living rooms, cafes and parks; their food are our individual interests.

Computing devices: the more we have, the less we notice them. Sneaky things, changing the color of their skin on different backgrounds... we don’t even know they’re computers anymore! The sneakier they fade in, the more likely they’ll hunt down our interest when it appears.

You’re in your room, and you just had the idea of going to a cafe to read a newspaper, and perhaps chat with some friends. You can now hear small leafs crack, the surrounding grass rustle, and there’s even some dramatic discovery channel music starting to play. You’re surrounded by smart devices, large and small, elegant and clunky. Some with big screens, some with speakers, some accepting cable of type one, some accepting cable of type two. Some will know when you throw and turn them. Some have a touch screen, others offer a special typing device to please your fingers. Some devices have been put to their desktop drawer grave already because they were starving and never found any of your interests. This is nature... diverse, sometimes cruel.

The device with the smallest screen makes its first move, jumping towards your pocket. It fits right in, is small to carry, can play some casual games! It went by many names in the past, from telephone to phone to mobile phone. But it mutated over the years, growing hair and legs and eyes suited to hunt down all kinds of our interests. “No,” you say, “You’re great for playing games and chatting with friends, but I really want to read a newspaper. Your screen is much too small to comfortably read.”

As you push away the last device – its group status in your room device hierarchy permanently lowered, with giggles all around – a new one comes forth. It’s of much larger size and can be conveniently opened and closed as you carry it. It has a hardware keyboard that allows for a lot of fast typing. It’s connected to the internet, like the rest of the devices, but it can also download programs that please you with super fast graphics. “Notebook PC, you’re great when I want to get work done, I know you the longest, you know I love you even though you transmit all kind of diseases, but you know, I don’t want to work in that cafe I’m going to, and reading newspapers is not really what you excel at.”

The desktop PC at this very moment ponders to also come forward, but then retreats to a darker corner of your desk with a nervous cough. The clunkiest of the beasts, this device realizes its days in evolution might be numbered. It blames it on the Notebook and quietly schemes to kick it off the table one of these nights.

There’s a semi-large-screen device animal jumping up and down begging for your attention, trying to grab that tasty use case of cafe-newspaper-reading-and-perhaps-some-chatting. “Don’t be so desperate my friend,” you’re saying, “I’ll hear you out.” The device introduces itself as “Android OS Tablet” and says its parents were a Tablet PC and a Smart Phone. It claims it has thousands of games, apps, lots of gadgety entertainment, and it can also surf the web. It even offers you books to read on it. Hearing that, the Kindle from up in the book shelf breaks out in laughter and starts to chant “E-Ink! E-Ink! E-Ink” in annoyingly loud voice. The Android device can’t take it anymore and is climbing upwards to shut the Kindle down for good.

“OK,” you say, “that was fun you guys, but let me just pick the iPad here, and fine, I’ll grab the phone for my pocket. The tablet can read newspaper subscriptions, surf the web, there’s some books already downloaded in case I get bored and the connection breaks down, and if I want to chat to someone, I’ll make a phone call.” As you pack your things, the door to your room opens. The light goes out, a spot gets turned on, and someone loops the “sci fi” sound on the synthesizer.

“You know who I am, don’t you.” the device says.

The room goes very quiet. The Kindle and Android device stop in mid-brawl. The Windows Mobile phone temporarily rolls in its grave. The PlayStation Portable jumps on top of the Kinect to get a better view. Even the coffee making device in the next room goes silent.

“I’M CHROME.”

Silence. The Android OS is quietly pondering to use the time for a surprise punch in the Kindle face, but looking around figures it would be inappropriate. More silence.

“Care to explain?”, you say. In slow monotonous voice, the Chrome OS Notebook tells you its long story. How its grandfather, a browser, had to go through rough times in the war. How his father, a browser himself, met his mother, a traditional PC, and how granddad used to frown upon the relationship. We browsers should stick to our kind, granddad said, and how you two had to meet in dark corners... nothing could stop your love. How he eventually fell out with his cousin Android OS – same family and all, but brought up totally differently – and how the two didn’t call each other for years. Some of the devices are crying by now. The desktop PC even moved closer to the MacBook Air, despite their generation gap.

“To make a long story short, I’m Chrome OS Notebook. You can check your email with me, surf the web, read newspapers online, stream movies, grab casual web apps and simpler games. You can set me up in under a minute and I boot in seconds.” (The Windows Notebook puts on a terrified grimace and suddenly feels very, very sick.) “I can’t do a whole lot offline and can’t play your DVD but online, I’ll be damned if I’m not the very best thing there is.”

You want to take Chrome for a longer test ride one of these days, but you really need to go now, and you grab your newspaper device and your chat device and off you go. On your way to the cafe you ponder who will survive in the wild animal kingdom of your room. And you suspect an answer: whatever device will be versatile enough to grab the largest amount of your interests, whatever device will be the best to fit in to any environment, whatever device will be smartest to adjust to new living circumstances, whatever device can specialize if needed but takes a general approach, whatever device can beat the others by emulating and incorporating their strengths through learning, a device that can blow up its size when required and become really small when not, a device that is perfectly easy to use, a device that rules over the whole ecosystem due to its strength, yet is still lean enough to move quickly.

Yesterday’s mutation wasn’t the last we’ve seen. Watching evolution is fun, and it happens right around us, and right through us.