The Study Ball - and Chain!
Attention, frustrated parents!
Are you tired of trying to get your children to study?
Introducing "Study Ball, the gadget for students
It’s the ideal gadget for students who have trouble concentrating. This prison-style ball and chain with built-in timer will help them study."
Now you can attach the 21 pound ball to your student's ankle and program the manacle to release when study time is up - no more than four hours. [Parent's have a release key]
According to
http://www.curiosite.com[_new]www.curiosite.com the ball is also helpful for adults who have trouble concentrating - and should not be used by children without adult supervision. [you think?] The item is made of steel, runs on three batteries, and costs $115.
According to the website, the item is not currently available. The question of the hour - have they sold out to desperate parents or have authorities decided this item has huge potential for all kinds of abuse and pulled it?
I've posted this under humor, and as an esoteric gag gift it's amusing. Attached to a child it becomes horrifying. And since I, for one, have no faith in the general populace to decide what's appropriate parenting techniques - I'm glad it's not available!
But it wins today's "You've GOT to be kidding!" category!
Jumping into Social Media
by Cyndi Paxton Johnson
Every five to ten years the rules change - and we eventually change to accommodate them. Remember when we first discovered the internet? It started out as a way to chat with all kinds of people - and now it's THE primary mode of communication for most businesses. If you're in business - you need a website! It's also the FIRST source for information - about anything! (it's even faster to look up a word on dictionary.com than it is to dig out the actual dictionary!)
The last couple years have seen a HUGE influx into social networking - applications such as Digg, Facebook and Twitter. They also started out as a way to connect with friends (remember MySpace?) and are now being used by more and more businesses and non-profit groups!
It's all about connections.
On a purely personal level - social media helps me stay in touch with a wider range of friends, colleagues and community members. I've reconnected with childhood friends, old neighbors and fellow grad students through the wide net social media casts. I've also made new friends - many of whom I've never met in person - but we now share a relationship that includes mutual support and advice.
I primarily use Facebook and Twitter - and heartily recommend both! Many folks tell me they don't have time to add yet another item on their to-do list - but it doesn't have to take a lot of your time! (note - it can be addicting, especially at first. You have to be careful about the pure time-wasters [games, quizzes, etc], unless you have time to waste!)
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