“Much has been written about the increase in loneliness and isolation that has accompanied the internet. This is said to be caused by shallow online friendships which are no substitute for genuine relationships. Being exposed to the heavily curated lives of others on social media has also been found to create feelings of depression and anxiety in some people.
A recent academic study provides a more nuanced view, revealing that rather than leading to misery, the internet has made people happier. This is especially the case for the elderly and those with health problems who would otherwise have limited contact with a wider community. “
I’ve long argued that the studies showing people who use the internet were more likely to be depressed were not catching the whole picture. Clearly it’s not just internet usage, but how we are connecting with others online that is impacting our mental health. I like that this study shows us that there are people out there using the internet to connect to others and improve their lives.
Discussion over at Lockergnome about Google’s ability to locate people when you type in their telephone number. If you read the comments it’s obvious that I think the whole thing is overblown, and things like this are being used by certain people to scare people about using the internet. What do you think? I’ll be…
Apple released an update to iOS 9 on Thursday—iOS 9.3.5—that patches multiple critical zero-day vulnerabilities that have been shown to already have been deployed, allegedly by governments to target activists and dissidents, according to a report from Citizen Lab and Lookout Security. Apple turned around an update within 10 days from when the company received…
The Association of internet Professionals closed up shop on Oct. 3. Funny thing is, I saw the local chapter booth at ITEC on the 15th! Wouldn’t you think an association of internet folks would have gotten the news quicker than that? I’m just saying is all. (link via Backup Brain) Lockergnome relaunched yesterday, with a…
“For example, Schneier and other experts testified that the same poor security exists in computers making their way into hospitals, including those used to manage elevators and ventilation systems. It’s not hard to imagine a fatal disaster, which makes it imperative that the government step in to fix this “market failure,” he said. The problems…
These results from the 2018 ABA Legal Technology Survey are not at all good, given how much information is laying around law firms these days. “Less than half of the responding firms have the following policies or plans that are important facets of a law firm’s security posture: computer acceptable use policy (41%); remote access…
If I had to guess, I think most people, when asked about “deepfakes”, if they are concerned at all, are concerned about elections, political fakes, or famous people being taken down by fake videos. We aren’t thinking about phishing, and yet, in a time when many companies are struggling with employees who can’t seem tor…
