Scoop Blog

Confessions of a tech junkie

scarrigan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:55:42 +0000

Our columnist Eamonn Carey is a self-confessed tech junkie. He knows he’s got a problem, and he’s getting ready to go cold turkey. I am obsessed. I check my email first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I am like a drug addict. When I get even faintly distracted, during a lull in conversation, I’ll almost unconsciously reach for my phone and check my Twitter stream.Studies have shown …

Escaping the Information Overload

scarrigan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:55:42 +0000

Roy Wells is not alone. As the President of Triad Strategies, one of Pennsylvania’s leading public affairs/lobbying/communications companies, Wells networks for a living. And while that may put him on another level of communication, he is far from the only person who dedicates a significant portion of their day to social media. ‘I have a personal Facebook page, personal Twitter profile, a Linkedin …

How do you apply The Principle of Relevance to an overflowing inbox? Managing Information Overload

scarrigan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:55:42 +0000

(SkyNewswire.com)— I have been asked how to apply The Principle of Relevance to daily practical problems, and one of the main practical problems we all face is that of the daily management of our inbox. So how do you apply “The Principle of Relevance” to an overflowing inbox? How do you avoid wasting time by sending irrelevant emails? The usual immediate reaction to an overload of email is trying …

Warning Signs of Information Overload

scarrigan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:55:42 +0000

File this under what we expected was probably the case but didn’t know for sure: Relentless bursts of information impede our ability to focus. For kids, the toll is even more dire. The New York Times reports that for children whose brains are still developing, constant use of technolgy makes it difficult to set priorities, among other things: Connor’s troubles started late last year. He could …

How Do We Stop the Internet From Making Us Stupid?

scarrigan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:55:42 +0000

When it comes to focus, turning on the spotlight may not matter as much as our ability to dim the ambient light. Nicholas Carr argued on Saturday in The Wall Street Journal that the Internet is making us dumber and on Monday The New York Times had a front-page feature on the mental price we pay for our multi-tasked lifestyles. If we are indeed losing our ability to think deeply, the key to fighting …

Juggling e-mail, phone calls can change how people think and behave

scarrigan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:55:42 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO: When one of the most important e-mail messages of his life landed in his in-box a few years ago, Kord Campbell overlooked it. Not just for a day or two, but 12 days. He finally saw it while sifting through old messages: A big company wanted to buy his Internet start-up. The message had slipped by him amid an electronic flood: two computer screens alive with e-mail, instant messages, …

Too much technology: Was Obama right?

scarrigan — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:57:12 +0000

‘And with iPods and iPads; and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.’ US President Barack Obama spoke these words at a graduation speech to the Hampton University class of 2010. It only took a day for the World Wide Web to erupt, …

Industry web site tackles information overload

scarrigan — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:57:11 +0000

A consortium of IT companies, legal firms and other organisations has launched a web site designed to help UK businesses better understand the risks associated with the growth of information. InfoRiskAwareness provides information such as news, blogs, Q&As, whitepapers and newsletters to help promote ‘a better understanding of the risks associated with electronic information’. Craig Carpenter, …

Information overload for diners?

scarrigan — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:57:11 +0000

Walk into a restaurant these days and you might be able to check the calorie count of your enchilada, the salt content of your fries, the heart healthy status of your asiago peppercorn steak and in at least one pioneering place the carbon footprint of your vegetable lasagna. Welcome to the era of the menu as a spreadsheet.More restaurants, either by mandate or by choice, are bombarding diners with …

Information overload to exceed predictions

scarrigan — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:57:11 +0000

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk , Friday 14 May 2010 at 08:02:00 Companies need to prepare for avalanche of traffic, warns IDC An IDC analyst has warned that upcoming estimates of the explosion in data traffic are hugely underestimated. IDC analyst Frank Gens warned at the Citrix Synergy 2010 event that the… …