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Education

Study Finds That Video Games Hinder Learning In Young Boys 278

dcollins writes "Researchers at Denison University in Ohio have shown that giving PlayStations to young boys leads to slower progress in reading and writing skills. Quoting: 'The study is the first controlled trial to look at the effects of playing video games on learning in young boys. That is to say, the findings aren't based on survey data of kids' game habits, but instead on a specific group of children that were randomly assigned to receive a PlayStation or not ... Those with PlayStations also spent less time engaged in educational activities after school and showed less advancement in their reading and writing skills over time than the control group, according to tests taken by the kids. While the game-system owners didn't show significant behavioral problems, their teachers did report delays in learning academic skills, including writing and spelling.'"
Businesses

Tech Or Management Beyond Age 39? 592

relliker writes "So here I am at age 39 with two contractual possibilities, for practically the same pay. With one, I continue being a techie for the foreseeable future — always having to keep myself up-to-date on everything tech and re-inventing myself with each Web.x release to stay on top. With the other, I'm being offered a chance to get into management, something I also enjoy doing and am seriously considering for the rest of my working life. The issue here is the age of my grey matter. Will I still be employable in tech at this age and beyond? Or should I relinquish the struggle to keep up with progress and take the comfy 'old man' management route so that I can stay employable even in my twilight years? What would Slashdot veterans advise at this age?"

Comment Warming up vs. stretching (Score 1) 339

I just want to point out that many of the comments on this story are talking about 2 different things when they discuss "warming up" and "stretching".
1- Warming up merely consists of performing the movements (or similar movements) that you will do during your routine, in a slower and less-forceful way, in order to "warm" or ready the muscle for the workout. The purpose of warming up is to prevent cramping and potential tearing of the muscle or tendons. For example, in my swim routine, I typically "warm-up" by swimming a mile at a slow light pace - gradually increasing the length of my stroke to ease my shoulders into the full stroke.

2- Stretching is done to prevent inflammation of the muscle usually after a workout and between workouts. In fact, it has been known for years (not only recently) that you should NOT stretch a "cold" muscle as you risk injuring the muscle. Even a microscopic tear could lead to inflammation and greater injury during the workout. I want to point out that if I stretch my shoulders and latissimus dorsi before my swim routine (which sometimes consists of about 3 miles) my muscles will fatigue about 30% sooner than if I don't stretch. However, I can achieve the same level of elasticity using the warmup described above (1) without fatiguing at all. I agree 100% with the findings of the study.

For the record, the article is about stretching, and not about warming up.

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