Daily Links 10-17-13

Living digitally is the theme of today's link roundup. Something tells me our digital lives aren't all they are cracked up to be.

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This is interesting: 18 obstacles to personal daily devotions in the digital age. Sadly, I can relate to a lot of these. When you're done with that you can click over to this handy list of 20 tips for personal devotions.
(Hat tip: Challies)

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I'll admit it. I was surprised by this statistic:

E-Reader and Tablet Owners Read Over 60% More Books Than Those Without Digital Devices

USA TODAY and Bookish (www.bookish.com), a website designed to help readers discover and buy books, conducted a joint national poll of adults that finds how e-readers and tablets are shaping the culture and attitudes toward reading. More than a third (35%) of readers report they are reading more books thanks to their e-readers and tablets. Adults with reading devices say they read an average of 18 books a year, while those without devices say they average 11 books.

Other findings include:
• Doubling the numbers from less than two years ago, 40% of adults — including 46% of those between 18 and 39 – currently own an e-reader or a tablet.
• 60% of college graduates have an e-reader.
• 27% of readers say they have used Facebook, Twitter or book websites to comment on a book, and that number rises almost two-fold (50%) among those under 40 who own a reading device.

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How bad is multitasking for the brain?

When we multitask all day, those scattered habits literally change the pathways in our brains. The consequence, according to Nass's research, is that sustaining your attention becomes impossible.

"If we [multitask] all the time--brains are remarkably plastic, remarkably adaptable," he says, referencing neuroplasticity, the way the structures of your brain literally re-form to the patterns of your thought. "We train our brains to a new way of thinking. And then when we try to revert our brains back, our brains are plastic but they're not elastic. They don't just snap back into shape."

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There are advantages and disadvantages to being hyperconnected. Here are a few physical problems that you probably hadn't thought about. I think the stats about how often folks check their smartphones might be a little inflated. I check my phone often but 110 times per day seems excessive.

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According to a new study, age and narcissism drive whether you choose to use Facebook or Twitter.

Daily Links 9-20-13

E-reader covers, Google services you're not using, Jackie Robinson, and more in today's links.

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This is a really cool idea: e-reader covers designed to look like classic books.

You can find more of them here. Hat tip Book Riot

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Everywhere you go on the internet it seems that Google has some type of service to offer. Here are five services that you have probably overlooked.

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Barnabas Piper argues that the recent film 42 about baseball legend Jackie Robinson couldn't possibly capture what really made him great:

What made Jackie Robinson so great was precisely what made it so hard to capture his whole person on screen: his silence, stolidity, strength, and fortitude. He wasn’t a vocal activist in his playing days; he simply stood tall in the face of half a nation’s hatred and beat them at their own favorite game. Somehow Robinson managed this while bearing the hopes and expectations of millions of African-Americans on his shoulders. Actions speak louder than words, and Robinson was living proof of that. He changed America without saying a notable word.

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Learn the secrets of the service industry and you will save yourself some time and money.

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Turns out the Earl of Sandwich was quite the inventive fellow. Not only did create fast food with the sandwich but he gave birth to Starbucks, too. (Hat tip Food Riot)