Like Douglas Rushkoff, I've been an enthusiastic supporter of digital technology for more than 20 years and, also like Rushkoff, I've had some second thoughts as to whether--at least for some people--immersion in technology is doing more harm than good.

Rushkoff is the co-host and co-writer of TV movie "Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier," which premiers on PBS Frontline Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. The show was produced, co-written and co-hosted by Rachel Dretzin, who also produced "Growing Up Online," a show that aired on Frontline in 2007.

The new program … Read more

There is something touching about honesty in business. It's heartening when beyond the tittle and the tattle, true feelings emerge.

So you may be moved to utter something of a titter when I tell you of a report that Apple CEO Steve Jobs last week likened Google's "Don't be evil" mantra to the excreta of a bull.

According to Wired, Jobs held a town hall meeting at Apple last week after unveiling the iPad and fielded questions on many different topics. However, he appears to have saved some of his most deep-seated humor for a … Read more

It's nice when people care about something. Even when those people are actors.

So you might enjoy this strongly worded PSA from the NRDC Action Fund that features, among others, Leonardo DiCaprio and Edward Norton, as well as Justin Long, Mac from the "Get a Mac" campaign.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is desperate for everyone to e-mail their senators repeatedly in order to elicit their support for the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

The idea behind this bill is to change America's dependence on oil that it buys from, as the NRDC puts it, &… Read more

This is like the iPad. Except it's a lot more personal.

I have the faintest wishful whimsy that Oracle co-founder chose Wednesday to finally admit that he is trying to buy the Golden State Warriors in order to upstage the Steve Jobs Traveling Band debuting their little gizmo.

Please allow me to disclose that I have followed the Warriors for quite a few years. I have been present as they have assailed the sporting world with a product that might best be described as, well, Vista. Or AOL around 2000.

The Warriors, over the years, have possessed the ability … Read more

It seems that the best way to keep your kids from getting hurt is to get them out of the house.

According to figures from the U.K. government, obtained by the Sun under the United Kingdom's Freedom of Information Act, the number of kids under 15 injured while climbing trees, skateboarding, and the like has fallen.

Does this mean that children have become more athletic or less accident-prone? Does it mean they have perfected their tree-climbing and skateboarding skills?

No, it seems that they are simply staying indoors more, glued to their screens like rubberneckers to an overturned … Read more

What I love about Google is that the company is so good at thinking of everything, while avoiding unintended consequences.

Google Search is about getting the right answer and only the right answer. Google's Nexus One is about having a perfect smartphone without offending anyone too much.

So I am grateful to the UK blogger Floyd Hayes who unearthed this ad for Google's Chrome browser on the Metro rail system in Newcastle.

Now I know there will be some of you who might be concerned that this ad suggests that Google holds more information about you than any … Read more

When President Obama hits the airwaves Wednesday night to give his State of the Union address, YouTube viewers can do more than simply watch.

According to YouTube, "this year's State of the Union speech will also make history." During the speech, those viewing the address on YouTube will be able to ask questions about the speech's content. The address will be displayed on the company's Citizentube page, where people can submit questions via text or video.

YouTube said that people will be able to continue to ask questions of the president for an additional few … Read more

A few days ago, I was bound and gagged by a peculiarly witty human who forced me to watch "Contact," starring Jodie Foster.

If this strangely slow-moving opus has passed you by, Foster plays a woman whose lifelong dream is to sit down with an alien being and have a chinwag over a large latte. Well, more or less.

So it was with the spirit of space discovery forcing my lips to hum that I read Monday that the founder of SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) declared that it wasn't just me who was gagged, but … Read more

Italians love soccer. Despite the fact that the country does occasionally win the World Cup, however, the Italian brand of soccer is more venal than Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast."

The teams intimidate, they're negative, they will stoop to violence, and they're infinitely less interesting to watch than Joaquin Phoenix on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

I mention this because I understand that the Italian love of soccer, even virtual soccer, has led to a domestic dispute of stunningly negative proportions.

According to Reuters, a 16-year-old boy identified as Mario R was merrily engrossed in a game of FIFA 2009 on his PlayStation when his dad decided to offer a little advice.

The story doesn't recount whether Dad suggested the son play another two men across the back (a very Italian suggestion) or whether he merely figured that Mario's team needed to get a one goal lead and then cease to play soccer altogether--another very Italian characteristic.

Mario was not impressed with Dad's tactics. Perhaps he expressed himself forcefully. For Dad's reaction was to turn off the TV.

Mario seems to have felt this was provocation beyond the limits of filial loyalty. This was provocation not unlike Italian defender Marco Materazzi offering allegedly disgraceful slurs that caused France's Zinedine Zidane to lose his head--into Materazzi's chest--during the 2006 World Cup Final.

Mario reportedly wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a 15-inch knife, and stabbed his dad in the neck. He then supposedly wandered back into the kitchen, washed the knife, as his mom looked on, still unknowing, and put it down to dry.… Read more