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 9-9-13

The challenges of spelling, more benefits of owning a Kindle, and more in today's edition.

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Why is English spelling so messed up? Mental Floss has the answer.

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It was only a matter of time:

that it would let customers who bought certain print books download the electronic versions of those titles for a small fee, or for free. For anyone who buys both kinds of books, myself included, the service, which Amazon calls Kindle MatchBook, raises a simple question: What took so long?

I had wondered when this was going to happen. Just another reason to own a Kindle.

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14 Lessons of the New Workplace Millenials Need to Master. Actually reading over this list just about anyone who works in the business world should apply these lessons.

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This is an amazing story:

Brigitte Höss lives quietly on a leafy side street in Northern Virginia. She is retired now, having worked in a Washington fashion salon for more than 30 years. She recently was diagnosed with cancer and spends much of her days dealing with the medical consequences. Brigitte also has a secret that not even her grandchildren know. Her father was Rudolf Höss, the Kommandant of Auschwitz. It was Rudolf Höss who designed and built Auschwitz from an old army barracks in Poland to a killing machine capable of murdering 2,000 people an hour. By the end of the war, 1.1 million Jews had been killed in the camp, along with 20,000 gypsies and tens of thousands of Polish and Russian political prisoners. As such, Brigitte’s father was one of the biggest mass murderers in history. For nearly 40 years she has kept her past out of public view, unexamined, not even sharing her story with her closest family members.

But here is one of the best parts of this story:

In 1972 they moved to Washington. Brigitte’s husband took a senior job with a transportation company, and they bought a house in Georgetown. It was a chance for Brigitte to start over. Brigitte struggled — she didn’t know how to write a check, spoke little English and was without friends or family. After some searching, she found a part-time job in a fashion boutique. One day a short Jewish lady visited the boutique. She liked Brigitte’s style and asked her to come work in her fashion salon in the District. Soon after she was hired, Brigitte says, she got drunk with her manager and confessed that her father was Rudolf Höss. The manager told the store’s owner. The owner told Brigitte that she could stay, that she had not committed any crime herself. What Brigitte did not know, at least not until later, was that the store owner and her husband were Jewish and had fled Nazi Germany after the Kristallnacht attacks of 1938. Brigitte was thankful for being seen as a person, rather than her father’s daughter. She worked at the store for 35 years, serving prominent Washingtonians, including the wives of senators and congressmen. The store owner returned Brigitte’s loyalty and hard work by keeping her secret. With the exception of one other manager, none of the other staff knew the truth about Brigitte’s family history.

Be sure to read the whole thing.
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Ten things I've Learned on Twitter. Some interesting tips for folks who want to use Twitter more effectively. (hat tip Thom Rainer)
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Why Duck Dynasty Viewers Heed Its Call (hat tip Acculturated). Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Robertsons are real, down to earth, honest to goodness folks.

Friday Tweet Roundup 8-23-13

Happy Friday everyone!  I continue to be amazed at what I find on Twitter. Here is a roundup of this week's links. Please follow me on Twitter if you are so inclined.

About three years prior to writing 1984, George Orwell wrote a letter detailing the theories that would shape the novel.

This is a great question: "What will be the cost to the church if young men continue to give themselves to pornography?"

Settling the important questions: when grilling is it better to marinade or rub? Go for the rub. Related: my favorite way to prepare steaks only involves using salt and pepper.

I didn't really understand the appeal of Duck Dynasty until I saw a couple of episodes. Here's an explanation as to why it's so popular (and that's a good thing). It's become one of our favorite shows.

Marian McPartland, hostess of NPR's Piano Jazz passed away this week at 95. An appreciation of her remarkable career.

A young man gets stranded at the airport with no money and nothing to eat. What one restaurant did really shows what great customer service is all about.

Legendary Disney songwriters Richard Sherman and Alan Menken recently appeared in concert together at the D23 Expo and it was as magical as you would expect it to be.

The late Elmore Leonard had some great rules for writers.

Baseball's National Hall of Fame should be about those who played the game with honor. This is an interesting case for one such player who is not currently enshrined in the Hall (but should be).

A 911 operator comes to a bride's rescue. Then they become friends.

15 companies that started out selling something else than what they became famous for.

TIME finally reports on a story that a lot of parents already know about: Public schools are hostile to boys.

It's always tough when you're facing the prospect of leaving your church. Here are 10 questions you should ask yourself if you're considering such a step. It's a serious decision and is worth careful thought and prayer.

What Disney taught one person about leadership.

According to Dr. Albert Mohler, the antidote to anemic worship is expository preaching.

An American POW's prized gold ring returns home after he gave it away for food during World War II.

Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching ace Clayton Kershaw would rather talk about what he's doing off the field. Key quote: "Kershaw said he wants to be known as a Christian who happens to play baseball, not as a baseball player who happens to be a Christian."

There are some that say e-books will be the death of the publishing industry. But one publisher is starting to reward customers with free e-book copies of physical books that they buy. This makes sense to me. Amazon had already done this with CDs purchased through their site so it makes sense that publishers will want to do the same.

From Art of Manliness, five traits of true leadership.

Five habits of highly effective communicators.

How to go from being a good leader to a great manager.

This is amazing: historical black and white photographs are colorized. The results are incredible.

A brief history of everyone's favorite summertime memory: the ice cream truck.

The plucky investigative reporter who got herself committed to an insane asylum. On purpose.

Did you know before she became a famous television chef Julia Child was a spy? The stories of five unlikely spies.

Let's call this your bookstore bucket list. 16 bookstores to see before you die. Judging by the pictures, I'd say they were right.

An interesting interview with the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Convention, Russell Moore. His observations on the role of Christians in culture today are right on the mark.

That's it. Have a great weekend.