Everywhere I turn, I see someone on their cell phone, talking or texting. Every car next to me in traffic has a GPS on the dashboard, including mine. It seems like everyone needs the help of technology on a daily basis. It surrounds us and at the same time intrigues us. Technology can be useful, fun and entertaining. Much technology is created to help make projects faster or daily tasks more efficient. However, the collaboration of technologies in our lives has some negative effects and I think we should scale back the use of these much-adored technologies a bit. The excessive use of technology is creating an impatient society and is also decreasing once-valued personal interaction with others. Nowadays, people more often prefer to let a machine take a message instead of answering a call; miss the opportunity to have a personal conversation. Many of us would rather have the instant gratification of watching a movie instead of reading a book or sending a text or instant message instead of meeting with a friend for coffee and conversation. Therefore, society is becoming increasingly impatient and impersonal with interactions. These types of behaviors create loneliness in our lives despite our “constant connection” with others through things like cell phones and Facebook®. This lifestyle is also more common among the younger generations of our society. For example, my sister is eight years younger than me and we met about two months ago. I don't see my sister often; he lives six hundred miles away. When I get to see her, it's a short visit and I appreciate the time we could spend together. I haven't lived near my sister in ten years. So, it's disheartening to me that...half of paper...portable, so there's no reason not to! Another health risk that technology contributes to is obesity. There has been a dramatic increase in obesity over the last 20 years. It is no coincidence that the rise of technology and obesity are happening at the same time. The graph shown in the February 2011 issue of Scientific American Magazine illustrates the rise in obesity since the 1970s. Obesity rates are increasing along with our use of the Internet and all other technology. I must state that I am not against technology as a whole. I love technology! I just think we should be aware of the different risks that each new technology brings and avoid overexposure. When I start my family, I will teach my children to be friends with technology; however, they will not be as dependent on technology for entertainment or anything else.