It All Comes Back to the Tanning Booth
You’ve heard of many reasons, I’m sure, why indoor tanning—with its links to possible melanoma cancer—is something to avoid. Well, it looks like researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found some strange corollaries that may further encourage people, especially young people, to say boo to the booth. They found that “using […]
The Psychology of Online Trolls
As all MMO players and most Internet users know, trolls are not just ugly gnarled creatures who live under bridges. Nor are they simply collectable dolls with neon-colored locks. Well, who knows, maybe they do live under bridges and dye their hair, but the point is, in today’s day and age the label “troll” has […]
We The People Don’t Belieb
You may feel like you’ve heard more than enough about gone-slightly-crazy young celebs as of late, but, hey, the “fun” never seems to stop in the world of megastars-not-long-out-of-puberty. Justin Bieber is the latest celeb making headlines almost every day. Just this morning, the Internet is abuzz with the latest on whether he’ll be tried […]
Sharing by Secret Code
Last week I talked a bit about an article centering on why kids might be using social media as voraciously as they seemingly do. It was motivated by the book It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, written by Microsoft researcher and ethnographer Danah Boyd. Well, I can’t help but come back with just […]
Your Anti-Social Facebook Kids
It’s easy to blame Facebook. If you’re a parent in this crazy new age when kids seem hopelessly locked into a round-the-clock stare session with some weakly glowing screen, it’s easy to glare in the direction of social media, point an accusatory finger and yell, “YOU did this!” I mean, because of social networks like […]
The Music Biz’s Fading Top Line
Since this seems to be the time of year to list all the “greats,” “tops ” and “bests” of last year, I thought it might be interesting to point briefly to Billboard magazine’s breakdown of the music numbers generated in 2013. I do this because there was one item that stood out to me. According to […]
Game Goods 2013: Bob Hoose’s Year-End Picks
They say “life’s a game” … or was that “life’s no game”? Hmm. Maybe it’s “the game of life”? No, that’s a board game. Never mind. I’ve obviously been playing too many video games and not researching my quotes. But for this year-end list’s purposes, I’ll claim that’s a good thing. I’ve personally had the […]
The Stress of Jingling Bells
The Christmas season is a time of peace and joy, right? Well, for many of us, this jolly time of year can also come with a heaping helping of stress. And a group of researchers from Kent University say that if you want a more peaceful holiday, you ought to set aside your jingling, buzzing […]
Focus Friday: A Week of Adventures
You know, I love a good quote. The best of those can offer you a taste of humor along with a little wise elbow to your brain. My mother’s favorite—”Don’t touch that, it could be infected!”—had the wisdom part down, but was never very funny when she yelled it out in public. Another of my […]
The Music Videos, They Are A-Changin’
Bob Dylan, the 72-year-old music icon, hasn’t ever been especially fond of the new wave of technology and its impact on the kids of today. In a 2009 Rolling Stone interview he made that eminently clear. “It’s peculiar and unnerving in a way to see so many young people walking around with cell phones and […]