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  • The Addiction and Cost of Social Media

    technology online addiction

    Have you ever found yourself asking, “Where did the last hour go?” when connecting with friends or colleagues in social networks? Social media is like a drug; just a little taste and we can’t help but want more. Social networks are the drug dealers; they facilitate our addiction to this gateway drug with one-click access to our social graph and a multitude of other sites and apps. They’ve gamified the experience to appeal to our human needs so well that Maslow himself would weep with pride. With each click, we enter a maze of endless possibilities, often ending up in networks or conversations that have nothing to do with our initial reasons for logging in.

    These networks, as well as the ecosystem of data centers and software developers that been erected around them, do not provide this access out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s a business, and as with all businesses, there’s a cost required to purchase their products and services. Yet, most social networks and associated apps don’t charge any money for their services. So what price do we pay?

    I’ll answer that with the old adage: “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” And that’s the real cost of social media access: becoming a product. Advertising and sponsorships keep the lights on in your favorite social networks and what they pay for is access to you. The more we engage, the more the networks track and analyze. The more they track and analyze, the more they can charge advertisers. What does “becoming a product” really mean? What are the tangible costs we pay?

    We’ve eagerly plugged our lives into the social net and have willingly accepted the costs. Yet, it seems that we’ve really not understood what those costs are. One can argue that we acknowledge the costs when we check the “accept terms and conditions” box upon registering in another social network, but in reality, we’re ignorantly signing over a blank check. People are beginning to realize these costs — in many cases, only when it’s too late:

    1. Time
    The question of whether social media is a productive or distracting force in our lives is fodder for another article. The fact remains that we’ve all agreed to invest our time in this activity. According to Nielsen and NM Incite’s The Social Media Report 2012, consumers continue to spend more time on social networks than on any other type of Internet site. Twenty percent of the total time we spend online is on personal computers and 30 percent via mobile devices. And it’s increasing. As of July 2012, the total time spent accessing and engaging in social media sites has increased 37 percent in the U.S., representing 121 billion minutes (up from 88 billion minutes the year before).

    Click here to read the full article

    source: HUFFPOST TECH / Sam Fiorella

  • FREE YouTube surfing from 7 – 11 pm EVERYDAY!

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  • Beat death on Twitter

    image source: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/technology/gadgets/liveson-app-will-tweet-you-after-death

    Your Twitter account now no longer needs you to survive — in a very literal sense. Even if you die, your account will keep on ‘tweeting on’ by sharing content similar to yours.
    Engineers at Lean Mean Fighting Machine is collaborating with experts at Queen Mary University to create a new app called, LivesOn.
    The plan is simple. The app studies your tweet patterns and creates a digital ‘twin’, which will eventually impersonate you after death. You just need to hand over your twitter password to the company or to a friend with specific instructions on, when to ‘execute’ this program.
    LivesOn’s tagline is rather macabre: “When your heart stops beating, you’ll keep tweeting. Welcome to your the social afterlife.”
    The product, however, isn’t complete yet, but the creators are saying that advances in the field of AI are bringing them ever closer to their final goal. Because of Twitter’s limitations on message size, users generate a massive number of tweets, giving machine-learning algorithms a massive set of data to copy writing styles from.
    The software seems even more plausible, considering the increasingly realistic virtual spam bots that have now become common online, and how AI programs are performing better at Turing Tests.
    But LivesOn isn’t the only company that’s trying to compete in the ‘virtual afterlife’ market, the app ‘DeadSocial’ allows you to schedule messages to be posted on your Facebook wall after your death.
    Not everyone, though, seems comfortable with the idea, but both LivesOn and DeadSocial have gotten messages expressing interest from thousands.
    If social media such as Facebook and Twitter are to survive for a long period of time, how they handle death may become an extremely important issue. And in many ways now, a person’s Facebook profile seems to be much more effective than a tombstone.

