Sabtu, September 30, 2006
Jumaat, September 29, 2006
Google Talk 1.0.0.98
A new testing version has been released: Version 1.0.0.98Don't have an Account?
Don't have a Google Account to start using Google Talk? The latest version provides a link to this website where you can sign up and start using Google Talk.
Fade Effect
All right click menus now have a cool fade in effect that doesn't seem to affect system performance at all.
Two New Themes
There are two new themes, based on the style of Orkut.
Updated Option
In the options dialogue, there is now a "Show All addrss book contacts". Originally, this said "Show all Gmail Contacts".
Related post: google, talk, software, update, im
Khamis, September 28, 2006
Happy birthday Google
Rabu, September 27, 2006
Selasa, September 26, 2006
Mind Hacks: Why email is addictive (and what to do about it)
Mind Hacks: Why email is addictive (and what to do about it):
Like lots of people who sit in front of a computer all day, I am addicted to email. This worries me for two reasons. The first is the sheer strength of my compulsion. I must hit the 'get mail' button at least a hundred times a day. Sometimes, if I don't have any new mail, I hit it again immediately, just to check. I interrupt my work to check my mail even when I know that I'm not going to find anything interesting and that I should just concentrate on what I am suppossed to be doing. When I come back to my office it's the first thing I do. If I'm prevented from checking my mail for more than a few hours I get a little jumpy and remain that way until I have.Related post: article, reading, email, addict, link
This is all rather sad, but the second reason I am worried by my email addiction is that I work in a psychology department and we're supposed to understand how these things work. Now email isn't a drug - it doesn't deliver a chemical into your bloodstream. Yet it is clearly addictive. I'm a normal rational person (which is to say I'm just normally maladjusted) and I know that I don't need to check my email as often as it do - certainly not immediately after checking it the first time for Goodness' sake! - but still I am compelled. What's going on, and can psychological science help me out?
Read more here.
Isnin, September 25, 2006
Sabtu, September 23, 2006
Polish woman caught growing marijuana for cow
Polish woman caught growing marijuana for cow - Yahoo! News:
WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish woman who grew marijuana to calm the nerves of her cow has been charged with cultivating a narcotic by police in the western town of Lobez.Related post: news, yahoo, marijuana, crime, odd
The cow had been "skittish and unruly" -- once breaking a person's arm -- until someone suggested mixing cannabis in with its feed, the woman told police.
"The cow became as calm as a lamb," the 55-year-old woman said, according to the PAP news agency.
The woman's plants, grown from seeds she bought at a market, reached nearly three metres (yards) tall and were extremely potent, police said.
Marijuana possession is a crime throughout Poland. The woman faces up to three years in jail if convicted.
Jumaat, September 22, 2006
Constant demands for sex
A young wife, who was becoming frustrated with her young husbands constant demands for sex, decides to make a schedule for him, to cut down on the amount of times that they will have to make love for the rest of their marriage.
While getting ready for work, she writes on a piece of paper, "Honey, you know I love you, but your never ending requests for sex are leaving me drained and really tired. So I propose that we only have sex on days that start with the letter 'T', to minimize the frequency of our lovemaking sessions. Don't be mad at me honey, just understand where I am coming from, and let me know if my request is too demanding of you."
On her way out the door, she uses a refrigerator magnet and sticks the note to the fridge door, hoping that her sex craved husband will be understanding and accepting of her proposal when he reads it.
Upon returning home, she glances at the refrigerator and notices that her note has been replaced with a note from her husband that reads, "Baby, I didn't' realize that I was putting you under so much pressure and I'm sorry.
I accept your proposal and have even taken the extra step of listing at the bottom of this letter, those days starting with the letter 'T' to make sure that we are on the same page.
1. TUESDAY
2. THURSDAY
3. TODAY
4. TOMORROW
P.S. I love you too, and remember it's still TODAY, I am waiting for you upstairs." He he he :D
Related post: jokes, fun, sex, marriage, reading
While getting ready for work, she writes on a piece of paper, "Honey, you know I love you, but your never ending requests for sex are leaving me drained and really tired. So I propose that we only have sex on days that start with the letter 'T', to minimize the frequency of our lovemaking sessions. Don't be mad at me honey, just understand where I am coming from, and let me know if my request is too demanding of you."
On her way out the door, she uses a refrigerator magnet and sticks the note to the fridge door, hoping that her sex craved husband will be understanding and accepting of her proposal when he reads it.
Upon returning home, she glances at the refrigerator and notices that her note has been replaced with a note from her husband that reads, "Baby, I didn't' realize that I was putting you under so much pressure and I'm sorry.
