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Daily Archives: July 25, 2021

How addicted are people to social media?

Washington Post: “We found a way to measure it – Just as with smoking, people will pay to have their behavior restricted. The average person with Internet access spends 2.5 hours each day on social media, by one estimate, and there are now 3.8 billion social media users worldwide. A natural interpretation of these facts is that social media adds tremendous value to our lives. But anecdotally and in surveys, many people say they spend too much time on social media. Indeed, in surveys we’ve conducted, social media and smartphone use are two of the top five activities where people feel that they have self-control problems (along with exercising, saving money and eating unhealthy food). Perhaps another interpretation of our heavy social media use is that we’re “addicted.” According to our new study, a randomized experiment involving roughly 2,000 Americans, the truth is somewhere in between: We value social media, but we use more than we think is good for us. Our study finds that about 31 percent of social media use among people in our sample is caused by self-control problems. In other words, if people in our study could choose their preferred screen time in advance instead of scrolling uninhibited in the moment, they’d spend nearly one-third less time on social media…”

Investigating Pandemic Effects on Legal Academia

Deo, Meera E., Investigating Pandemic Effects on Legal Academia (May 10, 2021). Fordham Law Review, Vol. 89, No. 6, 2021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3862007 “Even before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of the American workplace, challenges based on race, gender, and “raceXgender” (the combination of race and gender) were the norm in legal academia.… Continue Reading

Staring at a screen for too long can actually make you feel sick

Fast Company: “…Cybersickness refers to a cluster of symptoms that occur in the absence of physical motion, similar to motion sickness. These symptoms fall into three categories: nausea, oculomotor issues, and general disorientation. Oculomotor symptoms, like eye strain, fatigue, and headaches, involve overworking the nerve that controls eye movement. Disorientation can manifest as dizziness and… Continue Reading

4 Reasons I’m Wearing a Mask Again

The Atlantic – “Our vaccines are extraordinary, but right now they need all the help they can get…But the pandemic is once again entering a new phase that feels more dangerous and more in flux, even for the people lucky enough to have received their lifesaving shots. A more transmissible variant—one that can discombobulate vaccine-trained… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 25, 2021

Via LLRX – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish… Continue Reading

Future of 600,000 books being culled by National Library

1 News New Zealand: “I think it’s a really exciting opportunity because it means that we’re maintaining access to these books and it hasn’t cost the New Zealand taxpayer money, that it’s actually improved access not just for us but globally,” Te Pouhuaki national librarian Rachel Esson told 1 NEWS. The books are overseas publications… Continue Reading

Internet Futures – Spotlight on the technologies which may shape the Internet of the future

Ofcam: “People across the world use the Internet for a wide range of purposes, and the technology that drives these services is constantly evolving. Our lives have been profoundly impacted by the Internet and the web – these two inventions have made the world a more connected but complex place. Billions of people are now… Continue Reading

Institutional Authority Has Vanished. Wikipedia Points to the Answer

NextGov: “What the United States needs if it hopes to combat misinformation is a better system for communicating with the public—a system that keeps up with continuous changes in scientific knowledge; that incorporates expertise from people in a variety of fields, not just those anointed with official titles at well-known institutions; and that weaves dissenting… Continue Reading