This is just to let you know that I've nearly completed my final techie updates.

I now have Windows 10, Office 2013, and the Nativ filter. (This is why so many different standard things weren't working on my computer. I hadn't realized that Windows 7 is considered so outdated now. For me, it was still modern & new!)

Plus, we've returned all our household technology (the house phoneline, the Internet connection, and the underlying cables) back to Bezeq, rather than having them split between 3 different companies as they were before, which periodically caused us problems all these years.

It was switching all that over than knocked out our phoneline and Internet for 2 weeks.

I really love Nativ. (Netfree is another excellent option and was our first choice, but for our current needs, Nativ suits us better at this point.)

At the same time, I'm still getting used to using it and things get wonky at times.

As described in a previous post, hi-tech hates boundaries. It despises any kind of limitations. So the more you try to limit and curb its undesirable parts, the more difficult & aggravating it becomes to use. Even antivirus programs can make you problems at times.

(But better that inconvenience than suffering a virus or malware attack, right?)

So I might have weird blips here as I get used to using stuff with Nativ. (A really good thing about Nativ is that they go out of their way to accommodate your online needs, both your spiritual needs and your practical/professional needs, and they do so in a friendly & willing manner.)

But before I took on such a powerful filter, I mentally prepared myself that now, anything I do online, no matter how innocent, necessary, or spiritual (like reading Toras Avigdor) is now going to be at least somewhat less convenient & less uncertain than it was before.

And that's just the price you pay sometimes.

It's like no matter how inconvenient or uncertain or uncomfortable the situation becomes, you simply cannot transgress Shabbat unless it's a matter of life and death. You cannot eat treif. You cannot shake hands with the opposite gender. 

(Note: I had a chassidish woman friend who, in reward for some work she did, needed to stand in line and shake hands with the USA Vice-President of that time (the 1970s, I believe), and avoided doing so via her own inner determination and outer charm, grace, and good humor. BTW, the Vice-President was totally fine with her respectful head-'n'-shoulders-curtsy in place of a handshake and he chuckled at her witty one-liner excuse for why she wasn't shaking his hand.)

And I'm not going to judge people who feel they aren't yet up to applying such powerful filters to their own Internet.

It took me a while to work up to it myself. And reading Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus's Nefesh Chaya helped enormously with making both the decision & the transition.

I'm really glad not to have to deal nearly as much with all sorts of undesirable images anymore (though no filter is perfect). For example, this wonderful Weebly website-host features a flash-image of a young woman with a particularly inappropriate tattoo every time you log out. You can't avoid it! And I personally did not like seeing this.

Just as bad, I always needed to remember not to log out when my husband or children were around, so they wouldn't see it too. (And this is when I had a filter, albeit one not as good as Nativ or Netfree.)

But with Nativ, it just logs out normally without any images. Yay!

Also I can't surf anymore, which ended up being a huge time-sinkhole, even if I wanted to look up something innocent, like a recipe or the answer to a question on Quora.

Also, it's really not so healthy to read what all sorts of people say when these people do not share your Torah values and perspectives.

So I'm feeling good about this, even as I dislike the transition-phase.

​And that's how it goes.

I'm planning on making a major overhaul to my computer, hopefully in the coming week. 

Usually, I don't have great mazal in the techie world, so who knows what will happen?

Also, I have "Post-Traumatic Tech Disorder" (which is a term I totally made up, but I bet you know exactly what I mean), and this makes everything even worse.

Despite all the boasts of how easy, simple, and quick this-or-that technological improvement is supposed to be, I usually run into hair-yanking bugs.

So if I accidentally lock myself out of this site or my email, that's what happened.

If I manage to produce & pre-schedule posts before the overhaul, it may look like I'm here, but really I'm not.

Or things may go swimmingly.

​You can never really know in advance...

​Ever since I learned of it, the concept of Esav as the blueprint for Edom (the Anglo cultures today) has fascinated me.
 
Essentially, the pig symbolizes Esav/Edom. Though a pig looks kosher on the outside with its cloven hoof, its non-cud-chewing interior establishes the pig as 100% treif.
 
And as has been written on this blog already, we see this conflicting Edomite duality in dozens of different ways.

Many people do not know the real persona of their feminist icons, but even those who do often sputter incoherently about “the need to separate the artist from her art.”
 
