You could be in an instant surrounded if you needed it. If your heart is bleeding, make the best of it. There is heat in freezing, be a testament.”

Brain Pickings takes a different approach to the issue of connectedness. Their introduction to this video by Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman: "Modernity offers a curious paradox of connectedness and loneliness. Our perpetually networked selves cling to constant communication in an effort to avoid the deep-seeded sense of loneliness we so dread. Somewhere along the way, we forget — or maybe never even learn — how to be alone, how to stay contented in our own company."

Bits Blog readers responded to the challenge with some fairly entertaining self-produced videos. There are some sad truths in there—when one man stopped taking text messages and asked friends to call if anything was important, they instead started texting his wife and asking her to relay the message.

But stepping away from the immediate withdrawal, many saw a benefit to getting new perspective on how much information they take in every day. Going further, the Bits post recommends anyone feeling like they're similarly overwhelmed to log their data input like a diet. Write down when you check Twitter, how often you're on email, responding to texts—just like logging food and calories in a diet journal.

So you've probably seen the Times article about vacation, your brain and computers. I'm thinking this diet approach makes more sense than the cold turkey route. I also remember blogging On Vacation and Looking for Wi-Fi earlier this year.

Government's different now," said Ressler, who now runs GovLoop full time. "Why shouldn't citizens be able to report emergencies on Twitter? Or take a picture of a pothole on their cellphone?''

From a Washington Post article in the next generation of government employees. Trying to contact VDOT from your car is way more difficult than it needs to be (and most inquiries or complaints are ignored anyway). Have raised this exact issue with Fairfax County and gotten nowhere. Have mostly been told to take a number and sit down. We'll get to it when we can.

Q. WHAT EXACTLY IS BRAINGATE?

A. It’s a way for people who’ve been paralyzed by strokes, spinal cord injuries or A.L.S. to connect their brains to the outside world. The system uses a tiny sensor that’s been implanted into the part of a person’s brain that generates movement commands. This sensor picks up brain signals, transmits them to a plug attached to the person’s scalp. The signals then go to a computer which is programmed to translate them into simple actions.

From Twitter user @CreatvEmergence.