Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.
By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.
What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.
My provocative question this week is about technology. I have been attempting, over the past 24 hours since WordPress forced me to use the Block editor, to try to figure out how to make it work on my iPhone, which is the device I use for my blog. So far I have not mastered it, and even when I attempt to use the so-called “Classic” block, I end up getting an error message and basically have to use the wp-admin version of the Classic editor, where it takes me way longer to write a post than it did on the good old Classic editor that the geniuses at WordPress decided to “retire.”
As a result, I’m thinking about ending my blog, or perhaps finding another platform, like Blogger or Medium. So that got me thinking about whether or not we, in this information/technology age, are subservient to the technology we depend upon. So my provocative question to you this week is this:
Do we control technology or is technology controlling us?
If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.
This, That, and the Other 
Don’t close this blog. We are very attached to it and you!
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Ditto!
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Thanks, Irene.
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I really hope it doesn’t come to that. I love blogging, but if it becomes burdensome, it won’t be worth it. And having to use the Block editor on an iPhone is burdensome.
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https://paperkutzs.com/2020/08/19/fandangos-provocative-question-83/
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Wow I guess I am lucky. Android phone allows me to use the old editor.
Maybe I can blog on this technology question…. short story is I have new gizmos to learn without own personal internet lol
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Could it be that neither is the case? Could it be that technology is a part of us and that we are a part of technology? Could it be that those two seemingly seperate entities are but one evolving identity? Is the question ‘did we invent technology or did technology invent us’, utterly meaningless? We perceive ourselves to be contained within the physical boundaries of our bodies yet our thoughts, the very thing that defines us, recognises no such boundary.
On the other hand, my iPhone refuses to speak the same language as me and seems intent on fucking up my whole life. Technology really sucks, sometimes.
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A very good question. And I agree with Sadje. Don’t give up on your blog!
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For most people, technology (or other people) are most in control.
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http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/michael-chertoff-on-the-growing-threats-to-our-privacy-today/
Amanpour and Company with Michael Chertoff
I’m sharing this, today (tonight), because I saw Chertoff in a new interview tonight.
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I never made the switch, and I am still using the Classic editor.
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So you haven’t yet received the dreaded email telling you that the Block editor is the default, and best of luck.
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I read that there were two classic editors and that they were doing away with the old classic editor, which nobody was using anyway. It was a really bad naming practice to have two editors both known as the classic editor.
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There will be the “Classic block” with the Block editor, but when I tried to use the Classic block, I got an error message and lost my work. There WAS the Classic editor that was, before the Block editor, the standard interface, but there’s also an older iteration of the Classic editor that is still available but you have to access it through the “wp-admin” extension.
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I still have the same editor that I have been using since I started my blog and I have not changed any settings.
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I think they’re rolling it out gradually, so maybe it hasn’t gotten to you yet. You’ll get an email from WordPress when they make the switch on your blog.
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Here’s my response. http://sparksfromacombustiblemind.com/2020/08/19/fandangos-provocative-question-83/
And may I add my voice to Sadje and Shweta and the others? DON’T GO! We really need you here. 😦
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As soon as I deal with this gum abscess, I will respond to this. i did in part today and that post is up. I have not FOUND a free (or reasonable) blogging site. Have you? If so, what is it?
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No, not yet, but I’m looking.
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I was dismayed at first trying to use my phone and tablet to write posts. I used blocks for a while on my computer and got the hang of them. I am a photographer mainly but a few questions to WP and images are easier but sometimes have problems with gallery. I don’t know about iPhone but Android is not too bad. As they say Practice makes perfect. Please persist it will become easier
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How’d you get on today?
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I don’t like my answer, but it is what it is.
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“It is what it is.” That’s the phrase of the week, it seems.
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