Needless to say, despite the #metoo movement and society’s calls for justice and protecting children and exposing abusers, no one wants to hear what Rebecca Walker has to say and Moira Greyland has also met with resistance (despite court testimony and other evidence as corroboration). Ariel Leve's mother is no longer popular or iconic, so her exposé has found quite a charitable reception.
 
“Works of art excused misconduct.”
 
Couldn’t have said it better.

Note: What's chilling about the soullessness of literary superstars is that they have had and continue to have such a profound influence on culture and mentality.

Yes, the way we think is also shaped by movies & TV (some of which are based on these books).

But who can remain unaffected by the insidious influence permeating all the compelling articles & books written by volatile depraved narcissists who wish to both validate & promote their own depravity & self-indulgence? 

Who doesn’t adore the Amish?

Wholesome and appealing as shoofly pie and homemade ice cream, the Amish represent the nostalgic America of the 19th Century. 

​One of my favorite non-fiction books is written by a midwife who worked extensively with the Amish in Pennsylvania. Published in 1983, A Midwife's Story presents a compelling portrayal of her Amish neighbors and clients.

She presents the good and the bad, but she mostly views the Amish in a positive light.

Sure, I did wonder about the seemingly high rate of mentally disabling rare genetic diseases mentioned in the book (“Of the thirty-six children on the roll call, three quarters were named Stoltzfus” was my first clue as to why) and I also wondered why they went off the derech at such a high rate if Amish life was so heavenly. (Over 20% of Amish were leaving the fold at the time of the book’s writing.)
 
Over time, more ex-Amish started speaking up. For example, what the book described as “Amish women dearly loved news of others families” is described as oppressive gossiping and tale-bearing by those who’ve left.

The Amish tradition of Rumspringa (“running around”) kicks in at the age of sixteen and allows Amish youth to experience non-Amish life to enable them the free choice to decide whether to get baptized and join their church.

In 1983, Rumspringa consisted of Amish teens getting together in gangs with names like “Antiques” and “Luckies” and singing in somebody’s barn.

Girls wore a decorative stitch on the cuffs of their sleeves and the boys “might wear wristwatches, drink beer and — in extreme and serious cases — find musicians with plug-in guitars.”
 
Some Amish boys even managed to buy cars, which they kept in neighboring non-Amish towns.
 
Yet today’s Amish Rumspringa often consists of girls in heavy makeup and jeans with boys in rapper clothing and all of them completely inebriated and holding smartphones.
 
(Also, as a frum Jew, it surprised me to read of the total lack of shomer negiah in what looks like a very religious community.)
 
And despite the portrayal of the Amish has close to nature and respectful of animals, reports show the Amish working their animals to death and perpetuating puppy mills in miserable conditions.
 
Despite the impression of deep faith, many Amish orders discourage their constituents from studying the Bible (a superficial reading is okay, but actually studying it is not—although many orders also forbid reading an English translation at all and instead permit only Martin Luther’s 400-year-old High German translation, which lacks accuracy and is not understood by most Amish, who speak Pennsylvania Dutch).
 
The Amish belief system also discourages a personal relationship with God. The church elders tell them what God wants from them and for them.
 
Those who know the Amish report that suicide is double that of the general American rate, but the suicides are often reported as accidents — even when a suicide note is left behind.
 
Needless to say, not all Amish run amok during Rumspringa nor do they all abuse animals or suffer depression or abuse each other.

​And even the ex-Amish express fondness over certain aspects of their Amish upbringing.
 
However, abuse runs rampant in Amish families and churches.

​And when the former Amish leave and look for the support and validation so enthusiastically promoted in the secular world, they face rejection.

Accused of being “bitter” and their testimonies nitpicked for inconsistencies, the ex-Amish quickly learn that most people don’t want to hear the truth about a culture idealized in the American mind as gentle, charmingly quaint, and enviously wholesome.

This resistance even extends to the police, social services, shelters, and American justice system, making it even harder for Amish victims to get help and put Amish perps where they belong (in prison).
 
Handmade furniture, organic food, sweet bonnets, and gentle religiosity…please don’t wake us up from our Amish fantasy!

The more layers you peel away from Facebook, the worse it gets.
 
Most people know that there are human moderators behind Facebook’s moderation policies.
 
What most people don’t know is that these human moderators must look at some truly disturbing stuff in order to block it.

​Hour by hour & day by day, they read posts full of hatred and venom, along with watching murders and other horrors.
 
Not surprisingly, these moderators have a high turnover rate. Most people can’t last long in the job and those who leave often suffer severe PTSD afterwards.
 