    Remember to follow us on www.facebook.com/techChronicle for more crazy tech stories from the digital frontlines of innovation.

    source: The Asian Age

  • 82% children on Facebook receive vulgar messages

    Image source: http://techishere.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cyberbullying-fact-kid-cyber-bullying.jpg

    A majority of school students in India start using Facebook before the age of 10, but have been subjected to vulgar and offensive messages on the social networking website. A survey of 13,050 school students from seven cities, including Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, has revealed that 67% of them had a Facebook account before they were 10 and about 82% had received inappropriate messages on the site as well as through email.

    “The most disturbing finding is that many children are accepting Facebook friend requests from strangers. This is very dangerous because children, especially pre-teens, are vulnerable to being bullied or abused,” said Debasis Nayak, director of the Asian School of Cyber Laws, which conducted the survey.

    The survey of students from Class 7 to Class 10 also revealed that 36% did not know their Facebook friends in real life, while 26% had more than 500 friends on the popular social networking site.

    Cyber experts feel parents and teachers have a role to play in protecting the children. “Curiosity levels of children are high, but instead of forbidding them from using the Internet, they should be educated to use it responsibly,” said Vicky Shah, a cyber expert.

    source: hindustantimes.com

  • Connecting-Cell Phones & Children

    Image source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/organic-parenting/cell-phone-health-risk-47060104

    The statistics are clear our environment and those of our children is changing, as technology becomes a necessary part of daily life. A study by Jonathan Douglas, Director of The National Literacy Trust in the United States, shows that “more children today own cell phones than books.”

    While we may be surprised and sad to witness the end of childhood as we know it, we can neither ban our children from having a cell phone, nor ignore the dangers it poses. Taking on the cyber world may feel intimidating to most of us, yet it is our responsibility, as parents to equip our children to be safe in the world. So how do we ensure their virtual well being?

    We install free safety features on their mobile devices, and we talk to our children in the same way we would educate them about appropriate touching, being safe around strangers, and sex. Communicating openly about cell phones is essential in empowering our children to protect themselves, bearing in mind that despite our best efforts they can always have access to illicit material through their friends.

    Research shows that parents who communicate honestly with their children, have youngsters who are closer and more connected to their parents. They feel respected, consult with their parents when making decisions, and are less likely to engage in high risk behaviour. Open communication is more than a list of rules the parents enforce, it is a two way dialogue of explanations, discussions and debates between the parent and the child.

    Here are some tips to begin talking about cell phones even before your children request one:

    In age appropriate language talk about the fact that there are ‘good and bad’ people in the world, and we need to be wary of making friends with strangers, even if they say they are a child.

    Explain that in the same way we do not give out personal information when someone phones our landline, we must keep our name, age and address private on our cell phone. Encourage your children to always ask you if they are unsure.

    Make it clear to your youngsters that they should only use their real name when texting friends and should always use a fake name when playing online games. Also discourage them from joining chat rooms, and clicking on links.

    Educate your child as to what a chat room is, and that should they feel the need to go into an online chat room, they should be weary of revealing who they are and where they are from, in fact, you might take the stance that your child never reveals their identity to anyone they might have met in a chat room

    Click here to read the full article

    source: Inspired Parenting / Claire Marketos

     

  • ABC apps go beyond the alphabet

    endless alphabet

    (Photo: Callaway Digital Arts Inc)

    With whimsy and creativity, alphabet-themed apps can do more than simply teach the ABCs. This collection of alphabet apps is full of inventive ways to engage kids — from teaching the alphabet to creating fanciful objects out of everyday items to solving puzzles and playing games. One app isn’t even intended to teach ABCs, but rather it uses the alphabet as artistic building blocks.

    Endless Alphabet

    From Callaway Digital Arts Inc., best for ages 4-7, Free, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad.

    Rating: 4 stars (out of 4)

    “Endless Alphabet” makes learning phonics, spelling and word definitions so much fun that even reluctant learners will want in on the action. This alphabet game is set inside a friendly monster’s mouth where the letters of the alphabet appear on his lips. When kids touch a letter, a word that starts with the selected letter appears inside the monster’s mouth. Players trigger a game about the word when they touch it inside the monster’s mouth.

