Experiment Cuts Off Online Junkies from Internet

Ant (an Internet junkie) writes "An article from The Register reports one begins gibbering uncontrollably because he/she can't get a fix without internet access after two weeks. That, at least, is according to an 'Internet Deprivation Study' carried out by Yahoo! and advertising outfit OMD. Participants in the human experiment were deprived of the web for 14 days, and found themselves quickly succumbing to 'withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and disconnectedness.' The reason for the rapid collapse of their universe is - say the researchers - because 'internet users feel confident, secure and empowered.'"

Comments

Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[lordsilence]

What about the 5min average slashdot fix?

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Anonymous Coward]

I bet that took a lot of effor to make it look like you're not going for FP. Nice effort, ace!

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Scoria]

If mine were longer than yours, would it be more appropriate to act humiliated or boast?

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[DenDave]

If yours were longer than mine then it would be innappropriate to discuss such matters on this forum...

But 14 days without internet can be an interesting experience. Lst year I went on two and a half weeks of vacation to the alps without a computer in sight. I was totally relaxed, actually got some decent sleep (as opposed to my usual semi-neurotic insomnia) and when I returned from vacation I was entirely revitalized, out of touch with my normal "plugged-in" world, but revitalized nonetheless.. Now I am back to semi-neurotic-insomnia.... time to get back out there...

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well he's got a point. 'Gibbering uncontrollably' seems fairly normal for slashdot. ;)

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[edittard]

Well he's got a point. 'Gibbering uncontrollably' seems fairly normal for slashdot. ;)

Fairly normal for slashdot editors, anyway.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Humpinate]

Thank Daniel Keyes Moran for seeing this 10 years ago...He (and I ) called it..........Datastarve !

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Hank Chinaski]

i go sailing for one week each year, without internet or cell phones. even without radio or tv. very nice, i can live with that.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[shufler]

I experienced this exact phenominon during a month's vacation I took to British Columbia. I would be up at dawn every day, feeling refreshed, and ready to experience the playground that is the world. I had some of the most restless and relaxing sleeps ever.

After a while, I did have access to the Internet, but only checked it due to it being the only method of communication with respect to a party in a forest one night.

I never felt the need to use the computer, and I never felt like I was alone, or out of the loop (in fact, I felt I was IN the loop, as most of my friends were not there experiencing the greatness I was).

That said, I returned and fell right back into my self-appointed claim for the title of King of the Internet(TM).

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[shufler]

I had some of the most restless and relaxing sleeps ever

That is to say, the most RESTFUL. I must appologise, as I have been up all night, using the Internet.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[torpor]

What about the 'wait 20 seconds before you can use this website again' factor?

I hate that man, that sends me into insta-fits..

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're on holiday or acation or whatever you want to call it it will be far easier to get by

Living out your normal everyday life without net access though would be exceptionally diffivult for the majority of us

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[noodler]

" one begins gibbering uncontrollably "

funny, i aways feel like that when a page gets slashdotted..,.,

n..n.need to r.rr.RTFA.,.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[thempstead]

I moved house at the end of last year, (my own place for the first time), and spent 5 weeks without Internet access as the house was a new build and the phone company were less than brilliant in putting in a line.

It was a pain, not due to ending up a gibbering wreck, but because being used to using it for research etc all the time gets you into a way of thinking where you expect it to be there as a tool ...

Did I miss it - yes, did I have a reaction to not having it - nope

t

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[alchemistkevin]

What about the 5min average slashdot fix?

shouldn't that be 50 or 500 mins?

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[5m477m4n]

What about the 5min average slashdot fix?

[refresh]
Yeah man, we just can't seem to
[refresh]
live without our slashdot, man
[refresh]
we're hooked on the stuff, man
[refresh]
d00d, yesterday I saw this dog
[refresh]
and like, he was licking his butt man
[refresh] [refresh]
I'm going to go get some chips, man
[refresh] [refresh] [refresh]

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[nial-in-a-box]

I guess the question is, then, why do we go back? Isn't this essentially like a drug? We know we're better off without it, but it has some actual benefits and it "feels so good."

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this recently, and I'm guessing I've probably gone somewhat overboard. I have two computers, a Nextel phone, a Cingular phone, a Sidekick, and a cable modem. Recently, when a friend had to send in her laptop to the bloodsuckers at Best Buy for repair, I decided that it would be no big deal for me to loan her my PowerBook for the three weeks she would be without her computer. Two weeks in and I'm still comfortable with the proposition. Frankly, if my job didn't require a computer, and if it didn't make my life as a computer science student much easier, I think I would just give up on all this.

Presently I'm having a real struggle with being in college (and being so connected) period. I spent the summer working hard with a tree service company. It was a great workout and I expanded my mind in new ways. I have fully learned that simply because something is physically intense does not mean it's for morons. Nevertheless, I am being told I would be "settling for mediocrity" if I dropped out of school and did that sort of work full time. Well the thing is, I did a little math and realized that I don't need to make $100,000 a year to live the way I want to. In fact, the $14/hour tree job seems perfect.

The thing that gets me the most upset about all this is I have recently concluded that I am absolutely surrounded by mediocrity every day at school. I have a professor who is an MIT grad who doesn't even know the difference between ethernet and PS/2 connections. The people I work with on campus spend more time doing CYA work than anything real (that's cover your ass, if you haven't experienced that before). The campus's security policies and practices are half-assed and inconsistent. So are all the construction efforts. Most students are nothing but drunken robots who spend their nights at the same shitty bar(s), and their days doing nothing but mechanically studying and spewing worthless facts. Most professors rely on rote recitation teaching methods. There really is no effort being put forth by so many people here, yet when I clearly demonstrated superior knowledge in an Italian course I received a failing grade due to poor attendance and was not allowed to appeal that decision.

Sound like I'm just ranting about school, specifically my school? I'm not. Many, if not all colleges have many or all of these problems. The fact is that the Internet has turned me into an impatient bastard. Yes, it does make a few things easier, but if school was actually worthwhile I wouldn't mind going down to the surprisingly good library here and doing some old-fashioned research. Right now there is no incentive to do so.

What are the best things that have come out of the Internet anyway? I would probably say that through its increased communication, we have been given the open source movement. While on the surface this is a great idea, it has serious problems also. What about the people whose lives are taken over by their projects simply because they spend "a little time on it after work?" I may be talking out of my ass here, but I am willing to bet that the current open source development model leads to burnout. And so does anything that is based on the Internet and the assumption that it automatically makes things faster, better, smarter, and easier, because it does not. The Internet is a tool, and can be a difficult one to use appropriately. Our overdependence on it is going to continually get worse before a solution is found. But please, go on, continue living a connected life. I probably will. What it really comes down to is I don't have the balls to get out of this shitty lifestyle and move on to something I'd really rather do, and I think this is true of a really large portion of the people who spend a lot of time on the Internet.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[FrankHaynes]

I'm selling these bumper stickers that read:

"Kill Your Computer"

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[gears5665]

I guess the question is, then, why do we go back? Isn't this essentially like a drug? We know we're better off without it, but it has some actual benefits and it "feels so good." This is a load of bullshit.

You are not better off without it. Remember the days of Encyclopedias, and asking your father about something and being told to go look it up? Without the instant access to knowledge that you have today, cursory reasearch is made a lot harder.

Today I read about 12 new technologies, "talked" with 15 people across the US at no phone cost to me. I sent instant mail to 3 clients and recieved immediate responses. I often research companies online. I figure out who I'm boycotting this week. I discuss politics, religion, and money with a wide variety of people from all over the globe.

There is no way in hell, that I'd go back to 1983. You've got to be kidding me to say we'd be better off not using the net every day.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Zelph]

I came to that same conclusion, and, in my senior year of my CS degree, switched majors. I graduated a History Major, and will be going to grad school soon. What prompted this change? I realizd that I have to like what I do. I love reading history. I don't like sitting on a computer looking at a screen with a bad refresh. Still, I get my Slashdot fix everyday, and keep up on the computer technology I'm interested in. Oh, and one more thing: I know what it's like to go without the internet. I started in 1990 before, BEFORE AOL and all the rest had a web portal. I went on a 2 year mission for my church. No computers, no internet. This was in 2000. I survived. And I came out a better person too.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Noofus]

YOu broke from your normal routine though. I find I can go long stretches of time without the internet if I am on vacation or something. But for me to be at home, going to work, living my life, etc, I have a very hard time looking over at my computer and NOT touching it. Its part of my daily routinie to be able to read slashdot and other news sites. Being cut off from it probably would drive me crazy.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[nmk]

I find it very odd that most media, even technologically oriented media, is still referring to the internet (I refuse to capitalize it) as a uniform thing. The internet is nothing but a large, scalable network that happens to be the cheapest way of moving data around.

Due to the cost effectiveness of the internet, we are now seeing a rapid deployment of various services on this network. Though some of these services require a WAN type computer network (ie. online message boards), many services now being deployed on the internet existed before the internet.

VOIP is just one of the many examples of a technology that is being deployed on the internet. However, telephone communication has existed for over a century. There are many people that used to waste an inordinate amount of time on the telephone before there was any internet. So now, if these same people used something like Skype to communicate with their friends, would they be addicted to the internet.

The same holds true for any number of other hobbies. I used to spend a lot of time playing games in school. Many people used to engage in multiplayer LAN gaming before the widespread use of the internet. Now they're connecting to each other using the internet. So now, do we have a situation where every hardcore gamer is addicted to the internet.

Anyway, I think that research should stop referring to the internet as some sort of homogenous thing. People have been addicted to their particular hobbies, healthy or unhealthy, for a long time. There have been game addicts, telephone addicts, porn addicts, music addicts, and movie addicts since way before the internet. Its just that all their hobbies have now converged on this thing called the internet.

So basically, I think these kind of studies are useless. Telling me that someone is addicted to the internet means nothing. Are they having problems because they can't get their fill of porn. Or perhaps they are addicted to Slashdot. Even the two demographics converge in this case, they are quite disparate addictions.

So in conclusion, I would say, no fucking shit. Obviously people will miss the internet. Pretty soon all their movies, TV porn, music, voice and video communication, and information will be on the internet.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[nial-in-a-box]

The way you put it we are clearly better for having the internet. But you assume that all of these things are necessary. I suppose it depends on how you view things, but I am not so sure they are necessary. I still have yet to find a personal philosophy that addresses all these issues, but either way I'm not sure that this is black and white, either the internet sucks or rocks. It's pretty clear that there is more to it than that and simply because there seem to be a lot of benefits doesn't mean it's a good thing.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Anonymous Coward]

most slashdotters gibber uncontrollably 24/7 with or without internet.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[jred]

Where are you selling them? Got an URL? Oh, wait...

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[ImpTech]

Well... nothing is "necessary" if you really think about it. By that argument we ought to all go back to hunting/gathering, because really whats "necessary" beyond eating and reproducing?

As for whether or not the internet is a "good thing", I see plenty of concrete, tangible benefits to the internet, as shown by the OP and others. What I don't see is a list of concrete, tangible detriments. Usually the best people can come up with is that it makes people more "disconnected", or destroys the sense of "community", or some other wishy-washy unverifiable thing. Even the case one could make based on this article is pretty weak. I mean, find an activity or consumable that nobody will use to excess. You can't. I'd bet even some of our hunter/gatherer ancestors ate too many berries and suffered the consequences.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[d34thm0nk3y]

I would say that a good portion of the relaxation comes from the fact that you are on vacation no? Also, when you are in the middle of the woods or whatever there really isn't that much you need to do on the internet. But as soon as you get home all the stuff you have been putting off while on vacation need to get done and the net is a really good tool to use for such purposes.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[drawfour]

Last Christmas I took a weekend to Vegas, came back on a late Sunday evening, and had use of the computer for that next day, then went to Costa Rica for 10 days. That "day of computer use" was spent very little on the computer -- I was rushing around to get my passport at the last minute plus having to repack everything. Anyway, those 10 days in Costa Rica were a BLAST. I even bought some books at the airport to read in the evenings. By the end of the 10 days, even though I was having a lot of fun, I was really missing computers and technology. I still haven't finished the book that I was almost at the end of. I am definitely addicted. :)

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a very hard time looking over at my computer and NOT touching it.

Yeah, I have that same problem with my penis.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[blitziod]

TRUE STORY:
I have been having hot 3 way sex with my g/f and a friend of ours for a couple of days..and have not had time for the net. BUT ! Even with the hgot threeway sex, something has been missing. It felt great to post this!

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[DesertFalcon]

I think what he meant is not that the Internet is bad, but that the always-connected, up-all-night-chatting, caffeine-consuming, 4 hours of sleep a night lifestyle is bad. Obviously the benefits that the Net brings us are great, but if all you do with your time is sit online (and I know a lot of people who do that, myself among them) then that's just not good for you. Only the way he said it was more eloquent.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Wouter Van Hemel]

You might be depressed. :)

That's exactly where I stood a few years ago, bored with computer science, fed up with haughty professors who talk alot about nothing and many students that really don't know that much at all except the day before their examinations - full of hot air; realizing I was spending too much time online, not doing much useful. And I didn't want to become a programmer and/or spend hours every day on the internet. I mean, is that all there is?

People don't know what mediocrity is, because they don't know what's important; they are too stuck in their pretty average lives with pretty average wages and pretty average whatever (and they still think digital watches are a good idea). Quite meaningless, really. And most of us are too afraid to wake up and see the abyss.

The problem is, once you start being critical, and really try to think about things in life and what would be meaningful to you, it's pretty damn hard to find something.

(And sadly enough, there ain't no guy distributing red and blue pills that open magical, free worlds.)

(Well, actually there was, but the DEA arrested him.)

Internet, just like stories for people who read too many books (yes, one can read too much), is a place where you can run to not having to deal with real life, your emotions or frustrations. Especially the Internet makes you feel as if you're actually doing something - not just in front of the TV, no, you *sent* an *email*. You *talked* to someone. You had a *conversation* on IM/IRC. You *reported* a bug. You *looked up* some information. Hell, you even *have friends* outthere.

Hence, we keep on deceiving ourselves.

I don't know if it's better to break with everything. Maybe doing lots of nothing stops us from doing something bigger, something meaningful. We could realize so much more with all that wasted time behind computers and TV screens.

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[Alsee]

Ok, it may be cliche, but reading down your list of activities I couldn't help hearing one thing in particlar screaming out that it was missing. Even Google Sets: news politics religion money sees it as obvious, chuckle.

-

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[mikefe]

OK, admit it.

How many scrolled up to see if the OP actually said "restless"?

Re:Pff.. They're talking about 14 days?

[rts008]

"If you've ever seen a smack-head handcuffed to a bed gibbering uncontrollably because he can't get a fix, then be afraid, because that's what you'll look like after two weeks of internet-free cold turkey." Smack-head=internet-user? I guess the next study will show that you can contract Hexidecimaltitus from sharing porn on P2P?

So...

[IronMagnus]

Next we'll see how people who are used to talking and communicating with others in person in every day life react when they are locked in a well lit room for two weeks with no human contact.

Re:So...

[Thiarna]

Didn't you see big brother UK? Ok so it was only one week, there were two in the room, and they were both prone to gibbering beforehand but they were much worse at the end.

Re:So...

[Viol8]

Not sure if you're trying to make a wry comparison , but going without internet access hardly constitutes going without human contact. In fact in a lot of circumstances it leads to it! When I say human contact I mean face to face , trying stuff into an IM or email client IMO is not human contact. Anyway , I suspect if these people weren't addicted to the internet they'd be addicted to something else whether it be drink, drugs, adrenaline sports , whatever...

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly. I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have net access, because almost all my friends are online, for most of them I don't even know their phone number. It's not the lack of the net connection itself, but the fact that I would be very alone without it. "Go outside" you'd probably say, and I already do that. But after a while, doing stuff outside all by myself gets boring, and I want to do something with my friends.

