Students find call of gadgets irresistible

THREE out of four of Singapore's tech-mad youngsters may be just a bit too fond of their electronic gadgets, suffering physically and socially as a result.

In a survey of 600 polytechnic and university students, three-quarters admitted to constantly fiddling with their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets.

Many of the respondents aged 17 to 25 checked their phones or laptops every few seconds, and took those gadgets with them wherever they went.

More than two in five, for instance, took their mobile phones everywhere - including the toilet. And one in 50 respondents admitted to getting chided 'all the time' for ignoring those around them in favour of their gadgets.

Miss Christine Tan, a final-year undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, said her four-man team decided to look into the issue because 'we saw it in ourselves and our peers...where nothing else matters when we are on our gadgets'.

While technology had many proven benefits, like allowing users to work away from the office and increasing productivity, Miss Tan and her team wanted to red-flag what they believed was a rise in the number of young people so compulsively dependent on their gadgets that they suffered negative side effects.

The most obvious were physical pains such as aches in the head, neck and thumbs.

Raffles Hospital clinical director for pain management, Dr Ho Kok Yuen, said he had seen an increase in the number of younger people suffering from chronic pain - a condition earlier seen only in people aged 60 and above.

'Most people who continue using their gadgets do not realise that their usage patterns can have a very serious impact on their physical well-being,' said Dr Ho.

Those with the condition, which is increasingly being referred to as 'gadget over-dependency', may be affected in less obvious ways as well.

According to a New York Times article, those constantly exposed to a deluge of information find themselves unable to focus on tasks at hand, and also face increased stress.

Long-term exposure to a constant diet of text messages, Facebook updates and Twitter posts, say neuroscientists in the Times report, can 'rewire' human brains to the point that key areas such as analytical ability and creativity might potentially be impaired.

Compulsive usage, said psychologist Nicholas Lim, also 'robs you of the ability to know what controls you and what you control'.

This has the ring of familiarity for private school student Lynn Lim, 22.

'A few years ago, I was at an interview for a part-time job, and there was an alert on my phone. I took it out, checked the message and replied because that is what I always do. When I looked up, the look on the interviewer's face was priceless... No, I didn't get the job.

From ST

THE END for the BOOK?

Borders closes 200 shops as it files for bankruptcy

US bookseller Borders has said it will close 200 of its 642 stores in the next few weeks and has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The firm blamed declining sales and a rapidly changing book market.

According to documents filed with the bankruptcy court in New York, Borders had $1.28bn (£799m) in assets and $1.29bn in debts as of December 2010.

The firm has struggled in the face of fierce competition from supermarkets, online sales and digital books.

"It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and the company's lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor," said Borders president Mike Edwards in a statement.

Borders will receive financing of $505m from GE Capital to help it restructure.

Declining sales

As the book industry evolves, Borders has continued with a business strategy that focused on adding more stores to its portfolio.

"Books and content just became so available at so many other locations, online and offline, the 'grow, rinse, repeat' mindset just wouldn't work anymore," said Michael Norris, analyst at Simba Information.

In addition, US book sales have been falling.

According to researcher Nielsen, which follows 70% of the US book market, book sales declined from 751 million to 717 million in 2010.

Borders was founded by Tom and Louis Border in 1971 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

It was active in the UK market from 1998 to 2009, first as a subsidiary of the US company and later as an independent concern before going into administration.

Chinese online gamer dies after three-day session

A Chinese man has died after a three-day online gaming session in which he did not sleep and barely ate, reports say.

The man reportedly lost consciousness at an internet cafe on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, Beijing.

He was rushed to a clinic but could not be revived, the Beijing Times said.

The 30-year-old man, who was not identified, was said to have spent more than 10,000 yuan ($1,500; £928) on gaming in the month before his death.

China has more than 450 million internet users, and online games - which can involve multiple users role-playing in a virtual world - are particularly popular with young men.

Researchers say tens of millions of Chinese people - many of them teenagers - are addicted to internet gaming, despite curbs introduced by the authorities aimed at tackling the problem.

Similar deaths have occurred in other nations. In 2005 a 28-year-old man died in South Korea after playing online games for 50 hours without a break.

From BBC

Catholic church gives blessing to iPhone app

The Catholic Church has approved an iPhone app that helps guide worshippers through confession.
The Confession program has gone on sale through iTunes for £1.19 ($1.99).

Described as "the perfect aid for every penitent", it offers users tips and guidelines to help them with the sacrament.

Now senior church officials in both the UK and US have given it their seal of approval, in what is thought to be a first.

The app takes users through the sacrament - in which Catholics admit their wrongdoings - and allows them to keep track of their sins.

It also allows them to examine their conscience based on personalised factors such as age, sex and marital status - but it is not intended to replace traditional confession entirely.

Instead, it encourages users to understand their actions and then visit their priest for absolution.

"Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology," Patrick Leinen of developer Little iApps told Reuters.

The launch comes shortly after Pope Benedict XVI gave urging to Christians to embrace digital communication and make their presence felt online.

In his World Communications Address on 24 January, he said it was not a sin to use social networking sites - and particularly encouraged young Catholics to share important information with each other online.

"I invite young people above all to make good use of their presence in the digital world," he said.

He warned them to keep in mind that digital communication was part of a bigger picture, however.

"It is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives."

Confession's developers, who are based in Indiana, said they took the Pope's words to heart when they were preparing the application for public consumption.

"Our goal with this project is to offer a digital application that is truly 'new media at the service of the word'," said the company.

The firm said the app was developed with assistance from several priests and had been given the church's imprimatur by Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne in Indiana.

A spokesperson from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales told BBC News the app was a "useful tool to help people prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation".

"The Church believes in embracing new technology and this creative app will hopefully help people to make a good confession."