    The word appears in colored letters. Then a group of monsters runs by and dislodges the letters. As the player taps and drags each letter back to its shadowed outline, the letter comes alive, wiggling, blinking and saying its sound aloud. It is hilarious. When all the letters are back in order, an animation starts that helps kids to learn the definition of the new word.

    This collection of words, which all lend themselves to silly and adorable animations, are what makes this alphabet app a winner. With the word “Juggle,” a red monster with six hands juggles the letters of the word until he gets them in the correct order. For the word “Nosey,” the animation shows a two-headed monster where one head has a wrapped present and the other is nosey about wanting to see it. “Itchy” is my favorite, where a little blue furry monster is so itchy that he scratches his fur off.

    Callaway Digital Arts, which is well known for creating the Sesame Street app “The Monster at the End of This Book…starring Grover,” is offering this gem for free for a limited time. Don’t wait, download it now.

    Click here to read the full article

    source: USA Today / Jinny Gudmundsen

  • Minding your p’s and q’s when texting: Depends on age

    Millennials are more tolerant of cellphone use in social settings, a survey finds.

    More and more people pull out their smartphones or cellphones at meals, in meetings or in the classroom. But which habits with those mobile devices get a thumbs down?

    A new survey finds that many Americans feel using the mobile devices in those settings is just inappropriate. But opinions on mobile device manners vary by age, according to the survey out Monday. Younger people tend to be more tolerant of cellphone use during meals, meetings and classes.

    The Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and Bovitz Inc., a market research and strategy firm in Encino, Calif., conducted the nationwide survey of 989 Internet users. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.

    “The purpose of this technology is to facilitate relationships,” says Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future. “We need to find a balance to foster or facilitate communication, not to replace or inhibit it.”

    Among those surveyed:

     

    • 62% said just having a mobile device on the table during a meal was inappropriate.
    • 76% said texting during a meal was inappropriate.
    • 84% said talking on a mobile device during a meal was not right.

     

    Cole says age affects views because younger people who grew up with the technology have fully integrated it into their lives as opposed to their grandparents.

    One of the biggest differences between age groups is that 50% of those ages 18 to 29 consider texting during a meal permissible, compared with 15% of those age 30 and older.

    Click here to read the full article

    source: USA Today / Cathy Payne

  • Ramphele targets social media

    A file photo of Mamphela Ramphele. AFP

    Social media will be an important tool for author, activist and businesswoman Mamphela Ramphele, who announced a newly-formed “party political platform” on Monday.

    “You can multiply your troops very quickly on social media,” Ramphele told reporters in Johannesburg.

    “Today we have a team of dedicated professionals. Thank God for information technology.”

    Ramphele said she had an “energetic” team of five.

    Ramphele has called her party political platform Agang SA, which means “build South Africa” in Sepedi.

    She said she intended using it to contest the 2014 national elections.

    “What I am going to be doing, and have been doing, is consulting every citizen because they deserve as much attention.

    “It’s called a party political platform because it’s still in a consultative stage,” Ramphele said.

    Every South African had a right to contribute to the platform and to shape it.

    “Our approach is to go from village to village, township to township, young people, old people, rich people, poor people, because the country belongs to all of us,” she said.

    “Ours is a consultative process.”

    Ramphele said the party name could change through the consultations.

    “The name of Agang SA party will be confirmed, modified or changed by the consultation process. That is the working name, and if it is confirmed, that is the name under which we will contest elections.”

    She said Agang SA would bring additional things into the political space, such as a campaign for electoral reform, the launch of a war against corruption, and improving education.

    It would develop public policies and plans to put these into practice.

    A policy director was putting together working groups to come up with policies in key areas. The platform’s policies and implementation strategies would be evidence-based, said Ramphele.

