study

Long viewed as a male-dominated hobby, video games are increasingly attracting the interest of women--a trend that hasn't gone unnoticed by the video game industry.

In an attempt to learn more about how the growing number of social games resonate with women, Q Interactive and Engage Expo surveyed 700 women to see how they really feel.

The researchers found that about 54 percent of those surveyed play social games every day, but only 42 percent of respondents consider themselves "gamers." Just 7 percent of women say that they're "obsessed" with games.

Q Interactive also … Read more

A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows a "dramatic" rise in the amount of time children and teens spend using entertainment media, "especially among minority youth." The study, "Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-year-olds," only focused on recreational use of media, not homework, school-related online research, or reading books for school.

The report, which was released Wednesday, showed that 8- to 18-year-olds "devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day." That adds up to more than 53 … Read more

Got a case of information overload? You're not alone.

A study released Wednesday from the University of California, San Diego, reports that the average American consumes a whopping 34GB of data and 100,000 words of information per day.

Over the course of 2008, Americans as a group gobbled up 3.6 zettabytes of data. (In case you missed the definition of "zettabyte" in your daily data binging, that's a million million gigabytes.) For all you visual learners out there, the researchers helpfully point out that 3.6 zettabytes is equal to the "information in … Read more

A new report from global public relations firm Weber Shandwick has found that when it comes to Fortune 100 companies, they just don't get Twitter...not yet anyway.

According to the study (PDF), which looked at how the world's 100 top companies used Twitter between late August and early September, the companies have a grand total of 540 Twitter accounts owned by just 73 companies; 27 firms don't participate in the microblogging tool/social network. Some 76 percent of those 540 accounts weren't "updated often" and 52 percent were not actively engaged, as measured … Read more

Bible Study Pro bills itself as a comprehensive Bible resource, with multiple versions, commentary, and plenty of other features to help with Bible study. Unfortunately, we found that much of the program's content must be ordered on CDs; the content that actually comes with the download is negligible.

The program's interface is fairly sleek and is reminiscent of Microsoft Office 2007 products. Navigation is arranged in panes, with a tree hierarchy displaying each book and chapter of the King James Version (the only one included with the program). Another pane displays the content of the selected book, and … Read more

A study from the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology has found that most microbloggers are updating their status with "mundane" messages.

Curiously, the Finnish institute chose to examine the also-ran microblogging platform Jaiku. In sifting through 400,000 messages on Jaiku, HIIT found that the most common messages users send out include the words "working," "home," "work," "lunch," and "sleeping."

"Microblogging works because of the total control users have over their postings, but it is a hobby that seems to require a significant investment of time which … Read more

Retailers have a love-hate relationship with social media, according to a study set to be released next week.

The E-tailing Group, which specializes in retail sector trends, surveyed 117 companies--from small to large--to assess how retailers and brands view the social Web.

The biggest concern among respondents is that consumers will "trash their products in front of a large audience," according to E-tailing Group. At the same time, companies very much want to partake in the social Web.

Ninety-three percent of companies surveyed said they are seeking greater customer engagement through social-media efforts. And 76 percent want to … Read more

Say goodbye to boring flash cards and rote memorization with StudyX. It offers users a variety of options for creating study aids that best suit their needs and their preferred methods of study.

StudyX is a program that students of all ages and skill levels will enjoy using. The colorful interface will appeal to younger students and the program's flexibility will appeal to teachers and older students. Choose from several quiz styles to use as study aids, including digital flash cards and multiple-choice games. You have the ability to create your own specific questions. We particularly liked the feature … Read more

Shmoop, an online learning tool designed for high-school students, has unveiled several new categories and a whopping 115 iPhone apps.

The site now features study guides on poetry, bestselling books, civics, and biography. It already offered in-depth information on U.S. history and literature.

The timing on Shmoop's announcement is certainly appropriate. School is about to be back in session. Students will be needing Shmoop's online offerings to help them get through class.

But just how they use Shmoop's features is up for debate.

The basics Shmoop is basically a study guide, although the site's founder … Read more