Foundation Commissions $50 Million Online Study 70
PreacherTom writes, "It's not a stretch to say that kids use the Internet to play World of Warcraft and to tweak their MySpace pages. Still, the MacArthur Foundation doesn't think that is quite specific enough. The private, grant-making institution is commissioning a $50 million, five-year study to investigate precisely how and why young people use the Net. $10 million in grants is going to to individuals and organizations to work on projects that stimulate research in digital media. Sign me up."
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How to get rid of surplus cash (Score:2)
If I ran a foundation that somehow had its mitts on $50M, I'd want to find some way to get some of that money into places where it was more accessable.
Just like the SCO debacle could be interpreted as a way for Darl to pay his brother (SCO's main lawyer) hefty fees to strip SCO and get the cash into the family, I wonder whether a bit of sooping around here could uncover some similar interesting behaviour.
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So why bother to post? You couldn't even be bothered to take the first step (RingTFA so you even know what you're talking about), so why bother taking the second step and posting on the subject? Is it because reading the article doesn't get you any attention from other posters, or just an innate desire to make a prat of yourself by talking out of your arse?
Sorry if this is harsh, but why do people take the time to post complete unmitigated sh
Odds are the results will be less than useful (Score:4, Insightful)
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bit torrent
youtube
itunes
digg
blogs
social networking
DUH! who will tell some researcher he DLs via P2P? (Score:1)
I thought the data was already in on this.. 30% of bandwidth is being used by bit torrent alone.
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Re:Odds are... (Score:2)
I'd settle for $25 million... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now if they would now divert their attention elsewhere with that $50 million. Case closed!
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Porn, and 'hookups'.
So, sex, and more sex.
how is this a surprise?
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That'd only be for boys (Score:2)
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5 Years?? (Score:5, Insightful)
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That's awfully insightful. After all, the hottest "trends" in the net now are the myspace-like social sites, and amateur video (Youtube). These were hardly a blip on the radar 5 years ago. However, I don't think its scandalous, as if the government was wasting money on something like this study.
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Generator sites (Score:1, Insightful)
If only there was some way to know (Score:3, Funny)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Foundation_Serie
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The same way you can tell if something is fud.
I have the answer right here: (Score:1)
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a 5 year study? (Score:2)
Wouldn't the kids use the of internet have changed in that period of time?
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Usage (Score:3, Insightful)
give me $10 million (Score:2)
the answer is pr0n, WoW, and AIM
heck, i'm a nice guy, i'll cut my fee in half: $5 million please
Fark, anyone? (Score:1)
"MacArthur Foundation spending $50 million to determine why kids use the internet. Here's a clue: pr0n, WoW, MySpace - that'll be $18 million" [fark.com]
5 Years? (Score:1)
(except for the "porn" answer).
save your money (Score:1)
Oblig (Score:1)
how and why? (Score:1)
the final frontier.
the wild west.
youth uses the internet because they aren't told how and why to do so.
Ask the experts (Score:4, Funny)
It's a rip off. (Score:1)
OK kids, it's not funny anymore (Score:4, Insightful)
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For that matter, what if Ackbar himself is behind today?
While we're at it... (Score:2)
itsatrap (Score:2)
Finally! (Score:2, Interesting)
Alright.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, whats with the negative remarks. Don't you think just maybe some other purpose behind the study apart from which sites 'young' people like to visit and what they use to kill their ba
50 Million?!?!?! 5 years?!?!? (Score:2)
OK, Seriously (Score:1, Offtopic)
Who is tagging every article "itsatrap"? Please stop abussing the tagging system. It is meant to be used to easily search for stories, not for memes or comments.
Misleading Article Title (Score:3, Informative)
"... the MacArthur Foundation will give $10 million in grants to individuals and organizations to work on projects that stimulate research in digital media or explore new approaches to educational innovation....The remaining $40 million will be put towards fulfilling the broader aim of connecting researchers, educators, youth, and practitioners in different disciplines (and across sectors). A digital knowledge hub is already in the works, so that teachers from around the world can compare, contrast, and share research, tools, and findings through open-source software and online forums."
5 years?!? (Score:1)
I wonder how they will factor that in, or if that is indeed part of the study.
I should RTFA, but this is
Aiding the study (Score:1)
The Myth of Porn (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, it depends on what you mean by "young people."
What fraction of slashdot readers, male or female, have spent more than US$100 in the past 24 months on internet por
pics (Score:1)
5 years is to long (Score:2)
No, the cat does not "got my tongue." (Score:1)
MacArthur Foundation Trustee: You've spent $49.98 million so far, and your report is due tomorrow. What have you found out?
Guy surfing MySpace and playing WoW: Ummmm...I'm almost done with it. I'll email it by COB tomorrow.
Even the WoW people agree (Score:1)