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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: communication

communication stories: 32 news summaries

1 - 20 of 32 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Cell Phones May Raise Risk of Tumors: WHO Study

Lead researcher says kids' use should be restricted

Oct 24, 09 1:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - One of the most thorough reviews yet of the health risks of cell phones suggests that longtime users face a higher risk of brain tumors. The World Health Organization study is not definitive, but it bolsters the case that precautions make sense. The lead researcher tells the Telegraph she thinks... More »

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cancer • cell phones • public health • communication • cell phone industry • brain tumor • hands-free cell phone • women's issues

 Facebook 
 Refuseniks 
 Still Sorta 
 Use It 

They object in principle but end up using it by proxy

Oct 15, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Washington Post today profiles an increasingly rare breed: people in their 20s and 30s who don't use Facebook or other such sites. And though the “refuseniks” interviewed have different rationales—privacy, “morals and beliefs,” being “old-school in the personal touch way,” many share something... More »

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social networking • Internet • MySpace • Facebook • online privacy • communication • Twitter • Luddite

Google Gives Select Few a Taste of Wave

New communication tool isn't 'ready for primetime' yet

Sep 30, 09 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A hundred thousand lucky beta testers today got their hands on the much-hyped “Google Wave,” a communication app that Google’s calling “what email would look like if it were designed today.” Wave operates a little like a cross between email, instant messaging, and collaborative wikis,... More »

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Google • email • communication • Web apps • beta testing • Google Wave

OPINION

 Happy 40th, Internet (Maybe) 


Sep 2, 09 7:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forty years ago, two UCLA scientists exchanged data via computers, arguably making today the 40th anniversary of the birth of the Internet. "It would be more accurate to say some important seeds of the Internet sprouted with that data transfer," writes Stephen Shankland on CNET, but no matter.... More »

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Iran • Internet • communication • UCLA • Myanmar • cloud computing • World Wide Web • e-commerce

 Woman Gets PhD in Texting 

Philosophy thesis is first on text message communication

Aug 6, 09 7:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - A British graduate student has earned a PhD in texting—an academic first, Discover magazine reports. Caroline Tagg’s doctorate, more specifically, is in the philosophy of texting communication. Tagg studied 11,000 texts from 235 people over four years. Among the findings: The average text is 17.5 words,... More »

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cell phones • philosophy • communication • PhD • text message • texting • mobile phones

OPINION

Emailers Search for the Right Sign-Off 

Regards? 
Best? XOXO?
That's me, yo?

Aug 4, 09 9:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Saying goodbye at the end of an email, especially a business one, is a puzzling minefield of etiquette with no clear rules, Ruth McCann writes at the Washington Post. "Best" is becoming more popular, McCann observes, but many swear by the slightly stiff "Sincerely," while others still... More »

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email • communication • etiquette • letter

(Newser) - President Obama’s failure to get health-care reform on a faster track, despite early legislative victories, is a personal one, Sam Youngman writes in the Hill. “While it is shocking to consider that Obama is anything less than one of the best communicators in modern political history,” Youngman... More »

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Congress • Senate • House of Representatives • communication • health care reform • Obama administration • President Obama • political capital • Congressional Republicans

(Newser) - Cyborg bugs may sound like creatures in a Michael Bay movie, but they could save your life, New Scientist reports. The Pentagon is trying to implant electrodes in crickets and cicadas—which communicate via wingbeats—and program them to “speak” differently around certain chemicals. “The insect itself might... More »

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technology • Pentagon • cicadas • chemicals • communication • insects • electrodes • crickets • wings

COMMENTARY

Why One Mom Drew the Line
at Skype

Technology that brings us together can pull us apart, she writes

Jun 28, 09 2:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Today’s world of cellphones, tweets, and texts makes it possible to stay constantly in touch—but where do we draw the line between contact and privacy, connection and independence? When it comes to family intimacy over distance, that question comes into sharp relief, Peggy Orenstein reflects in the New ... More »

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cell phones • privacy • communication • Skype • texting • Twitter • women's issues

(Newser) - They can't quite Twitter, but plants have sophisticated means of communication nonetheless, reports the Telegraph. A new study suggests they use complex chemical signals to discuss both predators and pollinators. In one test, sagebrush shrubs whose neighbors had their leaves clipped, as if by grasshoppers, appeared to grow more resilient,... More »

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plants • gardening • communication • scientific research • botany

