Internet-Addicted Teens Face Higher Depression Risk

via Harvard Business Review "The Daily Stat"

The risk of becoming depressed is 2.5 times higher for teenagers who are addicted to internet use than for those who aren't, according to a study led by Lawrence T. Lam of the School of Medicine, Sydney, in Australia. Some 6.2% of the participants — Chinese teens aged 13 to 18 — were found to be "pathological" internet users, says a report in Bloomberg Businessweek.

So, anyone here "addicted" to the internet? The article seems to be focused on the effects on teens, so should teens be restricted from the internet like the restrictions on alcohol and tobacco?

A lot of the videos and articles on internet addiction use the same language and buzz words as discussions about other addictions. I am on the internet all the time, but I don't go through withdrawals if I miss my email, etc. for a couple days. I also don't get a "high" from getting on the internet again, like so many mention in their English papers and video assignments.

Here's a video about internet addiction in China. Do they have a more noticed problem because of their population, or is it because they're "not us" over here but they're "over there", so they're safe to talk about?

Future of Screen Technology

Pretty cool tech.

Via The Astonishing Tribe -

Capacitive screens has now become a commodity for touch screen devices. Screen technology is now taking the next leap and the coming years imagination is the only thing stopping us. We will soon have dual screens, malleable screens, screens built into wifi connected mirrors, desks or backside of gadgets clothed with e-ink screens, tactile feedback, color screens with great contrast in sunlight, holographics/stereoscopic screens, color e-ink touch screens, or screens actually knowing where they are in relation to other screens thanks to ultrasonic emitters and microphones.
We want to show some of these things in an "experience video", that shows a normal day in a couple of years when all these technologies are affordable enough to be used everywhere. This video is the result of our experiment with open innovation, read more about our experiment here. Big thanks to all the people from TAT and around the world who helped out and sometimes shared their ideas and sometimes gave us homework on our own ideas.

How we view information is constantly changing.
Even our current technology is modified to change the way we view media. The Syte Shirt is a shirt with a see-through pocket for your iPad.

Then if the iPad isn't your thing, there's the WeTab. Applications have support for native, Java, Linux, Adobe Flash, Adobe AIR® and Android Apps. You can actually use an SD card for extended memory.
The options are never ending!

Real ID requirement in the digital age?

Do you know that you have to show your real ID to purchase mobile phones in China. The government made the regulation last week, Sept. 1, applying to everyone in China, including foreigners on even short visits.

The regulation was "the latest campaign by the government to curb the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones,"

But many people are concerned about the greater potentials that the government would use the new regulation to monitor citizens and to control the new communication technology.

Such a real ID policy was initiated in South Korea in 2007. The Korean government designed the real-name system on the Internet to prevent cyber crimes such as libel and privacy infringement. According to the Law on Internet Address Management, online users are required to provide their personal information such as real names and resident registration numbers (like SSN in the US) when they try to post comments or upload any content. Since then, there have been hot debates over freedom of expression on cyberspace.

In April 2009, Korean government required Google's Korea unit to comply to the real-name system. However, the Google refused to do so in the a statement titled "Freedom of Expression on the Internet":

Google thinks the freedom of expression is most important value to uphold on the internet. We concluded in the end that it is impossible to provide benefits to internet users while observing this country’s law because the law does not fall in line with Google’s principles.

If you have to reveal your real identity to upload a video on youbute.com or put a comment on nytimes,com, would you like to do so?

Where are all the book(store)s?

This is a video book review by Ron Charles, the fiction editor at Washington Post's Book World. He is attempting to be humorous with the review, but states a bigger problem that we have when consuming printed media. We don't seem to have time to read. This correlates with another problem taking place. Big brand book stores are closing in some major locations.
Barnes and Noble is trying to sell it's company and in the mean time is shutting down one its biggest locations in New York.

Barnes & Noble closing UWS store - The book giant will close its four-story superstore on West 66th Street, opposite Lincoln Center, after operating there for 15 years.

In San Francisco, they're closing a big Borders bookstore

Letdown: South Beach residents were disappointed by Borders’ announcement that it was closing its bookstore on King Street near AT&T Park.
SAN FRANCISCO — A chain bookstore anchoring a condominium complex in the center of a revived South Beach is going out of business in October amid neighborhood fears that the space will remain empty too long in the down economy.

So, are we really reading less? And do we have such short attention spans that we can't even read a book review? Or is it that we just aren't buying books from brick and mortar stores anymore?

Philadelphia Blogging Tax

So has anyone heard about the "blogging tax" in Philadelphia? Not sure what started the firestorm about it, but it appears that it was being called a Blogger's License. This was being discussed as one more way that "Big Brother" was taking over the free speech rights of citizens just because they operated a blog while living in the city of "brotherly love".

Turns out it's not entirely the whole story. According to the city,

"It has a business-privilege license that is required of any business operating in the city. The license costs $50 a year or $300 for a lifetime license."

Hmmm, what are the penalties if they don't register for this 'business-privilege' license?

In an article on wired.com titled 5 Myths About Philadelphia’s ‘Blogging Tax’,

"It covers any business in the city of Philadelphia, whether you’re a multinational oil company or (in principle) a kid running a lemonade stand"

so everyone is being treated equally. Oh wait, the kid with a lemonade stand pays the same as a multinational oil company? If you happen to make money online with your blog, and live in Philadelphia, the city wants a cut.

Turns out this story was a big buzz even in Great Britain, although this article is quick to quell the rumor.

"The problem is "people not taking five seconds to realise it's not a blog tax, it's a tax on all the commerce in the city," says Sean Blanda, co-founder of tech news site Technically Philly and an ex-employee of the City Paper. "But people thought it was an affront to free speech. It says nothing about free speech." As Blanda wrote on his blog : "There is no 'blog tax' in Philadelphia. None."

Question; should the city be counting local bloggers income as taxable or should bloggers be treated as global citizens - exempt from local fees? Does a city or municipality have the right to charge a fee for operating a business online, even though the business owner is typically not using city resources? Or, is making money on the internet a valid way to shelter your income? You can always set up an offshore mailing address like other companies with much larger bank accounts!

President Obama is a Muslim?

Last week, a poll of Pew Research Center revealed that American people are increasingly believing that President Obama is a Muslim.

"A new national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that nearly one-in-five Americans (18%) now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34%) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009. Fully 43% say they do not know what Obama’s religion is."

It is a little surprising that 60% of them responded they learned about President's religion from the media, in particular television. Who do you think is most responsible for this misperception?

People's political ideology or media?

You also can read a report of the Huffington Post.

Huffingtonpost vs. LA Times and WP

According to the data of Compete.com in September 2009, The Huffington Post's traffic surpassed both the sites of LA Times and the Washington Post. What the data mean that the mainstream media may not the dominant information providers on the Web any more. On the Internet, there are the newly emerged news sources with the profound potential to provide alternative information/perspectives not covered by the major media in general.

Will the Internet and its interactive technologies be challenge, threat to traditional news media?