The Cost of Internet Addiction

Slow news days eventually lead local television to sensationalist stories, such as internet addiction. Since the late 1990s, investigative reports have shown that people spend too much time online. These are the same outlets that have accused television of robbing people of exercise and a social life. Perhaps the irony is lost when the reporter unknowingly reads from a teleprompter that children are addicted to the internet, while the station republishes the same story on the their website.

The internet, much like any other popular media, remains a target and a scapegoat for people to blame their behavior on. Does internet addiction really exist? The recent report from Reuters gives a mixed answer. The article cites a study conducted by the University of Maryland in which they had 200 students cut their media ties for 24 hours. The results claimed that the students suffered similar withdrawal symptoms to that of a real addiction. The American Psychiatric Association does not acknowledge internet or media addiction as a disorder.

The media jumped on this story after Reuters previously published a story on internet addiction in South Korea. This article claimed that 10% of adults and 26% of teenagers in the country had an addiction to the internet or online gaming. The South Korean government has taken action, spending the equivalent to $9 million on education programs and are even developing a voluntary system that will assign gamers identification codes that can be monitored by parents or tracked for time spent online.

If you think South Korea is tackling this problem the wrong way, then consider what is happening in the US. An internet rehab facility, reStart, opened last year outside of Seattle. The center is designed to help people who excessively surf the internet, text, or play games. The cost for a 45-day stay is roughly $30,000.

Addiction to social media and computers may very well be real, but until more conclusive evidence is presented, I think it is best to look at computers (or anything with a screen) as a tool that should compliment a lifestyle, not lead it. Until the media has some new studies to report, or a new technology to blame, we will continue to endure the sloppy reporting.

I’d love to hear your opinions on internet and/or social media addiction. Is it true? Are you addicted? Leave your comments below. I’ll leave you with a humorous comercial for Sony Vaio.

Bonus! A clip from South Park!

Photo: Lee Jordon

Taking a Sip of World Water Day

As someone that always drinks the glass of a water at a restaurant, constantly refilling a recyclable water bottle, and is accustomed to drinking fountains in most buildings, I tend to take water for granted. After all, water is a utility, often cheaper than electricity or natural gas. Unfortunately, for many parts of the world, access to fresh water is a rarity. As this National Geographic article, The Burden of Thirst, so eloquently points out:

In wealthy parts of the world, people turn on a faucet and out pours abundant, clean water. Yet nearly 900 million people in the world have no access to clean water, and 2.5 billion people have no safe way to dispose of human waste—many defecate in open fields or near the same rivers they drink from.

As a response, the United Nations established March 22 as World Water Day. The idea of water having its own day of recognition might seem a bit ludicrous at first, until I started to consider how important fresh water is to life. Not only is water a vital substance to the human body, it’s very presence is responsible for the entire food chain (both plant and animal).

I asked myself how World Water Day could be any different than other ecological non-holiday observance. I don’t recall the last time I participated in any activities regarding Arbor Day, or the catch-all Earth Day. As I am accustomed to playing a devil’s advocate against popular causes, I find myself strangely drawn to a day to which even the most liberal, organic, tree-hugging planet saver has not heard of. If being “green” is the socially responsible thing to do, I had to find out what it meant to be “blue” as well.

I surrendered to the cause and decided to look into what World Water Day actually is. I discovered this year’s campaign website, worldwaterday2010.info, and read through several of the pages and a few of the documents. Some interesting facts that I learned included:

• People need 20-40 liters of water per day (50 liters if you include bathing and kitchen use)
• 1.1 billion people don’t have access to clean water, compared to the global population of 6.7 billion
• There is no binding water safety agreements among nations in the UN or otherwise

Mixed in the site are many photos of struggling people in shanty towns and disgusting waterways. I’m no stranger to late-night television pleas to help save children in Africa, but World Water Day puts it all into perspective. The site also has a full listing of the World Water Day events going on around the globe.

Reading this information gave me a sense of powerlessness. To ease my mind, I researched a few sites dedicated strictly to water conservation. A few of my favorites include Water Use It Wisely, WaterSense, and Water Conserve. Some tips I found for conserving water include:

1. Fix leaky pipes and faucets.
2. Save water from other uses (cleaning, boiling) and use it to water plants.
3. Take showers instead of baths. Take shorter showers (5 minutes).
4. Don’t let the water run while brushing you teeth.
5. Turn the garden hose tightly in the off position.
6. Use the garbage disposal less and the garbage more. It saves 50 to 150 gallons a month.
7. Don’t defrost frozen foods with running water. Either plan ahead by placing frozen items in the refrigerator overnight or defrost them in the microwave.
8. Water your lawn and garden in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler to minimize evaporation.
9. Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. This beats the wasteful habit of running tap water to cool it for drinking.
10. Dispose of hazardous materials properly! One quart of oil can contaminate 250,000 gallons of water, effectively eliminating that much water from our water supply. Contact your city officials for locations to dispose of hazardous materials.