I accept your proposal and have even taken the extra step of listing at the bottom of this letter, those days starting with the letter 'T' to make sure that we are on the same page.
1. TUESDAY
2. THURSDAY
3. TODAY
4. TOMORROW
P.S. I love you too, and remember it's still TODAY, I am waiting for you upstairs." He he he :D
Related post: jokes, fun, sex, marriage, reading
Celcom ties up with Google
theedgedaily.com:
The new tie-up of Telekom Malaysia Bhd unit Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd with online search engine, Google Inc, is the latest strategic alliance towards helping the group achieve its headline key performance indicators (KPIs).Related post: news, celcom, google, business, mobile
"All our activities and services introduced this year is to help us achieve our market share under our KPIs," said Celcom’s chief executive officer Datuk Shazalli Ramly.
He said its partnership with Google would enable users with GPRS and 3G-capabled handsets the ability to search the web using Celcom’s own portal.
The Google tie-up is the latest strategic partnerships that Celcom has cemented with global mobile and technology players.
Shazalli (right) with Google Inc director (mobile strategy, Asia-Pacific & Latin America) Emmanuel Sauquet
Earlier this week, Celcom’s alliance with UK's Vodafone introduced, among other things, the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G Broadband (HSDPA) data card and enhanced international roaming.
For the partnership with Google, Shazalli said the products would help it increase Celcom’s mobile subscriber market share, which stood at 35.9% as at June this year.
Speaking to reporters after the signing of the partnership with Google in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 21, he said Celcom Google search would provide results from Celcom’s extensive list of content and from the web.
“This will decrease the search time, which means customers can access content faster and more accurately. Only after the Celcom content has been shown will non-Celcom content follow,” he said.
Shazalli said Celcom would introduce products from its tie-up with Google in phases.
In the first phase to be launched by the end of October, Celcom will offer users the search engine on its WAP portal. The next phase will involve a web version by year-end.
Shazalli said Celcom would offer mobile G-mail as well by early next year. At some stage later, Shazalli said Celcom would include other features on Google such as Google Earth and Google Maps.
Rabu, September 20, 2006
Man sentenced to prison for tearing head off kitten
Man sentenced to prison for tearing head off kitten | Chicago Tribune:
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- A Metro East man was ordered to spend two years in prison after admitting in court that he tore the head off a kitten in the wake of a fight with his live-in girlfriend.Related post: news, prison, kitten, crime, weird
When it comes to animal abuse cases, "we don't get prison sentences all the time, so it's always good when we do," Stephanee Smith, a spokeswoman for the Madison County State's Attorney's Office, said Tuesday of the case against Jacob Thornton.
Thornton, 21, of Bethalto, was to have had a preliminary hearing last Thursday on the felony animal torture charge but instead pleaded guilty, Smith said.
A judge ordered Thornton's sentence to run concurrently to a prison term related to a parole violation.
Authorities say that after a July 28 dispute between Thornton and his 30-year-old live-in girlfriend, the woman left the home before returning to find her kitten's head and detached body in the front yard.
At the time, Thornton was out on parole on a 2005 aggravated battery conviction.
Four days after he was charged with animal torture, he also was charged with burglarizing a motor vehicle. That case is pending.
Thornton's criminal background, dating to 2002, includes convictions of burglary, attempted robbery, retail theft, probation violations, theft, resisting arrest, criminal trespass to a vehicle and domestic battery.
Selasa, September 19, 2006
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday invented in 1995 by two Americans, John Baur ("Ol' Chum Bucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like pirates. For example, instead of "hello," an observer of this holiday would greet his mates with "Ahoy, me hearty!" The date was selected because it is the birthday of Summers' ex-wife and would consequently be easy for him to remember.
Background
At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002. Barry liked the idea and promoted the day. There have been reports that this holiday was being celebrated in the New Zealand town of Wainuiomata at least as early as 2000, after local media reported the existence of Talk Like A Pirate Day. Growing media coverage of the holiday after Dave Barry's column has ensured that this event is now celebrated internationally.
Actor Robert Newton, who portrayed Long John Silver in the 1950 Disney film Treasure Island, is the patron saint of Talk Like A Pirate Day. The association with pirates of peg-legs, parrots and treasure maps were all literary inventions of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island (1883). The influence of Stevenson's book on parody pirate culture cannot be overestimated.
