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The admissions folks at my public university report that they regularly see prospective student email addresses like beerbashbabe@___ . And the parents know — in some cases it’s Mom or Dad who writes the email address on the form at the open house. --drj50

Dear Students With Unprofessional E-Mail Handles: Your Professors Notice

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Educause Releases Report on IT Trends | Comment

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Apple's iPhone Takes Lead in Reader Race | Comment [6]

Iowa State U. Will Make Students Pay to Set Up Land Lines | Comment [13]

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October 2, 2008

2008 Ig Nobel Ceremony to Be Webcast From Harvard Tonight

People around the world will laugh themselves silly tonight as they watch an event, at a major university, that is guaranteed to entertain.

No, we’re not talking about the vice-presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis. We’re talking about the Webcast of the 2008 Ig Nobel Ceremony at Harvard University.

The event, produced by the science-humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research, will take place at 7:15 p.m. at Harvard. It will honor research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think.—Don Troop

September 30, 2008

How to Survive the Technological Onslaught on Your 'iBrain'

Of the many books that pass through The Chronicle‘s newsroom, this one caught the eye: iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. Given the recent discussions about technology, learning, and the so-called digital generation over at The Chronicle Review, the book’s theme seemed timely. Mark Bauerlein might feel vindicated by the book’s description of how technology is altering human brains and cognition. Siva Vaidhyanathan might shudder at the characterization of young “digital natives” and old “digital immigrants.”

The book was written by Gary Small, a prominent neuroscientist at the University of California at Los Angeles, and his wife, Gigi Vorgan, a television writer and actress. They’ve teamed up before on self-help books you’d probably recognize, like The Memory Bible and The Memory Prescription. iBrain is essentially a self-help book, too — one that that offers advice on bridging what the authors call the “deeply divided brain gap between younger and older minds.” As people spend more time online and less time in the “real world,” the health of our society — even the fate of the world — may hang in the balance, the authors say in the opening pages:

As the brain evolves and shifts its focus toward new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills, such as reading facial expressions during conversation or grasping the emotional context of a subtle gesture. A Stanford University study found that for every hour we spend on our computers, traditional face-to-face interaction time with other people drops by nearly 30 minutes. With the weakening of the brain’s neural circuitry controlling human contact, our social interactions may become awkward, and we tend to misinterpret, and even miss subtle, nonverbal messages. Imagine how the continued slipping of social skills might affect an international summit meeting ten years from now when a misread facial cue or a misunderstood gesture could make the difference between escalating military conflict or peace.

Since most of us here at The Chronicle are not neuroscientists or diplomats, we’ll leave it to readers to judge whether this sounds like hyperbole. (We should note that a nuanced and detailed treatment of this topic appears in Conversation: A History of a Declining Art, by Stephen Miller. Mr. Miller says that gizmos like iPods act like “conversation-avoidance devices”: It’s hard to have spontaneous conversations with strangers with music streaming out of your earbuds.)

iBrain blasts through issues like Internet addiction, online-porn obsession, and multitasking before getting to the pop-psych self-help portion. Some might love this. Some might laugh. We’re just letting you know about it. —Scott Carlson

September 26, 2008

Computer Model Predicts Financial Doom (but There's Grand Theft Auto to Take the Edge Off)

On National Public Radio’s Morning Edition today, the reporter David Kestenbaum took a look into a crystal ball for our economic situation.

That is, he reported on a computer model that was developed in the 1980s by Mark Gertler, now an economics professor at New York University, and Ben Bernanke, now the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Before becoming chairman, Mr. Bernanke had taught at Stanford University, New York University, and Princeton University. One of his academic interests — and we can hope he studied this one thoroughly — was the Great Depression.

It turns out that his work on the computer model is relevant today, too. “There are lots of models of various aspects of the economy out there,” says Mr. Kestenbaum. “This one is sort of unique because it was designed to incorporate the rippling effects of shocks to the financial system, exactly what is going on now.”

When Mr. Kestenbaum sat with Mr. Gertler and asked to the see the model, he was a little disappointed. Mr. Gertler showed him a series of calculations on paper and explained that they had left the programming up to some “highly intelligent and ambitious graduate students.”