Indeed, cutting off the net connection would be like cutting off a "normal" person from talking in person to the people he knows.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

For some of us, talking to people online is the only contact with our friends. Cutting the connection means we are unable to communicate with those friends (at least for me, they live in different countries).

You may be to old to consider it human contact, but no matter if it's face to face, a phone, or AIM, the person on the other end is a human. My mother felt the same way, couldn't tell the difference between me chatting with some friends online and playing a game. Until the day one of the people I chatted with came down to visit.

These are real people, real friends, and for some of us the only friends we have. Cutting off the net connection is like cutting off a face-to-face persons contact to his friends.

Re:So...

[jrumney]

Didn't you see big brother UK?

I think I'd rather be a chronic internet addict than sat in front of the box watching crap reality TV shows all the time.

Re:So...

[MetalMorph]

You can do both with a TV tuner card.

Re:So...

[epcraig]

You mean we're only allowed one addiction at a time?

Re:So...

[packeteer]

Almost... internet contact is good but one thing you dont get from it is social skills. Look at any true geek and as stereotypcial as it sounds most dont have social skills. Getting along wiht people online is much easier than in person and by not getting real contact with people you turn into some freak with a weird laugh and who seems like they should maybe hang out with younger kids instead of their more mature peers. Look at computer nerds in high school.

Re:So...

[Hinhule]

This is basicly what was done, all those internet friends these people had was suddenly ripped away from them. Considering the fact that they might not have had the phonenumbers to these friends in various countries around the world, they had no way of contacting them. Also their hobby was probably something like online gaming so that was ripped away too.

I used to be this way online, but when it started having a negative effect on my life, studies in particular. I cut down on my internet use a lot, however there was no real withdrawal effect because I did it by my own choise and I still could go online and chat whenever I felt like it. It would still suck to be without internet because I do have a lot of friends online.

Anyway if they still have the choise to go online the feeling of being disconnected wouldn't be so bad.

Re:So...

[krymsin01]

Heh, I watched Big Brother UK from the states thanks to a kind usenet poster. Ended up getting addicted to that show. Would check in every 12 hours or so to get my fix. So I get to be both. Chicken.... *shudder*

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting along wiht people online is much easier than in person

so it's a good way for someone who's far behind in figuring out how to socialize to start catching up.

Re:So...

[edittard]

When I say human contact I mean face to face

Doggy style not your thing, then?

Re:So...

[erlando]

Have you by any chance been playing Sims 2 lately..? ;-)

Re:So...

[Viol8]

So if they're "real" friends why don't you ask them for their phone number or better yet , get on a train/bus/car and go visit them! Jeez..

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

> I think I'd rather be a chronic internet addict
> than sat in front of the box watching crap
> reality TV shows all the time.

You're fired.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Some people don't have a way to acquire human contact other than online. Perhaps they live in an area far from any big cities. Perhaps they have an unhappy family life and it's their only social outlet? Perhaps they're agoraphobic or disabled?

Also, I really doubt anyone starts babbling incoherently because of a lack of internet access. I mean, I spend 16 hours a day online, 365 days a year (it's both my job and my liesure activity, plus I am building some projects that I hope to turn into a profitable enterprise). If I lost my internet access for two weeks, I'd just play with my guitar more than usual, read some books that I've been putting off and maybe go back to doing something artistic like sketching or painting, which I've put off for years.

Then again, the reaction may be different for people like myself who, while spending all of our time on the internet, are spending it doing personal things rather than the type of people who spend 16 hours a day on the internet - but the entire 16 hours is spent chatting on a forum or an AOL room.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure if you're trying to make a wry comparison , but going without internet access hardly constitutes going without human contact. In fact in a lot of circumstances it leads to it!

No Internet access means no Google though. I couldn't imagine going a single day without access to Google. It answers all my questions about anything that comes to mind during the day. This past hour I've already learned about Knute Rockne and where that "Win one for the Gipper" quote came from as well as researching Tom Landry. Did you know he coached the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988, the second longest head coach in the history of American Football?

No thank you. You guys go watch your TV and drink your beer with your alcoholic buddies, I'll be right here waiting for you to wise up.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Writer]

Look at computer nerds in high school.

Or a mirror.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

I suspect if these people weren't addicted to the internet they'd be addicted to something else whether it be drink, drugs, adrenaline sports

Funny you should say that. The phrase they use in the article 'internet users feel confident, secure and empowered.' sounds exactly like comments by addicted drug, alcohol users.

It's all some kind of external validation. Why can't people feel confident, secure and empowered in their own heads, without any external props?

Re:So...

[Spoing]

1. When I say human contact I mean face to face , trying stuff into an IM or email client IMO is not human contact.

So, if your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend/... sends you an IM/mail/... they didn't really contact you? No matter what they say? You'd feel nothing?

I thought people that out of touch died about 10 years ago. Clue: If it exists, it's real. If humans do it, it's human contact.

Re:So...

[dave_mcmillen]

I think I'd rather be a chronic internet addict than sat in front of the box watching crap reality TV shows all the time.

Oh, you're just saying that because you feel confident, secure, and empowered.

Re:So...

[bdash]

like they should maybe hang out with younger kids instead of their more mature peers.

I fail to see the maturity that is present in a group of teenage guys standing around making comments like "Look at the rack on her!". While such people may have more developed social skills, I would suggest that their intellectual maturity is behind that of the so-called "computer nerds". In reality the ability to hold a meaningful and intelligent conversation is likely to be a lot more useful and important than the ability to accurately judge the bra-size of a female from across the room.

Remember: "Cool" != Mature.

Re:So...

[ericspinder]

Getting along wiht people online is much easier than in person and by not getting real contact with people you turn into some freak with a weird laugh and who seems like they should maybe hang out with younger kids instead of their more mature peers. Look at computer nerds in high school.

Often we get a good laugh about the sterotypical 'computer nerd'. You know, glasses, pocket protector, lack of social skills. Hell, a running gag in this forum is "any poster with a girlfriend". Sure there are people who 'fit the sterotype' (however, I haven't seen a pocket protector since 'Revenge of the Nerds' came out), but I argue that they are in the minority of most computer users (even expert ones, like many of us).

Re:So...

[grasshoppa]

Shit, SIGN ME UP.

Give me a well stocked fridge and a shelf of sci fi/fantasy, and you could well lock me up for a couple months, and I'd still be begging for more time.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yah, you'll never see a nerd lusting over a woman's boobs, unless of course she is in a Star Trek episode.

Re:So...

[mdwh2]

So if they're "real" friends why don't you ask them for their phone number or better yet

Because for the most part, the Internet is a more reliable and more efficient method of communication. Even for organising my in-real-life social life, I am still very much dependant on the Internet for this. I don't see why using a more efficient method of communication is counted as an "addiction".

Anyway, since when are phones face to face communication? I'm sure people would have trouble giving up their phones (especially these days with mobiles). If we're going to say that relying on the Internet is a bad thing and an addiction, the same thing applies to phones too.

Re:So...

[SandSpider]

Getting along wiht people online is much easier than in person

I'm not sure which internet you belong to, but my internet has invented new phrases for different ways that you can actively not get along with people. Flaming, trolling, Godwin's Law, these things are all indicative that it's really easy to treat someone as if they don't exist on the internet. My opening sentence wasn't phrased as well as it might be for demonstration purposes, but many people would have just used abusive language for its ironic power.

If you can get along with people you disagree with on the internet, you're going to go a long way towards social skills in real life.

=Brian

Re:So...

[emilng]

I'm not sure which internet you belong to

I think it's the one where's he's a 40 year old overweight male pretending to be a teenage girl in a Yahoo chat room. ;)

Re:So...

[Lemmy Caution]

There's a difference between human contact and human communication. It's why we still miss people we're far from when we talk to them on the phone. When we miss someone who is far away, what we miss is their presence - the proximity of their bodies, the sense that bodies are in the same space.

With a few exceptions, humans and their ancestors have long been social creatures. The presence of other bodies sends out a variety of chemical and visual signals that we respond to subliminally, and the absence of those inputs has real effects.

Would you be happy with a girlfriend/boyfriend with whom all your "contact" was by IM and the telephone? Would you consider that a worthwhile intimate relationship? If you were a child, would you feel that a parent who "phoned in" regularly was really part of your life?

Re:So...

[Spoing]

1. Would you be happy with a girlfriend/boyfriend with whom all your "contact" was by IM and the telephone?

"All" is a cheap strawman. You can know someone better from letters/email, phone, IM ... than just by being next to them physically.

To tell me it is not 'real' is absurd at best and archaic at worst. If you do not see that others are 'real' and treat them as such even if you don't see them, that's not my problem. BTW...why reply to me at all? ;]

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

I learned all of these same facts not from Google, but from the commentators during last night's Cowboys game and the gipper source came from my alcoholic buddy.

Turns out my buddy, in turn, learned about the gipper from reading the side of a beer can.

Re:So...

[untaken_name]

You're just like the Nazis, always bringing up Godwin's Law.
Seriously though, it's a lot easier, I think, to *not* get along with people on the Internet, as well as to get along with them. In real life, if you call someone a Nazi or a faggot or a dipshit or whatever, they have the opportunity to make you eat those words physically. Online, you can just stop typing/reading, and whatever is bothering you goes away. So, yes, it can be easier to ignore someone's bad traits and thus get along with them online, but it's far easier to simply ignore their (justified or not) reaction to what you say. Thus not getting along with people online is easier than not getting along with them IRL, and less physically dangerous, to boot. For misanthropes like me, that's one of the beauties of the 'net.

Re:So...

[SandSpider]

I think it's the one where's he's a 40 year old overweight male pretending to be a teenage girl in a Yahoo chat room. ;)

Ohh, right. That's a good internet.

Re:So...

[Spoing]

1. Almost... internet contact is good but one thing you dont get from it is social skills. Look at any true geek and as stereotypcial as it sounds most dont have social skills. Getting along wiht people online is much easier than in person and by not getting real contact with people you turn into some freak with a weird laugh and who seems like they should maybe hang out with younger kids instead of their more mature peers. Look at computer nerds in high school.

I think you really believe that. It's a stereotype, btw. IM usage is popular with many groups; it's not the geeks that do the most of it, it is the people who like to socialize who do the most of it!

Re:So...

[drinkypoo]

I grew up with no social skills and got them through the following three steps:

1. Chatting with people on the internet, both in real time and not. Actually I started earlier than that, with BBSes, and met my first girlfriend that way. In any case, if you are talking to intelligent people this is useful. If you are talking to a bunch of people at or below your level it won't help. I was a young teenager talking to college students most of the time and it really helped.
2. Going to social gatherings. #1 leads into this because it helps when you "know" the people. People you spent a lot of time talking to on line aren't nearly as intimidating. It may even be possible to relax in the presence of these types. Of course, having reached this stage we are already proving your point, but please note that it is possible to get here from #1, and having that kind of help is probably the only way I would ever have become anything other than a social recluse.

Actually, I hardly have a social life right now, but it's not because I don't have anyone to hang out with, it's because I'm wiped out after the week goes by because I've been so damned busy... Er, digression over.

The computer nerds in high school are almost all suffering from some kind of dehabilitating lack of coolness. Out of the eight or ten nerds at my high school (in the one year before I got kicked out) only a couple of them were actually cool at all, and they mostly demonstrated it by avoiding us :) I was a total lamer. I was a "precocious" child though, which made me unpopular with basically everyone except the other kids like me. Most of them were much better programmers than I was, too :(

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

> trying stuff into an IM or email client IMO is not human contact.

So you IM with what? Apes?

Re:So...

[EastCoastSurfer]

IMHO, it takes a mature man to fully appreciate a womans figure ;)

Re:So...

[Prune]

If it exists, it's real.

You imbecile, that's a taugology! It's like saying "the star is an astral body".

Re:So...

[Bob Uhl]

In reality the ability to hold a meaningful and intelligent conversation is likely to be a lot more useful and important than the ability to accurately judge the bra-size of a female from across the room.

Not really. One doesn't get ahead in life by being intelligent or meaningful; one gets ahead by getting along with others, by fitting in and being normal. Which sucks for those of us who aren't normal.

Re:So...

[maxpublic]

Missed the point there, did ya? Next time listen for the "whooshing" sound and try to figure out what it was that went flying over your head before posting.

Max

Re:So...

[Spoing]

1. You imbecile, that's a taugology! It's like saying "the star is an astral body".

That was the point. Saying that it *isn't* real is absurd.

Re:So...

[tetsuji]

No doubt. Real geeks don't have the time to use IM socially- we're all too busy writing code!

Re:So...

[Lemmy Caution]

It's not the "realness" of the person on the other side of the medium that I am challenging - it's the sufficiency of that sort of contact to fill the human need for others.

As for your claim that you can know someone better by letters, etc, I disagree: it's fair easier to decieve someone, intentionally or even unintentionally, about one's true nature, situation, and motives, when using media at a remove. In proximity to someone, the unintended cues they give off in speech will tell me things about their cultural and class background that they are probably unaware of themselves, not to mention the way that nervous habits and body language communicate needs and anxieties.

Re:So...

[packeteer]

Cool = Mature. Look at a high schooler compared to a kid in middle school. Most boys in middle school are just starting to even appreciate breasts. Most boys in high school do like breats and they talk about it. That is what i consider a sign of maturity. Although they aren;t as mature as adults its a step along the path to maturity. Computer geeks often miss out on these important steps and end up with a sense fo humor of a 12 year old.

Re:So...

[MightyYar]

Yup - I had a long distance relationship for 4 years with my now-wife. We hated being apart so much that we now cringe at even an overnight separation. This despite all the email and phone conversations we could cram in, every single day. Aside from my personal life, I often have to get on a plane and fly halfway around the world for business, because no number of emails and video conference calls can replace the results I get in a face-to-face meeting.

Maybe everyone is different, but I can't believe that anyone would be as satisfied with an internet relationship as with a face-to-face relationship.

Re:So...

[NuclearDog]

"No doubt. Real geeks don't have the time to use IM socially- we're all too busy writing code!"

Heh. It's funny because it's true. ...

I'm going to go sit in the corner and cry now.

Re:So...

[Spoing]

We will have to disagree.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Humans, being one myself, are overrated.

Re:So...

[Talking Toaster]

I've already learned about Knute Rockne and where that "Win one for the Gipper" quote came from

I thought that was Ronald Reagan.
Not that I care.

that's horrible

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to give up the internet cold-turkey, and switch to something healthy, like heroin

Re:that's horrible

[ImaLamer]

Funny that you bring that up...

I just recently quit smoking marijuana by replacing it with coffee. One pot for another I guess.

Considering I would smoke upon awakening, made sense and was easier than expected. Alters your perception like marijuana a bit too, kinda fun at first.

Imagine how much more stuff got done (and how many more Slashdot posts were made).

It was all easier than I thought it would be considering I smoked 'the dope' for about 6 years almost non-stop.

Gibbering uncontrollably?

[Ronald Dumsfeld]

Sheesh!

They should've tried it with some of the right-wing American slashdotters. The researchers would've got a shotgun shoved up their nose and told to reconnect the Internet NOW!

Re:Gibbering uncontrollably?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did CBS News provide you with evidence of your claim?

Re:Gibbering uncontrollably?

[linzeal]

Access to liberal amounts of interactive and uncensored media should be a modern human right. How else will we have informed citizens, the FREE television and radio signals that are programmed to induce a delusional sense of individual being when in fact you are part of a mass marketed lifestyle based on unsustainable resource depletion?

Re:Gibbering uncontrollably?

[.orvp]

As opposed to what? Some person who gets "enlightened" by their exposure offline, and decides to form the NLF (Net Liberation Front)?

Suddenly, a hacker breaks into OSTG and changes the /. front page: "Free the people of their addiction, the Net must go, and it must go NOW!" Several server farms are bombed.

The thing is, I am an American Right-Wing Slashdotter, and I found the parent funny, because I know people who would pull a shotgun to someone's face for even mentioning they should give up access for a week.

