The Internet

The authors stress that rising temperature and climate change should not be viewed as direct motivations for suicide. Instead, they point out that temperature and climate may increase the risk of suicide by affecting the likelihood that an individual situation leads to an attempt at self-harm. “Hotter temperatures are clearly not the only, nor the most important, risk factor for suicide,” Burke emphasized. “But our findings suggest that warming can have a surprisingly large impact on suicide risk, and this matters for both our understanding of mental health as well as for what we should expect as temperatures continue to warm.” more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Within an hour, a slate of ten contestants on The Proposal is quickly winnowed down to one, who then becomes engaged to a mystery man or woman, who has been hidden behind a pod until the end. Before the climactic engagement, the couple has spent a total of less than five minutes or so talking to each other. What’s next? A program where a marriage of strangers will be consummated, on camera, before the first commercial break?And I really don’t understand apps like Tinder that enable guys and gals to dial up an immediate “hook-up” with an unknown partner as easily as ordering delivery of a pizza. more »

A new report from the Innovation Group London and J. Walter Thompson explores the lifestyles and attitudes of British women aged between 53 and 72. Over two thirds (69%) of 'Elastic' women think the fashion industry ignores people their age while 82% think that the clothes that are aimed at them are “way too old-fashioned.” Elastic women are tired of negative stereotypes about them when it comes to technology: 73% say they hate the way their generation is patronised when it comes to tech while 78% express no desire to buy technology that is especially designed for older people. It’s time for brands to forget the digital myth – these women were there in tech’s infancy. more »

The change is from regulating internet providers as “public utilities” to regulating them as most other businesses in the economy. We have had a long experience with public utility regulations where companies and municipalities have provided telephone, electricity and water services across the country. Tight regulation is great for such services that do not experience a lot of change – when was the last innovation in municipal water delivery, for example? With a rapidly changing product such as internet access, it is much tougher to have regulations that benefit consumers both in terms of price and innovation. more »