'Net addiction': More 'patients'

Some mental-health professionals are calling it "Internet addiction disorder," others are calling it a fad. Whatever, it's increasingly in the news. Citing Dr. Hilarie Cash's practice in Redmond, Wash., the New York Times reports that she and other specialists treating this problem (e.g., Dr. Kimberly Young in Bradford, Pa., and Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack in Belmont, Mass.) - which skeptics like Prof. Sara Kiesler at Carnegie Mellon U. contrast to actual physiological addictions - are estimating that 6-10% of the US's some 189 million Net users "have a dependency that can be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction." Even more key, it appears to me, is the view that "a majority of obsessive users are online to further addictions to gambling or pornography or have become much more dependent on those vices because of their prevalence on the Internet." The Net's downside in this area is summed up in these key phrases: affordability, accessibility, opportunity for anonymity, and an alternative reality. The Times cites an inpatient program at Procter Hospital in Peoria, Ill., that treats cocaine and Net addicts in the same therapy groups. [Parents might want to know that Dr. Cash and other therapists told the Times they're seeing a growing number of young people as patients.] For further discussion, see the Christian Science Monitor, citing research showing that "40 million Americans regularly view Internet pornography, which accounts for $2.5 billion of the $12 billion US porn industry"; the Boston Globe's "The secret life of boys"; and the Times of Oman reprinting a pay-to-view article in the UK's The Independent on "Internet addiction."

Digital paperdolls

I loved paperdolls, but that may not be a totally fair description of imstar* because, to the teenagers it targets, it must be infinitely more compelling than its 2-dimensional predecessor. This is paperdolls of the digital generation - very multimedia, more personalizable by an order of magnitude. Imstar lets instant-messaging users design their own avatars (the "animated" character that represents them in their IMs), as well as their virtual clothes, and change them and their apparel anytime they want. What I mean by "design" is everything from the shape of the avatar's face and body to eye, skin, and hair color to the way she moves to various kinds of music. This takes online role-playing to a new level. What I mean by "animated," which is so Minnie Mouse-sounding, is PS2 or Xbox 360-style animation (there will soon be guy avatars too). The fashion-conscious IM-er can use "Imbucks" to try on and "buy" clothes at the "Galleria" for her avatar to put in her "Closet" (right now, Baby Phat is a partner, with more fashion brands to be added). She can also just swap clothes with people on her buddy list. But one of the biggest selling points, VP marketing Pamela Quandt told me in a phone interview, is "less misunderstanding." I thought this was interesting. "In testing, we saw that girls were sometimes nervous about how they were perceived by the user at the other end," Pam said, referring to the anxiety a lot of digital communicators have because body language and visual feedback don't exist in cyberspace. Instead of mere emoticons (e.g., smiley faces), "imstar gives you facial expressions *and* body animations," Pam said, "so users can really showcase how they're feeling." I suspect imstar parent Bandalong has started a trend, and this armchair IM anthropologist will definitely be watching animated IM-ing developments! [Imstar is free and has some parental controls. So far, it only works for Windows XP and 2000 users, but Bandalong says it's working on a Mac version.]

'Lost' & critical thinking

What has quickly become a cult TV show, ABC's "Lost," is a great tool for teaching media literacy. Take a Lost-related site a Washington Post article leads with, Oceanic-Air.com, and compare it with, say, Quantas.com.au or Lufthansa.com. Then surf through the other Lost links the Post provides, and make a list of ways you can tell which sites are what they say they are and which are bogus, and how you (or your kids or students) can tell which have accurate information and which have content worth some skepticism. Net-mom has a really useful page of links for critical-thinking development: "Who Says? Developing Web Literacy Skills." And if something tells you you've been fed a line on the Web or in email, there are sites that expose online hoaxes, such as Hoaxbusters.org, VMyths.com, and the one by US government's Office of Cybersecurity. [See this item about some research on critical thinking done at Wellesley College in 2003.]

Truly inspiring blogging

One person's blog, ShaketheQuake and the handful of volunteers behind it, has probably helped thousands of Pakistan's earthquake victims by aiding the coordination of convoys of supplies to the stricken areas, Reuters reports. It started with a post-quake phone text message from a friend to blogger Zohare Haider in Islamabad, saying they should figure out how to help. They and other friends got together at the message-sender's house. "Within hours, the group had scraped together 12 truckloads of food, blankets, medicine and supplies, and almost 30 million Pakistani rupees, and were on their way to Balakot in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province." Many convoys and blog posts later, Haider, who then worked for communications multinational Nortel, has since quit to work for an aid organization because of the way his volunteer work changed his life. Haider's isn't the only Pakistan-based blog inspired by similarly substantive ones that developed out of the tsunami disaster. Reuters also links to "South Asia Quake Help."

The Fly: 'Hot' tech toy

The Fly is a fat ballpoint pen+computer that's infinitely more interesting to kids than it sounds, reports David Pogue at the New York Times, and it appears to be among the "hottest toys" of this holiday season. Here, too, is USATODAY's review of The Fly. From the educational toymakers of LeapPad fame, the Fly, which targets 8-to-14-year-olds is actually *fun* ed tech that does a mind-numbing number of things (see David's paragraph that starts with "STAGGERING possibilities"). On p. 2 he writes, "when it comes to children's technology, a sort of post-educational age has dawned. Last year, Americans bought only one-third as much educational software as they did in 2000. Once highflying children's software companies have dwindled or disappeared." So he's rooting for this exception to the current rule, though its wonderful-ness has a few exceptions too (search for "flies in the ointment" on p. 2). What I wonder is, will your kids be as starry-eyed about The Fly as David's panel of young testers were? The last LeapFrog product I gave my child was not a big hit with him and I didn't want to make him play/read with it - but we may be the exception to *that* rule (and The Fly has lots more bells 'n' whistles). Let me know what your kids think of The Fly, if they try it.

Fun teen gift idea

Now here's an affordable idea for the media-minded teenager on your holiday gift list, courtesy of the Washington Post: a $20 piece of software called Xingtone that "allows users to create custom cell phone ringtones using tracks from their personal digital music libraries." Pick your latest favorite song and use the software's simple sound-edit tool to shorten it and fade in and out, then send it to your phone. The site has a long list of supported phones and carriers (unfortunately, Verizon isn't among them). Brilliant concept, since teenagers love to personalize their media and communications tools (but I know a few adults who'd have a lot of fun with this too).

IM worms becoming real pests

They're multiplying like rabbits. The number of worms attacking instant-messaging were up 226% this month over October, hitting a new record, CNET reports. "Of the worms, 58 were variants of previous pests, and four were new," CNET said, citing IM security firm Akonix figures. These worms are more flexible (or "interoperable") than the services themselves, since more than a third of the attacks hit two IM services and 14% hit all four major ones - AIM, MSN and Yahoo Messengers, and ICQ. Also this month, 14 worm attacks hit file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and eDonkey, Akonix found. Tell your kids to be very careful about what they download or click on in IMs - even if they look like they're coming from a buddy (the buddy's PC could be infected and sending out automated IMs). The best precaution is to be sure that friend's online, then open a new conversation with him or her to check with them about what they seem to be sending.