Those who stick it out find themselves negatively influenced by their viewing material.

​Some moderators have become Holocaust-deniers while racist “humor” becomes popular at work. Some moderators smoke marijuana on their breaks (it’s legal in Arizona now) and then moderate the posts while stoned.
 
For reasons I wasn’t able to understand, many current moderators fear their ex-colleagues, claiming that these former moderators could return and harm or even kill the current moderators. Why? I'm really not sure. But one moderator even carries a gun to work to protect himself from this possibility.
 
Facebook offers little support or counseling to protect their moderators’ mental health. (Although I’m not sure how any kind of counseling can help a person who consistently watches someone screaming as they are murdered on a video uploaded by a drug cartel.)

Moderators receive low salaries with few perks. There’s also a definite “Big Brother” environment, with their every move tracked and moderators asked not to use the bathroom (outside of designated bathroom breaks) or pray on their breaks.

​It's not so social, this social media, is it?

So there you have it.

"I'm sooooo kosher," says the pig. "I mean, FABULOUSLY kosher. Just look at my perfectly split hoof! And I've got lots of meat at a great price! What do you need beef or lamb for?"

​But inside? Treif, treif, treif. (Not to mention all the garbage they eat.)

​"Be connected. Be discovered. Be on Facebook."

Be traumatized. Be suicidal. Become a psychopath!

*

And a lifestyle romanticized as pure, wholesome, innocent, gentle, and healthy actually isn't.

And that which promised females rights & freedoms has done more to violate, abuse, and even kill females.

​Oink, oink.

A newsletter suggestion led me to a website that converts a web page to PDF to save in a computer, or to print out, or to send in an email.

If you like to print out posts to read on Shabbat or you wish to save articles in your computer or send them in emails, this site works really well for that.

I didn't even download the plugin.

Just copy the address link of the article you want to save/print/email, then go here:
https://www.printfriendly.com/

Paste the link address in the white box and press the black box that says PREVIEW.

After a few seconds, it'll take you to another page that gives you options for PDF, Print, or Email.

You also have options for page size and stuff.

*If you click on an image within your page preview, it gets deleted (which can be good or bad, depending).

*There's also a yellow band with a garbage can that allows you to delete any text covered by the yellow band with just one click. (So don't click it if you don't want that text to disappear.)

I didn't try the Print or Email options, but the PDF option worked great. I clicked that, a dialogue box opened to ask if I wanted to Save or Open, and it got saved into the correct folder.

It's really quick and easy.

Okay, hope that helps!

​To use a non-Internet example:
If you've ever met people from high-intensity dysfunctional families -- like with lots of yelling and even throwing things -- they have a hard time enjoying feelings of calm or being unrushed or unharassed.

I've met types like this who don't even have "calm environment" as a goal for their own home as adults. They can't imagine such a thing and even find it very uncomfortable when they do experience it.

It's not that they try to imitate the same dysfunction of their home.

For example, one woman like this enjoyed expressing extremes of emotion, whether laughing uproariously or erupting into hysterics, but she never threw anything or hit her kids -- things that had occurred in her childhood home.

She resolved never to hit her children or throw chairs and bowls of soup (not at the kids) like her own mother, but she didn't realize she also needed to let go of the high-intensity emoting too. After ingesting calcium tablets, which unexpectedly induced calm, she complained & didn't want to take them anymore.

But it's important to note that not everyone who grows up in a high-intensity dysfunctional home retains an addiction to high-intensity. Some grow up to abhor any emotional extremes. On the contrary, they crave calm, balanced environments and create very calm homes.

So it depends.

Even from the same family, one sibling grows up addicted to high intensity and the other grows up to abhor it.

​Anyway, that's one of the things I've been working on for a couple of years now. And yeah, I've made some progress, baruch Hashem, which gives me hope for my future.

It's a mitzvah to always be happy.

​But maintaining the emotional state of a hyperactive poodle isn't the goal.

We need to be happy without the "hit."

Related links:
​Did You Get Your Regular Dosage of Awe, Anxiety, and Anger Today?

Why This Generation is So Astounding (see in particular "Your Brain Under Attack")

Are you awed by:
​

• The latest royal wedding gown?

​

• How [fill-in-the-blank with whatever celebrity] manages to look soooo young at age 52?

​

• A cat that imitates human behavior?

​

• An 11-year-old who can sing opera really well?