Re:Gibbering uncontrollably?

[Anonymous Coward]

I know people who would pull a shotgun to someone's face for even mentioning they should give up access for a week.

Thats not because they're Right Wing, that's because they're unhinged.

Re:Gibbering uncontrollably?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thats not because they're Right Wing, that's because they're unhinged.

The only difference is a matter of degree.

Re:Gibbering uncontrollably?

[Orne]

I think the "problem" (if you or I call it that) that many people are facing is that liberal (massive) amounts of interactive and uncencsored media is significantly different than liberal (political belief).

My parents' generation has been subconciously indoctrinated on many issues, from nuclear power, to use of environmental resources, to validity of unions, to educational policies, etc. Now we know that nuclear plants put out less radiation into the atmosphere than coal, that logging and oil drilling are good policies for public land, that the unions don't always represent their constituents, that educational systems are failing and alternatives exist, etc. Only with the internet and bottom-up media distribution can the public hope to see differing philosophies and alternative policies... which is partly why the conservative (commercial) and libertarian (political) parties have fluxed so strongly towards the internet.

What I miss

[Anonymous Coward]

I miss most of all google and imdb when I'm disconnected. The daily blogs, where I spend most of my time on the net, not so much.

Re:What I miss

[blowdart]

Having gone through a week without RSS because my laptop keyboard died and it went away for repair, it was RSS I missed the most. It's the same problem I've seen with mobile phones, once you have the ability to save a number, or a URL, and not have to type it every day you forget the details.

And so, not having a recent backup of my OPML file, my lack of hourly updates on sites I like but can't remember where the heck they are was a real killer.

Actual web and browser access? Didn't miss it so much.

Marketing ploy done good

[Lurks]

I rent an office in OMD. Now the posters on the wall talking about the power of viral marketing are making rather more sense...

Re:Marketing ploy done good

[Anonymous Coward]

Do they? I mean, the Slashdot crowd doesn't read the articles and tomorrow the most we'll remember about this story is that someone did a study about how we'd react if we couldn't connect to the internet for two weeks. I don't see what good that does for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark.

Re:Marketing ploy done good

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool. If it's the SF office we're practically neighbors.

Re:Marketing ploy done good

[templest]

Marketing ploy done good

And aperantly "Huk't on Fonix"'s marketing department never got to advertising on your side of the world; I ges they wer'ent ass gud at advertizing ass thees ghais.

Re:Marketing ploy done good

[joshuaobrien]

I rent an office in OMD. Now the posters on the wall talking about the power of viral marketing are making rather more sense...

Viral marketing? OMD?

Office of Mass Destruction?

Strange

[mirko]

It is ratehr when I go hiking in the Swiss Mountains, I suddenly feel empowered...
I guess they should not just disconnect these "users" but rather offer them to practise some intensive sport activities instead.

Hiking in the mountains is a good candidate because it is also rewarding : you get to see some magnificent landscape when you reach the top.

Re:Strange

[linzeal]

I would rather mine said mountain from a remote location like coastal oregon in a reclaimed victorian hotel turned into office space, but to each his own. I get enough exercise walking to and from the bus station when I am commuting. 2 miles a day is enough, right?

Re:Strange

[mirko]

I personally ride my bike to work : 20km per day + fitness.
Your brain needs oxygen to work a more efficient way.
Your bloodstream carries oxygen to your brain.
Your heart manage your bloodstream.
Sport improve your heart pumping.
Do the math.

(BTW, exercising everyday turned me in some endorphin junkie but it still costs me less than when I was still smoking)

Re:Strange

[tukkayoot]

Haha, chump! I got to see the magnificent landscapes by clicking that link, and I didn't have to move one foot!

Re:Strange

[mirko]

What you saw were only 2MPixel shots.
What I got was a 4pi steradian immersion as well as the ultimate oxygen fix :)

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

cutting my wrists turned me into an endorphine junkie...its cheap too.

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

Whenever I get the urge to exercise I lay down until it passes.

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

IIRC, the body needs to walk at least 5 miles a day for the health not to worsen.

Re:Strange

[dago]

Best of both : I just have to take the lift, sit on the roof with a wlan laptop and look at that (depends on the time of day).

Re:Strange

[zx75]

Oh I love it when 1024x768 jpegs are use for thumbnails!

Re:Strange

[kleinux]

What I got was a 4pi steradian immersion as well as the ultimate oxygen fix :)

Is that like air without all this dust in it? Bah, what good is that?

Re:Strange

[flink]

Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /www/d/dago/htdocs/gallery/classes/User.php on line 90

Stunning, simply stunning....

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Writer]

Hiking in the mountains is a good candidate because it is also rewarding : you get to see some magnificent landscape when you reach the top.

I suppose the line-of-sight position you're in would also provide better wireless access to the net.

Re:Strange

[Peldor]

What you saw were only 2MPixel shots. What I got was a 4pi steradian immersion as well as the ultimate oxygen fix :)

But I'm nearsighted so those pictures have better resolution than real life!

Re:Strange

[mirko]

A physical way of hacking your perceptions by saturating your body sensors with the rawest possible oxygen.

Re:Strange

[TheDredd]

Hiking in the mountains is a good candidate

My country (NL) does not have any mountains you incensitive clod!!

Re:Strange

[mirko]

I know, I once lived there...
Go and ride on a Dam between the polder and the North Sea :)

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

Who needs webshots when you've got GNU art? This alone is evidence that there IS a God and you don't have to give in to spyware to satisfy him.

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

Why did I have a strange urge to start singing "The hills are alive, with the sound of music...." looking at those pictures? :)

Re:Strange

[PerlDudeXL]

I made a longer vacation with some relatives and I have been without internet during this time.
No problem. After I came back and realized that my PC stopped working (I keep it running)
I had the most horrible weekend. No PC and no Internet and nothing to do.

Re:Strange

[mirko]

Thanks, this is the nicest thing one has ever told me about GNUArt.
God bless you.

Re:Strange

[ZB Mowrey]

I'd love to see the reference for this.

If only I could.

[rbruels]

Honestly, I would give anything to get away from the Internet for two weeks. A disconnection, though probably disorienting for a couple days, would be so pleasant.

Unfortunately, since all my work (read: paychecks) come from the computer, I can't do that.

That sucks.

Re:If only I could.

[DMUTPeregrine]

Vacations are great. Go into an area without net, get away from everything. Hike. Canoe. Whatever. I'm a net junkie, but a break is still a good thing.

Re:If only I could.

[NanoGator]

"Honestly, I would give anything to get away from the Internet for two weeks. A disconnection, though probably disorienting for a couple days, would be so pleasant.

Unfortunately, since all my work (read: paychecks) come from the computer, I can't do that."

It kind of bugs me that the term junkie has reared it's ugly head. I think about my own reasons for using the net a lot, and it occurs to me that there really isn't anything 'bad' about it. I participate on a 3D art community. Staying in tune with that has been quite beneficial to my career, plus I've made good friends out of it. If I had missed those key moments, I wouldn't have what I value today.

It's a little different, like in your case, where the internet creates work for you. When I had a tech support job, I wanted weeks away from a phone and email. Why? Because when that stuff arrived, it was more unpleasantness. But what about when it's all good? What if my phone rang with freelance job offers?

I think about others out there as well. Some people are looking for love. Some people are looking for information about their particular interests. All good things.

Eh. I guess I'm only responding because of what Slashdot's summary of the article said. Yeah I wanna be on the net constantly, but gimme a break, if I hadn't done that I wouldn't be at the job I love right now.

Re:If only I could.

[Feanturi]

Honestly, I would give anything to get away from the Internet for two weeks. A disconnection, though probably disorienting for a couple days, would be so pleasant.

Been there, done that, loved it to pieces, would gladly do it again. Did not give a rat's ass about tech, computers, the net, any of that, while climbing around in a 40,000 year old canyon for several days. Do it, you will remember it forever.

Re:If only I could.

[mod_parent_down]

The most productive I've ever been in my life was when I went to work at a start-up and our internet connection was through a guy's cell phone. It was just fast enough so that if you really needed something, you could get it... eventually. But any type of casual browsing was ludicrous. And if the phone was out of the office, no net.

Working at a computer != Being on the Internet

Honestly, you need it less than you think.

Re:If only I could.

[FlopEJoe]

No kidding

It's like when I was looking for a house and had "broadband access" near the top of my list. My non-geek friends laughed themselves silly about this but I wasn't in on the joke. They have kids so their first criteria was schools, neighborhood, and such.

For me, it's the point of "how do you get movie info, tv listings, dictionary, political scoop, phonebook entries, asymetrical comm, product info, latest music/movie releases, and so on, and so on." That's excluding all the info I need for the latest programming techniques and trends. For non-onliners, the dozen different sources for info works. For me the net is a one stop info source. I don't understand them and they don't understnad me.

Sure, the net has its pr0n and time wasters. But it's a tool that can be used for good and evil. To call it an addiction is like saying a hammer is an addiction to a serial killer who uses it to kill. It's not like smoking or crack with no positive use. It's like the hammer that can kill or hammer a nail.

Re:If only I could.

[lphuberdeau]

I had very restricted access to the web for around 7 months. In the first weeks, I have to admit it was a serious problem. I needed to get some information. Really, TV is worthless: why would I care about meteo anyway?

But after a while, you get used to being ignorant.

Re:If only I could.

[hendridm]

Yep, we're looking for a house right now, and we're only considering places that have some sort of broudband available (Cable or DSL is fine, both is better but not necessary). We're also interested in good schools for our future kids. Why can't you have both? In my area, partially because there has been a huge housing boom, there are lots of places that offer broadband, good school, a park nearby, and a decent neighborhood, and a lot of them aren't in the middle of the city either. Hell, even the new suburbs and development areas have cable, so you don't necessarily have to "settle". Yes, schools are important to use, but a house without broadband available is essentially useless to us. I'm a developer, and keeping up with the latest trends on my free time would be much more frustrating and unproductive with dialup. Also, as you said, we like using the Internet to lookup movies, TV guide, recipes, maps, we read a lot of news and politics, etc. Why are you a "junkie" if you use the Internet a lot for such things, but not if you read the local newspaper cover-to-cover every day?

I'll admit I spend a lot of time on the 'net, but I also learn a lot too. I don't spend it playing online games, I'm usually after the tech and current events articles (with the occasional Fark for comic relief, which in itself is relaxing). I dare to say without the Internet I would be a lot less informed because the Internet is on demand. Unfamiliar with a term? I may or may not be motivated to find it in a paper dictionary. However, online, I always look up words I'm unfamiliar with. See something on the Discovery Channel I don't understand. It's only a Google search away. I may or may not be motivated to look the same thing up in an encyclopedia, and even if I was, I might not get the diverse results I can get from Google (which I suppose can be both good and bad, but I look at it as good). I'd probably read the newspaper a lot more, but the Internet gives me everything the newspaper has plus more (ie, if I'm looking to escape the American slant, I can hop on to an overseas newspaper and see what their opinion is of the latest American catastrophe).

Ok, I probably sound lazy, but I like to think of it as efficient ;)

Re:If only I could.

[at_slashdot]

I think that the idea is that we become accustomed with this kind of life and we don't know what we are missing if we were not hooked online. ...kind of what happened in Simpsons when they forbid Itchy & Scratchy and all the kids went outside and started to play.... if we take a break from the Internet maybe we'd descover a more interesting world outside the doors and we'd feel more relaxed and happier.

Re:If only I could.

[Bob Uhl]

It's not like smoking or crack with no positive use.

Actually, smoking is quite positive: there's nothing like a relaxing evening pipe or cigar. Nicotine is a stimulant with the edge of caffeine. Now, nicotine can be abused, as is normally the case with cigarettes, but when used properly it's a very pleasant thing indeed.

I can't comment on crack, although I have read that cocaine is quite useful in certain fields as well.

Re:If only I could.

[lachlan76]

Honestly, I would give anything to get away from the Internet for two weeks

I'l give you AU$50 for your modem, because mine's having problems.

Ok, seriously, it IS harder than it seems.

Appropriatelly posted well after midnight

[Anonymous Coward]

at least in this part of the world.

Symptoms

[Pretendstocare]

"...withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and disconnectedness..."

Can't being on the internet all day/night cause this to happen with your real life? or is that just me....

Re:Symptoms

[cakefool]

it passes - embrace /. mmm

Re:Symptoms

[PacoTaco]

Maybe those feelings are caused by our soulless consumer culture and the Internet is just a way for people to avoid dealing with them.

this is why i mangage my habit

[j14ast]

Like Louis in the second ring world book I take time off the wire for maintnace such as sleep, food and exercise, if for no other reason is that by living longer I may have more time to be online!!

why,yes i was jokeing...

Baudrillard strikes again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Baudrillard was predicting this in 1981 in Fatal Strategies at least, and problably before that no doubt. "Must we put information on a diet?" (13, Semiotext(e))

Re:Baudrillard strikes again.

[myowntrueself]

That guy was ahead of his time.

Like his 'It is no longer necessary to be able to produce an opinion, only to reproduce public opinion' (from Simulations).

Light

[Un0r1g1nal]

ooooooo whats that big see through thing
<doctor>we call that a window
<pt>urghhh M$ windows
<dr>no no, this is a REAL window, look no leaks

Bout time some of us took a walk outside I think, go walk in the countryside where we cant even get wireless for our laptops :P

Re:Light

[gatesh8r]

EEEEEEEP Noooooooooo.... please GOD NO! I remember the LAST time I went to "the countryside" -- that big blue room with those brown pillers with... GREEN on top... and the carpet was strange!

Re:Light

[msim]

Sorry to say this, but it sounds like you may need a holiday.

Re:Light

[Anonymous Coward]

what's with the guy hobbling down the hallway in crutches
we call him a gimp
urghhh GIMP
no no, this is a REAL gimp, look it's fully functional

Re:Light

[Jarnis]

But hey, at least it was rendered in a DAMN good resolution, and those shader tricks to get the stuff they call 'water' and 'grass' look so cool were impressive.

Re:Light

[MimsyBoro]

no no, this is a REAL window, look no leaks

Where I come from that means that your window has no mirrors in it...

Re:Light

[OverflowingBitBucket]

But you can't turn the detail levels down to make it run faster.

Re:Light

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you sure you hadn't just booted XP?

Re:Light

[Dogtanian]

EEEEEEEP Noooooooooo.... please GOD NO! I remember the LAST time I went to "the countryside" -- that big blue room with those brown pillers with... GREEN on top... and the carpet was strange!

Last time in was in "the countryside" room, they hadn't even painted the ceiling blue; it was still undercoat-grey, and the sprinkler system kept coming on and soaking me (couldn't see where it was coming from, though).

Plus; the enemy AI is abysmal. There are these creatures called "sheep" and "cows", but they're mostly unthreatening, and run some lame herding algorithm.

Damn, you'd think that it would be easy to kill them, but it seems to be against the rules of the game to have a gun- at least in the UK release. I'm going to try to get a copy of the US version for that, but I'm not sure if Amazon.com will ship it to Scotland.

Re:Light

[troon]

But you can't turn the detail levels down to make it run faster.

Before I became allergic to alcohol (really!) I found that a few beers would both decrease the detail levels and increase the apparent framerate.

Re:Light

[OverflowingBitBucket]

Before I became allergic to alcohol (really!) I found that a few beers would both decrease the detail levels and increase the apparent framerate.

I stand corrected. It seems you have found a way to overclock life. Well, apart from caffeine, anyway.

That's a harsh allergy to live with. For your sake I hope you also have an allergy to being the designated driver too often.

Re:Light

[xutopia]

you idiot! You're supposed to replace the salt they lick with sodium. That'll make their heads blow off!

Re:Light

[lonesome phreak]

I try to go hiking every once in awhile, and am having a harder and harder time of getting out of cell phone range...

