calvin f. williams, jr. » Technology

Teenagers, Instant Messaging and Situations

Calvin — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:48:28 +0000

I received this as a forward and I usually never forward forwards but this one struck me. I wanted to read it because I was a child that grew up on the computer and this could had been me. Even more, with our currently culture, this can happen to even more children and I pray never to my own. Therefore, I hope you enjoy this and share it with those that you feel it could bless. Whether the story is true or not, it still sends a message that should be recieved by all considering the times we live in.

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line.. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:

ByAngel213:

Hi. I’m glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:

LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don’t you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213:

Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz’ I didn’t see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:

Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven’t done that have you?

ByAngel213:

Of course not. I’m not stupid you know.

GoTo123:

Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213:

Yes, and we won!!

GoTo123:

That’s great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:

We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL

GoTo123:

What is your team called?

ByAngel213:

We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.

GoTo123:

Did you pitch?

ByAngel213:

No, I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don’t want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:

Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile, GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon

Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985

Age: 13

State where she lived: North Carolina

Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall.

Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn’t tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn’t want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn’t be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her. Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn’t look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon ‘s home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon ‘s house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room. ”Shannon, come here,” her father called.. He sounded upset and she couldn’t imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.

“Sit down,” her father began, “this man has just told us a most interesting story about you.” Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

“Do you know who I am, Shannon ?” the man asked..

“No,” Shannon answered.

“I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123.”

Shannon was stunned. “That’s impossible! GoTo123 is a kid my age! He’s 14. And he lives in Michigan !”

The man smiled. “I know I told you all that, but it wasn’t true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze.”

Shannon was stunned. “You mean you don’t live in Michigan ?”

He laughed. “No, I live in Raleigh . It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn’t it?”

She nodded.

“I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn’t as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you’ve learned a lesson from this and won’t do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?”

“It’s a promise!”

That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

*****NOW****

EVEN FORWARD THIS TO PEOPLE WITHOUT KIDS SO THEY CAN SEND IT TO FRIENDS THAT DO HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN.

Is Your BlackBerry Slowing Down? A Quick Fix

Calvin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:30:42 +0000

Has your blackberry slowed down? Not as quick as it used to be. Here is a quick fix that a buddy of mine sent:

BlackBerry Tip: Every action on your blackberry is logged which in time will slow ur bb down… At least once a week, hold ALT key and press LGLG (the letters) while on your home screen. Then click the Blackberry menu button and select “clear log” this keeps phone moving 100% faster!!!

I did it and it definitely worked for me. Quick hint for my BlackBerry Fam.

Blackberry Vs. God

Calvin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:47:09 +0000

I have had my blackberry for a little over 3 or 4 months. The way in which I got it was such a blessing. My old HTC Touch Pro 2 was malfunctioning and I went through 6 Touch Pros. I was about to leave Sprint until they said I can have any phone I want. Well my friend just got the BlackBerry Bold and I had fallen in love with it. So, I said, “Give me the Tour” (yes, that is for FREE).

In two days time I received my tour and was a very happy camper. Once I understood how BlackBerries operate, I fell in love. It was all there: my emails (all 8 of them), BBM, Facebook, Twitter, GMail, AiM, Bible App, Games…it was a beautiful thing. I was elated!

Then, I configured all of the notifications to have their own sound so that I could tell what was going on just by the tone. Oh boy!! It was rich! My blackberry would go off starting at 530 and wouldn’t stop… at all! I would have to turn it off. I read a study where they say that a blackberry user must touch their phone every 30 minutes and I even laughed when I shared it with friends.

I was addicted to the “Crackberry”. I saw someone’s Facebook page. It had an image with a blackberry and a Bible side by side and said, ‘Which one do you pick up more?” Well, I laughed and thought, “Gotcha! My bible is on my blackberry! ” But then I thought: How often do I go to the application…

Now for someone who isn’t interested in hearing, listening, and growing in God it would have been no big deal. But for someone who has decided that they want to grow in God and become closer to Him and have a better life: this is a BIG problem. Over the next few days/weeks, I realized that who/what was controlling my life was my blackberry. That may sound drastic but let me tell the story:

My BB tells me to wake up and shower – I wake up and shower.
My BB lets me know someone is calling – I stop what I am doing and pick up the phone
My BB tells me someone sent me a message – I must look at it that moment and respond.

Now, let’s see how God was doing.

I feel a desire to get up and pray – Oh, I can pray later.
I feel a desire to read the bible before I go to sleep or after I wake up – Let me just check my BB first.

Umm… for someone who wants to grow in God, I was not doing well at all. My priorities were all messed up. But thankfully, the blackberry has an amazing feature, one that has become my favorite but it has allowed me to go back to living my life, live with God, and still be in touch via the phone.

“Phone Only”

This feature allows the phone to only ring, but with no email notifications, no text, and no BBMs. This feature has restored my balance and peace, no longer do I feel the need to respond just that moment because most of the time I don’t get business texts or business BBMs. I can now check my email via phone and only check my BB when I choose. When I am thinking about God or studying a bible verse, no longer does my phone pull me away.

My BB was just a symbol. There will always be an opportunity for something to get between you and your relationship with Christ. The question is, ‘Are you going to allow it and once you realize it, will you try to make active changes to silence all distractions?’

Why Do I Direct Message Your Reply

Calvin — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:36:45 +0000

Twitter is an amazing service and I love it. It has become apart of my life (follow me) but I have noticed that everyone is using Twitter for different reasons and some may not understand all of the features.

Often times when someone sends me a reply to a message I have posted, I may send you a Direct Message rather than another reply. Just wanted to offer an explanation of why:

Privacy: There comes in a point in every conversation when the topic has become to private for all of the internet to know.
Bore the People: I have had to unfollow a few people that make their twitter into a public conversation. I understand and respect some public conversation (I do it myself, when I leave an option for someone else to comment) but most times no one else needs to know that level of detail.
Some Still Use Their Phone (i.e. Text): I know some followers receive my tweets in text messages and maybe some of yours are doing the same thing. Do you really want that person to become point 2 (Bore the People)?

So just a few thoughts on why I choose to DM much more than @.