No connection between internet and gambling addiction says study

Last updated: 18/07/2010 09:20

A new study conducted at the University of Melbourne has revealed that there is no relationship between internet and gambling addiction.

The relationship between gambling and internet addiction has long been the subject of interest among psychologists. A new study conducted by the University of Melbourne is yet the latest research to be undertaken in the field and offers fascinating new insights into the connection between the disorders. The findings were published in the Rapid Communication in Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking – a highly regarded peer reviewed journal.

The study, which goes by the>>>

What it means to be addicted to the Internet

The Internet has brought about a new twist to the term addiction. Where as in the past an addiction was associated with the overuse of drugs, alcohol, or food, our modern era has brought about a new form of over indulgence. It is termed "Internet Addiction" and, this pattern of chronic behavior, is visible in the inability of some individuals to escape the adventures available to them within that wonderfully seductive world of the Internet.

The World Wide Web contains an amazing arena for social opportunities, fantasy and game play, business resources, employment opportunities, information, and corruption. It brings the world to our fingertips, and we have only to delve into it's many pathways, to find ourselves transported to another place and time. Large numbers of individuals now work Online so find themselves spending a minimum of eight to twelve hours a day simply conducting business on the net. Others become infatuated with Online games, and spend the majority of their day delving in, and out of the numerous game sites that they play on. Social, dating, or porn sites also draw individuals into creating a new social sphere that can be completely independent of their real world existence, and far more addicting.

So when does our infatuation with the Internet become >>>

S.Korean jailed for killing mother over gaming addiction

(AFP) – Jul 1, 2010

SEOUL — A South Korean court on Friday sentenced an Internet addict to 20 years in prison for killing his mother after she criticised his online gaming habit.

The 22-year-old was arrested in February on charges of clubbing his 53-year-old mother to death at her home.

Prosecutors had sought the death sentence.

In March a 32-year-old man died after playing on the Internet for five days with few breaks. A similar incident was reported involving a 28-year-old man in 2005.

In May, a 41-year-old man was sentenced to>>>

Risk of Net addiction growing in S'pore

By Vivian Yeo, ZDNet Asia on July 21, 2010

With more households owning computers and the Internet becoming increasingly pervasive in Singapore, the likelihood of a bigger proportion of the population hooked on online activities such as games is now higher, according to field workers.

Sim Ngee Mong, senior social worker at Covenant Family Service Centre (FSC), said in an e-mail interview that the risk factor for computer addiction is "going up". He runs a computer addiction resource Web site, which is a project of the Covenant FSC.

"Schools are pushing students to do more work on the computer," he noted. "The government is supporting the games industry by encouraging people to take up courses to develop games even though [the authorities are] not actively supporting [game-playing] as a sport."

Lim Hui Khim, deputy head of counseling and senior counselor for the Institute of Mental Health's (IMH) National Addictions Management Service (NAMS), pointed to a higher prevalence of Internet or online game addiction in recent years. Accessibility to the Web, she told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail, is a major contributing reason for the trend.

"While most families [did] not even own a computer 20 years ago, today, Singapore is one of the most wired nations in the world with Internet access present in nearly every family," she explained. "Children get on the computer at a younger age and, like television, it becomes a convenient way to keep them occupied."

The PC has also become an integral tool for education, she added, noting that it is "not uncommon" for students' homework to be posted online.

Symptoms less 'visual'>>>

GameCrush Offers Male Gamers a Social Life

July 1, 2010, 5:00PM EST

The soon-to-launch Web site is one-part social network, two-parts adult dating site, and heavy on games like Grand Theft Auto

By Adam Satariano

The most popular people at the annual E3 video game conference in Los Angeles last month weren't the creators of Nintendo's 3D handheld device or Microsoft's (MSFT) controller-free system, Kinect. They were, instead, the duo of Amber Syr and Gina Tran, two 21-year-old women who walked the showroom dressed in matching tight black short-shorts and tank tops that read "Play Me." Syr and Tran are "PlayDates" on GameCrush.com, a new Web site that offers predominantly male gamers a chance to do something many of them may not otherwise do: meet women. While playing video games.

