Does this make me look fat?
(Credit: Microsoft)The average gamer isn't that 9-year-old child fragging you online, according to a new study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University, and Andrews University. The average gamer, they concluded, looks nothing like that kid.
According to "Health-Risk Correlates of Video-Game Playing Among Adults" (PDF), the result of a 2006 survey of 552 adults living in the Seattle area, the average gamer is 35 years old, overweight, and depressed.
The researchers chose the Seattle area because of its size, diversity, and reputation of having the highest Web usage in the United States.
James B. Weaver III of the CDC's National Center for Health Marketing said the study shows that there are real differences between gamers and nongamers.
"Health risk factors differentiated adult video game players from nonplayers," Weaver said in a statement. "Video game players also reported lower extroversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns."
The study also found that a gamer's gender doesn't matter when it comes to those issues. Female gamers surveyed had "lower health status" than women who chose not to play video games. Male gamers had a higher body mass index, or BMI, than nongamers, according to study results.
The paper also says women who play video games may be self-medicating.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
(Credit:
Curiosite)
Are your easily distracted kids having trouble getting motivated to write that term paper? Why not chain them to their desks until they've done what they're supposed to do? It might sound a bit extreme, but hey, if you want your kids to get into Harvard, sometimes extremes are what it takes!
The Study Ball is a prison-style ball and 16.5-inch chain with a built-in, programmable timer. Select the desired duration of the study session and chain the ball to the ankle in question, and the steel manacle won't come off until the scheduled time is up. A red LED indicator shows progress by displaying the "Study Time Left." Sound like good fun? More fun than having to settle for a second-choice college, we guess.
The $115 Study Ball weighs about 20 pounds, which makes it difficult to get up and stroll out into the prison yard while wearing it. Fortunately, the gadget comes with a safety key that can open the shackle at any time--a welcome feature if the wearer needs to take a bathroom break. Also fortunate: the device can't be programmed for more than four straight hours.
The Study Ball was created for gifts site Curiosite by Spanish designer Emilio Alarcon. The project was born of a conversation Alarcon had with a friend who was studying for a civil service exam and said: "I haven't left the house in a week, this is like being in jail."
Beyond use on teenagers, Curiosite also recommends the ball and chain for Web designers, computer programmers, bloggers, architects, translators, and anyone else who spends long hours sitting in front of the computer. Please note that once it comes off, wearers are required to pound out a few license plates.
Structure of a cell.
(Credit: mtandao-afrika.net)I just can't wrap my head around this development--not because it's so big, but because it's so tiny.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a "nanoneedle" with a diameter of approximately 50 nanometers--about half the size of previously reported nanoneedles.
To put this in perspective, it turns out that the thinnest human head hair is about 10,000 times thicker than this new needle. Obviously, the majority of us won't find any use for a needle of this size. However, this is a breakthrough device with applications for biophysical research.
The nanoneedle is designed to penetrate the membrane of a living cell for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus. In addition, it can be used as an electrochemical probe and as an optical biosensor.
... Read more
(Credit:
Futuresource)
Just got a press release from UK-based Futuresource Consulting that claims, "Consumers are on target to buy in excess of 100 million Blu-ray discs (BD) across the USA, Western Europe and Japan this year, with sales of High Definition capable LCD and plasma TVs and continued dramatic reductions in BD player prices continuing to fuel interest in packaged HD content despite the economic downturn."
Mai Hoang, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting says that, "In the USA, BD has moved from early adopter phase through to early majority, with the format gaining real traction in the marketplace." She adds that last year in the US alone, BD video retail sales increased 320 percent to 24 million units and the momentum would continue in 2009, with over 80 million disc sales forecast.
If you look at the included graph, Futuresource is also predicting that Blu-ray and DVD will be even by 2012--each with 50% of the market (in the U.S. anyway). I can't vouch for the accuracy of the research, but it doesn't seem too out of whack with what other market analysts have been saying. And on a more anecdotal level, we're seeing a lot of interest in Blu-ray players here at CNET--even in this down economy.
Who agrees or disagrees with this analysis?
If you subscribe to a broadband Internet service today, more likely you use cable than DSL. According to a study released Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates, cable modem usage is increasing at a faster rate than DSL usage among Internet customers, as dial-up use continues to decrease.
More and more people are moving to broadband services to access the Internet.
The firm has performed the Internet service provider residential customer satisfaction study for 11 years. Every year, the study measures customer satisfaction with high-speed and dial-up Internet service providers based on five factors: performance and reliability, cost of service, customer service, billing, and offerings and promotions. It uses a 1,000-point scale to gauge the providers' performance.
For 2008, the study was fielded in July and based on responses from 16,933 residential customers of Internet service providers nationwide.
The 2008 result indicates that both cable and DSL service have increased among broadband services, with cable now up to 41 percent (from 36 percent in 2007) and DSL up to 30 percent (from 27 percent), among all broadband users. At the same time, the share of dial-up Internet users has continued to decrease and now accounts for only 25 percent of all Internet users, a 10 percent decrease since 2007.
According to the study, 2008 is also a year of change with only 30 percent of customers remaining loyal to their service provider, down from 42 percent in 2007. Cost saving is the main reason customers switch services, accounting for 69 percent of broadband users and 40 percent of dial-up users.
Regarding customer satisfaction, EarthLink Net is ranked No. 1 in dial-up service, scoring 633 points, followed by United Online (630) and MSN (602). To nobody's surprise, AOL is at the bottom with only 551 points.
The study examined Internet providers in four regions.
East region: Cablevision ranks highest with a score of 650 points, followed by EarthLink (643) and Embarq (634).
South region: Road Runner tops the chart with 670. After that, Verizon (663) and Insight (661) are also high in customer satisfaction.
North central region: In this region, WOW! ranks the highest with 702, which is also the highest in all regions. Cincinnati Bell and Cox follow with 665 and 663, respectively.
West region: Cox Communications ranks highest with 641, followed by EarthLink (630) and Verizon (625).
Personally, I use Comcast and it's ranked among the lowest at 559 points, though I've been fairly happy with it. How about you?
Attention, employers: buying larger computer monitors for your workers might help them get more work done.
That's according to a study done by researchers at the University of Utah. They tested how long it took people to edit documents and copy spreadsheet information over an 8-hour period, meant to represent a typical work day. Three different setups were used: a computer with an 18-inch monitor, one with a 24-inch monitor, and one with two 20-inch monitors. (Note: The study was commissioned by NEC, which produces monitors, but the lead researcher said it didn't matter what type of monitor was used.)
Those assigned to work on the 24-inch monitor worked 52 percent faster than those using the 18-inch screens, and those using the dual 20-inch monitors worked 44 percent faster than those using the 18-inch. But don't think throwing a 36-inch flat screen in front of your employees will get them moving at double speed. The study also found that using anything larger than 24 inches caused a dip in productivity. The study was conducted from July to December of last year and had 96 participants.
Overall, researchers found that using a larger computer monitor at work could save 2.5 hours per day. However, that's assuming employees are working 8 hours continuously, and not, say, taking a lunch break, or checking Facebook, or reading Digg.
- prev
- 1
- next
