Adidas have announced the development of the newest in its line of training shoes; but this one comes with a bit of a twist. The “barefoot” training shoe is designed to mimic the experience of exercising barefoot, yet still maintaining the traction and durability of regular athletic footwear. Closely resembling a foot itself, the Adidas Adipure Trainer separates the toes, helping to maintain regular alignment after our toes have suffered so much scrunching in our dress shoes and heels! They come at a time where the market for ‘minimalist’ shoes is rapidly expanding, doubling in sales all over the world since last year. The shoes will be available November 1.

There are some blogs/websites that are inspiring, funny, lovely that we habitually revisit each time we open our desktops, they’re the sites that keep us coming back into the “webosphere”. “Le Love” is one of these web gems. It’s a pick-me-up when you’re finding life a little lack-lusture. The site is a collective love note from lovers to; ex-lovers, current lovers and want-to-be-lovers. Admittedly some of the stories  and images shared by readers are heartbreaking, but mostly the site is touching, whimsical and reminds readers that love is the greatest emotion we share.

Can business help to mitigate human rights? Google thinks they can at least try.  Google’s efforts to stop China’s tight control of information, particularly web sites pertaining to human rights movements and the tragic events of Tiananmen Square, has resulted in Google retreating from China. While Google’s search results have been restricted by government orders since the site’s inception, Google eventually decided to stop censoring web pages blocked by the Chinese government. In January, Google discovered that the gmail accounts of human rights activists had been hacked through a series of sophisticated attacks suspected to be launched from Chinese governments. In retaliation, Google removed all restrictions to sites, allowing China to search freely. This act was not without punishment, and following unrelenting pressure from the Chinese government, Google redirected their Chinese site to a web domain run from Hong Kong.

While Google’s efforts appear valiant, not all Google shareholders would agree. The search engine market in China represents $1 billion and some shareholders see a wasted opportunity. But it could be argued that Google could gain a lot from this situation, and perhaps the Internet giant does not want to be seen as endorsing restrictions on democracy.

Despite Google’s efforts and its motivations, China can still block any action Google takes in providing restricted information to the people of China. China has already censored Google’s new version, run from Hong Kong, and is unimpressed by Google’s decision to terminate the original site. It seems as though it has become a battle of the tech-heads. While Google isn’t expected to give up, the company is fighting a powerful force. The communist party has an unequivocal stronghold over China and while China does represent a market of 1 billion people, companies are yet to conquer the East. However, many are still hopeful that the Internet could be the future of creating international freedom of speech. 

It is startling to think that a few years ago, the Apple iPod didn’t exist. Even looking back on an iPod from 2007 can be a shocking experience; bulky and primitive looking, the rapid evolution of the iPod accentuates the rising rate of technology. Apple’s innovation has translated to a monopoly of portable electronic products, and Apple is adding to their repertoire of creative technologies with the Apple iPad. Extremely thin and lightweight, Apple has released the ‘giant iPhone’, in a flurry of speculation and hype. Complete with the features of an iPod, iPhone and Mac computer, the iPad can conquer all your requests and bring to life ‘Jetsons’ dreams. New applications, tunes and internet windows whizz by on the elegant screen, allowing users to create spreadsheets and presentations easily on the smart layout. It will also be used with iBookstore, the instaneous portable book store, making reading books, magazines and newspapers a seamless function of the iPad.

While the device is no doubt an entertaining and functional gadget, fit for the savvy professional, some question the iPad’s difference from other Apple predecessors. It is expected that the second and third generation iPads will be the devices to push technological boundaries. Impressing the ever faithful Apple users, and winning over PC users, the iPad marks the beginning of an exciting new leap in portable gadgets, at affordable prices. It is hard to imagine what they will come up with next.

Somewhere between August 2009 and January 2010, I became so saturated in information about the environment, I lost interest. I withdrew. I ceased treading water in the ocean of blogs and sites and people and views and ‘sign here’s, and ‘tell five friends’, and climate change is real but only if you look at this report, not that report.

You get the point.

I ceased bobbing with wave after wave of data and let myself sink into the quiet. At first I told myself I’d be back. I’d do it tomorrow. Next week. Has it been a month? Suddenly it’s been three.

What I speak of isn’t uncommon: the reaction to be overwhelmed by data. Its term is yet to be officially defined, but what I speak of is information overload. To learn more I took the time to talk with someone who is addicted more than most to information and I discovered some very interesting concepts.