The site, created by Bay Area friends Eric Strasser, 40, David Good, 35, and Anees Iqbal, 37, is part social network, part adult dating site, plus a heavy dose of Grand Theft Auto. There are now more than 1,000 registered GameCrush users, known as "Players," who can choose from a roster of more than 5,000 PlayDates, a mainly female constituency they can chat up through Instant Messenger or Web cam while gaming. (The registration process occurs online, without screening. However, all Players and PlayDates must be at least 18 years old.) PlayDates select whether they are "Dirty" or "Flirty," though Strasser says this function might change before the site comes out of private beta testing.

Financially, GameCrush resembles a familiar,>>>

Employee Internet Addiction: The Cost To Firms And What To Do About It

By GARY M. STERN, FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILYPosted 02/05/2010 06:30 PM ET

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Internet use at work for some employees is bouncing from productive to excessive to just plain out of control.

Some workers check personal e-mails every 10 minutes without realizing it. They send text messages almost unconsciously, then spend time shopping on online sites.

David Greenfield, a psychologist and president of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, based in West Hartford, Conn., says that staff who suffer from Net addiction get less productive. So more companies are finding ways to limit the damage.

Many companies aren't as aware of the problem as they should be. E-mails and text messages sent from PDAs, BlackBerrys and cell phones can keep staff engaged with clients and coworkers. Since most companies depend on such technology, they often ignore the signs of Internet abuse.

A Cycle Of Addiction

Staffers obsessed with the Internet start to resemble "a person at a casino. (The feeling) produces a sense of dissociation. They lose sense of time; time goes by unconsciously," said Greenfield. Trapped in this cycle of Internet frenzy, workers overlook their business tasks and are unable to finish work on time.

Psychologically, Greenfield says the>>>

AT&T's iPhone Mess

February 3, 2010, 11:00PM EST

The iPhone has swamped AT&T's data network and sparked a consumer rebellion. What can Ma Bell do?

By Roben Farzad

In mid-December, Fake Steve Jobs, the alter ego of widely read journalist and blogger Dan Lyons, posted the following appeal to his fellow members of iPhone Nation: "On Friday, Dec. 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data-intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network. …Join us and speak truth to power!" Soon thousands of hooligans—or if you prefer, frustrated customers paying AT&T (T) as much as $150 per month—took to Twitter and Facebook to join up.

Operation Chokehold might have been a landmark consumer uprising had the federal government not stepped in. Two days before the planned protest, Jamie Barnett, the Federal Communications Commission's chief of public safety and homeland security, issued a statement warning that to "purposely try to disrupt or negatively impact a network with ill-intent is irresponsible and presents a significant public safety concern." Doing so could interfere with 911 calls. Fearing a boomerang of negative publicity, the Chokeholders called off the stunt, but the popular backlash against AT&T raged on. On the Dec. 20 broadcast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers noted that Google's new phone might pose a threat to Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and added: "Also a challenge to the iPhone: making phone calls."

AT&T has stumbled into a quagmire. When it secured exclusive rights to support Apple's iPhone on its wireless network in June 2007, investors hailed the deal as a masterstroke. Here was stodgy, safe AT&T positioning itself to gulp profits from a cutting-edge technology. But AT&T and Apple vastly underestimated the iPhone's appeal. At launch, Real Steve Jobs said he'd be happy if the device could grab 1% of the global cell-phone market, or about 10 million units for 2008. Instead, Apple has sold at least 42.4 million—25.1 million in 2009 alone, 14% of the global smartphone market. AT&T, which markets the iPhone in the U.S., simply can't handle the traffic.

Making matters worse is the proliferation of "apps,">>>