December 2009

To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook

Facebook, the popular networking site, has 350 million members worldwide who, collectively, spend 10 billion minutes there every day, checking in with friends, writing on people's electronic walls, clicking through photos and generally keeping pace with the drift of their social world. But many teenagers, especially girls, are recognizing the huge distraction Facebook presents — the hours it consumes every day, to say nothing of the toll it takes during finals and college applications, according to parents, teachers and the students themselves. Some teenagers form a support group to enforce their Facebook hiatus. Others deactivate their accounts. Still others ask someone they trust to change their password and keep control of it until they feel ready to have it back.

New Programs Aim to Lure Young Into Digital Jobs

Hybrid careers that combine computing with other fields will increasingly be the new American jobs of the future, labor experts say. In other words, the nation's economy is going to need more cool nerds. But not enough young people are embracing computing — often because they are leery of being branded nerds. Educators and technologists say two things need to change: the image of computing work, and computer science education in high schools. Teacher groups, professional organizations like the Association for Computing Machinery and the National Science Foundation are pushing for these changes, but so are major technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Intel. One step in their campaign came the week of Dec. 7, National Computer Science Education Week, which was celebrated with events in schools and online. Today, introductory courses in computer science are too often focused merely on teaching students to use software like word processing and spreadsheet programs, said Janice C. Cuny, a program director at the National Science Foundation. The Advanced Placement curriculum, she added, concentrates narrowly on programming. "We're not showing and teaching kids the magic of computing," Ms. Cuny said. The agency is working to change this by developing a new introductory high school course and seeking to overhaul Advanced Placement courses as well. It hopes to train 10,000 high school teachers in the modernized courses by 2015.

As Phones Do More, They Become Targets of Hacking

Mobile phones are becoming ever more like personal computers. That means they are also becoming more vulnerable to traditional computer menaces like hackers and viruses. And where there are perceived security threats, there are always entrepreneurs and investors looking to capitalize on them — and build profitable businesses.

The Virtual Visit May Expand Access to Doctors

Americans could soon be able to see a doctor without getting out of bed, in a modern-day version of the house call that takes place over the Web. OptumHealth, a division of UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest health insurer, plans to offer NowClinic, a service that connects patients and doctors using video chat, nationwide next year. It is introducing it state by state, starting with Texas, but not without resistance from state medical associations. OptumHealth believes NowClinic will improve health care by ameliorating some of the stresses on the system today, like wasted time dealing with appointments and insurance claims, a shortage of primary care physicians and limited access to care for many patients. But some doctors worry that the quality of care that patients receive will suffer if physicians neglect one of the most basic elements of health care: a physical exam.

Technology becomes friendlier to older generations

Despite the challenge of learning a new language and a new way of doing things, for many seniors, using the Web, e-mailing, Skyping the grandkids, playing video games and tapping out Facebook updates from their iPhones have become everyday activities. "As each year passes by, the demographic starts getting more and more comfortable with the technology," said Howard Byck, senior vice president for lifestyle products for AARP. And technology appears to be getting more comfortable going a little gray too. Entrepreneurs and researchers are stepping up developing products and services for seniors, including high-tech walking canes with gyroscopes and Internet-based services that encourage social networking.

Citadel Broadcasting Files For Bankruptcy Protection (updated with new links)

Citadel Broadcasting, the nation's third-largest radio broadcasting company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday in an effort to restructure its hefty debt load as it continues to face declining advertising revenue. Citadel owns and operates 224 radio stations in all major markets and produces news and talk radio programing for 4,000 station affiliates and 8,500 program affiliates. Citadel's WABC is home to several syndicated hosts, including Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Joe Scarborough and Mark Levin. In documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Las Vegas-based Citadel listed total assets at Oct. 30 of $1.4 billion and total debt of $2.46 billion. The company said in a statement it has reached an agreement with more than 60 percent of its lenders on a deal that would erase about $1.4 billion of debt in exchange for control of the company.

Hard Questions for the Broadband Stimulus Program

Under the terms of the Recovery Act the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is supposed to distribute $2.5 billion in total broadband stimulus funds. In July they said all of that was supposed to be allocated in the first tranche. So if the RUS is only sending out $400 million as part of this first disbursement, then knowing when the rest will become available, and the rules that will govern who gets it, is important. Both agencies are seeking input as to how to adjust the rules for the second tranche, so what happens to those who applied under the older rules thinking the first tranche was the only chance they had at RUS funds?

Public Access Policy Proceeding

As part of its proceeding on public access to published, federally funded research, on Monday December 21, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will ask the public to weigh in on such questions as: In what format should data be submitted in order to make it easy to search and retrieve information, and to make it easy for others to link to it? Are there existing digital standards for archiving and interoperability to maximize public benefit? How are these anticipated to change?

No Shield (Again)

[Commentary] Another year has passed with no federal shield law to protect journalists and their sources from overreaching prosecutors. The bill, which seemed at one time this year to be headed toward the president's desk after decades of near- and not-so-near misses, will almost certainly have to wait until next year. It is in part a victim of the current tussle over health care, which is occupying a lot of time and attention. But it is also a victim of Republican stalling and White House waffling. It is time for the Senate to join the House and pass a shield law. And while they are at it, they can follow the House's lead and pass the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act.

DirecTV: Leave Our Set-Top Out of It

DirecTV continues to argue that it should not be subjected to the same Federal Communications Commission regulations that require cable to let retail consumer electronics — like TiVo DVRs — access programming without a separate set-top box. The satellite-TV giant reiterated in a filing with the FCC last week that it should not be required to open its set-top boxes to allow consumer-electronics manufacturers to sell devices at retail that would be able to access its satellite TV programming along with other sources of video. In the Dec. 15 filing, DirecTV responded to the FCC's request for input on how Internet-delivered video and pay TV operators' services could be accessed through the same set-top box, and potentially further the national adoption of broadband. Specifically, the agency said it wanted to "spur the development of a retail market for nationally portable video devices that will work across all delivery platforms, including MVPD [multichannel video programming distribution] platforms and broadband-based video platforms." The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has long advocated an "all-MVPD solution" that would work across cable, satellite and telco TV — an approach also favored by consumer-interest groups.

Benton

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