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Kid apps explode on smartphones and tablets. But are they good for your children?
The Washington Post: There has been no definitive study that shows whether apps on mobile devices are harmful for youths. And although lawmakers and regulators have been seeking to strengthen federal rules that protect the privacy of children online, few have examined the rapid growth of mobile content getting in front of very young eyes. Some educators are dubious of the educational promises espoused by app developers. Zimmerman co-authored a report in 2007 that debunked marketing by Disney’s “Baby Einstein” DVD series touting early developmental benefits. He said it is too early to say that apps are any more effective at getting children ahead.
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Sikh Teenager Raps Against Bullying
The Wall Street Journal: Michigan-based Gulshan Singh, 18, felt strongly about countering the widespread bullying of Sikh teenagers in the U.S. “I wanted to do something about it but never knew how to, or never had the means to do it,” said Mr. Singh. In the end, he chose to rhyme about it – and to make a three-minute music video to go with it. The video, titled “Let It Out,” sums up the emotions of a Sikh teenager who is harassed because he looks different. Mr. Singh said the video, which was recently showcased at the Sikh International Film Festival in New York, is not based on a specific person but on an experience shared by many Sikhs, including many of his friends.
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Schouders uit de kom
De Standaard: Het spant erom bij de regeringsonderhandelingen. Maar de uitkomst van zo'n nachtje - waarom beginnen die onderhandelingen eigenlijk altijd 's avonds? - kan wel een hele generatie in de puree helpen. In essentie draait het om hoeveel we besparen door de overheid efficiënter te organiseren, en hoeveel we extra uit de broekzakken van onze burgers halen door extra belastingen. Als ik lees dat ze in de Wetstraat van plan zijn het immense gat in onze begroting dicht te rijden met 70 procent nieuwe belastingen en 30 procent besparingen, draait mijn maag om. De sterkste schouders moeten de zwaarste lasten dragen, hoor je dan.
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Sorry, I Left My Memory in the Other Room
ABC News: Ever forget the reason why you walked into a room seconds after you enter, even though you know you are there for a reason? You stand in the doorway wondering, “I know I came in here for something!” If you answered yes, you may go as far as to rationalize that this is why it happens: ‘Well, our lives are so overburdened, and that’s why so many of us buzz around like caffeinated cheetahs crossing things our mental checklists.
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Blogs – a means to finding people to do rhythmic things with?
Scientific American: I wrote this post a long time ago – in December 24, 2008. At the time, Twitter was new, FriendFeed was small, Facebook did not yet have functionalities it has today, and Google Plus did not exist. So the main platform for finding an online community were blogs. I found this (the link is now broken, but the site still exists, and I could not find the post – perhaps got lost to the vagaries of time, or a re-design of the site, or blogger’s whim) quite intriguing: Those thinking that online social networking is a substitute for face-to-face interactions might want to think again.
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Why you forgot what you were just doing
msnbc: Have you ever walked into a room and realized you don’t remember what you’re doing there? Yeah, us too. Well thankfully science finally explains why: It’s the doorway’s fault, a new study finds. “When you go from room to room, your brain identifies each room as a new event and sets a new memory trace to capture the new event,” says study author Gabriel Radvansky, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame. Like a chapter marker, doorways end old episodes and begin new ones, as far as your brain is concerned. This makes it difficult to retrieve older memories because they’ve already been filed away, Radvansky says. Read the full story: msnbc
