NASA’s video game. Caffeine’s harmful effect on pregnant women. America’s economic concession. Digital Journal presents the top stories in technology, science, health, environment and much more.
Technology & Internet
You’ve heard about Web 2.0. But what about Web 3.0 and the potential to bring Internet networks to any environment, anytime? It’s a project currently undertaken by European researchers to “create a web where users can spontaneously create their own networks, in minutes, and with any kind of data device,” as Bob Ewing informed us.
Piggybacking on a neighbour’s Wi-Fi connection and inviting them to join a “community network,” for example, is an idea that could spread virally across the world and reinvent how the Internet is used.
What other articles touched on tech and Net issues? Apple’s iPhone and T-Mobile’s Sidekick phones have become popular thief targets, MadMoneyWannabe found; NASA is planning a virtual video game, cgull reported (complete with motion sickness?); hackers are quietly blacking out cities outside the U.S., prompting fears of a new kind of cyber-terrorism, Susan Duclos wrote; and HBO joined a growing list of TV networks who want to strengthen their online offerings, even though HBO on Broadband poses some serious limitations.
Health & Science
Got a stressful job? Then you might be more likely to suffer from heart disease than the worker who’s anxiety-free in the workplace. So reported a new study from University College in London, which also found that stress at work is associated with unhealthy tendencies such as smoking and eating fast food. As Planet Janet mused: “What good is a good job, if it will eventually kill you?
Several other health and science stories are worth a read: cellphone radiation can disrupt your sleep, cgull reported; the birth control pill has been linked to lowering ovarian cancer in women, momentsintime wrote; high levels of mercury were found in tuna sushi in New York restaurants, Wanderlaugh reported; and a respirology study discovered that lung disease occurs 20 years earlier in marijuana tokers compared to cigarette smokers, Bob Ewing told us. So is High Times just promoting breathing problems or Purple Haze bud?
World
It’s breaking news, no matter what side of the border you live: Canada withdrew its support from the 2009 anti-racism conference in Durban, citing scheduling procedures that conflict with Jewish holiday dates, as Susan Duclos reported. This story isn’t going away soon, so it’ll be interesting to see if any other nations follow Canada’s lead.
Stories from around the world peppered DigitalJournal.com: one of Osama Bin Laden’s sons expressed sadness for those killed on 9/11, malan wrote; not far from Bin Laden land, Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on women drivers, BoVandy said (it’s about time!); and Can Tran reported on how five million lives have been lost in Congo in the past 10 years. These Citizen Journalists gave us a varied survey of world affairs that the mainstream media tended to ignore.
TopFinds Awards
A cover-up. Intrigue. Government secrecy. FBI whistleblowers. The winner of this week’s TopJournalism Award had all these elements, and special kudos goes to Susan Duclos for penning such an exhaustive piece on a U.S. intelligence expose. She detailed several sources that found out how a U.S. official was selling sensitive military and nuclear information on the black market. The FBI denied any wrongdoing, and the feds made no effort to find the truth behind these controversial accusations. Susan said it best:
Protecting states secrets is vital to our National Security and exposing some of those secrets could do irreparable damage to our country, but failing to fully investigate an allegation of espionage against the U.S could potentially do even more damage.
So the U.S. economy is tanking and the government wants to soothe those wounds by offering a stimulus package. Well, Mike Tippitt is calling shenanigans on the cheques that will soon be in the mail. His opinion piece is so fiery and insightful, it takes home the TopOpEd Award this week, and deservedly so: he explained the folly over some ridiculous taxes, he described how the “middle class is getting hosed,” and he concluded with a call for change: “…next time your representatives come up for reelection, DON’T DO IT. Put someone else in their office and demand that they work for the people, not for bigger government.”
It’s not like Wanderlaugh has anything against Microsoft. But he takes the company to task for proprietary software and a lack of competition in the tech industry. His well-written rant wins the TopTech Award while also winning attention for his desire to see a change of scenery in the computer market. Kudos for Wanderlaugh to looking beyond the obvious business headlines of profit margins and Vista sales.
How do international commodity purchases affect the Amazon’s increasing deforestation? Find out in the TopEnvironment Award winner, written by our Brazilian correspondent Knight Shield. His article on the Brazil government’s slow response to the jungle clearing is worthwhile for anyone interested in how politicians often don’t make any preventive decisions to assist environmental concerns. Knight Shield also includes interesting info on the effects of a U.S. recession on the Amazon.
What happens when pregnant women ingest a lot of caffeine? Miscarriages can occur, UK researchers told the world, and Planet Janet informed the DigitalJournal.com community of this explosive news, taking home the TopHealth Award at the same time. This Citizen Journalist didn’t just report on the results of the study; she went beyond the call of duty by reporting advice from the Food Standards Agency and the British Coffee Association, giving us a well-rounded view of this important health story. Ironically enough, Planet Janet questioned the experts in the comments section, saying her son was born fine after she drank lots of black coffee while pregnant. It’s always healthy for a citizen journalist to report hard facts with a dose of skepticism.
