Internet addiction syndrome in Britain
A new phrase ‘discomgoogolation‘ has been coined to refer to the syndrome of stress and anxiety resulting from the failure to access web. With the advancement of Information technology, the whole knowledge bank is so easily accessible that it is causing internet addiction.
Commissioned by information service 118118, the YouGov study conducted a survey on 2100 British people and concluded that 44% of them undergo stress and anxiety when they can’t access their internet connections. Psychologist Dr David Lewis, who monitored heart rates and brainwave activity to identify the syndrome stated, “The proliferation of broadband has meant for the first time in history we’ve entered a culture of instant answers- a galaxy of information is just a mouse click away and we have become addicted to the web.”
Besides, 19% of the people were found to spend more time online than with their family in a week. Some people reportedly said that they would miss internet more than their friends as contact with friends is made possible by social networking sites through internet. The survey also pointed out the fact that internet has become very much a part and parcel of the daily life, so much so that 76 percent of them could not live without it.
<%image(20080903-internet_addiction.jpg|400|265|null)%>
Yahoo extends deadline for board nominations
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said on Wednesday it will extend the deadline for nominating directors to its board, seeking more time to explore alternatives to a $41 billion buyout offer from Microsoft Corp.
The deadline for nominations will be extended from March 14 to 10 days following the announcement of the date for Yahoo’s annual shareholders’ meeting, the company said. It has not announced a date for the shareholders’ meeting.
The extension will allow Yahoo’s board “to continue to explore all of its strategic alternatives for maximizing value for stockholders without the distraction of a proxy contest,” it said.
<%image(20080306-yahoo2.jpg|192|135|)%>
Yahoo activates smart mobile bookmarks
HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc, still fending off a $41 billion takeover bid by Microsoft Corp, unveiled a cell phone tool on Tuesday that lets users keep up with their favorite topics using dynamic bookmarks.
OnePlace, to be launched in the second quarter, allows users to mark links, news feeds or search results that lead them to, for example, the latest information on flight arrivals, sports results or friends’ Facebook postings.
Bookmarking tools are not new — Yahoo’s del.icio.us is one — but Yahoo says it has reinvented bookmarking for phones, given their small screens and different user requirements, with placeholders linked to updated info instead of a fixed page.
<%image(20080305-yahoo3.jpg|94|155|)%>
Read more…
Yahoo big investors may back Microsoft
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Most of Yahoo Inc’s top institutional shareholders may be more interested in making sure Microsoft Corp does not overpay for the Web pioneer, because they have more money invested in the bigger software maker, a research report said on Friday.
Financial risk management analysis company RiskMetrics Group found that close to 90 percent of Yahoo’s institutional shareholders have a cross-holding in Microsoft, including most of the top 20 — and generally have significantly more money invested in Microsoft.
The two companies are at a stand-off in Microsoft’s $41.7 billion unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo. Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo for $31 a share in cash and stock, a bid which Yahoo’s board rejected, saying it undervalued the company.
<%image(20080216-yahoo.jpg|192|133|)%>
Read more…
Yahoo set to rebuff Microsoft bid as too low
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc is set to reject Microsoft Corp’s unsolicited bid, now worth $42 billion, as too low, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Saturday — the first clear signal the board might be prepared to negotiate and sell the Internet media giant.
The Wall Street Journal had quoted an unnamed source as saying Microsoft’s offer of $31 per share was an attempt to “steal” the company and that Yahoo was unlikely to consider anything under $40 per share — double its price in January.
At $40 per share, the value of the cash and stock deal would be worth $51.1 billion.
<%image(20080211-yahoo.jpg|192|128|)%>
Read more…
Google, Yahoo software moves may fuel Microsoft bid
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Business software units of Yahoo Inc and Google Inc are introducing beefed-up versions of their Web-based software that compete with Microsoft Outlook, offering yet another clue why Microsoft Corp made a $45 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo.
While Microsoft views Yahoo as its path into the lucrative Web advertising market dominated by Google, Tuesday’s software announcements by Yahoo and Google demonstrate that Microsoft also needs to fend off potential challenges to its business software franchises.
<%image(20080206-internet.jpg|192|141|)%>
Read more…
Internet helps doctor get back to basics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dr. Howard Stark’s office is quiet. Very quiet. No patients sit in his waiting room. No receptionist answers the telephone. Stark does not have a receptionist.
Instead, he and his assistant Michele Norris-Bell check e-mail alerts on handheld devices and — between seeing patients in person — on a desktop computer.
Stark has moved most of his practice, based in Washington, onto the Internet and he couldn’t be happier. Since he started his Web-based service two years ago, he has received 14,000 e-mails.
<%image(20080128-Internet.jpg|192|136|)%>
Read more…
Airtel Re 1 offer for all prepaid
Airtel has extended its offer of Re 1 per minute for local calls to all prepaid lifetime customers.
With this, all Airtel prepaid lifetime customers — both new as well as existing ones — will be charged Re 1 for every local call. Existing customers on other plans, whose tariff is more than Re 1 per minute will be automatically migrated to the revised tariff of Re 1 per minute.
Earlier this month, Airtel had announced its Re 1 per minute offer only for its Rs 495 lifetime prepaid customers. But now, all prepaid lifetime customers can enjoy the Re 1 call rate.
<%image(20080125-Airtel 1.jpg|150|150|)%>
Read more…
Sales fall spells gloom for music industry
The music industry faced more bleak news yesterday as official figures showed that revenues from all recorded music shrank 10 per cent last year.
The data released by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the industry trade body, show that the growth in digital downloads slowed in 2007 and failed to compensate for crashing CD sales.
The figures will make depressing reading for music executives as they gather for MIDEM, the industry’s biggest annual conference in Cannes tonight.
<%image(20080125-digital_music.jpg|200|150|)%>
Read more…
Memorial Web sites accused of “romanticizing death”
LONDON (Reuters) - A British MP accused popular networking Web sites of “romanticizing death” on Wednesday after the suicides of seven young people in the last year around a small town in South Wales.
While police have denied media reports of an Internet suicide cult, they are checking email, online discussions and text messages exchanged by teenagers around Bridgend.
Reports said that several of the young victims had hanged themselves after spending hours chatting with friends on the Internet.
<%image(20080124-Memorial web site.jpg|192|190|)%>
Read more…