Teens, Kids Consume 7.5 Hours of Media a Day

Like other new media, site beefs up brain if used wisely

(NEWSER) - It's fashionable to cry about how Twitter and other new forms of electronic media are making us intellectually lazy and downright stupid. In fact, the opposite is true, writes Harvard's Steven Pinker. "Don’t rail at PowerPoint or Google," he writes. "It’s not as if habits of deep reflection, thorough research and rigorous reasoning ever came naturally to people. They must be acquired in special institutions, which we call universities, and maintained with constant upkeep, which we call analysis, criticism and debate." More»

(NEWSER) - Amazon is set to introduce a tabloid-sized version of the Kindle tailored to display newspapers—just one of many e-readers in the pipe that just might toss a life-preserver to print journalism, the New York Times reports. In fact, Engadget expects the new Kindle to debut Wednesday at a press conference with the Times’ publisher. The industry is abuzz with expectations that the new reader could do for news what the iPod did for music. More»

(NEWSER) - Moms are leading the charge in taking text messaging beyond the teen set. Adolescents and adults in their forties and fifties are the two most active groups sending texts, the Washington Post reports. In the past two years, texting increased 130% among people 45 to 54, while text-saturated teens saw only a 41% bump. More»

PC World finds the funniest, most informative, and most esoteric sites

(NEWSER) - PC World chooses the best blogs in 10 categories:

1. Technology News: Slashdot (slashdot.org)
2. Specialty Tech Site: John Battele's Searchblog (battellemedia.com)
3. Company Watcher: Microsoft Watch (microsoft-watch.com)
4. Corporate Blog: The Official Google Blog (googleblog.blogspot.com)
5. Politics and Business: Policybeta (blog.cdt.org)

Internet tool used to raise awareness of atrocities in Sudan

(NEWSER) - Google Earth has teamed up with the Holocaust Museum to bring the realities of genocide to your MacBook. "Crisis in Darfur" employs Google Earth wizardry to help users visualize the scope of the atrocities currently unfolding in Sudan. Viewers can see over 1,600 damaged and destroyed villages up close. More»