Case in point, the iPhone 5S has only been made available last week, and already there are wacky and weird ways people are testing the Touch ID technology that uses your fingerprint to unlock the phone. You can be sure that more weird things will pop up as more people get their hands on the new iPhone model.

While we wait for the insanity to hit the Web, here are 5 ways we are currently misusing mobile technology.

Recommended Reading: 5 Ways “Tech Addiction” Is Changing Human Behaviour

1. Watching Explicit Materials in Parliament

McCain was caught playing Poker on his iPhone during the Syria hearing and the Internet went nuts (for maybe two minutes) but when we hear about politicians watching explicit materials in parliament meetings, no one bats an eyelash. In case this is news to you let me just add that it happens in more places than you think.

Huffington Post revealed that more than 300,000 attempts were made to access adult sites at work in the House of Commons (by staff and Members of Parliament). Elsewhere, three ministers in India resigned after they were caught on a news broadcast sharing a clip during a parliament session.

An Indonesian MP also resigned after he was caught by a news reporter, watching you-know-what on his tablet during a parliamentary debate. The photograph made the headlines, particularly because he had earlier helped pass a controversial law which could put couples kissing in public (among other lighter-than-his offences) into prison for a heavy 15-year sentence.

(Image Source: telegraph.co.uk)

In Thailand, a Thai MP was caught (in photos) going through pictures of women in bathing suit. He denied that he was intentionally looking at them, adding that he had clicked on a link that downloaded the images instead. Draw your own conclusions from the photos here. More recently, a Thai senator doing the same on his iPhone during a senate meeting.

Then there’s the one about a Croatian MP, a Canadian one and one from New South Wales. And those are the ones who were caught.

2. People don’t attend concerts, iPads do

I came across this beauty the other day. In the shot below, there’s supposed to be a recital or a concert… I can’t tell because all the iPads are in the way. Overzealous parents were trying to get a video of their children, who were performing right in front of them.

Because of this, all the parents at the back can see are the back of other people’s heads and outstretched iPads, the kids have to make do with the back of smartphones and iPads instead of the proud faces of their parents.

(Image Source: medium)

Way to go guys. I’m sure it is more important for you to have that shaky recording of your child’s performance on Facebook than it is to actually be there for them. How many times are you going to rewatch that recording? As comedian Louis CK will tell you, zero.

The mother who took this photo had to retreat to the corridor to wait for her son to finish his singing, unaware that nobody in the audience could actually see any part of their performance.

3. In-App Purchases On The IPad

The kryptonite to a child’s time with the iPad are in-app purchases. The iPad is a great learning tool for children, but we’re more attracted to games instead. Five-year-old Danny is no different; what is, is his love for Zombies vs Ninjas which overwhelmed his parents with the £1700 bill he racked up playing the game.

(Image Source: Mirror News)

Even with the multiple emails iTunes sent Danny’s parents, informing them of the purchases Danny made, they only took notice when the credit card company called to informed them that 19 transactions of £69.99 were made to the card for power-ups and weapons in the game. Guess who is in trouble?

The good news is Apple has given them a refund, and they learn the importance of disabling in-app purchases when leaving the iPad to their kids. But this situation happens more often than we realize, Here’s another case in the UK with a £4000 bill by an 8 year old, and a couple in Singapore, where one kid spent $4300 on Candy Crush Saga alone.

One wonders what happens in the background between the developers and Apple when refunds of that magnitude happens.

Read Also: 5 Ways To Make Your iOS Devices More Kid-Friendly And Child-Safe

4. Undated Social News

While Facebook is a powerful tool that could reunite families, reconnect the adopted with their biological parent(s), help you find stolen cars and gadgets, and even missing children or pets. The social site itself allows you to easily share and spread the news, but it is up to us to keep tabs on developing updates.

(Image Source: digitaljournal)

I have come across plenty of missing child Facebook pleas shared on my news feed, only to find out that in many cases the child has been found a few days after the status was posted (months ago!). Whatever you see on Facebook, it may help to check up on the details before clicking that Share link.

Debris Or Dock?

Take for instance, this case where a floating dock was mistaken for tsunami debris off the coast of Pacific City. The misunderstanding led to a search by boat and helicopter by the US Coast Guard to locate the ‘debris’. A quick confirmation with the person who posted the photo would have saved everyone the trouble.

(Image Source: KATU)

Crowdsourced Searching

If for some unfortunate reason you find yourself needing to use social media to find something missing one day, here are a few things to consider when putting up your post for help. We’re using a missing pet dog as an example.

• A recent photo of your dog
• The last location it was at before it went missing
• Any identifying marks (a shorter left ear, answers to Toto)
• Whom to contact if anyone has a lead or has found your dog
• A date she went missing (for reference)
• And when your dog has been found, do update the thread accordingly

(Image source: wildewmn)

In this case, it’s good to remember that posting all this info in a community page, or a pet lover’s group page will be helpful.

5. The Selfies – A Collection

Here’s another interesting study which I wished I had included in my an earlier post about the effects social networks have on you – selfies are bad for social media. More precisely, constantly sharing photographs of yourself will make you less relatable to your peers.However, psychologically, they are important because it is a form of self-exploration.

Plus it is the top reason bathroom mirrors worldwide are becoming a site for imprompt photoshoots.