​

• That a quirky middle-aged pudgy lady wearing white shoes with black stockings could sing "I Dreamed a Dream" so well with no professional background?

​

• A basketball shot from across the court that scores through the hoop just as the final buzzer sounds?

​

• A poorly raised 3-year-old who calls his mother "Linda" and asserts his right to cupcake-disobedience?

​Many people felt awed by the guy who cut off his own arm when it got caught between a rock and a hard place during a hiking trip that went wrong.

They were even more awed by his return to hiking after that debilitating mishap.

O, the great mesirut nefesh to hike up mountains!

(I'm glad he lived through it, of course, and that he doesn't seem to suffer any PTSD from it. But there is more to life.)

Frankly, I'm awed by Rav Simcha Elchanan Wasserman's insistence on going back to Europe in the throes of the Shoah -- just to give chizuk and comfort to those stuck in the genocide -- KNOWING exactly what awaited him.

And there are thousands of other examples of truly awe-inspiring acts.

The thing is that while media has always impacted our emotions and opinions, and while it has always sought to cultivate the most eye-catching headlines and titles while feeding us sensationalized content portrayed as "fact," the Internet has brought this all to a whole new level.

With lists based on solid research, you can choose and adjust your own headline to meet viral standards.

It works.

I mean, how do you think I know about Linda's cheeky 3-year-old or the surprisingly talented singer from a Scottish village?

Yeah, I got sucked into taking a peek at the viral stuff too.

So...the way to resist is to avoid the negative stuff and fill yourself up with truly good things.

"Sur m'ra v'aseh tov -- turn from bad and do good."

Even seemingly kosher or frum outlets usually end up containing forbidden images, lashon hara, meaningless trivia for the sake of clickbait, and more.

It's surprising that after a couple of days avoiding most news sites (although I still think Hamodia is one of the most kosher; it's also the least "viral") and finding more productive ways to spend time....how boring and meaningless it all seems all of the sudden.

​"Why did I find that so compelling before?" you find yourself musing.

Needless to say, talking to God like He's you One True Close Friend, a Friend who's always interested in everything you have to say, a Friend Who can actually help you with ANYTHING, and is never shocked or horrified by anything you tell Him (He already knew all about you), but on the contrary: loves and forgives you no matter what (as long as you 'fess up)...this can help a lot with the viral vacuum.

A real personable connection with Hashem can minimize useless anxiety & anger while increasing truly awesome awe.

​And that's a really good thing.

Over the past year, I've been getting emails from people who clearly got my email from my Amazon reviews.

The first was the author of a book for which I left a positive review. He sent out what seemed to be a mass email directed at those of us who'd left positive reviews inviting us for a personal telephone consultation to ask him questions (or something like that) and it sounded magnanimous, but it was clearly a nice ploy for him to make more money off of his readers.

I thought about contacting him to ask how he got my email, but instead figured maybe authors get that opportunity via Amazon and just deleted the email.

However, it niggled in the back of my mind that authors could contact their Amazon reviewers without our permission.

Now, my policy is to not go lower than 3 stars on a product and to always say something positive, no matter how many negatives there are. However, some sellers can get their nose out of joint over a 4-star review, let alone a genuinely negative one.

I didn't like the thought of a seller being able to track me down. While the above author's email meant to be positive, a seller could also use this information to harass a negative reviewer. Or, if the reviewer is also a seller, to leave fake negative reviews in revenge.

(And now that I think about it...how do I know it was actually the author at all? It could have been someone impersonating the author to get me to sign up or to steal my credit card information.)

Several months after that, I started getting emails from untraceable sources asking me to review different products on Amazon, some even stating that they got my email from Amazon -- selling nothing that connected to anything I'd actually bought via Amazon.

They were really annoying and again, I wondered how they got my information.

Also, I haven't bought much on Amazon nor have I left many reviews. So why me?

​I'm still getting them several times weekly and it's very annoying.

The last straw was a PR agent who emailed me asking me to review their client's product. This time, I asked them how they got my email.

From Amazon, came the cheerful reply. Based on your review! And they helpfully included the exact product I bought with the name of the seller -- which I had indeed reviewed.

I politely declined the product.

But then I contacted Amazon customer service, where a rep reassured me in no uncertain terms that Amazon NEVER gives out reviewer emails.

The rep pointed out a slight change in the name of the product, which she said indicates that a phishing bot lifted my email from my review.

I hadn't heard of this particular trick before and she explained briefly, but I didn't really get it. How can that happen? After all, my email isn't included in the form for the review. It sounds very sophisticated to me.

