We knew this already, but here is more proof

I never agreed with violent video games. I simply don't understand why someone would want to chase or impersonate zombies, decapitate 'enemies,' or shoot 10 different weapons at the same time (virtually)
Even though we all know violent video games positively influence aggressivity, apparently we never had enough proof. Most likely the companies that make these games will never consider such research valid - after all, money comes first - but it's nice to read this; it gives me hope that one day we won't have these games on the market.

It's Conclusive, Claims Professor, Violent Video Games Make Us Aggressive
Matt Peckham Matt Peckham - PC World

An Iowa State psychology professor is claiming--not for the first time--that his latest published study offers irrefutable evidence that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior. And a Texas A&M psychology professor has responded--in the same publication--claiming that the Iowa State study is methodologically flawed.
Published in the March 2010 issue of APA journal Psychological Bulletin, the study by Iowa State professor Craig Anderson, director of Iowa State's Center for the Study of Violence, concludes that exposure to violent video games leads to an increase in aggressive thoughts and behavior, as well as decreased empathy and favorable social behavior in children.
"We can now say with utmost confidence that regardless of research method--that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal--and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects," said Anderson. "And the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in both short-term and long-term contexts. Such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases prosocial [sic] behavior."

Read the rest at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100303/tc_pcworld/itsconclusiveclaimsprofessorviolentvideogamesmakeusaggressive

Adina's podcast - 'Odd News Report'

http://adyna30.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-03-07T14_45_02-08_00

Running out of time...

I have always wanted to be an independent woman, have a decent job and no matter what might happen to know that I can rely on my own forces. To most degrees I believed I have achieved all that, but sometimes I wonder - at what price? Having a full-time job and acting 'responsible' in so many ways took away the time for other things that make me happy but don't really pay.
How can someone travel and see the world when he/she has to work 40+ hours a day? Not to mention certain time-consuming hobbies such as writing, painting, reading that the working person has to give up to certain extent in favor of money-making activities.
One might say, 'well, if you have talent, and you truly want it, you will find a way.' Maybe for some people is true; but for someone like me, who needs a minimum of eight hours of sleep at night, does groceries and watches for a dog, the time just isn't there anymore.
Thus I wonder - sometimes - how it would be not to have to work (for money in particular) and just enjoy doing the things that make me happy. Even though I do love my job I often feel it's just not enough.
But since I do have to wake up early and take care of so many things during the day, in the end, I do not have that much time to think of such things. Sometimes even thinking becomes the luxury of people who have enough time...

Speaking of Technological Convergence...

I think this is interesting, just when I was wondering what else we can do from our phones, I read this. Technology once again brings us all together...

Mobile phones become pocket banks in poor countries

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – An Afghan police officer gets his salary in a text message on his mobile phone. A Kenyan worker dials a few numbers to send money to his family.
The rise of banking transactions through mobile phones is giving a whole new meaning to pocket money in parts of the developing world that lack banks or cash machines.
Mobile money applications are emerging as potent financial tools in rural and remote areas of the globe, allowing people with no bank accounts to get paid, send remittances or settle their bills.
"One billion consumers in the world have a mobile phone but no access to a bank account," said Gavin Krugel, the director of mobile banking strategy at GSM Association, an industry group of 800 wireless operators.

See the rest at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100221/tc_afp/telecomtechnologyinternetbankingemerge

I have to agree with the church on this one...

Give up your iPod for Lent, bishops urge

from www.yahoo.com

LONDON (Reuters) – British church leaders are encouraging people to give up their iPods for Lent, instead of more traditional vices such as chocolate, to help save the planet.

The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, are among those calling for a carbon fast for Lent -- a period ahead of Easter which Christians traditionally consider a time of penance and reflection -- which begins on Wednesday.

As well as spending a day without using technology such as mobile phones or iPods, the 46 daily suggestions also include eating by candlelight, cutting meat and vegetables thinner so they cook faster and flushing the toilet less often.

"Instead of giving up chocolate for Lent, why not fast for justice ... to help those suffering from the effects of climate change," said Jones.

Out of this world: Thousands of dinosaur footprints uncovered in China

Whenever I get overwhelmed by daily stress and a billion of tedious tasks I like to read something like this piece of news on yahoo - just gives some perspective.
These dinosaur footprints in China are believed to be more than 100 million years old!! - can you grasp that? It has only been 2010 years since Jesus was born and archaeologists today find animal remains that are millions of years old...
It just makes you wonder: who else was living in that world, with the dinosaurs? What was before that? Who exactly were the first intelligent conscious beings on Earth?
I know I don't have answers, but I also don't have answers to questions such as, why can't we all live in peace and enjoy this world and travel? Who is in control, really??
There are so many 'unknowns' in this life - so, like I mentioned above...such news just give me some perspective...

BEIJING (AFP) – Archaeologists in China have uncovered more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints, state media reported, in an area said to be the world's largest grouping of fossilised bones belonging to the ancient animals.
The footprints, believed to be more than 100 million years old, were discovered after a three-month excavation at a gully in Zhucheng in the eastern province of Shandong, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The prints range from 10 to 80 centimetres (four to 32 inches) in length, and belonged to at least six different kinds of dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurs, the report said Saturday.
Wang Haijun, a senior engineer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the prints faced the same direction, Xinhua said.
This indicated a possible migration or a panic escape by plant-eating dinosaurs after an attack by predators, Wang added.
Archaeologists have found dinosaur fossils at some 30 sites in Zhucheng, known as "dinosaur city."
The region has seen two major digs since 1964, and experts say the discovery of so many dinosaurs in such a dense area could provide clues on how the animals became extinct millions of years ago.
Plans are being made to set up a fossil park in the area.

Ethical issue: Should the government be allowed to track a person's movements based on cell phone records, without evidence of criminal wrongdoing?

We carry our cell phones everywhere, they are part of us, just like a limb, or the clothes we wear. If I forget it at home (which rarely happens) I feel exposed, even panic, thinking, "what if I'm in the car and I need to make an important call?"

What we don't realize most of the time is that we are carrying a microchip, just like pets.
At any given time if someone wants to know where we are, or have been, it is easily done from the cell phone company's records. Now, is this something we should worry about? In most cases, the government wouldn't have an interest in following people, but in a lot of other cases, it can - and without even letting the person know. Is that ethical? Should the government have the right to monitor key people without them being aware? I personally couldn't find an answer to that, I am happy for now that I have found the question...

Technology has made our lives much more comfortable, linked us more, opened new doors. But in the same time, it brought all these unanticipated issues, and in some ways made everything more complicated. If you had a choice, would you stop technology from developing? Would you say, "OK, I think this is enough?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100212/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_cell_phones_surveillance