“If reading becomes dependent on technology that must be purchased, then I think we may see the literacy divide persist and even widen.”
The rapid rise of e-books could lead to a “reading divide” as those unable to afford the new technology are left behind, even as U.S. reading and writing skills decline still further.
Continue reading… “e-Books Could Lead to a “Reading Divide””
PepsiCo’s 100% plant-based bottle.
Remember the Cola Wars? Get ready for the Bottle Wars. PepsiCo Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a bottle made entirely of plant material, which it says bests the technology of competitor Coca-Cola and reduces its potential carbon footprint.
“So You Want a Mobile App, Now What?”
Amadeus Consulting, a Boulder-based custom software development company, announced today that Chief Executive Officer Lisa Calkins was featured as the keynote speaker and instructor of the DaVinci Institute’s “So You Want a Mobile App, Now What?” event. The event, held on March 15 at the Institute in Louisville, CO is a part of the ongoing Inventor Bootcamp Series.
Continue reading… “Lisa Calkins Speaks at DaVinci Institute on Mobile App Development”
Where is the middle ground for sexting laws?
Continue reading… “Sanity Comes to Sexting Laws in New Jersey”
Media Piracy in Emerging Economies, an academic report on pricing and copyright infringement in poor countries, comes to the conclusion that high media prices (as measured against the average wage in poor countries) are responsible for piracy — that is, when you control for social attitudes towards copying, enforcement differences, and so on, the largest predictor of whether a country will have rampant copyright infringement is whether the media in that country is priced high relative to peoples’ earning power.
To make their point, the authors have released the report under a provocative “Consumer’s Dilemma license” that charges escalating rates depending on whether your IP address is in a rich or poor country.
Continue reading… “Poor Countries Have More Piracy Because Media Costs Too Much — Report”
People who regularly swim in chlorinated pools or take lots of showers or baths are at an increased risk of cancer.
Swimming too much – or even taking too many baths or showers – could increase the risk of developing bladder cancer, warn environmental health experts. Carcinogenic chemicals called trihalomethanes (THMs), created as a byproduct of chlorinating water, can be absorbed through the skin, they say.
Green police
Sometimes all it takes is a sense of humor. These seven ads come from agencies who put their top talent to work on encouraging environmentalism — promoting everything from energy-efficient light bulbs to preventing deforestation. Why do they stand out? Because they accomplished one very important goal: make ’em laugh.
Visiting a doctor is not one of man’s priorities.
On the list of a man’s priorities, it seems that visiting the local doctor does not sit highly. More than one in five men have not visited a GP or other healthcare professional in the last 12 months, according to a survey published March 15, 2011.
Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, filmmaking and architecture. It manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation between them and the vantage point of the spectator or camera.
Continue reading… “Brilliant Forced Perspective Photography – Part 1”
The internet gives patients and caregivers access not only to information, but also to each other.
Many Americans turn to friends and family for support and advice when they have a health problem. This report shows how people’s networks are expanding to include online peers, particularly in the crucible of rare disease. Health professionals remain the central source of information for most Americans, but “peer-to-peer healthcare” is a significant supplement.
Continue reading… “Peer-to-Peer Healthcare Widespread in U.S: Report”
Anyone who thought that social media was going to usher in a utopian era of communication without borders is going to have their faith badly shaken by a new study from Cornell University. On Twitter, it seems, there are already at least two walled-off nations: happy people and unhappy people.
And never the twain shall tweet.
Continue reading… “Is Twitter Dividing the Happy From the Unhappy?”
Are you having a woe-is-me moment? Take a quick look at this video clip of 19-year-old Chinese girl named Zheng Guigui playing Souvenirs d’enfance by Claude Lachapelle the piano (after learning to play for only 3 years, no less!)
Continue reading… “Meet Zheng Guigui, The Fingerless Piano Player”