AdultingWeek2017
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How to adult at security
You're a grown-ass adult -- so stop using the same password for everything. Seriously, your cat's name followed by your birthday isn't fooling anybody. Don't be that guy (of any gender) who gets totally owned by ransomware. Pull up your big-person pants, walk with us through the baddies of threats and help yourself to our tips on how to totally adult your way through the nightmare that is modern computer security. Don't worry, you got this.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 33: Losing My Edge
Managing editor Dana Wollman and host Terrence O'Brien are joined by a new face on this week's episode: social media manager Evan Rodgers. They'll talk about Engadget's Adult Week -- a collection of articles about growing up in the digital age. Sure, we all know that what you say on social media can really come back to bite you in the ass (and possibly cost you a job). But, the internet is both an obstacle that needs to be navigated and a powerful tool that can teach you to be an independent and self sufficient adult. Without it Terrence and Evan would have never learned how to properly invoice companies during their freelancing days. And Dana has turned to the web to learn how to cook. They grow up so fast... sniff.
The panic and pleasure of online dating as a woman in her 40s
Dating in my twenties and thirties made me feel like Odysseus, trying to choose between dashing myself on the ego-bruising rocks of casual romps or a slow death from unrequited lust for garbage humans. There was the ex who brutally dumped me but wouldn't stop emailing me for months, whose presence at dorky work gatherings made me dizzy; the sociopathic film critic whose shoulder I virtually cried on; the go-nowhere first dates; and the great, wide swaths of time spent single, usually pining after some unavailable director or writer who'd relish my attention and nothing else. And lots of therapy.
What the internet taught me about dressing like an adult
Last December, I bought a pair of jeans from Uniqlo. That was the only time I purchased clothing from a brick-and-mortar store in all of 2016. For the past few years now, I've done most of my clothes shopping online. Not just because it's convenient, but because the internet provides me with fashion alternatives that I would never have discovered otherwise. The internet not only opened my eyes to different style options; it helped me feel more comfortable in my own skin.
Finding inner peace (with help from your smartphone)
Technology is draining. Social media networks are programmed to make you come back for more, constantly swiping to refresh, like and post. You are constantly at your PC, your smartphone, your TV. You fall asleep to Netflix or reading Twitter as it spits up funny gifs or more bad news. It can wear you down. You're no longer in college with all the energy in the world and next to no commitments or obligations. You need to know when to unwind, avoid burning out and control (at least some) of your unhealthy (perhaps excessive) tech habits.
I love my child too much to put her on the internet
If I've done my job right, by the time my daughter leaves for college she'll have a digital footprint measured in millimeters. That's not because I want to erase her from public life, but because nothing good comes from being online. Having lived the majority of my life wired into the internet, I've realized that you should keep as much of your information away from it as possible.
I don't know how to drive and I may never have to learn
Whenever I'm hanging out with friends from out of state and I pull out my New York state ID, there's always a bit of confusion: "What is that? Is it like a driver's license? Is that valid? Can you fly with that? Why don't you just get a real license?" And I have to give the same list of explanations: It's just a good as a driver's license for ID, since I have to provide the same level of documentation to the DMV to get one. I can use it to fly and get into bars. And, well, I don't have a driver's license because ... I don't know how to drive. I've never needed to. And, as I approach my fourth decade on this earth, I might never need to, because the world is increasingly made for people like me.
The life-changing magic of tidying up (your computer)
Someone once told me that consumerism is the process whereby our happiness is ripped from us so that it can be sold back to us at a profit. It's the sort of thing you don't think about when you're a kid, but gradually hits you as an adult. After all, three decades of constant consumption, retail therapy and 24-hour supermarkets takes its toll. I've reached a place where I'm being slowly suffocated by my possessions, both real and imaginary, and it's time to make a change.
How to turn your armchair activism into online good
A lot has been going on around the world lately, and you may have felt the need to express your frustrations at things happening that you don't agree with. Sitting around and complaining about the injustices happening around you is fine (relatively speaking) when you're a teen with limited resources. But as a grownup, you should help the causes you support. In addition to pledging money, signing petitions and participating in one of the many marches around the nation, there are several other ways for you to help people in need without having to leave your house. And you can do them regardless of your political leanings.
Welcome to Engadget's Adult Week
None of us are in much of a rush to grow up. But, eventually, the day comes when you need to give up the slovenly ways of your college years and hard partying habits of your early 20s. It's time for you to become an adult. That means ditching the pajama pants and ratty band T-shirts for some big boy and big girl clothes. It means protecting your data from hackers and scammers. Oh, and it means making some pretty big life decisions -- like do you need to buy a car and whether you should post photos of your child on the internet. All this week Engadget will be bringing you stories about how to use technology to become a better grownup and how to navigate our tech-saturated world in a manner befitting a real deal adult. The web is a great resource for fashion advice and a solid place to start if you want to turn your deeply held political views into serious activism. It can also help you find love and companionship once hanging out at the bar until 4am loses its appeal. It's time to become an independent and constructive member of society. Check out all of Engadget's "Adult Week" coverage right here.
