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TCB: Balancing Act With Internet Addiction By
Matt Hartley
For quite some time there has been a lot of debate surrounding the legitimacy of Internet addiction. I personally believe it is a real disorder because I lived it. About 3 years ago I was living in another state away from friends and family. I did not know anyone in the area and all I had was my job at the time. Besides the TV, my only connection to the outside world was through the Internet. Things got so bad that my daily routine literally centered itself around my next opportunity to "get online."
The point is that anybody - and I mean ANYBODY - can develop this type of disorder in an isolated situation. I have met IT Pros that are so addicted to the Internet that you cannot maintain a normal conversation with them for more than a couple of minutes before they refer to "needing to get online." This statement might seem perfectly normal; it quickly becomes abnormal, though, when they appear immensely distracted by everything you say. When you ask them what is wrong, they respond with, "I have been offline too long." This is a cry for help if I have ever heard one, folks.
Are you an Addict?
It is obvious if you are concerned about this that you need to contact a mental health professional. However, you can
take an online test to see whether you should really be concerned or not.
What are symptoms?
1. Getting online everyday without any variation (This by itself is not a big deal, though)
2. Completely losing track of time after you log onto the Internet
3. Finding that the you are spending more and more time online pursuing non-work related activities
4. Eating meals every chance you get while sitting at the computer
5. Sneaking online behind your spouse's or boss' back on a frequent basis
(The following are symptoms only. These symptoms are not meant to self diagnose; they are simply here to provide you with important information.)
Does this really affect IT Professionals?
You bet it does! System admins and PC techs tend to spend much of their free time online even during their off hours. For the most part, there is nothing wrong with this practice. However, alarm bells should go off when it begins to interfere with household duties, regular exercise, and spending time with family.
Internet addiction versus being a workaholic.
One important distinction I want to make clear is the difference between a 'net addict and a workaholic. If the endless hours you are spending online are work related, this does not mean that you are an Internet addict. As a matter of fact, it is not unusual for me to spend an obscene number of hours on the PC trying to get all of my work done. Still, I do make it a point to get offline for at least 3-5 hours a day even if there is work that needs to be done. Understandably the hours spent offline may not always be concurrent. Regardless, the time spent offline is usually invested wisely in other productive activities.
Preventive measures and a conclusion.
I cannot honestly tell you whether you have a real problem with spending too much time online. I can, however, give you some important advice. Get out and see the world once in awhile. Even working on the PC for too long can become very unhealthy quickly. Go for a bike ride, catch a movie, or go on a long walk. Just get out of the house for a few hours. Spending too much time hunched over your PC is never a healthy choice. Take my advice folks, don't let your computer take over your life. The key to a contentment in life is truly learning balance.
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Today is one of those sucky days I had to deal with. Laggish internet connection, screwed up system design, and blabla. All GF03A1 intake students of APIIT have exactly
one more month left before the final submission of our
Individual Final Year Project (The system and the documentation!). I still have 3 major modules left to code and the whole documentation to write. I'm so screwed. I think I need someone to teach me Amzi!'s Knowledge Wright. I don't think I have time to learn it myself.
I haven done my part in coding the chat server for PFI also. Shit. Deep shit. DBMS due is damn freaking near also. Got to look at the codes. PFI 24 hour test is coming up also. Exams is on the 1st next month.
for(i=0;i>0;i++) //not a mistake...infinity loop
{
echo("ARGH!");
}
Gonna start organising some stuff. Gonna cut down on some routine stuff I do.
