Lifestyle posts

Can you even remember life without the Internet? It has become such an embedded aspect of our lives that many young people couldn’t imagine not having it. In western society, nearly everything is in some way tied in through the Internet. This graphic by our friends at Grasshopper Group gives us a timeline of events that have led up to today. It hasn’t been around forever but for many, it certainly seems like it. …

Capitalism, though a big, incredibly complex concept, can be boiled down to a few basic ideas: there should be private property; you should have a free market; and people should exchange currency for goods and services at the price the market will bear. In many ways, the web seems like it is the best place for capitalism and a free market to flourish. The internet is full of success stories of massive growth and humble beginnings, and the lack of many barriers that plague the physical world has seen online business grow at an exponential rate. Yet, at the same time, the web seems to have a knack to kill…

The conversation about the shift from “old” to “new” media usually goes something like this: 1) the media business has fundamentally changed; 2) media companies need to think in new ways due to the problems of fragmentation, the attention economy and a whole range of platforms; 3) those that adapt to the new will win; those that won’t, will fold – and they deserve it too. So the advice from new media gurus is always the same: existing media companies – and indeed, even new media companies like Netflix – need to find a way to replicate their success, albeit with a new business model. With a few mergers,…

New reports find that high multi-taskers are “lousy at everything that’s necessary for multitasking.” Considering the amount of time people spend with around-the-clock access to TV, the Internet and mobile devices, it’s not surprising. The following is a look at the causes and effects of multitasking. Click to view in a single infographic. Generation Wired How Much Time do Young People Spend Using Media? Young people aged 8-18 spend an average of over 7.5 hours every day consuming media. That’s close to the 8 hours of recommended sleep every night. Media Addiction If you don’t know you’re addicted…

It has become common wisdom in the tech world that old media represents an obsolete mode of thinking that should be discarded as quickly as possible. The attitude to physical, broadcast or film media could generally be summed up by saying “Newspapers? Print books? Those things are ancient and of no use to anyone ever, amirite?” But those with a little more patience and scope know that isn’t entirely true. Media is an enterprise that forms a core part of modern societies, and digital media is but a few years old. So maybe there are still some lessons that old media has to teach those young upstart digiphiles….

There are only two viable scenarios that will come to pass in the near future when it comes to home entertainment. Either Netflix and its 20 million users will force a paradigm shift in the way Big Telecom delivers entertainment or they will be hit so hard by regulations, increased licensing fees, and pay-per-gig throttling of broadband that they’ll have to change almost every aspect of the way they do business. This happy world that we live in now where an affordable Netflix service co-exists with Big Telecom is not sustainable. Something has to give. A recent article on the Washington Post speculates…

Most of us spend a great deal of time on the Internet. It has become the most prevalent activity during our waking hours for millions. When you look closely at the statistics, most fall in line with our expectations (likely due to the information we’ve seen somewhere before on the Internet regarding the subject), but some things may be surprising. Did you know that 1% of people who do not use the Internet say they don’t because they are scared of catching a virus? This graphic by our friends at SiteJabber lines out many of these statistics for us. It’s an interesting look into the mass-mind that has turned…

The digital age has not necessarily increased the amount of cruelty performed by kids and young adults. It has simply changed the venue. Cyberbullying is making headlines and being blamed for many of the tragedies that happen in schools across the country and around the world. Children are entering the digital world almost immediately and are learning ways to do things online that adults would have never dreamed of when they were children. The results, in many cases, are ugly. This graphic by our friends at ZoneAlarm breaks down the growing trend of cyberbullying and discusses ways that parents…

One of the most profound medical technologies that has emerged in recent decades is the ability to surgically improve eyesight. LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is a breakthrough that was beyond imagination before it actually existed. The altering of the shape of the cornea using lasers has transformed the way we perceive vision. It’s relatively commonplace in today’s society, but a question that few ask and even fewer know how to answer is, “How does LASIK work?” This graphic by our friends at DocShop shows clearly how the procedure works in a simple step-by-step process. Click…

The Segway was going to revolutionize the way we travel medium distances. It didn’t. Now, there is a new personal mobility device that wants to pick up where the Segway left off. Karen Day at CoolHunting reports that the Solowheel will be available in the US in March. A “self-balancing electric unicycle,” the Solowheel uses gyroscopic technology. Its 1000-watt rechargeable lithium-ion battery powers lasts two hours and can recaptures energy when going downhill. The portability of the device gives it a leg-up on the Segway, which many avoided because of the whole issue with “where do I park this…