Eddie Harran is a digital addict. He is just one example of a person who has attached himself to the information flow from avatars and usernames of thousands of people, who in turn plug him in to their own thousands of networks, forming a constant, 24/7 stream of data. His twitter followers number 2,844, he recently attended Palomar 5, and in February he leaves for San Francisco to continue working on a specific data project as a resident of GAFFTA. He conservatively estimates he’s online for 18hrs daily, noting that with devices like the iPhone, you rarely aren’t, until you lay that shiny black pebble beside you on the bedside table. But more importantly than when he’s online is why.

Eddie realizes sometimes he’s unsure which thoughts are his and which are from others he’s discovered online. He accepts the constant uncertainty as part of his life and he spoke to me at length about how information overload is a big issue and how there are US institutions established to treat the condition of online addiction. A Google search reports 2,990,000 pages on the matter with this site offering a range of ebooks and other resources to aid sufferers. Ironically, one of the first things to catch your eye on the home page are the familiar icons for RSS, Facebook and Twitter, offering channels of help which you can access while you’re online… I explored this site and in reading the symptoms for internet addiction revealed what I would think to be commonplace these days. I’ve put my own responses in bold next to the questions.

1. Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet (think about previous online activity or anticipate next online session)? Yes. I feel this is a natural condition of using the internet. We create, finish and unfinish a never ending collection of emails, to-do lists, blogs to read, information to share.
2. Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction? Yes. It forms such a major part of both my working and nonworking life. Not that my nonworking life doesn’t work…
3. Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use? Not yet. And while I would consciously seek a week’s holiday to go bushwalking and relish in the disconnection, forcing that upon myself in the big smoke just wouldn’t work, and isn’t necessary.
4. Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use? Actually, yes. Sometimes I find myself online, knowing the sites I want to bring up, but feeling limited in that repetitive pattern and sad that either I don’t know more sites to look up, or that I’m occupying my time in this fashion in the first place.
5. Do you stay online longer than originally intended? Always. It’s hard to stop.
6. Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of the Internet? Unfortunately, yes.
7. Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet? Only Stephen Conroy.
8. Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)? Feelings of helplessness drive my use of the internet!

Commit me.

Interestingly Eddie brought the conversation back to the value of information. Eddie, in years far beyond his mid-twenties, comments that ‘from a young age we are trained that information is a scarce commodity-through our school years we are pressured to get good grades to get into Uni and get a good job etc. The elephant in the room is the internet – it changes this’. And with the abundance of information it brings, the overload and addiction to keeping up begins.

Eddie continued to talk about scarcity but this time related it to how businesses and content producers still operate under the mentality that their content is scarce. “Unique is dying” Eddie shot through over the phone. “Companies are talking to people whose attention they do not have anymore. Information is no longer enough”. And here’s where it gets interesting. As information increases, attention decreases. And Eddie reports that this shift in media consumption is being called the Attention Economy. “Attention is the new value” dished Eddie, as my fingers continued to type. “So to manage my own attention, I’m trying to subscribe to the Dunbar 150, have you heard of it Josh?” No, I replied wondering if over time, Eddie’s mind is more likely to work like a computer processor or if it will be the other way around. “It’s a theory that states that cognitively, humans can only build relationships with 150 people. Anything over, your brain can’t handle”.

This is a fascinating concept that reminds me of an idea discussed with Morgan Daly a while ago, with regards to what social media has done to friendship. While the number of friends has increased, those with which we would classify as close, or actually enjoy sharing dinner with, have not. Eddie’s approach is to only give and receive information and value to those 150 people. Reminds me of Kerry Armstrong’s ‘The Circle’, only digitized, and slightly less melancholy. Eddie also ingeniously links information overload to dieting. You eat junk food, you feel sick. It’s exactly the same for online.

So as I find myself returning to the online environment sphere and sadly noting not much has changed, I’m also equally drawn to spending less time online and absorbing that completely different world of nature and ensuring that I listen to it once and a while. Because information is one thing. And knowledge is power. But wisdom? As Eddie and I mused together, almost paradoxically, the wise man isn’t a typical geek. He’s sitting in the bush on a rocking chair and smoking a Gandalf reefa. He’s still. He doesn’t talk much. But when he does, you find yourself listening.

Another quote into my warming ear.

Thanks to @edwardharran

Surely this has been coming for a while, but news today that an artificial intelligence program to be used by doctors can identify domestic abuse.  It works by collating the results from many studies on domestic violence into one program that will alert doctors to the likelihood of domestic abuse based on the health patterns of the patient.  Injuries such as bruising to the core of the body or the middle of the forearm can be indicators as is depression and the onset of alcoholism. It is believed that many health practitioners are sometimes so focused on treating a condition, that the context is often missed.  This software will act as a red-flag, and is said to save victims up to six years of unrecognised abuse.  For more information click here.