(Image Source: Heavy)

A String Of Selfies

But selfies have since taken a life of its own. Take for instance, Selfies At Serious Places. If you haven’t seen it, get your facepalms ready. A photo-op at places with a history of human suffering is a whole new level of depravity that these subjects are oblivious to.

Then, there is the behind the scenes look at how bathroom selfies are being taken. While we’d usually see teens holding up their smartphone or camera to take a bathroom selfie, you’d be surprised what other devices teens are using these days. Plus, selfies are limited to humans no more.

(Image Source: twimg)

(Image Source: imgur)

(Image Source: twicsy)

(Image Source: yummypets)

(Image Source: dakotaeast)

That’s all I could muster for now, but if for some reason you want more, google ‘Sleeping Selfies’ and ‘Selfie Fail’.

Lastly, to show you that some people are better at selfies than others, is astronaut, Aki Hoshide.

(Image Source: NASA)

Just epic!

Conclusion

In closing, the way we misuse technology is a clear example of how we are not much different from one another. In fact, while we may find each other on the opposite side of the fence when it comes to the hardware and software we use, and our preferences in technology, when it comes to our interaction with technology, yeah we all do stupid things with it.

If you love books, no tablet, e-book or e-reader will make you abandon your love for paper and print. And no self-respecting bookworm will mistreat his or her library of books. However, if you can’t find space for a personal library, at home or at work, maybe these creative bookshelves can help you better organize your favorite reading materials.

Here are 25 creative ways to organize and display your books, ranging for water pipes to curvy trees, to ‘the cloud’ and even bookshelves you can’t see! Plus, if you are the DIY type, these will serve as a great source of inspiration for your own version of a creative bookshelf.

Recommended Reading: 34 Creative Furniture That Stand Out From The Rest

The Infinity Bookcase. (Image Source: Job Koelewijn)

The Staircase Bookshelf. (Image Source: apartmenttherapy)

Bookseat. (Image Source: Fishbol)

Circular Walking Bookshelf. (Image Source: David Garcia Studio)

The Neverending Bookshelf. (Image Source: Luca Nichetto and Andreoli)

Console Bookshelves. (Image Source: Stanislav Katz)

The Equation Bookshelf. (Image Source: Estudio Breder)

Movement Bookshelf. (Image Source: Samulnoli)

Invisible Bookshelves. (Image Source: pennysdaybook)

Inverted Bookshelf. (Image Source: Instructables)

Pulse Bookshelf. (Image Source: Mans Salomonsen)

Elastico Bookcase. (Image Source: Arianna Vivenzio)

Bias of Thoughts. (Image Source: Laughing Squid)

Chuck. (Image Source: Hafriko)

Round Sofa. (Image Source: Irina Zhdanova)

BookTree. (Image Source: Kostas Syrtariotis)

Second And A Half Dimension Shelves. (Image Source: Chris Burns)

READ Bookshelf. (Image Source: mubarocks)

United States Bookshelf. (Image Source: hiconsumption)

“Has Been Read” And “Will Be Read” Bookshelf. (Image Source: ezgiayaz)

The Corner Industrial Bookshelf. (Image Source: Stella Bleu Designs)

Malagana: Equilibrium Bookcase. (Image Source: Malagana)

Dream Bookshelf. (Image Source: Dripta Design)

Ousama Bookshelf. (Image Source: Dripta Design)

Bookworm Bookshelf. (Image Source: Kartell)

So here is the story: you built a cool open source project and shared it to the world for free. Then, it suddenly got really popular, and as more and more people come in to download your project files, your server takes a toll. Maybe it is time to host your project on a Github Page.

Many popular and notable projects are hosted on Github such as Bootstrap, Prefix-free and Normalize CSS, to name a few. And in this post we will show you step-by-step how to create one for your own use.

Recommended Reading: Tools for Managing Web Projects – Best of

Step 1: Github Account and Project Repository

First of all, before you are able to create a Github page, you need a Github account, and then you also need to create your project repository. You can easily create a new project repo by using Github application, which is available for both Windows and OS X.

Step 2: Create Local Repository

Assuming that you have an existing project ready to publish, you can open the Github application – in this example, I’m using the one for OSX – and add it as your Local Repository. To do so, click on the “+” button that is found at the bottom of the application. Then select the folder where you saved the project.

Step 3: Push to Github

After creating the Local Repository, you need to push it to Github. At this point, unless you have a Pro account where you are able to set your project to Private, it will be available for the public at Github, meaning that anyone can download and fork your project.

Step 4: Create Github Page

Creating a page for your project, go to your project repository – usually github.com/username/project-name.

And go to the Settings page. This is where you setup your project repo, and create the page for it.

Step 5: Change Title and Content

Now, it’s time to change the title, the content of your project page (in Markdown), and if you want to, you can also insert your Google Analytics ID to allow tracking of visitors to your page. If you are done editing the content, you can Continue to Layouts.

Step 6: Select Page Theme

Github has provided several themes to choose from for your page. If the themes do not meet your taste, you can create and design your own with an index.html and stylesheet (perhaps in another tutorial).

Step 7: Publish the Page

Lastly, click on the Publish button, and allow Github around 10 minutes to process your page.