If you think Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook, you are so wrong. My mother did. Long before the Internet, my mother had legal pads filled with lists that covered many of the topics found today on Facebook.

I think Zuckerberg was visiting his grandmother, or some other senior person, at Huntington Lakes, in Delray, Florida when many of my mother’s papers were being discarded just before she died. Is it possible that Zuckerberg walked into the incinerator room where my mother’s papers were put into a recycling bin and snatched them? I think it’s very possible.

Ruthie Schneider’s lists were a roadmap for anyone who wanted to be social. She was a master at it. She had records that told her who to get in touch with everyday for birthdays, anniversaries, get well wishes, new births, career promotions, college acceptances, weddings, on and on.

I would sometimes work the lists with my mother. We were big on “likes.” If you didn’t send my family a card back, or call to see how we felt if we weren’t feeling well, you got put on a new list. Today, I still keep some of these lists on my Wunderlist app.

If my mother was still alive, she would have been 97 today. I posted it on Facebook, and the response was overwhelming. The “likes” are still coming in but the last time I looked it was at 132 with 30 comments. Most of my Facebook posts generate an average of 20 “likes.”

My mother would have been very pleased. I certainly am. Thank you.

The picture below was taken at a press conference in the 80’s.

One of the biggest pieces of news that came out of South by Southwest (SXSW) this week was that ICON, a very progressive design and construction company, has partnered with New Story, a San Francisco non-profit, to use 3D printers to manufacture inexpensive homes for the homeless. The 800 square-foot homes will be built in 24 hours for $5,000 each.

SXSW is an annual tech and music show in Austin. The homes are being designed to work under constraints such as limited water, power, or labor.

There are one billion homeless people around the world.

The first areas being targeted are Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia.

Please watch the video to see how all this will get done.

Next step! They will develop robots that can help install windows, doors, stairs, closets, and lights.

Let’s hope this effort gets funded for a long time.

I can’t believe one of the three guys in this video is my friend Doug Garr. I’ve written about him before in DigiDame, but after I saw this video on Facebook the other day, I had to ask him again why he jumps out of airplanes from 3,000 feet.

“You can’t imagine the high you get when you first jump,” said Doug. “It’s the most euphoric feeling. You realize that you are one of a very few people on earth that gets to experience this exhilaration.”

Doug has jumped 1,630 times. He is in his late 60s and plans to keep jumping as long as he is healthy. Doug jumps with another guy who is 88 years old. He said the most difficult thing about jumping is experiencing a hard landing. You don’t want to hurt yourself. Young guys are so confident that they jump in flip flops.”

Doug said he absolutely loves jumping. It has been a great hobby. When he is not jumping, Doug is a caregiver for his wife. One would think that he wouldn’t want to do something as dangerous as jumping out of planes under his circumstances.

His answer? “It’s not as dangerous as you think. We have backups for everything. We spend a tremendous amount of time going over all of the precautions. We leave nothing for chance. Everyone looks out for each other. It’s a lot safer than you think.”

I really understand what Doug is talking about even though I have trouble watching the video. I feel like I’m falling out of my chair. I guess I should stay on the ground.

The following story is to make you aware of two things not to do, ever, ever, ever.

1-If you need to call for help for any appliance or system you have in your home, do not look for the company’s phone number on Google. Get the number on the company’s website. There are phony companies that have themselves listed on Google so they can attack your personal information for their financial gain.

2-If anyone you dial for help ever asks you, “Can you hear me,” don’t answer “yes.” It’s a scam to record your voice saying “yes.” The person on the other end of the call will ask you the same   question several times just to get you to say “yes.” The scammers will then sell your voice saying “yes” to other companies for their financial rewards.

I think I spelled that out very well so you can now avoid some major trouble.

Let me tell you what happened to a friend of mine.

The pretty tech savvy guy recently bought a printer from a major manufacturer called Brother. He had trouble connecting the printer to his Apple computer so he Googled “Brother service.” He called the number listed  and a person identifying himself as a Brother representative answered the call.

My pal explained his situation and the so called service person acknowledged that Brother was having problems with their printers. He said in order to fix it he would have to remotely go into his computer and make several adjustments.

My friend agreed. The minute the phony service guy had access to his computer he was asking questions that just seemed odd. Then when he asked my friend, “Can you hear me,” more than once, my pal realized exactly what was going on, and quickly hung up.

My friend then went to the Brother website and found the service number the company posted. A real service representative told him that Brother, and many other companies, were having the same phony representation problems.

My pal was warned to watch his phone and bank records diligently because personal information could have been copied off of his computer. He was also told to immediately go to the Apple store to get his computer cleared of any viruses that might have been downloaded into his laptop.

Do not let any service company that you don’t know gain access to your computer. My tech guy at HWH PR logs on to my computer from time to time to fix some complicated mess I created for myself. However, I would never give anyone I don’t know the opportunity to copy my personal information.

Don’t look for trouble. Trouble will find you.

Many DigiDame readers have trouble sleeping. I have heard the craziest reasons why some of you don’t sleep. One of the new ones is that “the Internet keeps me up. I read so much before I go to sleep, that I think I get too energized.”

It’s time that a professional addressed your problems. Dr. Jeffrey Young, PhD., sleep doctor, really covers everything you need to know about sleeping. You will be surprised to learn you are in more control then you ever thought.

Jeff appeared on Katerina Cozias’ talk show yesterday. I encourage everyone to watch the show posted here because Jeff really tells you everything you need to know to have a good night’s sleep. We live in a complicated world. Don’t make sleeping a big problem. It’s really very simple.

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