Is Internet Addiction a Real Problem?

"Studies pointing out the dangers of our technology-enabled lifestyles are nothing new. Topics such the possibility of getting brain tumors from our cell phones and the danger of video game violence translating into real-world violence frequently pop up on the front pages of newspapers and web sites (including this one) around the world."

As the article suggests, there are several different addictions that could use the Internet as a conduit (cybersex, cyber relationships, etc.) but there are also addictions that, without the Internet, would not manifest themselves to such a degree and this is what should be meant by Internet addiction.

I'm a techie geek for fun and profit and most of my friends are too. I can get up in a morning, check email, check my Bit-Torrent downloads, update my podcasts in iTunes, and THEN go for a shower, have breakfast, etc. At work I avoid using the web for personal things, but do use IM occasionally. During work I'm online all the time, with a job as part of a global team that transfers work around using email and IM. In an evening I come home, catch up with personal email, IM friends, read news sites and blogs, watch videos and vidcasts, blog, do research on stuff for fun and education, listen to podcasts, ... the list goes on. It's not unusual for me to sit in front of a computer for 12 hours a day and going to bed after midnight is not out of the ordinary. My girlfriend would say I'm addicted but like any addict, I don't want to admit there's a problem. ;) I've cut down in the last few years too, withdrawing myself from the online communities I once was a part of and following fewer blogs and news sites. RSS has been a mixed blessing, as I've been able to catch up on things quicker only to find my reading list has grown to fill the time available.

In the test linked from the article I score 57:
50 -79 points: You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life.

I do find it somewhat ironic that the counseling offered from that site involves joining a chat-room to talk. :)

Am I an addict? Are you?

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The Complete, Unquestionable, And Total Failure of Information Security

Noam Eppel from SecurityAbsurdity.com has written a great article on the failures of the Information Security community. It describes how the IT security industry is struggling to keep ahead of the hackers and doesn't seem to have noticed there's a problem.

Spyware, phishing, trojans, viruses, worms, botnets, spam, web application vulnerabilities, DDOS attacks, ActiveX, passwords, encryption, zero day exploits, wireless insecurity, patch management, internal attacks, mobile viruses, and even security software itself gets a good bashing in this eye-opening, reference-filled paper.

Shell suspends Chip and PIN after £1m fraud

Shell suspends Chip and PIN after £1m fraud

"Shell has stopped accepting payments authorised by Chip and PIN at 600 of 1,000 UK petrol stations following the discovery of a systematic fraud that resulted in the theft of an estimated £1m from customer accounts."

For a Bigger Computer Hard-drive, Just Add Water

"Imagine having computer memory so dense that a cubic centimeter contains 12.8 million gigabytes (GB) of information.

Imagine an iPod playing music for 100 millennia without repeating a single song or a USB thumb-drive with room for 32.6 million full-length DVD movies.

Now imagine if this could be achieved by combining a computing principle that was popular in the 1960s, a glass of water and wire three-billionths of a meter wide. Science fiction? Not exactly."

The RFID Hacking Underground

They can steal your smartcard, lift your passport, jack your car, even clone the chip in your arm. And you won't feel a thing. 5 tales from the RFID-hacking underground.

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Gone in 20 Minutes: using laptops to steal cars

A look at how thieves are using laptops to steal the most expensive luxury cars. Many of these cars have completely keyless ignitions and door locks, meaning it can all be done wirelessly. Thieves often follow a car until it gets left in a quiet area, and they can steal it in about 20 minutes. Scary stuff.

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Lyrics from LyricWiki

I've posted lyrics on this site a few times, and now I've found another source: LyricWiki will be my first port of call when searching for lyrics in future.

Browsing Flickr Tags

This is a nice way to browse around Flickr. Just enter a search word (tag) and you'll get an album of pictures to browse through. Around the album there's a list of related tags, and you can click on these to view more photos.

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