Re:Light

[pknoll]

I try to go hiking every once in awhile, and am having a harder and harder time of getting out of cell phone range...

I know this might sound trite, and I do understand the point you're making, but I have to say: You can leave the cell phone at home.

I had to learn this myself, after carrying one for so long I feel undressed without it. But I'm better now. If I'm not going somewhere I'm likely to need it, it stays home.

Re:Light

[TheFlyingGoat]

As the other poster said, just leave your cell phone at home. I go hiking on occassion and cell phone coverage is a nice security blanket if I should happen to get hurt. I just turn my phone off while I'm actually hiking, so I can't be bothered.

If there are any avid hikers out there, Devil's Lake in Wisconsin is a MUST. It's great for rock climbing and scuba diving too.

Re:Light

[lonesome phreak]

I thought of that too, but part of the challenge is trying to find a place where it doesn't work. Plus I like having it on me, as the hiking I like isn't just walking across a meadow, and I need it in case I get injured. Even if I'm out of range I can still drag myself somewhere so I'm not (at least in theory).

Re:Light

[Anonymous Coward]

what about a satellite uplink? :o)

I couldnt do it.

[nmoog]

Im just using this stupid monitor and keyboard until I can get google embedded directly in my eyeballs. I really rely on that sucker.

I was just doing some MENSA puzzles, thinking "man, these are sooo easy". Then I realised I was just googling the answers.

I dont know what I'd do if I had to think for myself for 14 days.

Re:I couldnt do it.

[Anonymous Coward]

I dont know what I'd do if I had to think for myself for 14 days.

Well if you don't know, you could always Google for...

Oh, wait.

Re:I couldnt do it.

[kulack]

Dude, that's really funny, but more so, because its true.

I really think that technology like this actually has the effect of making us much smarter. Any old complex task or idea that crosses my mind is only a couple of clicks and a query away.

I can spend 1 minute seaching, longer reading and know enough that I can at least follow or participate in a conversation. I know that I can get more information about the topic if I want to. No long trip to the library which is probably closed, plus a dramatic optimization of wading through the bad information to find the good.

I use X1 Search to do the same thing on my files/email/attachment on my PC (Its Windblows based, sorry). Sorry to sound like an Advert, but I just love the tool so much and it is related to the topic.

Though, I have to admit, since Google and good PC search/index software like this came around, I find that I modify my thinking in really strange (but really effective ways).

I'll snatch a web page or PDF document, or bash out a quick summary text file, file it away, and then remember things like basic concepts, hello world level details, keywords, etc.. and then PROMPTLY FORGET ABOUT IT and transition to something new. I can use my problem solving and logic skills and completely relax about the facts. Those sink in quickly enough as I progress through a topic, but at the start, I'm there and making progress.

In my mind, its really sort of a phenomenal change in the way human society works and thinks.

It all depends on where you are...

[vilain]

I was in a class for 12 days in Hawaii and didn't miss my net access at all. If I hadn't been with the instructor who wanted to check her email during a day off at a nearby Internet cafe, I wouldn't have bothered. All I had was 132 spam messages anyway.

Now, taking away my books for two weeks would be another matter...

Re:It all depends on where you are...

[msim]

138 spam messages, 12 days? man i get that many per DAY.

I know others that get 10,000spams a day, unfortunately due to them running a buisness they can't change. :-(

Re:It all depends on where you are...

[JiffyJeff]

Funny that you mention Hawaii and not having net access...

As a software engineer in Maui, I find that Internet access is easier to get here than just about anywhere else on earth (except maybe San Fran). Sure we have some "dead" areas, but if you were taking a class then I'm pretty sure you were in an area with at least a few sources of broadband connectivity.

Hawaii is a hub to several trans-pacific fiber-optic connections. If you call Australia from California, you're probably talking through us.

Re:It all depends on where you are...

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

As a software engineer in Maui..

Damn, talk about tough gigs. I don't suppose your company is hiring? ;)

Lawsuit time...YEY!!!

[DigiShaman]

What's next? People sueing TimeWarner or AOL for getting them addicted?

It WILL happen sooner or later. And at the very least, expect the attept to be made.

Ya, call me cynical. But do I have a reason not to be in this age of "$$$ Jackpot Justice $$$"?

Re:Lawsuit time...YEY!!!

[myowntrueself]

"What's next? People sueing TimeWarner or AOL for getting them addicted?"

oooh oooh! Darl McBride!

I mean, by his account he is largely responsible for Linux, right? And if pressed he would probably even take credit for the entire internet...

Re:Lawsuit time...YEY!!!

[Gajon]

What's next? People sueing TimeWarner or AOL for getting them addicted?

Yeah, if people sue tobacco companies when they get cancer, it's not ridiculous to expect this.

Re:Lawsuit time...YEY!!!

[DigiShaman]

We already have people suing video game manufactures and the fast-food service industry. So ya, it's all about lawer looking for the next gold mine.

People involved in lawsuits like this are NOT in for the justice. They just want BLING BLING $$$$$ cash!!

When I'm online...

[slumpy]

I feel confident, secured, and empowered.....if only this translated to real life.

Re:When I'm online...

[Hinhule]

You would be Duke Nukem, Forever!

Re:When I'm online...

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate you and everything you stand for.

Re:When I'm online...

[Hinhule]

That's sad, all I hoped to do was make someone smile.

I do agree though duke nukem forever jokes have been done to death, but in this case I think it was pretty good.

gibbering uncontrollably?

[Anonymous Coward]

what a headline, however the words "gibbering uncontrollably" were used to describe a smack-head, not the individuals who were deprived of the internet....

a real test

[scottking]

wanna really see them twitch?

take away their cellphones too.

Re:a real test

[pdamoc]

Dude, that's not a test, that's a cruel and unusual punishment.

Re:a real test

[CanadianCrackPot]

You're right I can't live without the Wired, un oh Lain is calling me again...

Re:a real test

[rts008]

Then remove the door and toilet, watch them DIE IN A POOL OF THEIR OWN PISS AND THEN THE CLOWN CATCHES FIRE...no-wait! That's Sims2....sorrrrrry!!!

And the advert finishes with.....

[Anonymous Coward]

"Ask your doctor about Intergain for withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and disconnectedness during inconvient internet movements. Not to be taken while eating, drinking, breathing, typing, sleeping, driving, upgrading or patching. May cause excessive borrowing of toys from children. May also cause a desire for a girlfriend with a 300 baud modem and an 8 bit computer."

Re:And the advert finishes with.....

[mandos]

So you want a girlfriend with an Atari 800?

I'm affected too...

[NathanM412]

I was going to criticize this article as over-exagerated until I realized that I was reading Slashdot at 3:45am because I was having trouble sleeping. Oh well, what can you do?

Re:I'm affected too...

[dj42]

I had a couple of lucid points until I read this....(3:13 a.m. here...)

Re:I'm affected too...

[lachlan76]

11:59 on Saturday night.........time to get a gf methinks....

gibbering

[Bromrrrrr]

one begins gibbering uncontrollably

Are they sure these people didn't have an Internet connection?

Interesting

[I7D]

I can relate. Freshman year of college (4 yrs ago) I could't have the internet for historical preservation reasons. I'd been addicted to it before I had to lose it, so it sucked at first. I got better grades, got more work done, made a bunch of friends, went out..., but when I got the net back, even though i was sort of better off without it, mentally I was like "ahhhhhh, i'm connected again"

Re:Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

"historical preservation reasons"?

Did the Amish finally build a university?

I'm not so sure...

[venomkid]

Whenever my cable net goes out, I feel like I've suddenly just awakened. I go read, I do things around the house, go outside... it's a pretty startling change.

It's an addiction, to be sure. But I usually feel pretty damn good once it's gone. The only pressing problem is that I know if I don't check my mail for a few days I'll have to wade through a deluge of spam.

Re:I'm not so sure...

[Ford Prefect]

Whenever my cable net goes out, I feel like I've suddenly just awakened. I go read, I do things around the house, go outside... it's a pretty startling change.

A more interesting variation is when your network connection works fine, but your (only) monitor is very much dead. This has happened to me. However, I still managed to telnet into a BBS and post messages, having inadvertently memorised all the necessary key-presses.

Thinking about it, I should have printed out some man-pages and got Festival up and running...

re:

[akarnid]

Erm I just returned from my 2 week vacation and I just reconnected, and I don't feel any withdrawal at all. Pretty biased study if you ask me.

"Disconnected"?

[Pantero Blanco]

I'm online a good bit of the time...but when I'm away from the Internet for more than a few days, I don't get some strange emotion called "Disconnected". That would imply that I'm away from part of my body or mind.

I do feel a bit annoyed that I can't talk with friends who aren't physically near me (I don't have a cell phone), and it's inconvenient when I want to look something up, but that's about it. I really don't see how someone who mostly just chats when they're online could get "addicted" to the Internet.

Re:"Disconnected"?

[oPless]

The solution to your problem is a bluetooth (or IR) phone and a PDA (or laptop - with gprs?) that way you can still keep in touch !

Though every so often I go out, and leave my technology behind ... watch, phone, pda ... I find it quite peaceful :) If someone really needs me they can leave voice mail/textmessage or send me an email.

Oddly some people claim that they can't get hold of me ! They clearly are not trying hard enough !

It's the beginning of singularity

[Anonymous Coward]

Where humans willingly merge with technology to create one giant entity

Experiment Cuts Off Online Junkies from Internet

[Hudjakov]

I thought this kind of experiments were illegal since World War II

Hi my name is John

[l0ungeb0y]

I'm an Webaddict.I didn't see it at first, how it hurt my family and loved ones. I didn't care to think about the people I'd rob to pay my subscription fees to the porn sites. And there's so many porn sites, soon the 7-11 wasn't enough, I had to hit the Shell stations and the Stop 'n Go, one morning I was real desperate and hit up the Krispy Kreme and I even took all the change in the big styrofoam cup, heh... I still can't forget the helpless look on that guys face. I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was because majormellons.com had just become a thing called a port hole or something... 35 brands of big busty broads... I ... I just couldn't help myself or something... yeah... and so much tit, more tit than you'd ever seen before, soon I was at 200 subsrciptions to all these other port holes and I was like the tit god of the frikken universe! All those girls at my finger tips, mpegs, jpeg galleries, live web feeds! All of it Mine MIne MIne!!! I was a real live electronic sex god! Whoooyah muthfukahhh! A sex god!!!! You hear that? A real live electronic sex ... mmmmfhhhhhh ... sex godmmmpthhhhh....

"And now we'd like to introduce another new member, Neville"

Re:Hi my name is John

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude! I thought you were kidding, but then I saw your portfolio and realized that you probably weren't :-|

Okay, you probably were. Those are real live girls, so maybe it's not all that bad yet :-p

Re:Hi my name is John

[tigersha]

Well, the only thing better than watching porn is making it.

Re:Hi my name is John

[FinestLittleSpace]

that's a debatable one. not sure they'd enjoy you getting your joystick out whilst filming. or would they............

"oh no! the camera man has his penis out! what shall we do? I'll eat it till it goes away!" ...Taken directly from every porn film ever.

You know you're reading /. too much when

[teamhasnoi]

You're posting, at 3 am. to this story.
You have over 2200 posts.
You mod your pals +5 Funny and -1 Troll. In real life.
You constantly Profit! from ???
You can imagine a beowulf cluster of sandwitches.
You wonder if linux can run on your girlfreind.
You snicker at the last one, because you don't know any girls.
You can spot a goatse link from a mile away.
You are no longer shocked by goatse.
You still can't figure out why /. changed to a non-number karma system, if pageviews make them $$$, you probably bought the new server which you constantly stress.
You never get mod points.
You know all my posts are hilarious.

Re:You know you're reading /. too much when

[Anonymous Coward]

You're posting, at 3 am. to this story.
Nope, it's 10:23

You have over 2200 posts.
1869

You mod your pals +5 Funny and -1 Troll. In real life.
You constantly Profit! from ???
You can imagine a beowulf cluster of sandwitches.
You wonder if linux can run on your girlfreind.
You snicker at the last one, because you don't know any girls.
Nope, it's lame.

You can spot a goatse link from a mile away.
True

You are no longer shocked by goatse.
Also true, I'd even say it's funny as Hell !

You still can't figure out why /. changed to a non-number karma system, if pageviews make them 3979$, you probably boug
ht the new server which you constantly stress.
I am not sure I care about this lame one.

You never get mod points.
I do not want some.

You know all my posts are hilarious.
In Soviet Russia, maybe.

Re:You know you're reading /. too much when

[metlin]

Hahaha, I was agreeing with you until I read -

You wonder if linux can run on your girlfreind.

Girlfriend? Now I know you were kidding. Liar.

Re:You know you're reading /. too much when

[Anonymous Coward]

The only thing funnier than a joke is when a geek takes his time to answer all things that was said in jest :-)

Re:You know you're reading /. too much when

[Anonymous Coward]

You misspell simple words like sandwiches.

Re:You know you're reading /. too much when

[PipsqueakOnAP133]

Damnit. It's 3am....and I'm posting to this story.
And the time stamp really says it too.......

Re:You know you're reading /. too much when

[Zilquis]

When you decide to make a list like this

Cold turkey isn't the answer

[Ronald Dumsfeld]

As far as I can tell they've just expected people to carry on their lives as normal, minus Internet access. That isn't going to work. If there are no other changes to the person's environment/lifestyle then they're left with a gap where they'd use the Internet for recreation or socialising.

People should try avoiding the Internet when they go on holiday (you know, go outside, expose yourself to the daystar, etc.). If you can manage that, then perhaps you can cut back on Internet usage in day-to-day life too.

I'm out of place.

[DiscordOfFive]

I'm starting to think I don't belong on /. I mean, whenever I get a new girlfriend (disqualifier #1), I generally stay away from my computer for days, if not weeks, at a time (disqualifier #2).

Re:I'm out of place.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, yes you are.

Re:I'm out of place.

[lachlan76]

You've got a 6 digit UID, and no karma bonus.
You can still change ;)

phh, 2 weeks?

[Deanalator]

I visit my parents for a couple hours a week, and I'm pretty antsy by the end because they have dialup and I have a 5M or so line where I live. Ive been spending about 16 hours a day online though (2 hours eating 6 hours sleep).

You should see when they cut off my connection for a couple days for MPAA violations, I pretty much live in the linux lab (open 24 hours for cs students), or just wander the streets with my laptop hopping from network to network.

Re:phh, 2 weeks?

[Anonymous Coward]

or just wander the streets with my laptop hopping from network to network.

Yeah, you should stop doing that.

It's freaking the homeless people out.

Nerd-free holidays

[DrHyde]

Oh good, this means that I can go away on holiday to remote places and be confident that I won't be surrounded by anti-social nerds.

Human rights? Amnesty International?

[Vo0k]

How can they conduct such cruel experiments?!
They want to ban cloning humans, they protest nuclear technology development, yet they allow such inhuman monstrosities to happen! I'm shocked and disgusted!

All the loops!

[johndoejersey]

From article:

"I haven't talked to people I usually talk to and have been tempted to go on instant-messenger because I feel out of the loop,"

"I'm starting to miss emailing my friends - I feel out of the loop"

Are these people not aware of telephones, or good old hand written letters?

Re:All the loops!

[Anonymous Coward]

I know neither the phone number or snail mail address of most of my online friends. Why should I?

Do you know how to send people a telegram in case the phone dies, or the snail-man goes on strike?

Re:All the loops!

[Oligonicella]

First, telephone calls cost money for long-distance.

Second, please tell me -- exactly -- what is "good" about hand written letters?

I have friends I write to frequently all over the world. For instance, Switzerland. It takes about 7-9 days for a letter to get there. 2-3 weeks for a round-trip. I don't call that communicating.

Re:All the loops!

[FinestLittleSpace]

Second, please tell me -- exactly -- what is "good" about hand written letters?