But then again, I'm far from being competent with hi-tech.

Anyway, the rep was very nice and reassuring and invited me to send the email exchange to their fraud unit so they could take care of it, which I did.

The thing is, I looked up the PR agent and it's a real PR firm. The client also exists as does his product for sale.

These aren't bots.

It's also disturbing because many people choose highly identifiable usernames like: MordyMoskowitz@monsey.com

So apparently, there is some way to lift the email from the reviewer name, even though when you write a review, your email isn't anywhere there in the review form.

How are they doing this?

For about a year now, I've heard a couple of people say that at some point, the Internet will cease to be anonymous.

They don't just mean how it is now, that with a lot of effort, you can be tracked (at least somewhat, depending) via your IP.

They mean you'll be readily identifiable.

But the thing about all this hi-tech stuff is that when a new capability arrives, most people don't necessarily know about it immediately. Meaning, when the ability to easily track down your comment or review or post or email arrives, it's not like it will be announced so that you can run for cover prior to the big identity expose.

It'll just happen.

And it'll become known due to the protests of the people who get hit first.

​Based on my experience above (which still makes no sense to me), I think it might already be here.

But you know what?

Someone Omnipotent already knows exactly who you are and exactly what you wrote (or texted). And that Someone even knows you're true intention behind whatever you posted.

And that's the main thing to be concerned about.

What does HE think?

UPDATE: Just a handy FYI: I sometimes pre-schedule posts to appear at certain times, especially during crunch times, like when Shabbat and chag come close together. So if a post appears, it doesn't mean I'm actually here at the computer. Therefore, there might be delays in comments appearing or in replies, etc. 

​Thank you!

By the way, Weebly (the website-builder used for this blog) changed its ad-footer for sites using their free plan. It used to be an unobtrusive neutral-colored ad at the very bottom of the page.

​(My site isn't actually free because I buy my domain name and privacy protection from Weebly, but because I don't also pay for the official plan, it's considered the free plan.)

Then Weebly changed to a bright teal tag permanently set at the bottom of the screen and it pops up as a millennial female in a sleeveless shirt. They started applying it to new users of the free plan, and now they've apparently started applying it to all sites on the free plan (without letting any of the users know beforehand).

(If you're interested in creating a website/blog/online store with Weebly, you can click HERE and avoid the sleeveless millennial.)

Anyway, I think the ad-tag is annoying and distracting and not tsnius. But I'm not sure what to do because Weebly's no-annoying-ad cheapest plan costs $8 a month, which ends up being $96 a year, plus the expense of a domain name and privacy on top of that, and I'm not making money off this site to even out expenses. (It's a labor of love.) On the other hand, moving Myrtle Rising to another website builder seems like a tear-inducingly overwhelming, complicated, and time-consuming task.

So I'm not sure what to do, but I have no doubt that Hashem will send me an idea.

​Anyway, just wanted to let you know what's going on and sorry about that annoying pop-up ad all of the sudden.

​Cheers!

I recently came across a new app in which an AI (artificial intelligence) bot is advertised as "your 4 AM friend!"

Explaining that the app is based on techniques like CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and life coaching, it's promoted as "a fun way to build emotional resilience."

Well, that certainly sounds appealing.

Curious, I tried it out to see how this could possibly work.

(And yes, to be perfectly upfront, this is exactly the kind of distraction warned about in a previous post. Gotta check out that really intriguing new app that I'm not supposed to use and anyway have no intention of using!)

Anyway, you get this friendly little bird icon texting at you very nicely, and after a few introductory lines, it asks you to type in something for which you're grateful.

Very good.

If you download the app, it collects your text messages and creates a type of algorithm so that it can respond to you according to your individual needs.

It's very cute, reassuring, gentle, and friendly -- but it's not real.

It's an AI bot, for crying out loud. There's not even a real person on the other end.

"Nothing can match the privacy of an anonymous conversation with an AI bot," it claims.

Yeah, except that it collects data on you (so as to counsel you better) that anyone can hack into.

Also, there is something that can match and even far surpass the privacy of a not-as-anonymous-as-advertised conversation with an AI bot: a conversation with your Creator when no one else is around to eavesdrop (or collect your personal data).

Claiming the ability to ask probing questions that help you "untangle your mind" and "relax after a hard day," I wondered why you can't do that on your own? I mean, mussar books also ask probing questions.

