Too much time, too little sense

   Well, South Korea has much to be proud of not the least the fastest broadband available nationally in the world.
   But with that speed comes consequences (there are always consequences for having the most or fastest of anything). The need for speed has turned some of the youngsters into addicts; crazed enough to earn their way into "boot camps" of sorts to shake the Web monkeys off their backs. As far back as 2007, South Korea knew it had a serious problem.
   "Inmates" at the Jump Up Internet Rescue School "are pushed over assault courses and learn to ride horses, as well as being given therapy workshops on more creative pursuits such as pottery and drumming.
   But the aim is not to wean them off drugs, alcohol or crime, but on their obsessive use of computers in a country with almost universal Internet access."
   In South Korea, where 90 per cent of homes have high-speed broadband connections and some online gameplayers have died from exhaustion after playing for days on end, police have found a new wrinkle in the virtual world or virtual worlders.
   According to CNN, police arrested the parents of a toddler who starved to death while the pair were glued to raising a virtual child online.
   The 3-month-old daughter was fed once a day between epic stretches in a local Internet cafe, where they were raising a virtual child in the fantasy role-playing game.
   Prius Online is a 3-D game in which players nurture an online companion, Anima, a young girl with mysterious powers who grows and increases her skills as the game progresses.
   Apparently the couple had lost their jobs and used the game as an escape from reality, especially after the birth of their premature baby.
   It may be wise to keep an eye on the people of the peninsula to see what might be coming down the road toward us.

"Can you hear me now?"

   It's always amused me in this country how, if something is deficient or problematic, that the solution always seems to hinge on 'more' of whatever.

   Years ago I was in a Frisch's restaurant taking in a breakfast buffet when I noticed the  sausage gravy tasted as though someone had dumped an ashtray into the mix. When I informed a waitress of the situation she replied, "Oh, well, we're about to bring out some more in a minute." More lousy food is not the solution. This concept, of course, was captured in the movie Annie Hall, where Woody Allen recounts one of his favorite jokes: Two women are sitting in a Catskill resort having lunch and the first one says, "The food here is terrible." The second one responds with, "I know, and such small portions."

   So it was no surprise really when wireless companies heard the wails from shell-shocked parents regarding their little heathens running up additional minutes on calling plans. From a marketing viewpoint the worst thing the companies wanted was to lose customers. Armed with the knowledge that American parents are loathe to rein in the children's' bad habits, gradually went to extended plans and finally "unlimited" plans.

   Is it me or is there something wrong with handing an adolescent a cell phone that has "unlimited" minutes?

  When have the words "children" and "unlimited" ever meant anything good?

   And let's not let scientific study get in the way of the temporary mollification of kids (Study Links Brain Cancer to Children Using Cell Phones) as long as 'more is better' in this country everybody feels they are getting a deal.