Rearrange these words: Law Anthrax In Mother

Re:All the loops!

[lachlan76]

hmmmmm.....which is cheaper......email over free-of-charge internet connection, or conversation over the phone from Italy to Australia.....hard to decide, really.

or good old hand written letters?

But they don't have the immediacy that IM does - if I'm lucky, it takes a few days.

On MSN i get a response in...ohhh...about 5 seconds.

Cold Turkey For A Week

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll be going cold turkey next week since I'm going on holiday.

I think I'll just miss the sense of community I get from various forums I visit on the net (such as slashdot). But to be honest I'm looking forward to a compleate break from computers for the week since I spend the whole day at work on them, then most of the evening when I get home.

I think I need more of a real life social life to help get away from what ever addiction I have :)

Quite the same here

[Jesrad]

During the summer I generally go spend some time (up to two months, generally three weeks) away from cities and all internet accesses. The only thing I miss then, is the quick and convenient access to detailed information about any subject, so instead I go to the closest public library.

The daily comics, blogs, news, discussion forums, I don't miss at all, even though I tend to spend hours on them.

Re:Quite the same here

[Chess_the_cat]

I'm the same way. I find I can leave it all behind once I go camping or what not despite normally spending hours on the 'net at home. But the one thing I find myself doing is wishing I had some sort of text only Google appliance I could fit in my pocket so that I could ask simple questions.

Re:Quite the same here

[Anonymous Coward]

But the one thing I find myself doing is wishing I had some sort of text only Google appliance I could fit in my pocket so that I could ask simple questions.

Yeah, it's called The Bible. </troll>

Civilization is doomed

[Feanturi]

"We couldn't plan a weekend getaway," confirmed Kim V, presumably from the house in which she had been imprisoned since the web embargo.

So Kim's parents, nor her grandparents, were ever able to go anywhere for the weekend? How in the hell did we as a species ever get this far, that we can suddenly become a bunch of helpless twits? Christ it's amazing, that in such a short time, humanity has gone so far backwards, head firmly planted in ass, as to be generating shit like this. I do take the article to be something of a joke, I mean it *has* to be.. Fuck, this is crazy, I have to stop drinking while reading this site...

Re:Civilization is doomed

[Lumpy]

How in the hell did we as a species ever get this far, that we can suddenly become a bunch of helpless twits?

you do not go outside much do you.

These "helpless twits" have been out there forever.

the internet simply keeps them at home and out of danger.

I look at it as a "safety feature!"

Re:Civilization is doomed

[ttys00]

Oh, the twits have always been around, but the harshness of life used to kill them off. If someone wasn't watching where they were going, they'd fall off a cliff.

What happened was society getting better, and we now have laws and regulations that make it easier for twits to stay alive. Now the cliff has a guardrail and warning signs for people to walk into instead of going over the edge.

Re:Civilization is doomed

[SandSpider]

So Kim's parents, nor her grandparents, were ever able to go anywhere for the weekend? How in the hell did we as a species ever get this far, that we can suddenly become a bunch of helpless twits?

There's a couple of things going on here. The first is that the Internet has eliminated or severely reduced a number of other services, such as travel agents. There are a few travel agents left, but by and large people use the internet for their travel planning. Similarly, if you are used to checking news and movie times on the internet, you may not have a newspaper subscription, so you would be down one of the major sources of information on local events. Plus, you might not have a stockpile of maps, since you could always use mapquest. Etc. If it were a last minute weekend trip they wanted to plan, they couldn't really use AAA, because AAA often requires 10 days ahead of time to set up triptiks, at least in my area. If there is a plane fight , the recent difficulties in airline travel after 9/11 and the previously mentioned Internet cause phone support to be limited and slow.

The internet is a whole informational infrastructure that has made life significantly less expensive for many businesses. If you can't access it, and you're not used to the alternatives, it's going to be more difficult to use the alternate services.

Also, that quote may have been taken out of context or the tone might have been somewhat exaggerative. She might not actually had been a real prisoner in her own house.

=Brian

Re:Civilization is doomed

[Feanturi]

That's why I get all perked up when I hear news of a major solar flare erupting. Damn things keep missing...

internet users feel confident,secure and empowered

[bushboy]

"internet users feel confident,secure and empowered"

Hmmm, I always wondered why my voice has taken on a booming quality and how instead of sticking to the shadows when walking, I now stride confidentally down the street waving at everyone I meet.

And that's just when I'm online !

I always knew this internet thingy was good for you and now I have my proof !

It's So True

[lakiolen]

If I am unable to connect to the wireless service provided by my school whenever I have my laptop out, I feel as though I'm shut off from the rest of society. If I can't access the interent while working on my laptop, I can't get any work done. I've tried, but I always end up doing something else. -Average College Internet Addict

Why the hell would I want to give up the Internet?

[lewp]

All of you people are so interesting.

Convulsions and mouth foaming

[DanglingDongle]

I strongly advise printing out http://www.thetoque.net/031118/internetdown.htm/ in case of just such an emergency. It could be the difference between life and death. DD

Re:Convulsions and mouth foaming

[DanglingDongle]

Oops, I know that I for one am far too lazy to ctrl+c/ctrl+v just to see a link. Lets try this again :P http://www.thetoque.net/031118/internetdown.htm

QUIT AT OWN RISK

[tunabomber]

Seriously, the withdrawal is a bitch.
I tried to quit the Internet "cold turkey", but went right back on the wagon after two days of seeing dead trolls crawling around the ceiling.
Maybe I should have tried your heroin idea.

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[Hinhule]

There where undead slashdotters crawling around your ceiling?

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[Hinhule]

Haha, yeah that's the stuff :)

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[Rinikusu]

I've always wanted to try heroin, but was afraid it would lead to cigarettes. :(

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[gray code]

There might be a patch for quitting the internet?

Didn't that get rolled in with XP SP2? ..Oh, wait, no, that was just the crappy firewall.

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[Anonymous Coward]

I quit using the Internet for 2 weeks one time, but I was in Amsterdam most of that time :)

I didn't even want to touch a computer, I was on vacation.

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[Anonymous Coward]

Kicking Heroin suck more then kicking an Internet habit.

Last time I went "cold turkey" off herion I had to be put in the hospital for 3 days .

It made kicking my intenet habit a breeze.

Re:QUIT AT OWN RISK

[Kehvarl]

Haha, yeah that's the stuff :)

Hostess?

where's the cream filling?

Re:OMG!

[NanoGator]

"2 weeks without slashdot?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo....."

I was about to post how great it'd be to get away from Slashdot for a couple of weeks... then I realized I volunteered to visit.

Crap. It's just like smoking. >:I

How did they exactly deprive....

[novakyu]

...the subjects of Internet?

Lock them up in their own house, cut their phone/cable? (In that case, are they sure that the withdrawal symptom is due to withdrawal from Internet or from fresh air...who am I kidding?)

Or were they just relying on the subjects' integrity and sense of honor to hold up against the overwhelming withdrawal symptoms? And did they really expect the subjects to be honest about it, if they slipped up?

IDK, but something smells fishy here. This sounds just like the M$ report that says total cost of ownership for linux is higher than M$ servers.

Or this is just a big joke and /. editors are a part of it.

Re:How did they exactly deprive....

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup. Sounds like horse crap to me.

The reason for the rapid collapse of their universe is - say the researchers - because 'internet users feel confident, secure and empowered.'

Whenever I spout off confidently with power on the internet, I invariably get cut down to size. And a rather tiny size, at that.

When I have a similar "discussions" face-to-face, in-person, in the real world... I usually have the advantage of size. Me bigger... you listen.

::grunt::

Can't do that online! ;-)

I did my own experiment

[Anonymous Coward]

Last summer, my Linux firewall got 0wn3d when I neglected to update my WuFTP daemon. As a result, I had to bypass my firewall box and plug my main machine directly to the 'net. Well, I was too lazy to fix the Linux box, and lo and behold after a couple days my Windows box was 0wn3d too, this time with a spam trojan. Shaw Cable disconnected my modem due to the spam, and I was left trying to figure out a way to get updated virus tables on my box with nothing that would reasonably connect to the internet.

During that week, I was without the internet that occupied me some 12 hours a day. I didn't become incoherent, or babble, or anything. I became productive. I made myself breakfast every morning. I cleaned my apartment for the first time in a year. I even organized my tape collection, went through my old papers, and finished a model starship that had spent 7 years in drydock.

So it isn't as serious as this study leads it to believe. Likely they didn't get people who had internet COMPULSIONS (they aren't addictions, which require actual physical or chemical dependence) like myself, but rather people with out-and-out internet PATHOLOGIES. There's a world of difference between something you like so much you don't usually give it up (X-box, internet, TV, sex, rebuilding an engine) and something that you irrationally can't live without.

Re:I did my own experiment

[Solder Fumes]

What the hell do you do for a living? Whoever is putting up with you being so damned useless must either be an angel or the government.

diversify your income

[KalvinB]

I run a very reliable (see netcraft result) web-server that I can and do happily ignore for long stretches of time.

While I'm stuck working part time as a programmer to pay the bills (a nice gig that allows me to make my own hours while I'm going to school), I've got a web-site that is beginning to show promise as a way to get a decent amount of residual income. The sections that bring in the most revenue are the sections I havn't touched in months. So it's not something I must do constantly.

I'm also making money on the stock market. I'm not getting rich yet, I'm young enough to do proof of concept and risk hundreds of dollars to learn. Once I get financially situated in a real job then I can drop more money on the market to try to increase that income stream.

And when I get out of school, I'll be a high school math teacher making me as free from computers as I want to be. It'll be a hobby and a teaching tool (math demonstration scripts, class sessions in MP3 format, notes, homework assignments, etc) but not a necessity. It's the not being a necessity part that keeps programming interesting.

The trick is to either maximize residual income (so you can work less at a real job) or focus on shifting careers to something that doesn't require a computer constantly.

It's just a matter of figuring out where you want to be and figuring out how to get there.

I don't want to spend my life in front of a computer so I'm not going to.

Ben

Re:diversify your income

[Dogtanian]

I've got a web-site that is beginning to show promise as a way to get a decent amount of residual income. The sections that bring in the most revenue are the sections I havn't touched in months. So it's not something I must do constantly.

Yeah, but are you sure running a porn website with photos of yourself naked in various poses is in your long term interest?

Anyway, I think it's bad that you're getting lazy like that, so I've ripped all the images from your website and posted them to Usenet.

Yep; I'm sorry, you're going to have to take another set of photos involving "Big" Steve and a tube of KY Jelly.

Re:diversify your income

[Anonymous Coward]

you consider that reliable? wow.

Re:diversify your income

[Doctor O]

OT, but that surely looks like one interesting read. If you one can easily grab the concepts of a language and always wanted to learn some more of that JavaScript, PHP, OOP and C++ while fiddling with something interesting like 3D, have a quick look.

We are Borg

[matt_martin]

Please, plug me back into the collective - I feel alone, empty, when away from it...

Fake ??

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, noone remember a very similar story ???

http://www.carrefourtechno.com/carrefour/sites/fo/ redir.php?c=1&g=1&m=1&u=219&l=fr_FR&k=1rY1hD5hH7sx aMHYrKYgEtHw9ULgka

Is it a fake ?

If you leave the internet..

[mumblestheclown]

If you leave, don't leave now
Please don't take my heart away
Promise me just one more night
Then we'll go our separate ways
With hours left time on our sides
Now it's fading fast
Every second every moment
We've got to--we've gotta make it last

props to those who get the joke, and jeers to those who mod this down because they don't

airplane quote...

[Festering Leper]

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit:
smoking.
drinking.
sniffing glue.
amphetamines.
using the internet.

Ehh...

[Arcanix]

Who needs human contact anyway? Humans are SO out this season.

The real future is robots, sex robots in particular. With one of those I could avoid all human contact and still visit Slashdot regularly while being "serviced".

Re:Ehh...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, man take a look at this p0rno shot...

http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/talks/Extras/roomba .JPG

Re:Ehh...

[Fred_A]

Looks like he tossed his cookies...

Re:Ehh...

[Analog Anomaly]

No, don't you get it? It swallows!

Re:Ehh...

[freqres]

Which is better than tossing his salad.

Re:Ehh...

[Captain Fallout]

The real future is robots, sex robots in particular.
Well if it's the one from the new Battlestar Galactica, hell yeah!

Re:Ehh...

[Anonymous Coward]

if the guy robot was attractive enough and had enough personality traits of my highschool crush as well as his face and hot body, geez, i'd pay almost any dollar amount for that! especially considering that my highschool crush is straight! (they always are) where do i sign up?

Just two weeks? How about three?

[flowerp]

How very lame, I will do three weeks in the north African desert without phone, Internet and slashdot. When I get back, I will speak Gibberish much better. (hint: it's called French)

The way things should be

[tomee]

If for some reason the internet is cut off, an emergency service should come racing to your home with sirens to get you connected as soon as possible. Then being addicted simply wouldn't matter.

Internet access or web access?

[lightspawn]

Experiment cuts off online junkies from internet... Participants in the human experiment were deprived of the web for 14 days


The web is not the internet, despite popular beliefs (web + mail over web = internet).

I'd expect this type of mistake from a local news story but not from sources who should know better.

Re:Internet access or web access?

[Minna Kirai]

I'd expect this type of mistake from a local news story but not from sources who should know better.

A mistake? You mean that the subjects were actually allowed to use the internet, and could run FTP and IRC, just not HTTP or POP3?

not as bad as living in the land of 28.8

[infonography]

All the empowerment of the internet at a 100th of the speed. That's painful. Worse then no access.

Re:not as bad as living in the land of 28.8

[Thomas Shaddack]

Worse then no access.

I started with a 14k4 modem card and Windows 3.11, or DOS and NCSA Telnet. It was FAR better than nothing.

Even the 2400 bps modem I used to use in the Age of BBS was better than nothing. I am too young to remember those cute acoustically coupled 300 bps terminals, but I suppose they were better than no access too.

Even today I'd pick 300 bps over nothing.

Re:not as bad as living in the land of 28.8

[lachlan76]

I'm using one now, you get used to it, as long as you have adblock.

Of course, I'm gonna get 512kb ADSL in a week, so it's all good. If I'm lucky, I might be able to get my dad to get a plan with no download cap.

News at Eleven

[Oligonicella]

This just in. The telephone changed the way we all lived and undeveloped adolescent girls and boys spend inordinant amounts of time talking on it, describing a feeling of disconnect when deprived.
Get a grip. This exact same crap was said a century ago. The past is sooooo golden. That is, until you get there. Then it sucks.

Re:News at Eleven

[Viol8]

Its a reasonable comparison but not 100% accurate. Sure with a phone you don't meet the person but you do hear their voice , with all the intonation etc that goes with it. With the internet you don't even get that , its one stepped further removed from real contact than the phone is. So while people who spend a lot of time on the phone instead having of face to face contact may have some issues , people who spend a lot of time on the net for the same reason have a LOT of issues. IMO anyway.

Re:News at Eleven

[Anonymous Coward]

You sound like a phone addict! But seriously, twenty or thirty years from now when the internet is as ingrained in society as the phone is now, people won't write these kinds of articles.
It's an interesting point, though. With email/im/text messaging becoming more popular means of communication, how will that change our thinking? I think it's for the better, but then I'm introverted and not very emotional.

Re:News at Eleven

[mdwh2]

Sure with a phone you don't meet the person but you do hear their voice , with all the intonation etc that goes with it. With the internet you don't even get that

Yeah, it's not like you can do voice chat over the Internet.

Oh wait. And you can see them too on the Internet if you want, which conveys far greater information that just hearing them on a phone.

Of course, I agree with you that it's not a 100% accurate comparison - because people use the Internet for leisure too, as well as the social aspect. A better comparison would be, 20 years ago or so, removing the phone and TV, and perhaps radio, from people's homes for two weeks.