    “We need to move our country forward in a systematic manner.”

    Click here to read the full article

    source: iafrica.com

  • Cape Town targets broadband for townships

    Picture: THINKSTOCK

    AS CAPE Town’s broadband infrastructure project gathers momentum, residents of the city’s largest township, Khayelitsha, are ready to take full advantage of the benefits of cheaper and more accessible internet.

    But many feel more needs to be done to educate the community about the project itself as well as how to utilise internet technologies.

    Cape Town has invested R150m in broadband infrastructure and over the next seven to 10 years it is expected that the province-backed project will cost R1.3bn, according to the city.

    The authorities say that, in addition to improving the municipality’s high-speed data communications and making internet services widely accessible, the broadband infrastructure will be the key to driving economic growth and development.

    During former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s visit to Cape Town last year, the US Trade and Development Agency signed an agreement for a grant of about R2.5m to fund research into the “prospective benefits” of providing wireless internet to residents of Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.

    The city and provincial government have set themselves an ambitious target to give citizens in every town and village in the province access to affordable broadband infrastructure at a minimum network speed of 1,000Mbps (megabits per second) by 2030.

    Last year, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said the province aimed to create the largest mesh network in the world within the next two years. This project will connect all households in Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and Saldanha Bay, including the proposed industrial development zone.

    Demetri Qually, Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for corporate services, says the Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain areas are a high priority for the city because the existing telecommunications infrastructure there is unreliable and cannot cost-effectively meet the requirements of the city or the provincial government. “To this end, the city is currently undertaking a feasibility study in partnership with the US Trade and Development Agency which will examine the various options and benefits of making wireless internet available in these areas.”

    Click here to read the full article

    source: BDlive / Bekezela Phakathi

     

  • Half of Facebook parents joined to spy on kids?

    You think half those adults on Facebook are there because they love Facebook? No, no. These are merely parents engaged in covert operations.

    (Credit: Sjbiased/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

    I had always imagined that adults entered the world of Facebook because they wanted to re-enact their teenage years, find a new lover, or “connect” with long-lost relatives whom they never really liked.

    Yet a new piece of research has proved mind-altering.

    My failure to regularly read the Education Database Online has been mitigated by Mashable and has led me to a new appreciation of the adult world.

    For these vital statistics reveal that American parents aren’t trying to imitate children so much as spy on them.

    It’s perfectly well-known that children can be trusted about as much as news stories in Pravda during the Brezhnev era.

    So parents feel forced to take the radical step of joining them so that they can beat them. In a psychological sense, you understand.

    Indeed, this study suggests that half of all parents sign up with Facebook at least partly in order to see what drugs their kids are taking, who they are consorting with and what they really think about, well, their parents.

    An excitable 43 percent of parents admit that they check their kids’ Facebook pages every day.

    Some 92 percent of them make it so easy for themselves by openly becoming Facebook friends with their kids.

    Some might reach the inevitable conclusion that American parents aren’t very bright.

    If they are making it so obvious they are snooping on their kids by friending them, might they not imagine that the kids, in turn, will not express themselves fully on Facebook, instead choosing to go to Tumblr, Instagram, or some other relatively recondite place?

    Might that be one reason why several recent studies suggested that kids think Facebook is old?

    The Education Database Online figures offer that a third of kids would defriend their parents “if they could.”

    I, though, am left fascinated as to how much adults are exposing themselves.

    Surely the kids — just, you know, for fits and giggles — trawl around their parents’ Facebook pages and speculate as to which of their Facebook friends are former (or even current) lovers.

    Surely the kids take a look at these people’s profile pictures and pray that they never, ever end up as wizened and alcohol-sodden as some of them appear.

    Given that the kids are far, far more tech savvy than their parents will ever be, might they be far better spies than their parents?

    While the adults think they’re being clever in following the kids, I suspect it’s the kids who get more information out of this social-networking exchange — information that they’ll choose to use just when they need it.

    source: CNET