“I was hoping for a sort of video game, like that Sim City thing,” Mr. Kestenbaum says. (Related tangent: Perhaps Mr. Kestenbaum, like many Americans, was hoping for some light entertainment to lift the financial gloom. NPR also reports today that video games may be playing the role once held by movies during the Great Depression. It’s good old-fashioned escapism, though instead of Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes, it’s carjackings and mayhem in Grand Theft Auto.)

In the middle of the segment, Mr. Kestenbaum asks Mr. Gertler the $700-billion question: “Does the model say that we’re headed for doomsday, unless something happens?”

There is an unnerving pause as Mr. Gertler responds: “Uh … roughly speaking, yes.” —Scott Carlson

September 25, 2008

A Computer 'Cutting Contest' at a Music Conference at Drexel U.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the International Conference on Music Information Retrieval, a meeting that covers “harnessing the power of computers to analyze and manage the world of sound,” which convened at Drexel University recently. It sounds like an interesting event for any fan of music.

“Need a friendly guide for a live performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony? A computer program developed at Swarthmore College and Drexel can meet your needs by monitoring the progress of the orchestra and supplying written lyrics and commentary at just the right time.

“Can’t get the hang of improvising a jazz tune on the piano? Looking for music that exactly matches the tempo of your morning jog? Unable to remember the name of that catchy tune stuck in your head? Sophisticated statistical software can guide the way in each case, to hear the various exhibitors tell it.”

The story teases with hints at software that “had the whiff of things that could end up in iPods in the next 18 months, perhaps to help listeners sort through an unruly music collection.”

A key attraction at the conference is a “shootout” (maybe better called a “cutting contest”) between music-analysis programs from different universities. “Entrants from more than a dozen countries competed in 18 tasks, using their computers to ‘listen’ to selections of music, then identify such things as the genre, mood, composer, or title. The eventual goal: to help people search for music they might like by combing through millions of audio files in a database.” —Scott Carlson

September 19, 2008

U. of Tennessee-Knoxville Student at Center of Palin E-Mail Hacking Probe

Slippery politicians: Watch out for those hack-happy, tech-savvy college students. Tech-savvy students: Beware your own desire for glory.

Newspapers in Tennessee are reporting that a University of Tennessee at Knoxville student may be at the center of the investigation of who hacked into the Yahoo e-mail account of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. To make matters even more interesting, the newspapers say the investigation is focusing on the son of a Democratic state representative.

Over the past couple of days, a person who claims to have been the hacker has done something very stupid, given that he or she is the subject of an FBI investigation: bragging about how the deed was pulled off. The hacker used personal information about the Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate that has been made public recently — like where she met her husband — to trick Yahoo into reassigning the password to the hacker.

Early reports about the hacking had attributed it to a decentralized group of pranksters called Anonymous (read a great story about Anonymous here). But now newspapers and Internet sites are focusing on the son of Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell. The elder Mr. Kernell’s non-denial denial appears in the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Asked whether he or his son, a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, had been contacted by authorities investigating the break-in of Palin’s account, he responded: ‘Me, no.’ As far as his 20-year-old son, David, he said: ‘I can’t say. That doesn’t mean he has or hasn’t (been contacted by investigators).’

A story in The Tennesseean says that Mr. Kernell confirmed that his son was a focus of the investigation.

The hacking has attracted attention not only for the evil genius by which it was pulled off, but also because it revealed that Ms. Palin was conducting state business on her private account. Now people are discussing whether the hacker, even if caught, could get away with it. —Scott Carlson

Turn That Computer Off When You Leave

A recent Boston Globe story says that the state of Massachusetts is asking its employees to turn off their computers when the machines are not in use — a move that could save the state $2-million a year and prevent the release of 5,000 tons of carbon emissions. The story notes that state officials would like to see Massachusetts colleges participate in the program. ($2-million a year in a state like Massachusetts is a small amount to fuss about, but the effort seems honorable.)

The policy will require offices to set computers to shut down after a period of inactivity. It’s difficult to imagine whether a program like this would work if it relied entirely on education and volunteer effort. Sustainability advocates will tell you that changing behaviors is usually the hardest part of their jobs. The “think before you print” campaigns probably had some effect, but paper still seemed to pile up, unread, near printers everywhere. Charging people for paper seems to be more effective.