Re:News at Eleven

[lachlan76]

but you do hear their voice , with all the intonation etc that goes with it. With the internet you don't even get that , its one stepped further removed from real contact than the phone is

If you really spend a lot of time on IM, you'll realise that you can tell quite a lot about how someone's feeling by what they type. People write differently when they're happy/sad/depressed/etc. Just because you can't hear their voice doesn't mean you can't tell what they're trying 2 say.

without CS

[essreenim]

or see how I do without my lunchtime fix of counter strike.

Hawaii works well too

[billstewart]

I was only there about 10 days, didn't take the computer, some of the hotel rooms didn't even have phones. No problem, mon. Seemed a bit silly to use maps made of actual dead trees, but it worked ok. Spent a lot of time talking to family, hanging out at the beach, drinking things with rum in them, driving around volcanoes.

Of course, when I got back home, my PC was grumpy and had several hundred non-spam emails to hand me, mixed in with spam about how I could win free trips to Hawaii.

Depending on activity

[Random Web Developer]

The withdrawal symptoms from being disconnected depend a lot on what else you can do at the time.

If i leave on a holiday for 2 weeks I always leave my laptop at home, and i never miss it because i am in a totally different environment.

If I get disconnected on a rainy sunday on the other hand i'll be running around the house not knowing what to do

Re:Depending on activity

[Peyna]

Which makes it a lot different than withdrawal from any kind of substance abuse. If you quit smoking, drinking, smoking crack, whatever, you can't take a vacation and forget about it.

Magnifique!

[T.Hobbes]

Those photos were absolutly fantastic! Bravo. How long did it take to climb to the top of the mountain in this photo? Myself, I've climbed the volcano Masaya and another volcano on the island of Omatepe in Nicaragua; the one at Omatepe was almost 2km high, and that took me almost 2 hours to climb. The other one, at Masaya, was easier to climb; we were in a truck most of the way. but the last 100m were on foot, and I was quite scared at the summet. But, like you say, the vista is wonderful. At the summet of Masaya, I could see the capital of the country, Managaua, which is more than 50km away.

An attempt at French, for the hell of it:

Ces photos la sont absolument fantastique! Bravo. Combien d'heurs es qu'il a pris pour marchez au sommet de le montagne dans le photo ici?

Mois-meme, j'ai escaledez le volcan Masaya est une autre volcan sur l'isle Omatepe dans Nicaragua; l'un a Omatepe etait presque 2km d'hauteur, est il m'a pris presque deux heurs pour l'escaledez. L'autre, a Masaya, etait plus facil de escaladez; j'etait dans un camion, sauf que les dernier cent metre etait sur pied (j'etait assez efferayez au sommet)! Come vous avez dit, le vista est merveilleux. Au sommet de Masaya, je pouvait voir le capital du pays, Managua, plus de 50km distant.

Re:Magnifique!

[mirko]

It took me 9 hour to get there and back :)

"People were unwilling to be cut off"

[anno1602]

They stated how hard it was to find poeple who were unwilling to be cut off. They assumed that that was due to an almost pathological addiction to the internet. But perhaps, these people simply had lives.

Yes. They were unwilling to be cut off because they had lives. For example, if you do any work in a volunteer organization, chances are that working email is absolutely mission critical. I'm not talking about one-to-one - you can do that over the phone (though without automatic archiving) - but about announcements, dicsussions and so on that go over mailing lists. Today, in the orga where I work, a member without decent email access is next-to-worthless, because (s)he has no means of participating in discussions and keeping on top of things. A lot of coordination is done exculsively via email.

While pathoglogies may exist, especially email has entered our lives so deeply that a lot of things rely on email access. Not the people, but the organization itself. When internet access is cut, these things stop working for that particular individual, and despite what the article suggests, the availabilty of alternatives is not a given. Especially when it comes to volunteer organizations, there frequently is no adequate alternative, simply because the organization has been designed with the availabilty of email in mind. For some things, email isn't yet another way of communication, it is THE way.

Re:"People were unwilling to be cut off"

[anno1602]

Listen to yourself. It's just two weeks.

Two weeks can be a long time when a possible sponsor wants a meeting, say, next Wednesday? It just does not leave a good impression if you don't answer that. Go find a new sponsor.

wheres the porn joke?

[majid_aldo]

no wonder the were shivering and felt empty.

It depends heavily on context

[Steeltoe]

It depends what you do on the net, and if it really makes you happy.

And it depends what kind of life you have outside the net, and if that world makes you happy.

For example when I join an Art of Living course for a week or two, I come back invigorated and ready to rock the world. I'd just had an extraordinary time without any computers!

Then I sit down in front of a computer, and all that energy is drained into silly bugs, and a dozens things I have to repair and fix in order to remain sane.

I can imagine if I didn't have something really worthwhile outside the net, like Art of Living, I would miss the online world, just because it's an easy way to hide from it. Obnoxious commercials all over the place doesn't help either, but a walk in the forest and mountains works wonders :-)

Fooled them...

[identity0]

Pffft... they think they've cut me off, and that I've gone clean... What they don't know is, I snuck a Blackberry in by hiding it up my ass and I'm using it to get Slashdot! Gotta get my fix, you know...

Thank god for wireless, otherwise : )

Re:Fooled them...

[Anonymous Coward]

goatse?!?!
Goatse, is that you?

Re:Fooled them...

[JackRandom]

Five long years, he wore this Blackberry up his ass. Then when he died of dysentery, he gave me the Blackberry. I hid this uncomfortable piece of metal up my ass for two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the Blackberry to you.

very unscientific

[Anonymous Coward]

This study didn't take into account all the possible factors that might be affecting their numbers. They blame the internet itself when the underlying cause might merely be something the internet provided them an abundance of.

For example, deprevation of pornography, I'm not trying to be funny here. The lack of this by itself could be contributing to some of the psychological distress these participants felt.

Lack of the extensive socialization the internet can provide. Some people are more social online than they would otherwise be in real life. And, if you consider the sheer numbers of people you might converse with online, the internet can be said to provide a far more diversified and abundant social experience. Forums, newsgroups, IRC, chatrooms, blogs, instant messenging, etc.

Much needed play time, which participants might not be experienced (due to a lack of attempting to find other things to do) in finding elsewhere.

And, computers in general can provide the instant gratification that human beings seek in their environment.

We can count out the last two because they were allowed to continue computer use without internet access.

There may even be physiological variables at work here. Such as what sort of monitors they were using, LCD or CRT? If they were using one or the other that might affect the results. Other possibilies are similar addictions that have been observed with television, how are these related?

At any rate, my point is that this study is far from conclusive about the effects of internet deprevation. Take it with a grain of salt. There are many factors here that weren't even considered. And, there is a lack of a control and experimental group. This study is simply not scientific. They seem to be treating it like a poll instead of a scientific study, but then they try to present the results as scientific evidence. It is foolish, don't buy in just yet.

That isn't to say the observations aren't material, but their methods and resulting assumptions are suspect. Was there even a hypothesis formulated? Where are the statistics?

Cheers.

Re:very unscientific

[dotmax]

This study didn't take into account all the possible factors that might be affecting their numbers. They blame the internet itself when the underlying cause might merely be something the internet provided them an abundance of.

Piffle. Stone Phillips had it precisely correct: GET A LIFE.

Re:very unscientific

[Peyna]

Agreed, I've found that not having Internet access only creates problems when you *think* that's the only thing to possibly do, and don't bother trying to do something else (and instead sit at home wondering what people used computers for before the Internet existed).

When I went to Mexico for a week, I had next to no connection to the world at large (no TV, no Internet, never even had the chance to pick up a newspaper). Yet, I was so busy with other things, and my mind was focused on those tasks, that it didn't bother me at all.

When I moved to my new apartment, Time Warner told me it would take 3 weeks to hook up my Internet access; it bothered me for the first couple of days quite a bit, because I had absolutely nothing else to do (or so I convinced myself). Then I realized I could go to school and use the library, and everything was OK. =]

Re:very unscientific

[Anonymous Coward]

For example, deprevation of pornography

That's why you save it to your hard drive, duh.

AC is with you

[Anonymous Coward]

All the way.

In 1976 I was additicted.

[thbigr]

I remeber leaving middle school in the 76' time range and runing as fast as possible to the nearest Plato terminals. I needed to play Empire, I needed to read my eMail, I needed to chat, etc...

It got so bad that my father would have to hunt me and my friends down. We got to looking for more obscure terminal locations on campus (I.U. by the way).

The ultimate result occured when the usage was so high (a lot of kids like myself where doing this) at the library, that you where handed password that would give you a 30 minute time slot. When it expired you had to get back in line to get another one.

Crazy stuff.

flabular girlie men and sissy girls

[dotmax]

Yet more support for the idea that geeks should be treated as poorly as possible, as often as possible.

Frankly, there ought to be a test before you're allowed online. Y'know, ride a bike 100 miles, juggle, kiss a member of the appropriate gender, do somethig like they do on This Old House, demonstrate the ability to speak extemporaneously in front of 1000 people, 5 and one, for periods > an hour, and sit quietly in a room for a week all alone.

Compared to the people in the study, Comic Book Guy is a regular reniassance man.
. .max
where's my cattle prod?

Haven't we all been there?

[mrph]

Not that I think I would react in such an extreme way, but of course I recognize the feeling of being "detached" every time my DSL goes down.
Even when there isn't any real activity, I feel strange when I can't see what is (or isnt) said on IRC, how many spam e-mails I have or haven't received, what news have or
haven't shown up twice on slashdot and so on.

The connection simply needs to be there and active. My network being disconnected makes me feel disconnected too. Just knowing that it isn't connected feels like an itch,
and I have a hard time really concentrating until the connection is restored. Even if I'm not using it, or even if I'm not at home.

Re:Haven't we all been there?

[kavau]

I don't know, but I would get a similar feeling anytime I can't do something because of a technical problem. Say if I want to cook something and the stove is not working, or if the telephone is out of order, the car is in the shop, etc. It's not really internet related, but simply the fact that you can't go about your normal routine.

Immortality ...

[foobsr]

... if for no other reason is that by living longer ...

So you would say it's the main purpose in training Taiji?
The classics say the main purpose in training Taiji is to achieve longevity, which in the Daoist teaching means immortality or the ability to survive after death in your diamond body. The Buddhists talk of enlightenment which means to create a body of light for the same purpose. After death you live on in your energy body one way or another. If your energy body is strengthened and refined through correct effort during your lifetime then the deeper aspects of yourself become independent from the body, immune from death in your crystallised energy body. If you haven't achieved that, then you either gradually fade from all individual existence or return in a body to try again to escape the rounds of life and deaths. This is the truth of life. It is well understood by all real teachers. Other purposes for Taiji are minor ones, created by people in normal life, usually to nurse the body and make it more comfortable, or to attain fighting power and the dubious respect that confers. Unfortunately concentrating on health or self-defence may just make the mind more attached to the body, strengthen the ego and block internal development.
loc. cit.

Worth a try even if one just wishes to attain a little more balance. Of course, one perhaps may go for netted immersion.

CC.

In other news...

[Pan T. Hose]

Experiment Cuts Off Reading Junkies from Books

An article from The Register reports one begins gibbering uncontrollably because he/she can't get a fix without books and newspapers access after two weeks. That, at least, is according to a 'Book Deprivation Study' carried out by Yahoo! and advertising outfit OMD. Participants in the human experiment were deprived of books for 14 days, and found themselves quickly succumbing to 'withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and disconnectedness.' The reason for the rapid collapse of their universe is - say the researchers - because 'books readers feel confident, secure and empowered.'

One of the Reading Junkies asked whether he reads books every day answered: "Why, yes, indeed. I believe I read books every day." One of the 'Book Deprivation Study' researchers said "We might be able to help him but he needs a long therapy of reading and knowledge deprivation."

Film at eleven.

Still no change

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit, I have been checking /. countless times (even had time to shower and shave) and there is still no new story. nobody even added a new comment so I guess it is up to me...

Re:Still no change

[Anonymous Coward]

Just checked again, nope still the same.

Since you have obviously time to kill (reading anonymous coward post again are you), I would like to point out the great poll today, 'Best Interstellar Spacecraft' (if you have even much more time and got here browsing the archive).

But Cowboyneal forgot the Tardis so please send him a email.

Same old, same old

[WoodenRobot]

(I didn't RTFA, but this is /. after all...)

Does the press never get tired of labelling the Internet negatively? It's getting really tedious, IMHO.

I personally think the internet is one of the greatest things that humans have ever invented, as it allows anyone with access to get their hands on an immense amount of information on anything they want, and to contact people who may be just like them - or completely different.

I use the Internet for getting information, being entertained and contacting people - and these are without any real limit, other than what I'm not interested in. It's a vital resource, and it's obviously 'addictive', in the same way that anything that can provide so much can be. Doesn't mean it's going to be a bad thing, even if there's a dark underbelly to it at times. The net's just a reflection of the people who use it, so it's clear that since people aren't all perfect, the content they produce will echo this fact. I'm an evangelist for the Internet, but that's 'cause I think it's f***ing cool.

Re:Same old, same old

[forkboy]

I gotta agree with you, man. I can't imagine trying to finish my chemistry degree or either of my two research projects without the plethora of science resources on the 'net. Instant access to science and medicine journals, physical and chemical literature sources, and general discussions have a value I can't even begin to quantify.

Email, games, and pr0n are pretty cool, too.

Re:Same old, same old

[WoodenRobot]

Good point. I didn't mention anything about academia, but I reckon you could pretty easily educate yourself to degree level in just about any subject you wanted to, just using the free resources of the Internet. You can also get access to people to help you with things too, via Usenet or messageboards. Has this ever been possible before in the history of mankind?

Oh, come on...

[Anonymous Coward]

..what we're REALLY talking about here is online porn withdrawal, and everyone knows it.

Thanks nice, but not for everyone

[Anonymous Coward]

We're in the prairies. No mountains or anything of interest for miles around. You'll need to travel for days before you see the next hill.

LGFitis

[bushwahd]

Then they did a followup experiment where they only let people have access to littlegreenfootballs.com. Result? They started gibbering uncontrollably within the first 5 minutes.

You can usually spot the real junkies...

[manickZe]

...by the monitor burn in their retinas.

A better experiment

[CaptainAmerica1941]

Deprive people of cell phones for 14 days. Thousands of glassy eyed people, shuffling around mumbling "Where you at?" to themselves would be rather disturbing.

Re:A better experiment

[maduro55]

If only that could happen, what a wonderful world it would be.

Seems kinda sad in some ways

[Anonymous Coward]

This article was sad. I think it's horrible that there are people who absolutely *need* the internet or will suffer from withdrawl symptoms. The only thing I would lose without it would be easy and instant access to information. I don't *need* the internet, I *want* the internet because it can make my life easier.

"I couldn't plan my weekend getaway without the internet - I was a prisoner of my own home" -- one of the things I picked up from this article .. Not sure where they were planning to go but one thing's for sure they were prisoners of nothing. There's a whole world outside of your home, go and explore. There are also an invention called the telephone, which I'm sure they have forgoten how to use. Instead of e-mailing and IMing my friends maybe I can call them?

Actually, families participating in this expriment would have had an excellent opportuinity to teach their childern how to use non-internet resources that they have available to them. I kinda doubt that though. Seems like most of the people in the expriment would be to preoccupied with rocking back and forth in a corner of their home foaming at the mouth.

Google link

[Karma Star]

of Swiss Mountains here. The page actually looks like a vast mountain range, thanks to Google Images...

Feel?

[owlstead]

...Internet users feel confident, secure and empowered...

With all that information at your fingertips, the possibility to contact about anybody (that wants to be contacted) this is a small wonder. Internet users ARE confident, secure*1 and empowered.

*1 If you equal the small chance of being run over by a truck at home as secure...

withdrawal

[spare.dave]

The dormitory I live in lost internet access to the individual rooms a little while ago. (Not surprising. The spaghetti network had been gradually built up over five years by a man that knows nothing about networking. I took one look at it and walked away. It shouldn't even be working in the first place). It's something that would have really bothered me about five years ago, but this time I kind of enjoyed it.

