In this week’s issue of The Centurion the staff explores technology and the negative effects it can have on our lives.

We have explored the pressure of having the newest gadgets; oversharing on Facebook; problems with distance learning; the possibility of getting fatter and dumber from being online all the time; dangers of texting and driving; relationships hurt by Facebook; privacy with social media; texting vs. talking; having no cell phone; 3D movies and the pricing of smart phones.

Facebook has reconnected friends from the past and families from across the country but it also creates drama. Whether you want to know a person’s personal problems or what they had to eat or not, it will be in your face within five minutes of logging onto your Facebook account.

Whether you can afford the new gadget or not, you’d better get one. How else will you be able to keep up to date with your 600 friends status updates? Don’t you want to know what they ate for breakfast?

The prices of smartphones may make you think twice about how concerned you are with checking status updates and Internet access through your phone. Are they really a necessity for college students who have student loans to worry about?

Don’t bother getting out of bed today. Class will come to you. Whoever would have imagined earning your college degree while in the comfort of your very own home? Some courses are easier than others to take online and the convenience is something to think about. Although you have to be careful because state grants require more than 50 percent of the program of study be completed in a face to face classroom setting.

Don’t bother leaving the house to go shopping either. With the click of the mouse you can have anything you want delivered to your door. With all the games and movies and everything available online there is really no motivation to leave your home.

Relationships are falling apart on Facebook for all to see. There is no such thing as privacy anymore. Potential employers are reading your Facebook accounts and browsing your photos. There is definitely too much information.

Eyes that were once focused on the road are now focused on the text message you just received and one of the hands that should be on the wheel are holding your phone. Responding this way to a text message that is so insignificant can have very serious consequences like causing an accident.

Texting is taking over talking and communication is weak. Do we really know the person on the other end of the text message? Can you hear happiness or sadness through a text message, or even love? The human element of a conversation is lost to a keypad.

Enhancements of the 3D movies have been explored.

We’ve investigated this new technology frenzy so many of us are wrapped up in and have come up with some very interesting finds.

The dark side and the bright side of technology.