Digital Life

Since joining AARP's dating service, Dina Mande has gone out on a half-dozen dates

National

Seniors Flirt With AARP's Online Dating Service

7:48pm March 17, 2013

by NPR Staff

Here's the plan: Find someone, get married, grow old together. But what if you've done that, and suddenly find yourself back at square one? For those 50 and older, AARP has launched a dating site to help find that special someone.

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A screenshot shows game designer Mike Mika's Donkey Kong: Pauline Edition he created for his daughter show she could play as a female hero.

Dad's 'Donkey Kong' Hack Recasts Female As Hero For Daughter

6:42pm March 12, 2013

by Steve Mullis

In an industry full of damsels in distress, game designer Mike Mika hacked the classic game to let his 3-year-old play as the female hero. His story is becoming part of a larger conversation about gender roles in the video game industry. But Mika says he didn't set out to push a feminist agenda or statement.

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Researchers found that exposure to uncivil comments can polarize opinion on news issues.

Science

The 'Nasty Effect': How Comments Color Comprehension

5:56pm March 12, 2013

by NPR Staff

At its best, the Web is a place for unlimited exchange of ideas. But the uncivil discourse that unfolds in comments sections can be poisonous. A study in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication suggests that rude comments on articles can change the way we interpret the news.

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Noah Zandan shows off his Zeo sleep-tracking headband. His other self-tracking devices are on his wrists. Noah and his father, Peter, are both part of the growing "Quantified Self" movement.

Self-Tracking Apps To Help You 'Quantify' Yourself

11:11am March 12, 2013

by Elise Hu

Technology is making it easier than ever to track everything from your sleep cycles to the food you eat — and even your amino acid levels.

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Op-Ed: We Need More Aaron Swartz-Style Hacktivism

3:58pm March 11, 2013

When Internet activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide, he faced federal charges for illegally downloading and releasing articles from JSTOR, the digital library of academic journals. Northwestern University professor Peter Ludlow says Swartz was right to fight for public access to scholarship.

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Op-Ed: There's An App For Everything, And That's A Problem

2:58pm March 11, 2013

Technology companies are constantly developing new apps and tools to make our lives easier. In an op-ed for The New York Times Evgeny Morozov, author of To Save Everything, Click Here, argues that Silicon Valley's quest for perfectionism is problematic.

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Economy

The Life Cycle Of A Social Network: Keeping Friends In Times Of Change

12:32pm March 08, 2013

by Steve Henn

Facebook has unveiled a redesign of its News Feed, but any social network knows that drastic changes come with risks. Just look at Friendster, a site that fizzled after changes to the interface and a subsequent exodus made it less valuable to users.

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Man sitting on a club chair reading from his laptop.

Experts Boil Telecommuting Decisions Down To Flexibility Vs. Serendipity

12:04pm February 28, 2013

by Yuki Noguchi

Yahoo touched off a debate about the effectiveness of telecommuting when it told employees last week that they may no longer work from home. The policy change was made, according to the company's internal email, to enhance workplace collaboration.

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Internet gambling has become legal in New Jersey and Nevada, but experts say enforcement and regulations still need to be straightened out.

National

As States Embrace Online Gambling, Questions Arise

6:35pm February 27, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

New Jersey is the newest state to make online gambling legal. Its law limits participation to state residents, but how will that be enforced? And groups that help compulsive gamblers are worried that gamblers won't have to go to casinos to feed their addiction.

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At A Trade Show, Power Tools Fit For The Amish

9:59pm February 22, 2013

by Robert Smith

The Amish don't drive and don't connect to the electrical grid. Yet a growing number of Amish people are leaving farming for manufacturing. That means they need tools — and power.

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