Pew Internet.com Results for Distracted Teen Drivers

1. One in four (26%) of American teens of driving age say they have texted while driving, and half (48%) of all teens ages 12 to 17 say they’ve been a passenger while a driver has texted behind the wheel.

2. These findings form the centerpiece of a new report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project that looks at teens, mobile phones and distracted driving. The report is based on a telephone survey of 800 teens ages 12-17 and a parent or guardian as well as 9 focus groups with middle and high school students.

3.“Many teens understand the risks of texting behind the wheel,” said Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist at the Internet & American Life Project and co-author of the distracted driving report, “but the desire to stay connected is so strong for teens and their parents that safety sometimes takes a backseat to staying in touch with friends and family.”

Pew Internet Music Results

Yet, in 2009, there are plenty of fools among us, and the record labels are still hanging on to their broken strings. Granted, consumers aren’t spending as much on music as they used to. Record sales for the music industry continue to decline; the latest reports from Nielsen indicated that total album sales, including albums sold digitally, fell to 428.4 million units, down 8.5% 14% from 500.5 million in 2007.⁷

And while digital album sales actually increased 32% during the same period—to a record 65.8 million units—they were still dwarfed by the 362.6 million physical units sold. Pew Internet Project data echoes these findings; the market for digital music is still in its infancy, and those who do continue to buy music still overwhelmingly choose CDs. According to our 2008 “Internet and Consumer Choice” report, just 13% of music buyers say their most recent music purchase was a digital download.⁸

And among that 13% of music consumers who do pay for downloads, there’s no doubt that the eight-year-old iTunes service continues to dominate the market. Yet, as robust as the iTunes catalog may be, there are still surprising holes in the store’s offerings. Popular artists such as AC/DC still do not have licensing deals with Apple, and many older albums from independent artists like Silver Sun have never made it to iTunes’ digital shelves. Music fans in search of these recordings are still more likely to find them on peer-to-peer networks, torrent trackers, and eBay.

Alan Khazei Visits AIC

48-year-old Alan Khazei is described as a social entrepreneur. He's the co-founder of City Year. The founder of "be the change."

A graduate of Harvard and Harvard law. He's married and has two children. He's a newcomer to elective politics, but no stranger to the political process.

He's one of the four democrats running to replace Edward Kennedy in the Senate. The Democratic candidate will be decided in the December 8th primary.

Khazei says he is not a career politician, but has spent his entire life in public service. He differentiates himself from the other candidates saying he was the only one who called for a second stimulus, supported comprehensive education reform and came out strongly against casino gaming in Massachusetts.

• Health care is both a moral issue and an economic issue. Our nation must have a health care system that provides quality, affordable coverage for all.

• Each of us must make responsible decisions for ourselves and for our families, including leading an active lifestyle and following a healthy diet.

• Our health care system should be aimed at making Americans healthier, not just paying for medical procedures when health fails.

• All Americans should have choice in their health coverage: those who like their current health care provider should be able to keep it and those who don't should have other options.

•Americans with health insurance need real protections to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage, dropping coverage or limiting benefits when they need help the most.

Pew Internet teens and technology

1. The vast majority of teens in the United States, 87% of those aged 12 to 17, now use the internet. That amounts to about 21 million youth who use the internet, up from roughly 17 million when we surveyed this age cohort in late 2000.

2. Not only has the wired share of the teenage population grown, but teens’ use of the internet has intensified.

3. Teenagers now use the internet more often and in a greater variety of ways than they did in 2000. There are now approximately 11 million teens who go online daily, compared to about 7 million in 2000.

4.Still, despite this momentum, 13% of American teenagers — or about 3 million people — still do not use the internet. About half (47%) of teens who say they do not go online have been online before but have since dropped off. Those teens who remain offline are clearly defined by lower levels of income and limited access to technology. They are also disproportionately likely to be African-American. On the opposite end of the spectrum, nearly all teens in households earning more than $75,000 per year are online, most of them with high-speed connections.

Pew Research Center On Generations Online 2009

Three Observations:

1. Over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. But larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online, according to surveys taken from 2006-2008.

2. Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the "Net Generation," internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).

The results of this survey are based on data from a series of telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International primarily between August 2006 and December 2008. For all results based on adult internet users, the margin of error is ±3%. For results based on teen internet users (ages 12-17), conducted in October-November, 2004, and October-November, 2006, the margin of error is ±4%. For results based on teen internet users, conducted in November 2007-February, 2008, the margin of error is ±3%. The margin of error for each generational subgroup shown in the table on page five and discussed throughout the report, however, can be considerably higher than that for the sample of all internet users.