It is thought to be the first time the church has approved a mobile phone application, although it is not entirely unfamiliar with the digital world.

In 2007, the Vatican launched its own YouTube channel.

Two years later created a Facebook application that lets users send virtual postcards featuring the pontiff.

From BBC

Leaders of indigenous Amazon tribes hand a petition to Brazil's government opposing construction of a massive hydro-electric dam.

Hundreds of indigenous Brazilians are protesting in the capital, Brasilia, against the construction of what will be the world's third biggest hydro-electric dam. An indigenous leader delivered a petition opposing the project signed by more than half a million people. Environmentalists say the dam in the Amazon river basin will harm the world's biggest tropical rainforest.Brazilian Energy Minister Edison Lobao said construction would begin soon.
Mr Lobao said the population which would be affected by the Belo Monte dam would be compensated and resettled.But indigenous leader Raoni said he was convinced the dam would bring "bad things" to his tribe's villages.'There'll be war'

"We don't want Belo Monte because it will destroy our rivers, our jungle and our way of life," he added.
Another tribal leader said he and his tribe had not been given enough information about the project.
Ireo Kayapo said that if his tribe were to be driven from its land, "there'll be war and blood will be spilled".
Wearing their traditional headdresses, tribal leaders delivered a petition signed by more than 600,000 people demanding the government scrap the $10bn project.
Licenses still have to be granted for the actual building of the plant, but last month Brazilian environment agency Ibama gave the go-ahead for the clearing of the land at the site of the planned dam.
The government says the Belo Monte dam is crucial for development and will create jobs, as well as provide electricity to 23 million homes.
The 11,000-megawatt dam would be the biggest in the world after the Three Gorges in China and Itaipu, which is jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay.
It has long been a source of controversy, with bidding halted three times before the state-owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco was awarded the contract last year.
Celebrities such as the singer Sting and film director James Cameron have joined environmentalists in their campaign against the project.
They say the 6km (3.7 miles) dam will threaten the survival of a number of indigenous groups and could make some 50,000 people homeless, as 500 sq km (190 sq miles) of land would be flooded.



From BBC

Singaporeans vs Lexus

The S'porean identity in a globalised era by Debbie Soon, For The Straits Times

IN HIS book Lexus And The Olive Tree, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that there are two countervailing forces in globalisation.

On the one hand, there is 'Lexus', which stands for modernisation. And on the other, there is the 'olive tree', which represents the human need for identity and belonging.

Globalisation often introduces a sense of dislocation. The challenge is how these two countervailing forces can be balanced. Singapore has to balance its global city aspirations with its citizens' need for a sense of rootedness.

Singapore has opened its arms to globalisation. Many Singaporeans have ventured abroad and made successful careers for themselves. The country has also opened its doors to foreign talent, to address flagging birth rates and an ageing population. But many Singaporeans feel a sense of displacement as a result of the influx of foreigners, used as they are to being greeted by a familiar local face at the hawker centre or a familiar local accent at the supermarket.

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) conducted a survey in December 2009 to assess how Singapore citizens were coping with the economic recession. When asked to choose as many as they wished of the six social and psychological strategies of support listed in the survey, 53 per cent of respondents said they would lower their expectations, 48 per cent that they would change their mindsets, 32 per cent strengthen family bonds, and 12 per cent turn to religion. In the search for a sense of surety in the uncertain times brought on by globalisation, Singaporeans will turn to kith and kin and their religion.

Will the identity for Singaporeans change as globalisation continues? How will Singaporeans define themselves in terms of the communal, local or global?

On the level of the communal, it is a natural instinct of human beings to draw close to their ethnic, religious or familial community. There are signs indicating the continuing importance of racial and religious identity in the hearts and minds of Singaporeans.

Where religion is concerned, the evidence ranges from reports of Christian groups scrambling for worship space to the decision by Taoist leaders to conduct a census of their followers to register their growing membership. And where race is concerned, there was the campaign waged by bicultural Chinese against reducing the weightage of the mother tongue in the PSLE, and the concerns expressed by Malays that their community might be shrinking following the release of the advance census data.

Where the family is concerned, the conclusion of the 2009 State of the Family report by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and National Family Council suggests that most Singaporeans have strong family ties.

At the national level, the 2009 IPS National Orientations of Singaporeans Survey, which measured the emotional bonds of Singapore citizens, found healthy and stable levels of national pride and loyalty.

Singaporeans have managed to combine communal and national identities. The sense of racial and religious identity can in fact bolster the sense of nationhood. Thus, Singapore has so far successfully managed to subsume race and religion into its national identity. As such, there is largely no conflict between racial or religious identity and national identity.

Racial and religious ties build what Professor Robert Putnam of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government calls 'bonding social capital' by bringing people together on the basis of similarity. There is also a need to build 'bridging social capital' - which in Singapore's case means fostering better ties between individuals from different racial and religious backgrounds.

The universal nature of music, sport and even food provides platforms for the building of bridging social capital. The gradual broadening of space for political and artistic expression bodes well for the development of other identities.

On the global level, Singaporeans are exposed to cultures outside their country - through the Internet, cable television and other media. But the same technologies provide also the means to build stronger communal and national ties. It is now easier to keep in touch with friends, family and the local scene while abroad. Lexus has provided a means for growing bigger and stronger olive trees.

There is no question that Singaporeans will find something to hold on to as globalisation advances. The long lines for auditions with South Korean talent management company JYP and outside mega-churches, as well as strong demand for National Day Parade tickets, suggest that Singaporeans have managed to find a balance among their communal, local and global identities. The future of the Singaporean identity hinges on the mix we choose for ourselves.

The writer is a researcher with the Institute of Policy Studies.