I got more reading done than I usually do, and had a good excuse to leave my computer for a while. A lot of people actually sat around after dinner and chatted, which they don't usually do.

I think I was the only one who appreciated it though. There was one machine with access in the building, and people clung to it like glue all day. When someone brought down a spare hub, there were five people sitting around with laptops, visibly irritated, while it was being set up.

The thing is, when these people finally got connected again, they didn't really do anything. The logged onto messenger and chatted a bit, they checked their blogs for comments, and then browsed around aimlessly. It was the simple fact that they were disconnected that irritated them.

soulless consumer culture

[cascadingstylesheet]

Maybe those feelings are caused by our soulless consumer culture and the Internet is just a way for people to avoid dealing with them.

Maybe ... but anytime somebody mentions the alternative to that culture on /., they get attacked by ravening hordes of athiests ;)

Re:soulless consumer culture

[Anonymous Coward]

Here you go, then..!

Since when did soul=christian? Taken that link from your atheist comment?

Soulless here is more an emotional shallowness where the consumption of goods is the only affirmation of the worth of life.

Yes, christianity *can* be an answer. *Any* religion can be. It doesn't have to be spiritual either, though. There are many more ways of connecting with others than with uniformity of belief.

As an agnostic (there may *be* a god, but I won't change the way I live my life because of it and if the afterlife is an eternity of torment because I didn't beleive, then f*ck him) I find the worst thing about prosetylising (aargh, bad word to spell!) christians is that they want you to read the latest word but will NOT return the favour.

Other religions seem somewhat better, though that may be just because they have to live in a mainly christian society and have to put up with it.

ANY belief system should be through real faith. Real failth *demands* doubt. If you act on your belief and think "what if I'm wrong" and would, if you *knew* it was wrong, do something different then that means your belief needs changing.

I have no issue even with satanists. As long as they only abuse themselves and allow people to join or leave as they wish while describing *why* they are right, I have no hassle with them. You never know, they could be right.

Thanks to Charley and Frances...

[yoshi_mon]

I recently have been on 2 5 day not only inet but power blackouts!

The 1st time was not so bad. I had my Palm fully charged and loaded with good books to read. And that is not unimportant as it seems because it is a back-lit screen so I could read at night without having to resort to a lot of lamps, candles, or flashlights. All but the latter generate heat, bad!, and the flashlights use up batteries quickly enough when there are none in the state!

I can say that I suffered no real ill effects but of course I had plenty of other things to keep me miserable at the same time. The sweltering heat, the fun of cooking without power, cleaning up the mess with chainsaws (Ok that one was kinda fun.), cold showers. But I did miss it.

Now the 2nd time was a little more rough. I lost my DSL as the storm 1st hit but still had dial-up and power. I was hopeful. Well that got dashed pretty quickly as the power soon went out again and into darkness and heat I plunged. I had changed up my backup Palm that I use for writing on the road but had forgotten to install the keyboard driver for it, doh! My main Palm was only 1/2 charged and it died about day 2. Back to reading by candle light!

I guess my example is a bad one because there were so many other variables involved but I can say that as someone who uses the inet probably way too much that I suffered no real ill effects. I used the time to do some writing the old fashioned way with paper and reading a bunch. I also listened to the radio a lot and knowing that everyone down here was pretty much in the same boat helped.

Oh, and btw as Jeanne is likely headed our way right now I have both Palm's charged up and ready to go!

Re:Thanks to Charley and Frances...

[thegnu]

Now the 2nd time was a little more rough. I lost my DSL as the storm 1st hit but still had dial-up and power.

I half expected you to continue, "Well then THAT went, and I fired up the generator my hand-held sattelite dish. It was a bitch connecting through all those clouds. (Note to self: Allocate funds for Camera that can see through fog"

Yeah, so anyway, I guess it's a bad joke, but hooray for self-indulgence!

14 days? baah

[polle404]

I work for an ISP, 14 days without internet access is called vacation!

Blergh

[Turn-X Alphonse]

I hae withdrawl from the internet for a week once. I did the weirdest thing...I played my cube all day, shocking no?

I'm not a social person and the internet is a source of entertainment (Porn, news, game reviews, articles etc). Maybe I'm addicted or maybe I'm just tired of the whore fest which is "real life" and I can live in my room happy as larry with just a modem and a little buzzing fan

My poor buddy

[Id Man]

My buddy Bill Right was involved in this human experiment. He was not experimented upon,but he was one of the guys planning it out. I think that this test was based upon the experience he had as a teenager when he was cut off from the internet for over one week while he went to the beach for the "summer". He was later classified as "dangerous to society on account of his mental condition".

Re:Strange (correction)

[dago]

corrected link

Yeah...

[thegnu]

1. I'm on the internet an inordinate amount
2. I don't spend enough time with real people
3. I'd miss the internet

But I've spent lots of time camping, and if I weren't constantly slipping into debt, I'd really love lying in the dirt under a tree all day. THAT'S what I'm addicted to.

Yeah, right

[Anonymous Coward]

Last time I went to the beach for two weeks vacation, I didn't take my laptop (gasp!), had no access to the internet or email, didn't ever check my voice mail, and left my cellphone at home. It was an incredibly relaxing, wonderful two weeks. This article is stupid.

If you have read all the way up to this comment...

[Anonymous Writer]

... then you too are an internet junkie.

Social junkies?

[hooqqa]

What about IRL junkies, or are they the ones behind all this 'research'?

Re: funny you should say that

[BitterAndDrunk]

Devil On My Back
A book written a while ago echoing your exact statement.

Stupid

[SCHecklerX]

If you cannot function without internet access for awhile, you really need to get some balance in your life. Ride a bike, go for a hike, grab lunch with friends, clean your house, cook your own dinner, etc.

You should be able to lose one of your favorite activities and not go insane. If so, you have a problem, no matter what the activity.

Personally, I recommend mountain biking for a daily outlet. Skydiving is a cool way to make a lot of friends too.

Less Slash Dot = Higher GDP

[Moschaef]

I wonder....

If Slashdot were down for 2 weeks, could you measure the resulting increased productivity's impact on national GDP?

Democrats for Bush! Do the right thing!

"Unloopedly"?

[Standmic]

Not only were they "Gibbering uncontrollably", but they were all talking "unloopedly" according to the author. Cutting out the internet cold turkey must really mess you up if you suddenly start talking "unloopedly".

I lost connectivity

[Anonymous Coward]

I had this forced upon me during my second year of college 2x. I was running an Asus mobo that liked to burn out after a hard reset. (I had a slight virtual memory issue casued by an infinite loop...oops ;)) The worst part was that I needed to ship it back to the place where I purchased it which ended up taking about 2 weeks.

Anyways, it did suck, not only was I deprived of entertainment, but I was also deprived of my toolbox and manuals, my information center, and my portal to network with my colleagues, etc.

I realize that most of those things have been around since before the "interweb" but come on. The connectivity we have today facilites all those things. It doesn't create it, it's only nurtured and encouraged it.

My point being, there are some people who view the internet as more than a source of pr0n and shits and giggles. Some of us actually view the internet as utilitarian.

So my question is, who were they polling? Some script kiddies or Everquest people? Or people like my mom who uses the internet to check her mail and play the occasional game of Mahjong? Or people who actually make a living off of internet and internet technologies?

Just a though...

Don't make this into a geek thing!

[Theovon]

People act like internet addiction is something new and strange. Have you ever tried to keep a football fan away from the TV during football season? Look out!

And then there's me. I can't go two weeks without having sushi. :)

Let's see... what other things to people become dependent on?

- Their car (besides just transportation)
- Blankie
- Their favorite music
- Reading novels

It's morning, and I'm not thinking well enough yet. But you get the idea.

Depends on the activity...

[MacGod]

It depends what you're doing for that fortnight. If I'm sitting around in my house with nothing to do (and my friends are out-of-town), 14 internet-less days might seem like an eternity.

If, on the other hand, I'm paddling through Algonquin Park, sitting at a cottage or touring the south of France, no problem.

It all depends on whether you're doing something cool enough to justify the lack of internet.

Uhhhhh

[hudsong]

I find that if I go on a camping trip or if I go somewhere else or find something to do, I really dont miss the internet or computers in the least. Maybe because I love the real world 100 times more than technology.

You know what's ironic?

[Jakhel]

The fact that an article about Internet addiction was posted on Slashdot at 3:38 am. Then again, had I not been knee deep in terrorists with only my trusty USP and a pump shotty (a la Counterstrike) I would have probably been posting here as well. :)

Re:OMG!

[Crystalmonkey]

Except you can do this in public!

My personal experience...

[oneiron]

When I was 17-19 or so I had a few hardware mishaps that cut off my access to the internet for a period of about a month each time... Rather than feeling withdrawals, I actually felt a feeling of relief during that time. I've come to view my computer as a life-sucking beast that I am uncontrollably drawn to. When I'm given a break from it, it makes me very happy.

I'm not sure I buy the results...

[raehl]

Do they let the participants have contact with each other?

If I had been in this study, they would have concluded that quitting the internet was hazardous to your health. There would have been some casualties after 2 weeks of deprivation.

Maybe it's the porn...

[LilMikey]

maybe it's the withdrawl of vast amounts of pornography they're reacting to.

Africa

[Anonymous Coward]

I am going to Africa in a few weeks to site for a 3G expansion into a new area. I don't have a satellite or any other kind of phone there.

Looks like my golf pencil is about the extent of my media technology. Well my Alphasmart and Clie too, I suppose.

OMD?

[cskaryd]

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark? ;)

I don't have a cell phone

[Anonymous Coward]

After I lost my job, I cut off on all non-essential items, including cell phone. I still don't have one.

The only thing I didn't cut off was internet.

Who was in the study?

[EvilStein]

"normal people" or some of these pathetic bags of shit that have 25 blogs & 3 webcams going 24/7?
I took a nice vacation recently and really didn't miss the computers at all, but I can imagine that your average blogwhore 16yr old girl would absolutely freak out if there was no internet access for 2 weeks.

Re:Who was in the study?

[mdwh2]

Well, it's easy if you're taking a vacation.

But the article seems to suggest nothing of the sort, and instead was expecting people to continue their normal daily routines, but without the Internet.

Interesting concept but flawed...

[Apollo Jones]

Well, neat article in concept. But at risk of stating the obvious, this is not a scientific public health study. I would place this into "pulp science" or worse a marketing tactic by Yahoo and a marketing firm. While I would be willing to think that there is such an addiction as being addicted to the internet, that can be said of anything. Especially so for people with addictive personalities. I believe that there have been studies showing computer gaming is a severe form of addiction. For a parallel lets use game addiction. This form of addiction, like many, has to do with levels of your brain chemistry being stimulated by playing a video game. To over simplify, when you have a positive action in a game, your brain will release a "good feel" chemical. The better you do, the better you feel. Now, if you play occasionally not a huge issue, after all you can get this stimulation from any number of sources in daily life. However, when you begin to play a lot of games (no, I don't know the threshold for alot) you get your brain chemistry needing more of the source/trigger of the chemical. In other words you are addicted. Given this very crude description of addiction, you can see it is possible to get addicted to the internet. Though I would guess you need to work on it. You could design a study to test this. Identify a few hundred people and baseline their use of the internet and their views and any psychological or physical existing dependency on the Internet. Then, basically, if we were unethical you could subject people to hours of using the internet for a few weeks straight (insert p0rn joke here). Then strip the internet away and see what happens. Thus gathering insight into too much internet use and then removal to see if people do exhibit addictive withdrawal symptoms. IMHO, this article's value is getting us to consider the possibility of an "internet addiction," but in no way makes the case for it.

Bullcrap.

[AyeRoxor!]

The reason for the rapid collapse of their universe is - say the researchers - because 'Internet users feel confident, secure and empowered.'

Shenanigans. It's simply because they're disconnected from their friends, information, and entertainment. The same thing would happen if, before the prevalence of the Internet, you told people they couldn't use the phone, watch TV, or read a newspaper for 2 weeks.

I hope they didn't pay these "researchers" any of my money.

Re:Bullcrap.

[CiXeL]

Yeah it happens on vacations, on camping, or if youre stuck in a house on a reality show like last comic standing. Please! These people are pathetic! These are the sort of people who if society were to crumble they'd starve and die. Get a grip people!

Re:Bullcrap.

[AyeRoxor!]

These are the sort of people who if society were to crumble they'd starve and die. Get a grip people!

It's not a negative aspect. It's a benefit. Humans are 'pack animals' meaning we instinctively group together and pool our resources. We, for the most part, protect each other, help each other, teach each other, and when we're cut off, we miss each other.

I hope you're not really completely satisfied without any human interaction, and are just trying to put up a front. Where would the world be if it was populated by people who didn't care if they never spoke to another person their whole life?

Re:Bullcrap.

[rodrigo_braz]

Maybe that's what they meant: that being in contact with friends, information and entertainment makes people feel confident, secure and empowered.

Although their explanation sounds weird to me. You could say the same about heroin, that its users have withdrawal because they feel happy and empowered with the drug.

Re:Bullcrap.

[Anonymous Coward]

The reason for the rapid collapse of their universe is - say the researchers - because 'Internet users feel confident, secure and empowered.'

No its because in today's crazy mixed up world the internet is the only place where I CAN feel confident, secure and empowered. Sad but hey....

Let's compare

[peacefinder]

The reason for the rapid collapse of their universe is - say the researchers - because 'internet users feel confident, secure and empowered.'

When they're on it, so do people using meth.

An even scarier addiction

[LordOfYourPants]

I don't know about America (I'm a Canuck) but people here seem to have a very disturbing addiction to cell phones.

One example of this would be a subway ride that gets people to the downtown core. Along the ride there are about two points where the subway rises above ground (and into range with a cell tower). The reception only lasts for a minute or so tops but I *still* see people trying to complete phone calls during this time.

I would say trying to desperately make phone calls like this (ESPECIALLY knowing that you're going to be able to make a reasonably lengthed phone call in 20 minutes or less) is far more disturbing than seeing how people react to going without the net for two weeks.

Internet is a part of life

[bahwi]

It's not really just another luxury anymore. A lot of people have the same withdrawl when fast food is taken away for two weeks(not to mention chemical withdrawl!). If telephone and IM/Email are taken away. If the stove was taken away. The internet's not new anymore. It's a means of communications, it's a mean of information retrieval. It's not just an extra for a lot of people anymore. I know a lot of people will say Internet is not Human Contact, but it isn't a computer on the other end(well, most of the time). It isn't this exclusive thing only a few geeks know about anymore.

It's not necessairily and addiction, although lots of people have an addiction, but it is a necessity. Ask me what movies are playing and I'm on Yahoo in about a second. If not that, then Movie Phone. I've never, in my life, used the Newspaper to look up movies. It's just a new things, and the way the tide is going.

Re:Internet is a part of life

[Sigma 7]

A lot of people have the same withdrawl when fast food is taken away for two weeks(not to mention chemical withdrawl!).

While I do agree with withdrawl symptoms here, I doubt they are chemical - more like a psychological dependancy. (There are exceptions, but those aren't localized to fast food as such.)

For a long period of time, I was given peanut-butter sandwiches for a school lunch. After a long period of time with the same food over and over again, I switched over to fast-food when I reached college. The hot dogs were fairly cheap at the time (1.50 for a "jumbo", later increased to 1.75) - and was known by the cafeteria staff for always purchasing that (and they were making implicit suggestions that I should take a bit more variety.)

Ever since I took fast food stuff (a mix of McDonalds, a generic pizza place, Subway, A&W, etc), I'm finding that it is slightly more difficult to eat some of the equivalents at home - some of the foods I eat very slowly because I find it hard to chew.

It's not necessairily and addiction, although lots of people have an addiction, but it is a necessity.

I could provide reasons why it's an addition, even if they are debatable. I suspect that the reason people feel addicted to the internet is because the offline counterparts aren't as suitable as they could be - for example, some people may have had bad experience with a social life and turned to the Internet instead.

3D images!

[Hoi Polloi]

I just came back from Yosemite and climbing Mt Whitney and I agree with you wholeheartedly. I didn't miss the net for one moment the whole time I was out there. Hiking and climbing become a kind of moving mediation and everything else drops away.

I was thankful to have the net to plan my trip and get advice, permit info, etc. It is just a matter of there being a time and place for everything.

Even in light of my recent war...

[Trolling4Dollars]

...with Slashdot and their quationable banning procedures, I have to say it would be very easy for me to return to life before the internet as long as I have access to my home network and my computers. Now.. cut me off from those resources for about two weeks and I might be a little testy. Considering that all of my hobbies revolve around computers (music, video, web, im, coding, digital photography) it would be kind of hard for me to find something to do that doesn't require a computer. Hell, even my TV viewing is connected to a computer. Screw videotape, give me MPEGs captured from my DirecTV feed. Yup... when I think about it, there is almost nothing that I do that isn't related to computers. I'll bet many of you are the same. The internet can go away for a but take away our computers and you'll have some unhappy geeks on your hands.

Heard muttering near the study...

[AvantLegion]

".... first p0st.... must..1stp0st... gnaa... grits... portman... linux, tux, debian, GEN-2! my use flags.... 03 vs. 0s.... no use 02 st00pid n00b... fux0r bush... stfu fux0r kerrie... perl good... no perl BAD FIRE BAD!!11..."

Doctor: "Timmy, you've been offline for 2 days and 3 hours. How do you feel?

".... omfg 14 new IE h0les by now... must linux troll..."

History Repeats Again

[serutan]

I remember this same type of study being reported when I was a kid (in the 1960s) only the culprit was Television. No doubt there was one for Radio as well, and possibly Telephones. Yawn. My whole family uses the Internet extensively, and although we go camping almost every summer and to Hawaii about every 2 years for stretches of 3 weeks at a time nobody has ever shown any deprivation symptoms. It all depends on your personality I guess. Or maybe it depends on whether some geeky psychologist is asking you a bunch of questions and making you feel important? Time to pop open an ice-cold can of Heisenberg.

Sounds like . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone else ever read Daniel Keyes Moran's "The Long Run".

Among other things he mentions in his novel is the phenomenon he dubbs 'Datastarve'; a condition that people who were *really* plugged in basically develop seizures if they go too long with out accessing the net (or whatever he called it).

Sounds a bit like this . . . .

Sure, but...

[SuperKendall]

What I got was a 4pi steradian immersion as well as the ultimate oxygen fix :) ... I can upscale in Photoshop while breathing heavily and closing one eye for the same effect.

what did people do before the internet? (comic)

[evilmousse]

comic from 'cat and girl'

I think it's obvious that good or bad for us, using the internet is psychologically addicting, like sex, marijuana, or rock&roll. Patterns of deprivation will be similar regardless of the specific addiction. -evilme

Well, duhhhh!

[cabjoe]

Sounds like that something that isn't absolutely essential for life but pleasurable might cause withdrawl symptoms if one is deprived of it. I'm logging off the computer to have a few beers, meet a few girls and laugh with friends.

2 weeks unemployeed

[nurb432]

My daily work life is tied to the internet, so are my 1000+ e-mails aday i get at home.

No internet for 2 weeks would be no work..no income ( or vacation, whatever that is ) and a overfull in-box..

While i would freak for not being online, its not due to addiction, its due to reality...

No shit, sherlock.

[syukton]

Take away any major aspect of somebody's day to day activities and they'll suffer discomfort and anxiety. If an every-day commuter has his car taken away for two weeks, he can take the bus and still get where he needs to go, but it takes four times as long and is an utter waste of his time, which is frustrating. It's frustrating to go from being able to instantly satisfy one's curiosities on the internet to being unable to do so. It's frustrating to a runner when he gets into a car accident and is paralyzed from the waist down. It's frustrating to an (both professional and hobby) opera singer to get strep throat and be unable to sing for two weeks.

On the internet, you can find any piece of news or information INSTANTLY, whereas otherwise you have to go to the library, find the book it's in via the card catalog, hope that it isn't checked out, and then look up the information. It's frustrating to be confined to this method of information access, it feels very restrictive.

When it boils down, it's about freedom. Freedom to satisfy our desires and curiosities without inhibition or restriction. The information available on the internet is often unavailable anywhere else, and it is often made available FOR FREE.

- Slashdot covers news that will not end up in my local newspaper. I don't have to spend a dime to get that news either, it's FREE. (admittedly slashdot sells subscriptions, but they aren't required in order to read the news. Ever see a newspaper with no advertisements?)
- When I hit up wikipedia because I want to read about antimatter, it's FREE. (admittedly they do ask for donations, but it isn't required. You are FREE to make donations as you see fit)
- I don't have to concern myself with long distance charges so I can call my aunt and uncle in Pittsburgh (I'm in Seattle), because I can drop them an email with a voice attachment wishing them a happy anniversary, and IT IS FREE!
- Or I can make a VOIP call FOR FREE and talk to friends and family for as long as I want.
- When I want to see how my stocks are doing, I don't have to call my broker, wait on hold for 20 minutes, get told he's out at lunch and do I want to be transferred to his voicemail; all I have to do is go to yahoo's finance pages and enter the ticker symbol, and I will get a significantly greater amount of information than just the high and low of the day as my broker would tell me on the telephone--FOR FREE!

And so forth. It's about freedom, it's about empowerment. If you asked everyone to ditch their cars and go back to horses and carriages they'd laugh you out of the building. The internet brings a better way of life to us just as other improvements in technology have. The difference between the internet and other liberating technologies is that the internet empowers us on many levels instead of just one level; a coffee machine only makes coffee, a car is only useful for transporting yourself and your belongings, but the internet is a communications platform, a meeting place, a network of knowledge, a network of storage, a historical reference, and the list goes on. Taking away the internet today is the rough equivalent of saying the following 50 years ago: You may no longer write letters. You may no longer talk on the telephone. You may no longer ask questions of anybody you cannot meet face to face. You cannot seek knowledge without being instructed by a teacher.

Are you addicted? Take the test...

[jangobongo]

Internet Addiction Test

Just like Microsoft...

[MoonRug]

Yahoo of all companies saying "See? You can't live without the internet." This is like all the Microsoft "studies" saying Windows TCO is lower than Linux.

Who needs it?: we do

[holderofthering]

I spend alot of my time online, but i don't regret it, the alternaties, of watching mind numbing TV, or trying to spend time with people who arn't worth the time, are not very inviting.

I do have to spend a few weeks a year, with minimum access, when i have to go up to my cottage. I noticed i enjoy it alot more when i go up with a laptop, just to get a few things done. I love the view up there, but i don't do too much, i don't like swimming, and my family is not very entertaining.

flash back to the city, were i spend the rest of my summer. and i divied my time pretty well. I do spend many hours a day on the net, but a good deal of them are after dark. When i see a pretty day outside, i am COMPELLED to get out on my bike, and hit the hills for an hour or a bit, or if my other geeky friends arn't clan matching ( i do not understand there obsession with Counter Strike), then i get them to play frissbee with me. (for some reason, geeks like frissbee, norms don't).

highschool is very frustrating, every day, it is boaring, and sometimes annoying (people can be troublesome), so its nice to know you can go home, and spend time developing skills that you find interesting AND can get you out of this some day. If this builds dependence on the internet, then im willing to give it that, becuase its a way better alternative than TV, Drugs, Obbsession with music. (thouse pretty much sum up what people my age 'do').

the main problems come from people who are unbalenced anyway, and internet gives them a way to become even unhelthier. I like the net, becuase it fills time, and is productive for me,but if you are unbalenced, it can be just as harmful as 'tv drugs'. (come to think of it, all are fine for you in moderation, (don't do drugs kids))

The field has already been named

[jacoby]

Teledildonics

Simple Questions

[jacoby]

What does poison ivy look like? Could that snake be venomous? Where are we?

Re:Why the hell would I want to give up the Intern

[Anonymous Coward]

All of you people are so interesting.

Seek professional help. Now.

OMD?

[Markgor]

I didn't realize that the 80s band behind the classic Enola Gay is now involved with advertising...

Re:Why the hell would I want to give up the Intern

[Anonymous Coward]

If I had mod points this would be insightful

My Experience Without Net Access for 18 Months

[Anonymous Coward]

I've tried this for about a year and a half before. I work as a software developer and spend at least eight hours a day at the machine. I had decided that I didn't want an Internet connection at home since I already spent too much time in front of a computer.

The result? Similar to people in the study, I felt isolated. I use the Internet to do everything I used to do by reading the newspaper, using a telephone book, shopping at a store, etc. After having been forced to use the old methods of accessing information, I had a new appreciation for just how much more productive I am with the Internet.

We are being assimilated...

[DannyiMac]

Resistance is futile. All the technological and cultural distinctiveness of the world will be added to our own.

We are the internet.

Thank heaven for internet junkies

[Slime-Half]

It kind of bugs me that the term junkie has reared it's ugly head.

Without internet junkies the internet may not have evolved to be what it is today...providing easy to use email lists, bulletin boards, email, etc. (Someone who finds pine baffling has no trouble with say yahoo mail, for example). This winter I lost my rt leg and rt hip to cancer, and let me tell you--without the internet I would be lost. My cancer was rare (about 1% of all cancers), but I found an online support group where I met people from all over the world with my condition. I am able to get and give support and updates on my health via my livejournal. I have met and talked to people from all over the world.

I don't have the option of going out and 'experiencing the real world' on my own. Often I'm too drugged out from treatments to read, and watching TV is so passive the appeal wears thin. But with the internet I've got a support system, a group of friends who I don't know IRL but who I know will be willing to chat with me about interesting things, I can get news, express my opinions, and watch silly flash cartoons to cheer me up when I'm home alone when my family is at work/school.

And best of all, no one can stare and gape like I'm a monster like they do when I go out in public now (omg, she has no leg!) I understand the shock, but damn is it nice to load up my laptop and be NORMAL. People become friends with me for who I present myself to be, not what I look like.

So I say it again...thank heaven for internet junkies. They are on the ones who help the net evolve and change so quickly.

'old fashioned tools' ??

[Slime-Half]

Seriously, the 'oh the past was so great' thing is a bit silly. From the article:

The pervasive nature of the internet is such that participants often forgot or lost the desire to use 'old fashioned tools' like the phone book, newspapers and telephone-based customer service.

Forgot or lost the desire? Hm, there might be a reason for that.

Phone book: flip through a huge hunking book, making sure it covers the sections of town you need it to, needing to know the person's last name (argh, spelling can trip you up), and then finding the number is unlisted anyway. This doesn't work for people or places (like hotels) outside your area (unless you have a phone book for every region in the US, wow).

Newspapers: Ug, have you read a major newspaper lately? Half the time the articles are out of date by the time they are printed, you have to wade through pages and pages of poorly written stuff to get to what you are interested in, and then you'll discover that fasinating article on computer repair you heard about is really just two paragraphs telling people how to use control-alt-delete. And you get the inherant bias of your local area. No international views. Plus the trees! The poor trees!

Telephone based customer service: Ha, should I even touch this one? Press one for English. Press two for Spanish. Press three to wait for an hour listening to muzak and then get disconnected. Press four to talk to someone who will try to convince you that you are a complete moron...

Psh. I'd be happy to forget these 'tools'.

Eeh

[Greyfox]

I think you burn out on the Internet after a while. I mean, yeah you have the world at your fingertips and for a while it's a neat place to spend every waking moment because there's always something new and exciting around the corner. But after a while the new and exciting things aren't so new or exciting anymore, and you realize that most of the people on the Internet are jerks (Not Slashdot readers, I have respect for them! It's the other Internet users who are jerks...) who are usually just out to squeeze some money out of you.

I find myself spending more and more of my free time away from the computer these days and I wouldn't be terribly bothered if I never had to sit down in front of a computer again. Especially if a beach, grilled shrimp and alcohol were involved.

Easy fix for internet addiction: "Get A Life"

[Spy der Mann]

Serious - if all you do is chatting,gaming and slashdotting... then what's your life about? But if you use the web to EXPAND your possibilities, that's a different matter.

Examples:

• from online gaming to live gaming
• from internet reading to visiting libraries or watching TV documentaries
• From reading politics news to getting _actually_ involved in politics
• From just chatting to meeting "real" people you can hang out with...

So, it all depends whether you're using the internet to [Morpheus]Open your mind[/Morpheus] or becoming [Smith]just another one in the system[/Smith]... it can liberate you or enslave you.

Think about it. Do you plan to become a 100% cybernetic loser like the girl in "The Net"?
Give me a break.

Not Really

[Anonymous Coward]

Consider the Matrix. The Matrix exists but is in itself not "real".

A simulated/mental representation of a 'thing' in the mind does not necessarily map to physical existance, no matter how 'real' it seems.

Unfortunately noone can be told what the Matrix is.

Welcome to college.

[Anonymous Coward]

How long did it take you to come to your conclusions?

It was pretty apparent since day one for me. I think it's pretty much like this everywhere.

Enjoy your stay.

not addicted

[dirvish]

That's BS. I could quit anytime...I swear.

Confident, Secure, Empowered?

[nutznboltz]

Confident?
Secure?
Empowered?

I think I'm browsing different web sites that the test subjects.

50 Mile 802.11?

[Anonymous Coward]

Folks,

If you're worried about getting stuck in the boring countryside without internet access, try setting up 24dBi parabolics with 250mW 802.11. Don't worry... broadband links of up to 30 miles are possible!

With a good rig, you'll probably run out of horizon before you run out of signal.

Backed up blogs

[roine]

If you've ever seen a smack-head handcuffed to a bed gibbering uncontrollably because he can't get a fix, then be afraid, because that's what you'll look like after two weeks of internet-free cold turkey.

That nonsensical gibberish is probably just two weeks of witheld bloggings pouring out

I'm a moderately-life junkie

[fabien]

I like to life, to eat, to do things. I'm a junkie reader, junkie writer, junkie dancer. I'm even a junkie worker sometime. I need that. Deprive me from that for quite sometime, and I will need to get to it, unless you replace it with something else.

Being dependant on something is not a flaw. It's normal, it's not only human, but proper to many living thing. The dependency reaction is the way the nature have found to remind us of what we need, what make us feel better.

The "junkie problem" is not only about being dependent. Is about being dependant on things that damage your life, either physical, interrelationnal or citizen life. From the things that can endanger your life, a lot will do no harm if taken with moderation. And usually, moderation will do no harm. So, it's a good thing to be a moderate junkie. ;)

I found this kind of study really disturbing because they forget about this essential truth. They're looking for a culprit and forget that, primarily, all human can moderate themself and that exaggeration in almost any pleasure can do as most harm as any other poison. Even the Greek Epicurian know this basic wisdom. Why we still have to repeat it again?

Flamebait?

[MonkeyCookie]

How could this post possibly be flamebait? I think some moderator is smoking crack or something.

Well, there's about the be a meta-moderation of "Unfair" for that mod.

reminded me of a punchline

[Ohreally_factor]

Priest: Wait a minute! I recognize your voice! Seth Cohen! What are you doing, making confession? You're Jewish, not Catholic!

Seth Cohen: I know Father, but it really happened, and now I'm telling everyone!

Link to the Full Study Report

[langles]

A little searching reveals that the page for presenting the study results is:

http://promotions.yahoo.com/disconnected/
"Disconnected: Life Without the Internet"

with the detailed report in this PDF file:
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/promo/disconne cted/pdf/adweek.pdf

Remember that this is a marketing study and not a peer-reviewed scientific paper published in a psychiatry journal.