Generations Online in 2009 Charts

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Generations Online in 2009 Charts

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Pew Research Center for the People and Press

According to Pew... There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem – 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that 57% think there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In April 2008, 71% said there was solid evidence of rising global temperatures.

In my opinion we should do all we can to clean up this environment. It shouldn't take the threat of global warming to force us into it. Whether or not global warming is a factor, only time will tell. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Pew Internet and civic engagement

Five Facts:

1. There are hints that forms of civic engagement anchored in blogs and social networking sites could alter long-standing patterns that are based on socio-economic status.

2.Those who use blogs and social networking sites as an outlet for civic engagement are far more active in traditional realms of political and nonpolitical participation than are other internet users. In addition, they are even more active than those who do not use the internet at all.

3. The internet is now part of the fabric of everyday civic life. Half of those who are involved in a political or community group communicate with other group members using digital tools such as email or group websites.

4. Respondents report that public officials are no less responsive to email than to snail mail. Online communications to government officials are just as likely to draw a response as contacts in person, over the phone, or by letter.

5.Those who make political donations are more likely to use the internet to make their contributions than are those who make charitable donations; however, large political donations are much less likely to be made online than are large charitable donations.

President Obama wins noble peace prize

(CNN) -- President Obama on Friday said he was "surprised and deeply humbled" by winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

President Obama, speaking Friday, said the award was "an affirmation of American leadership."

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"I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership," Obama said from the White House Rose Garden.

"I will accept this award as a call to action."

Obama said he did not feel he deserves "to be in the company" of past winners.

The Nobel announcement was a stunning decision that comes just eight months into Obama's presidency.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

The decision appeared to catch most observers by surprise.

The president had not been mentioned as among front-runners for the prize, and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, uttered Obama's name.

Nominations for the prize had to be postmarked by February 1 -- only 12 days after Obama took office. The committee sent out its solicitation for nominations last September -- two months before Obama was elected president. Watch announcement of 2009 Nobel Peace Prize »

I couldn't think of a better person to receive this award. I feel that President Obama deserves it.

Three Links from Politics1.com

ABC News:Politics: ABC is a great source for finding not only local news but national news as well.


The Smoking Gun: On this site you can find some hilarious and bizarre stories of people breaking the law. There are also mug shots of Hollywood celebrities that you never knew existed.

CNN:All Politics: This would have to be the best site for world news. CNN has constant updates of whats going on around the world, whether it be the earthquakes in American Samoa, or President Obamas' health care proposition.

Five Observations of Pew Internet/race and ethnicity

73% of the population reports using the internet or e-mail

All Blacks: 59%

All Whites: 75%

English speaking Hispanics: 80%

Urban: 74%

Rural: 77%

The numbers are not too far off the numbers of the ownership of cell phones. People in a suburban area are online more than people in the urban areas which leads me to believe that people in the suburbs have easier access.

Web 2.0 May 2008 Slideshare

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Web 2.0 May 2008 Slideshare

View more presentations from Toby Ward.

Bridging Sites

www.bahai.org: The Bahai Faith "Let your vision be world embracing"-Baha 'u' llah

catholicism.about.com: "September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, in honor of the sufferings of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

americanredcross.com: Volunteer your time, the Red Cross is sheltering those who were hit by floods in the Southeast.

Bonding Sites

red sox. com: A way for Red Sox fans to catch up on the latest baseball news. Jason Bay was named a finalist for the Hank Aaron award.

aic.edu: "Our promise to those who come to American International College is to help them fulfill their dreams" -Peter J. Miller.

bostonglobe.com: This is a site that allows the people of Massachusetts to find out what is going on around them.

We should all have the same Web speed. A slow down by Internet providers will only result in complaints.

According to pcworld.com . . .

The Communications Commission will move to create formal net nuetrality rules prohibiting Internet providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web content and applications, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Monday.

Saturday the 19th

A friend of mine from Bently and I traveled to New Jersey and met a couple of friends from Seton Hall University. We then went and saw a Dave Matthews concert at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden.

World Internet Stats.com

World Internet Penetration Rates

Five facts:

North America-73%

Oceania/Australia-60.1%

Europe- 50.1

Latin America/ Caribbean-30.0%

Middle East-23.7%

What to watch for: Season Five of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" starts Thursday night on FX.

Football

The New England Patriots are the team to beat this year in the AFC East.