~From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Related post: wikipedia, article, info, pirate, today
Italian thief accidentally turns himself in
Italian thief accidentally turns himself in - Yahoo! News:
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian thief accidentally turned himself in after losing his cellular phone while robbing an elderly lady, calling his own number to meet the finder -- and unwittingly arranging a date with police.Related post: yahoo, news, crime, odd, italy
The 77-year-old victim handed over the phone that the bag snatcher had dropped to police, who lured the thief to a meeting where he was arrested, news agency Agi reported on Monday.
Agi said the man had been freed from prison recently under an Italian mass pardon meant to ease congestion in jails.
By the time police were waiting for him at the meeting point, the 35-year-old had already robbed another old lady and was riding a stolen scooter, Agi said.
Khamis, September 14, 2006
Albino pygmy monkey twins born
Resembling nothing so much as Chewbacca's children, two of the world's tiniest monkeys debuted recently at the Frösö Zoo in Ostersund, Sweden.~source
Shown here shortly after their birth, these pygmy marmosets are exceedingly rare. It's not because they're twins though—pygmy marmosets are typically born in pairs—but because they're albinos, deficient in pigment.
The world's smallest species of monkey, this tree-dwelling marmoset makes big noise, contributing clicks, whistles, and squeals to the cacophony of their home habitat, the western Amazon rain forest of South America. Adults grow to about 5 inches (13 centimeters) in length and weigh about 6 ounces (170 grams).
Sadly, one of the twins didn't get any bigger than it was in the photo.
"We were so sorry when the twin died," zoo owner Ake Netterstrom told London's Daily Mail. "We put in all available resources to save him, but that did not help.
"It is likely he had a lower immune defense because he was albino."
Related post: animal, news, monkey, birth, cute, albino
Rabu, September 13, 2006
Useful information on one of the deadliest diseases of our time: CANCER
Useful Information on one of the deadliest diseases of our time: CANCER
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and
10. complications.
11. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
12. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
A. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.
C. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
D. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
E. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
F. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
G. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
H. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
I. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
J. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular.
Related post: info, medical, fact, cancer, article
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and
10. complications.
11. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
12. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
A. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.
C. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
D. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
E. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
F. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
G. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
H. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
I. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
J. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular.
Related post: info, medical, fact, cancer, article
Foxit Reader 2.0 Released - The Best PDF Reader!
Foxit Reader 2.0 has been released and it is just as great as the previous versions. If you are still stuck in the days of viewing PDF as using Adobe Acrobat then it must be because you have never tried the free Foxit Reader.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Isnin, September 11, 2006
National Geographic Photos
Great inspiring quotes
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
In prosperity, our friends know us & in adversity, we know our friends.
Anger is a condition in which the tongue works faster than the mind.
You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the future.
Love...and you shall be loved.
All people smile in the same language.
Everyone needs to be loved.. especially when they do not deserve it.
The real measure of a man's wealth is what he has invested in eternity.
Everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it.
It's important for parents to live the same things they teach.
If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.
The choice you make today will usually affect tomorrow.
Take time to laugh, for it is the music of the soul.
Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
Love is strengthened by working through conflicts together.
Harsh words break no bones but they do break hearts.
To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it.
We take for granted the things that we should be giving thanks for.
Love is the only thing that can be divided without being diminished.
Happiness is enhanced by others but does not depend upon others.
For every minute you are angry with someone, you lose 60 seconds of happiness that you can never get back.
Do what you can, for who you can, with what you have, and where you are.
Related post: quote, fun, word, reading, motivation
In prosperity, our friends know us & in adversity, we know our friends.
Anger is a condition in which the tongue works faster than the mind.
You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the future.
Love...and you shall be loved.
All people smile in the same language.
Everyone needs to be loved.. especially when they do not deserve it.
The real measure of a man's wealth is what he has invested in eternity.
Everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it.
It's important for parents to live the same things they teach.
If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.
The choice you make today will usually affect tomorrow.
Take time to laugh, for it is the music of the soul.
Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
Love is strengthened by working through conflicts together.
Harsh words break no bones but they do break hearts.
To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it.
We take for granted the things that we should be giving thanks for.
Love is the only thing that can be divided without being diminished.
Happiness is enhanced by others but does not depend upon others.
For every minute you are angry with someone, you lose 60 seconds of happiness that you can never get back.
Do what you can, for who you can, with what you have, and where you are.
Related post: quote, fun, word, reading, motivation
Ahad, September 10, 2006
Can a python bite off more than it can chew?
A LITTLE bloating after a big meal is an occupational hazard for pythons. But this unfortunate creature found itself unable to slink away and sleep it off.In fact, after swallowing a pregnant sheep, it couldn't move at all.