But even if you don't have access to mussar books, a freewrite or mind-map session would help you untangle your mind and relax.

One user posted the following:
"I am often too anxious to talk to or contact anyone, so having a bot that I can vent to and that offers real constructive advice without feeling like I'm being judged or taking anyone's time is really, really helpful."

See? They KNOW they're interacting with a mere bot, but not only do they not care, they actually PREFER it!

And the thing is...I understand them.

For whatever the reason, even good people who really want to take the time and emotional energy to help others find it hard to do so nowadays. Many people feel like they're struggling to keep their own head above water, let alone offer support to others.

"Some young people young people have actually chosen to use [this AI bot] over a referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service...and felt this was all the support they need."

I'm not surprised to hear that a well-programmed bot might be more helpful than a counselor. Even the best-intentioned person has flaws and blind spots. Only a true tzaddik can know your soul in a way that let's them offer you guidance truly tailored for your soul-journey.

​But a non-judgmental bot can feel like the next best thing.

The kind of listening most helpful to others -- often referred to as "facilitative listening" -- demands you put your own ego aside and totally focus on the other and what he or she truly needs at the soul level.

It takes a certain amount of humility and genuine care for the other to listen in a way that helps the other figure out what he or she needs to do, without you imposing your own ego or preconceived notions on them.

Yet that's exactly what people need in a listener, according to Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender.

​As Rav Bender explains in Words of Faith, it's best to base interactions on the following:

• Seek the good points in each other.

• Give chizuk (He advises to say something along the lines of: “Chazak—be strong! My brother, be strong! Hold on and do not be discouraged by anything!” This should be said encouragingly and not irritably, of course.)
• Happy talk (I think this means to cheer up the other person.)
• Encouraging words
• Words of Torah
• Do good (I think this means that the listener can offer a favor, if he or she is in the position to do so, like a loan or a meal or babysitting, etc.)
• Try not to give advice because telling a person what to do takes away their free will.
• Allow the necessary exchange of light to occur.

New technologies always present challenges to society.

Ambivalence toward technology is normal.

For example, in Laura Ingalls Wilder's fictionalized biography about her husband Almanzo, Farmer Boy, Almanzo's father refuses to use the new-to-the-scene threshing machine for fear it will make people lazy and provide too much empty time. He also considers it an unnecessary expense.

Yet other people loved these new threshing machines for harvesting crops.

In another scene in the series (which took place in America's 1880s), one of the characters laments the "modern" reliance on kerosene, recalling that in her childhood, they made out just fine without kerosene. Candles could be made at home from animal fat. But kerosene offered a nicer and cleaner light.

In a book of poems left by a relative born in 1861, my relative recalls her ambivalence toward the radio in a poem she wrote in 1938:

Apparently, it depends how the radio is being utilized.

In another 1938 poem, she laments the rising acquirement of cars:

Interestingly, cars were apparently considered more of a male thing in those times. Previously, the man of the family (or older teenage son) drove the horses and wagon due to his greater physical strength. This role as driver apparently transitioned to cars too.

Furthermore, it was more acceptable socially for men to go out and about and to do so at night.

So she saw cars as a downfall for men, with women and children as the innocent victims.

Her ambivalence toward cars and her concern about their effects on men and families in general reflects many people's feelings toward cellphones and Internet today. 

Regarding cellphones and Internet, many people today can identify with the last lines of her poem:
​It has come to us to stay.
But many a home has been shattered
​By its ruthless, persuasive sway.

In fact, her feelings toward both radios and cars reflect society's usual ambivalence toward technological advancements. Some people always hop aboard the new thing, some reject it for as long as they can, while some admire the benefits while showing concern over the downsides.

Trains, planes, ships, telephones, car phones, cellphones, radios, cars, computers, and Internet all brought up the same mix of appreciation and concern expressed above.

I can't remember the source, but I once read that it's debatable whether the Sanhedrin would've allowed cars, given the high rate of death and injury they cause. (The doubt was regarding personal cars, not emergency vehicles.) And today, many yeshivahs prohibit their students from getting a drivers license due to the same concerns expressed in the poem above.

Yet a car is considered a right today. And in many areas, it's even a necessity.

So yes, today's technology is new.

But its impact on society is not new (although it's increasingly more intense and pervasive than previous technology, but the core impact itself is not new).

Related links:
How to Resist the Attraction of "New!" & Why You Really Should
Discover the Ancient Danger of "New!"