The era of the social web has given us unprecedented access. We can see more about each other’s lives, know more about each other’s daily routines and find each other easier now than ever before. We have access to what would have been millions of dollars in software applications and platforms now, too. But they, in turn, have access to us. Our lives, not just our computer programs, have become open source.

And we plod along, going with the flow and accepting the fact that the creepy guy from junior high is now commenting on our Facebook pictures. We’ve mostly grown wise to not sharing our credit card or social security numbers with sites we don’t know and trust, but we’ll announce on Twitter we’re leaving town for a two-week vacation without hesitation, inviting anyone with sinister motives to come over and enjoy our stereo systems all the way to their house.

While speaking to a leadership group of the Association of Educators of Communications and Technology (AECT) last week, a cell phone went off in the audience. No one seemed to notice. Not even me. Later in