Firemen in the Malaysian village of Kampung Jabor, about 190km east of Kuala Lumpur, easily caught it after it was spotted on a road.
Conservationists were yesterday still deciding whether to keep the 90kg snake in a zoo or release it back into the wild.
Pythons eat no more than once a week but when they open their incredible hinged jaws, anything is fair game.
This 5.5m python found its eyes were definitely bigger than its belly.
In July surgeons were forced to operate on a 4m Burmese python after it inadvertently swallowed a queen-size electric blanket.
Humans also have become victims. In 1972 a python in Burma swallowed an eight-year-old boy.
But sometimes their food really doesn't agree with them.
In October last year, a 3.6m python came off second best in Everglades National Park in Florida.
The snake, which tried to swallow a 1.8m alligator whole, exploded, said scientists who found the gory remains.
Related post: animal, snake, phyton, weird, news
Khamis, September 07, 2006
Pregnant
In a second grade sex education class, a little girl asks,
" Teacher, can my momma get pregnant?"
The teacher asks,
"How old is your mother?"
The little girl says,
"Forty."
The teacher says,
"Yes, your mother could get pregnant."
The little girl asks,
"Can my big sister get pregnant?"
The teacher asks,
"How old is your sister?"
The little girl answers,
"Nineteen."
The teacher says,
"Oh my yes, your sister certainly could get pregnant."
The little girl asks,
"Can I get pregnant?"
The teacher asks,
"How old are you?"
The little girl says,
"I'm seven years ! ! old."
The teacher says,
"No, you can't get pregnant."
The little boy behind the little girl gives her a poke and says,
"See, I told you we had nothing to worry about."
Related post: jokes, fun, reading, pregnant, reading
" Teacher, can my momma get pregnant?"
The teacher asks,
"How old is your mother?"
The little girl says,
"Forty."
The teacher says,
"Yes, your mother could get pregnant."
The little girl asks,
"Can my big sister get pregnant?"
The teacher asks,
"How old is your sister?"
The little girl answers,
"Nineteen."
The teacher says,
"Oh my yes, your sister certainly could get pregnant."
The little girl asks,
"Can I get pregnant?"
The teacher asks,
"How old are you?"
The little girl says,
"I'm seven years ! ! old."
The teacher says,
"No, you can't get pregnant."
The little boy behind the little girl gives her a poke and says,
"See, I told you we had nothing to worry about."
Related post: jokes, fun, reading, pregnant, reading
Some online games may enhance sociability
Some online games may enhance sociability:
Related post: news, social, games, online, reading
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Video games involving multiple players serve as informal gathering places akin to old-time pubs and coffee shops, and can thereby boost the players' social connections, researchers argue in a new study.Lets play Darkthrone!
In their report, Constance Steinkuehler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dmitri Williams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign question the perception that kids who play computer games are isolating themselves, at least when they are playing so-called massively multiplayer online games (MMOs).
"By providing spaces for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function as one form of a new 'third space' for informal sociability," Steinkuehler and Williams write. While such sociability won't offer "deep emotional support," they add, it has the benefit of exposing players to a wide range of viewpoints and a more diverse social environment.
The effects of the Internet on society are still being debated, the researchers note in an article in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Some claim the Web allows people to build connections and communities, while others say such virtual links are just a poor substitute for the real thing.
The researchers sought to investigate the role of MMOs, in which players inhabit "avatars" or on-screen representations of characters within virtual worlds and chat with other players by text or voice, in players' social lives.
They studied whether one game, "Asheron's Call I and II," built players' "social capital" by dividing 750 people into game-playing and non-playing groups. They also conducted a two-year study of the activities and perceptions of a group of people playing the MMO "Lineage."
Steinkuehler and Williams conclude that the games helped players gather a type of social capital known as "bridging," which involves making informal connections with others, while they didn't generally help people build stronger social bonds. Such "weaker" social links are important, the researchers say, because they offer players the opportunity to be exposed to diverse worldviews that they may not encounter in the real world.
Players who did become more deeply involved in the games did run the risk of having virtual relationships replace real-life ones, however, the researchers note. However, to see these online communities as an entirely bad thing is short-sighted, they say.
"To argue that MMO game play is isolated and passive media consumption in place of informal social engagement is to ignore the nature of what participants actually do behind the computer screen," they state. "In the case of MMOs, game play is more akin to playing five-person poker in a neighborhood tavern that is accessible from your own living room."
SOURCE: Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, August 2006.
Related post: news, social, games, online, reading
Selasa, September 05, 2006
Goolge launch Image Labeler
Ahad, September 03, 2006
Cute kitten
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