In any case, there are precedents for managing energy use among office machines. Perhaps some readers have heard of the “traffic-light system:” Green stickers go on items that can be shut off when not in use, like computers; yellow stickers go on items that take time to warm up, like copiers; and red stickers go on items that should never be turned off. —Scott Carlson

September 9, 2008

It's Ba-ack: Internet Addiction Is the New New Affliction

The University of Montreal says one of its researchers is looking into a “new addiction” — Internet addiction.

Well, maybe it’s new in Canada. People have been talking about Internet addiction around here for more than 10 years. (See old Chronicle articles here, here, and here.) The idea generated some buzz back then, but now people seem more or less inured to the notion of spending countless, pointless hours checking their e-mail, playing games, and watching videos of shark attacks and newscaster flubs on YouTube.

Certainly, the press release from the University of Montreal has an arresting passage: “We know of serious cases in which teenagers don’t leave the house, don’t have interpersonal relationships, and have been isolated in front of their computer screens for the past two or three years, and only speak in the language of the characters they play with in network video games,” says Louise Nadeau, a professor in the university’s psychology department.

Yeah, I knew that guy when I was 14 — he worked at the comic-book store. As an article in The Chronicle pointed out, Internet addiction may not be an affliction all on its own, but a sign of deeper problems.

Hey, you, in there. What are you doing? Go outside. Get some sun. —Scott Carlson

September 8, 2008

Colgate University Has an Official Twitterer. World Yawns.

Who the heck is Ajay Chahar? You may find out if you follow his life by visiting Colgate University’s home page. (Look in the bottom-right corner.)

That’s because Mr. Chahar, a freshman at Colgate, is more or less the university’s official twitterer — that is, someone who posts “tweets” on Twitter, the real-time message service that goes out to cell phones and computer screens. The university provides its home-page link to “follow Ajay Chahar” under the heading “’Gatetwitter.” The last update pretty much gives an indication of the excitement that is the life of Ajay: “finished physics class and now headed to the library!” The exclamation point is too much.

Mr. Chahar reportedly had 10 followers recently, but now he has nine. (Let’s see: Director of PR, one; university president, two; mom, three; dad, four….) Personally, I’ll wait for “’Gatetwitter: The Greek Edition.” —Scott Carlson

September 3, 2008

U. of Wisconsin at Oshkosh Operates a Call Center for Yahoo

Watch out, Bangalore. Students at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh will work in a call-in technical-support office near campus, providing services to Yahoo employees. The students, who don’t need any advanced computer training to work in the office, can make around $10,000 a year in the job. (Hold on. If Yahoo employees are calling students at Oshkosh for technical support, who is helping me when I contact Yahoo with problems?)

Adam Kostrzak, a senior manager of Yahoo’s Global Service Desk, is an Oshkosh alumnus who set up the deal. He said that operating a helpdesk in Oshkosh was significantly cheaper than doing so in Silicon Valley. (Yahoo also has call centers in New York and India.) The jobs will go to 20 to 40 students who, the university says, will be learning valuable skills. Lou Dobbs might be pleased. —Scott Carlson

August 29, 2008

For Many Students, the Simplest Cell Phones Suffice

There is something to be said for simplicity in an ever-more-wired age. But it’s typically the old folks you hear saying something like: “I just want a cell phone that makes calls. I don’t need one that plays music, sends e-mail, takes pictures, surfs the Web, contains a map of Tokyo, unlocks car doors, plays a crafty game of poker, works like a credit card, and combs my hair.” (Somewhere in this wide world, technicians are no doubt working on the mobile beautician.)

Youngsters have been branded as gizmophiles, attached to their phones and their many uses. But a new survey from the University of New Hampshire suggests that students use their phones in limited ways — mainly for talking, texting, keeping track of time, and a handful of other basic functions.

Students in a market-research class taught by Chuck Martin, an adjunct professor in the university’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics, asked 707 students from the college of engineering (the geeks, that is) which functions they use on their cell phones. Talking, texting, and the alarm clock were used by 80 to 90 percent of those who responded. The calculator, camera, and “backlight as flashlight” were used by around 50 percent. Far less important were the Internet browser, the music player, the e-mail reader, and GPS, at around 3 percent.

When asked what features they wanted in a cell phone, students ranked long battery life and water resistance at the top, then GPS features right after that. Maybe it’s just cool to have a cell phone that can do GPS, even though you never use it.

When asked what might prevent a student from buying a phone with an array of cool features, most students cited price, then durability and the quality of the service provider. So practical, these students. —Scott Carlson

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