Well, we got our first real snow here in New England this past week, so Friday presented us with a beautiful winter’s day to dig out, trundle our way into the office, just so we could bring you today’s Flashback. We’ll save some snow for you, okay? Just tell us where to mail it…

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• The Trouble with Technology: How Come It Doesn’t Work?

  While I was complaining about trying to get some new version of software to work right with my old files, it seems that most of the more serious software compatibility issues have been resolved (e.g., I don’t have to worry about converting Word documents every time I upgrade Word).

  However, with the release of seriously-slow Vista and keeping an eye on laptop specifications over the past year, I can’t help but wonder if technology is keeping up with what consumers really want. The main things a consumer wants out of a laptop is light weight and long battery life. And yet most of the brand new laptops coming out today still average 2 or maybe 2 1/2 hours in real-world battery usage (ignore manufacturer’s numbers, because nobody gets them). 2 1/2 hours? Give me a break. My 3-year-old laptop easily gets 3 1/2 hours, and it’s old in the laptop world. Runs the Web, Word, email, and even photo editing software without a hiccup. So why would I want to downgrade to Vista and shorter battery life? (Laptops do die, though, so I’m always keeping an eye out….) Somebody in the computer world needs to get a serious clue.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Gambling Addiction or Greed?

  I wrote about an article on the Boston Globe (which amazingly is still at the original link, wow) that found — “The Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders is a unique part of Harvard Medical School: Virtually all its funding comes from the gambling industry.” The Institute is still around and ironically just held its 2007 conference in Las Vegas(!). No word on how much of their funding is still from the very industry they study.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• The Crutch of Why: How fixating on the source of a mental illness can delay treatment
  Regular contributor Jennifer Bechdel discusses how focusing on “why” something occurs in our lives can actually be an impediment to our feeling better, sooner.
• Grappling with Information Overload
  In this blog entry from last year, I discuss what to do with the overwhelming amount of information humans are increasingly having to deal with, offering 5 tips yo help with information overload. Feeling overwhelmed? Check it out.

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 14 Dec 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.