In the end, I am not sure if I fully understand the need for one specific day for water awareness, but I suppose the publicity  and awareness are small steps to resolving a big problem. Water conservation is rarely touted in the media (at least much less than hunger). Water is essential to life and should be considered a right to living.

For more information on World Water Day or to find out the various ways you can help in your community, visit the UN Water Day website or read National Geographic’s Water: Our Thirsty World, set to hit news stands on at the end of the month.

Photos: J.C. Rojas, Pink Sherbert Photography, and UN Water.

A Depressed Whale

I usually like to give context, but I think this is self-explanatory. From the creative people at FilmCow.com.

Lady Gaga Goes to Jail

Fans of avant-garde pop artist Lady Gaga know that her videos never fail to impress. Like something out of Wonderland, Lady Gaga brings as much performance to her music than almost any other mainstream artists. Gaga’s video for her latest song, Telephone, had it’s world premiere last night. Needless to say, it is something to remember.

In the Michael Jackson tradition of music video as mini-movie, Gaga spins a story that is a mix of Quentin Tarantino meets Themla and Louise. Gaga’s partner in crime is none other than R&B siren Beyonce, sporting a series of outfits that seem to have come from the more tame side of Lady Gaga’s closet. With unabashed product placement and outright ridiculous fashion, the video is worth watching, even if you’re not a fan of the music.

Check out Lady Gaga and Beyonce in Telephone below: read more

Celebrating 2010 in Sydney

In case you weren’t in Sydney, Australia on New Year’s Eve, we have the fireworks bonanza shot by ITN News. The weather in Sydney around this time of year is great, so why not have a fantastic fireworks display? Enjoy it and look forward to more posts here on Awesome By Default in 2010!

Who do we blame for Auto-Tune?

A lot of complaining has been going on over the use of Auto-Tune in popular music. Auto-Tune is software that corrects the pitch of a sound wave digitally. It has been use by many popular singers including Madonna, Rascal Flatts, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, Kanye West and countless other top-40 pop singers. It came to the forefront this year when rapper Jay-Z released his newest single, “DOA (Death of Autotune),” which proclaims the practice of using Auto-Tune is gimmick. Rappers such as T-Pain have become the poster child for the technology, utilizing the correction technique for all of his songs. Are rappers of the future supposed to sound like robots?

So who is to blame for all this Auto-Tune drama? The inventor of the proprietary software, Andy Hildebrand, takes pride in his creation as he give a reporter at PBS’s NOVA a full demonstration (see above video). Don’t blame Andy for the sudden Auto-Tune abuse though. He points the finger at Cher, who let the secret out with her song Believe. Since 1996, the software has been in use to correct certain words within songs. As the video highlights, Hildebrand’s software was initially intended for more subtle pitch adjustments. As the reporter points out, Auto-Tune is simply “Photoshop for audio.”  read more

The Eco-Friendly Pizza Box

I was reading Scholars & Rogues and was impressed with the innovation in pizza boxes. ECO Incorporated seems to be pretty ambitious in their attempt to change the way people get their pizza. Converting the bottom of the box into a take-home storage container is brilliant. How many times you been left with 1-2 extra slices after everyone is full? I’m interested to see if this concept makes it to market.

20 Funny Minutes of C-SPAN

Last Friday comedian Wanda Sykes entertained at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This is by far the funniest thing I’ve seen on C-SPAN in years. She poked fun at President Obama and the first lady. The result is something more similar to a Comedy Central Roast than a presidential event. Even if you’re not a fan of Wanda, she pretty much lampoons the president over many of the recent fluff stories and rumors (Michelle’s sleeveless dresses, Obama giving the Queen an iPod, always being photographed shirtless).

Some of you may remember Steven Colbert’s roast for President Bush in 2006, which was a bit more surreal than funny. Its nice to know that this administration has a sense of humor too. read more

Prank Calling 2.0: Abusing Technology for Laughs

I admit it, I’m a fan of prank calls. Its the fun of being bad without the risk of getting caught. My inner child screams at the chance to shove in a one-liner before the inevitable click from the other end. As a child I scoured the phone book for people with strange names, as a teenager I used online databases to find surnames that would work perfectly into a punch-line.

Now that I’m a grown-up, the calling has stopped, but I’m able to live vicariously through the millions of angst-ridden kids that record and post their adventures on the web. The web is rife with audio and videos of some of the best pranks out here. I’ve outgrown the puns of Bart Simpson and relish in the elaborate and contrite plots people make up to keep others on the phone. Read on for my favorite prank sites… read more

World’s most Awesome vertical leap

I know I said I wasn’t going to post cats anymore but seriously this cat has some skills.  read more