web2.0

We've blogged before about tools for visualising social networks, for instance who met who at a conference and this tool to visualise election donations, and written about analyses of whole country's social networks.

The BBC is under fire from one of the biggest ISPs in the UK - Tiscali - which is demanding money from the broadcaster to recoup the costs of serving users of the BBC's popular TV streaming service, iPlayer.I find it hard to understand why Tiscali thinks it should receive money - other than the possibility that it perceives the BBC as an easy target.The BBC estimate that the service has increased the UK's use of bandwidth by between 3 and 5%. That is puny compared to the effect of peer-to-peer file sharing - much of which is illegal.

Our love of base ten makes round decades like 30, 40 and 50 loom large when making judgements about being "old". But new research suggests that online the aging process kicks in when you reach 25.Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen released the news earlier today:"Between the ages of 25 and 60, people's ability to use websites declines by 0.8% per year"That finding came from a study asking 61 users to perform a number of tasks involving gathering information online.

The debate about the risks posed by internet addiction has begun again with the publication of an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry on the topic.

Let's take a look at what Jerald Block said. He identifies three "subtypes" of internet addiction: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and e-mail/text messaging (not strictly internet, I know).

Want to know if you're addicted? He provides these four criteria:

1. Excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives
2. Withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible
3. Tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use
4. Negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue