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I’m fascinated by cyber-anthropology and the socio-psychological implications of technology, and I think it has improved life in so many ways for so many people, but sometimes it’s not all good news. As with everything in life, there is a Ying to the Yang.

Surprise surprise. Not only does social software encourage vanity and narcissism, it also puts extra strain on relationships. Now just watch location-aware social software add more on top of that. What if your location was never a secret to your partner?  What if your partner refused to join in on the location-awareness social software that you use? As if the divorce rate wasn’t bad enough, eh? Well I guess the positive spin is, more behavioral transparency and no secrets.  It’s gonna be a tough adjustment though.  Ah, social software, you cruel mistress. Here’s the latest:
Facebook fuelling divorce, research claims
Study: Facebook Increases Jealousy in Relationships
Another reason to stay off Facebook, jealousy
Facebook may heighten jealousy in relationships: study
Facebook jealousy sparks relationship woes: study

Tom Wujec on 3 ways the brain creates meaning | Video on TED.com

Information designer Tom Wujec talks through three areas of the brain that help us understand words, images, feelings, connections. In this short talk from TEDU, he asks: How can we best engage our brains to help us better understand big ideas?

Alex Steffen sees a sustainable future | Video on TED.com

Worldchanging.com founder Alex Steffen argues that reducing humanity’s ecological footprint is incredibly vital now, as the western consumer lifestyle spreads to developing countries.

What the World Will Look Like by 2050 – TIME

Imagine a world where pirates run amok, blowing themselves up in European city centers; where wars are ignited over lack of drinking water; where a global face-off between Islam and Christianity makes World War II look like a water-balloon fight. According to economist and political scientist Jacques Attali, that is what the future has in store for us by 2025. In the belief that past experiences are indicative future events, Attali combs through the history of human kind, all the way back to Homo Habilis, separating the past into nine distinct periods to isolate “what is possible, what changes and what is unvarying” and applies those trends to the coming century. Attali’s predictions range from the future of journalism (completely paperless) to the end of the economic crisis (around 2011), offering a glimpse into the future that is both provocative and petrifying.

Must… vent…..can’t…. stand it. So many twits tweetin’ twash!
I can’t wait until Twitter is relegated to the category of laughable historical meme. Can we kill this little blue bird already? At the very least there needs to be a cultural shift that scorns anyone whose tweets aren’t links to TED talks. Sure, twitter illustrates how humans are social creatures… in the most ridiculous way imaginable. Don’t get me wrong, if there’s a tweet of value I’ll knowledge it, but the vast majority out there are just micro-narcissistic Twash that simply takes up the time and bandwidth of everyone involved. I can literally hear the gears of society’s progress grinding to a halt as the world takes every other minute to tweet about the minuscule nuances of our lives. How absurd it will all seem in retrospect, once the novelty curve has worn off and everyone realizes that they really don’t have anything valuable to say and should get back to actually doing things. In all honesty, it’s the genre of micro-blogging itself that is to blame and it’s likely not going anywhere soon. Status updates are the same thing. Twitter is just the catalyst of the embarrassing trend.

Ah, that feels better. Off the chest. Back to work. Bring on the fail whale.

Erik Hersman, at right, above, with David Kobia, reports:

Wow, we’re absolutely stunned, but we just won first place at the NetSquared Challenge! That means we have a check for $25,000 that we can spend on further development of the Ushahidi Engine (version 2).

Check out this post for a list of ways you can help develop this vital mapping tool.

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The Ushahidi mapping tool -- created in two days this January to track post-election violence in Kenya -- is in competition today and tomorrow at NetSquared's Mashup Challenge. The winner will receive funds to improve their software. Ushahidi's developers (including TEDGlobal 2007 speakers Erik Hersman and Ory Okolloh and engineer David Kobia) hope to rewrite the tool in PHP so it can scale up; open the code; and make Ushahidi more portable, for use in many different situations than the one for which it was created.

Already, the tool -- which mashes up Google Maps with user-contributed data sent in via web and SMS -- has been adapted to track peace efforts in Kenya, and to keep tabs on an outbreak of attacks in South Africa via the site UnitedForAfrica.co.za.

TED.com has been awarded Webbies in 3 categories:

+ Podcast
+ Best Navigation/Structure
+ Best Visual Design - Function

See the full list of winners >>

The year is 1907.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1907:
************************************
The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in 1907 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year,
and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
were condemned in the press AND the government as “substandard.”

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month,
and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
hadn’t been invented yet.

There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.” (Shocking? DUH!)

Eighteen percent of households had at least
One full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. !

Now I forwarded this from someone else without retyping
it myself, and sent it to you and others all over the United States, & possibly
the world, in a matter of seconds!

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

Vis GigaOm: One of MySpace’s greatest innovations was something ridiculously simple… the “wall”. As most know, the wall is the messaging area of a user’s profile page, where any “friend” of the user can post comments. I describe it as “ridiculously simple” because the wall is nothing more than a common bulletin board. However, the foresight to repurpose a simple bulletin board to enable communications among a social network of people, all centered on the profiled individual him/herself, proved to be brilliantmore»

Via Venture Beat: I assume Facebook went through the exercise of examining this novelty effect of profile-centric platforms and how to create sustainable activity beyond the core base of college students checking each other out. In a brilliant move, Facebook opened it up its platform and allowed companies to build applications to create an ecosystem that would hopefully lead to a vibrant, lasting community. more»