Facebook’s domination of time spent on the web is absolutely astonishing.
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Farmigo: Tapping into the power of the web to bring you fresh veggies
It’s no secret that fresh produce straight from the farm can often beat the potato skins off of its supermarket counterpart — and why farmer’s markets are becoming increasingly popular. But unless you set aside that chunk of time every weekend to pick up your veggies from local growers, you’re probably stopping by your supermarket anyway.
The solution to this has been the emergence of Community Supported Agriculture programs, where members of the community agree with farmers to purchase a certain amount of produce, and then pick that food up at local dropoff points at regular intervals. But, while they’ve been around for decades, these programs aren’t necessarily easy to find or use. If only we could use technology to make things a bit more efficient…
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Haitz’s Law: Moore’s Law for LED lightbulbs
Haitz Law in action over the past decades.
Just like Moore’s Law has been predicting improvements in the semiconductors used to make computer processors for decades, Haitz’s Law (see above) predicts an exponential improvement in the semiconductors used in LED technology. The beauty is that we’re almost there – see my LED reviews – so for LEDs to overtake other lighting technologies and become the dominant way we produce light, Haitz’s Law only has to hold for a little while longer, not decades…
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Eat up everyone, chocolate is good for you
Yummy!
Good news! Another study suggests chocolate may be good for you. And the more you eat, the better off you are.
A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge surveyed seven studies that examined the effect of chocolate consumption on the health of 114,000 participants…
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Top 5 most dangerous tech products
There are 18,000 injuries a year, one child death every two weeks from flat-panel tv’s.
Our lives are enhanced in numerous ways by the electronic products we have in our homes. Even though these products may enhance our lives on a daily basis they can also be the most dangerous products we have. They are putting some of us, especially young children and the elderly, at risk of serious injury or even death. The risks run from flat-panel TVs that topple onto toddlers, to button-sized batteries that become poisonous pills.
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Spongebob has a harmful effect on kids’ brains
Spongebob hurts kid’s brain power.
A recent study published in Pediatrics shows that just 9 minutes of the fast-paced Spongebob hurts children’s brain power.
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10 alternatives to Groupon
Groupon alternatives
Groupin is the largest daily deal site with more than 115 million subscribers. But it’s hardly the only one worth paying attention to.
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Five signs coworking is a good idea for you
The traditional office has become less important as more people work via mobile phone and a laptop computer, and coworking is becoming a popular alternative. Members get many of the benefits of office life — a community, a work environment, and meeting spaces — without giving up the freedom of working on their own schedules.
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Pop or Soda?
Which way do you sway?
Several years ago, Alan McConchie created the Pop Vs. Soda project that attempted “to plot the regional variations in the use of the terms “Pop” and “Soda” to describe carbonated soft drinks.” I wonder if usage has shifted over time.
The fragmented mobile information race
Who is on top in the mobile information world right now?
Mobile devices are shifting many individual computing behaviors, perhaps none more significant than how we search for and receive information. Right now, it’s moving at warp speed. In between the time I finish this draft and its posted, it’s entirely possible another company or service launches in this space. Every time we “swipe open” our mobile devices, we seek out dopamine hits from receiving new emails, texts, notifications, or other bits of digital media. A good chunk of this current mobile activity revolves around the personalized search and Q&A space, which leverages these behavior in new ways.
By now, on traditional computers, we know how to find the information we seek, whether via sites like Google, Wikipedia, or through social networks. On mobile, however, our information needs and habits shift. On the go, we typically want smaller bits of information quicker, usually calibrated to our location. We are less likely to engage in longer discussion, and more likely to add questions in the hopes that machines, crowds, or some combination can produce relevant information. This shift has opened the floodgates of activity in the personalized search and Q&A space, with an impressive number of new applications vying for user attention in a crowded marketplace…
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Birth Control Pills found to affect memory
Birth control affects more than previously thought.
Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details.
“What’s most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory,” UCI graduate researcher Shawn Nielsen said. “There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide.”
She stressed that the medications did not damage memory. “It’s a change in the type of information they remember, not a deficit.”
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Debt problems plague older Americans
Many Americans have to postpone retirement.
Many Americans are reaching their 60s with so much debt they can’t afford to retire. Before retiring most people would pay off their debts. But as wages have barely kept up with rising prices over the past 35 years Americans have pushed debt higher, living beyond their means. Now, people are postponing retirement, cutting living standards or both.
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