It's generally considered a good idea to know where you are at all times, apart from occasional lapses（失效，流逝） due to alcohol or passion. Technology is now making it increasingly easy for everyone else to know where you are as well.
We are so used to having mobile phones around us that we no longer see how much emotional reassurance they provide. We have slowly shifted from feeling slightly unnatural when connected ("Hello? Who's on the line? Hello?") to feeling very unnatural when disconnected ("And then I lost my mobile. Nightmare"). This week I sat next to a woman on a train whose bag kept vibrating with an irritating（刺激的）, mosquito-like hum. I wondered if she had hearing problems, and hadn't noticed that her phone was going off, or was missing a vibrating alert because the phone was in an outside pocket of her bag, nicely positioned to irradiate（照耀） my head. I asked if she knew if her phone was ringing. "Oh no," she said complacently. "That's my Blackberry collecting my e-mails."
It may be that she didn't know she could set her device not to give her a vibromassage（振动按摩） at three-second intervals, but I suspect she just liked the reassurance provided by this humming network node in her Mulberry. It was impossible to miss the warm glow she got from being connected. We don't all have Blackberrys but we pretty much all have phones, and we are all getting the same nice warm glow of connection and validation from these devices.
Personal productivity guru David Allen, godfather of Geeing Things Done, an approach to managing your day which has become something of a cult amongst programmers and tech industry workers, sees the Blackberry as symptomatic not of our efficiency but of our failure to make decisions and priorities. We can't make decisions
Many people in the rich parts of the world live atomised urban lives characterised by anonymity, hurry, and rush, and a kind of low-level anxiety caused by the stresses of the world we've built ourselves. We seem to be turning to digital devices to provide compensatory connections that remind us who we are and that give us good feelings of connection and identity.
Mobile phone companies know this and market their products to young preteens. I've seen research which explains that the period of adolescent uncertainty, in which you're not really sure who your friends are, is the time when a mobile phone for texting and calling friends is at its most powerful. The modern mobile phone user in the UK will spend most of their money on calls before the age of forty. After that, presumably, they have a landline and a fixed circle of friends, and don't need constant texts and calls to reassure them that they're accepted by their peer group.
I actually don't think any of this is inherent in the technology. You can do exactly the same thing with a landline. If you remember Woody Allen's brilliant film, Play It Again Sam, the hero's friend Dick, an overworked businessman, neurotically provides phone numbers to his colleagues wherever he goes so that he can be in touch with the office at all times.
Dick: I'll be at 362—9296 for a while; then I'1f be at 648—0024 for
Linda: There's a phone booth on the corner You want me to run downstairs and get the number? You'll be passing it.
Dick is a self-
相关单词：lapses
lapses解释：n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失
lapses例句：
He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句
相关单词：reassurance
reassurance解释：n.使放心，使消除疑虑
reassurance例句：
He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。
相关单词：unnatural
unnatural解释：adj.不自然的；反常的
unnatural例句：
Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。
相关单词：complacently
complacently解释：adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地
complacently例句：
He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
"That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
相关单词：intervals
intervals解释：n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息
intervals例句：
The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
相关单词：validation
validation解释：n.确认
validation例句：
If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自
Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自
相关单词：geeing
geeing解释：v.驭马快走或向右（gee的现在分词形式）
geeing例句：
相关单词：cult
cult解释：n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜
cult例句：
Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。
相关单词：compensating
compensating解释：补偿，补助，修正
compensating例句：
I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。
相关单词：anonymity
anonymity解释：n.the condition of being anonymous
anonymity例句：
Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。
相关单词：uncertainty
uncertainty解释：n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物
uncertainty例句：
Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。
相关单词：fixed
fixed解释：adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
fixed例句：
Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。
相关单词：reassure
reassure解释：v.使放心，使消除疑虑
reassure例句：
This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。
相关单词：neurotically
neurotically解释：
neurotically例句：
They are finely, not to say nEurotically adjusted. 虽然不能说心理上已经调整好了，但他们的确已经很好了。 来自互联网
相关单词：corporate
corporate解释：adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的
corporate例句：
This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。