Int'l Pirate Patrols Spar With Language Barriers

Diverse crews learn to communicate

Jun 8, 09 2:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - The international fleet patrolling for pirates off the coast of Somalia is on guard against an oceanic traffic jam, too, the Military Times reports. One US admiral likened the problem to young soccer players swarming the ball, saying communications were necessary for an efficient response. There are three separate international... More »

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Somalia • Africa • US military • piracy • communication • navy • international • Combined Task Force 151

Skype Plans Voicemail-to-Text Service

Users will fork
over 25 cents
per message

Mar 3, 09 9:19 AM CST
(Newser) - Internet-telephone firm Skype will offer a service that converts voice messages into texts in any one of four languages, the company plans to announce today. But at 25 cents per text message—and with long voicemails running up to three texts—users’ costs could add up. And if a poor... More »

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Internet • communication • telecom • text message • Skype • voicemail

ANALYSIS

Free Market Rings Up 4B
Cell Phones Worldwide

6 in 10 connected, thanks to private biz

Mar 3, 09 2:37 AM CST
(Newser) - The global explosion in cell phone use is a timely reminder of what free markets can achieve, David A. Gross writes in the Christian Science Monitor. There are now more than 4 billion mobile connections worldwide, two-thirds of them in developing countries, according to a new UN report. This leap... More »

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cell phones • globalization • communication • telecommunications • cell phone industry • free markets • mobile phones

GLOSSIES

 Let's Stop Talking In Slogans 

Using language to communicate hampered by psychology of advertising

Dec 7, 08 12:44 PM CST
(Newser) - We live in a world of snappy slogans, but that may not be the best way to communicate, write Dan Heath and Chip Heath in Fast Company. "People need a reason to prefer Crest over Colgate," but those same people—that's us—shouldn't talk like toothpaste salesmen. "... More »

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advertising • marketing • communication • language • slogans

 Change He Can Believe: 
 No More BlackBerry 

High sensitivity makes presidential e-mailing unlikely

Nov 16, 08 9:25 AM CST
(Newser) - As president, Barack Obama will likely have to make the ultimate sacrifice: giving up his beloved BlackBerry. Obama and the device were literally attached at the hip during the campaign, and email was his main link to everything from political memos to White Sox updates, the New York Times reports.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
email • BlackBerry • communication • President Obama

UK Aims to Mine Facebook
in Fight on Crime, Terror

Criminals use chat features on social, game sites to hide conversations: authorities

Oct 15, 08 2:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - With social-networking, gaming, and video sites offering stealth chatting that criminals and terrorists exploit, the British government is moving to require such websites to collect and provide user data to authorities. Accessing chat contents would still require a specific warrant, but demographic information could help find pedophiles, kidnappers, drug traffickers,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • terrorism • intelligence • crime • police • Facebook • communication • Britain • Bebo

ANALYSIS

Palin's Winks
Unlikely
to Nudge Undecided

Controversy in the
blink of an eye

Oct 14, 08 2:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - In Latin America, it's an unmistakable come-on. In much of Asia, it's offensive. In a vice-presidential debate, the meaning of a wink is sparking plenty of controversy, writes Faye Fiore in the Los Angeles Times. Sarah Palin winks more often than any politician experts can remember, and it has "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
communication • facial expressions • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • vice presidential debate • body language

Patients Could Polish Their Bedside Manner, Docs Say

Lousy rapport impairs treatment, survey finds

Sep 27, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Odds are you're annoying your doctor, according to a Canadian study that asked nearly 300 physicians about their daily frustrations. As the Globe and Mail reports, many had difficulty establishing rapports with patients, who routinely resisted or flouted their advice —which can lead to patient safety problems. “When... More »

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medicine • drugs • patient • communication • doctor • alternative medicine

Gmail Goes
Dark for 2 Hours; Email Addicts Freak

Google blames outage on internal error

Aug 12, 08 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google's Gmail was largely inaccessible for 2 hours yesterday, as both the company and compulsive email checkers struggled to figure out what went wrong, the Los Angeles Times reports. The blackout was followed by a flurry of anxious web-chatter on the subject of the much relied-upon email service. The company... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • email • Gmail • communication

Service Lets Callers Dodge Conversation

Slydial users can sneak a message straight onto voicemail

Aug 2, 08 7:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new phone service is a hit with people who want to make a phone call without actually talking to anybody, the New York Times reports. Slydial allows users to skip directly to leaving a message on voicemail without the recipient realizing they have an incoming call. Users say the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cell phones • communication • telecom • phone service • voicemail • telephone

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