Elton John has been talking smack about the Internet, and you've been talking right back. Should we shut down the Web to save music? Read "Elton John Blasts the Internet," then tell us what you think.
Is your printer bad for your health? If you have a laser printer, it could be. Are you worried? Read the news story and let us know.
Electronic voting is a hot topic this week, with two articles on it in the top five most recommended stories. Reports on Wedding Dash, printer toner hazards, and iPhone batteries also made the list.
We end with product reviews from users like you. Check out what a reader says about the Apple iPhone, and learn which automatic backup program one user would give ten stars to if we allowed it.
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Elton John Blasts the Internet
mcbarker says: He's looking, and acting, more and more like someone's crotchety old grandma every day. Maybe next year we'll see him in those "I've fallen and I can't get up" TV ads.
dlauber says: Actually, the Internet cuts both ways. While it makes it easy to purchase single songs to round out a collection, the long-run consequence very well may be the end of the album as we know it and the loss of everything but "singles." Over the decades there have been thousands of hidden gems on albums--songs often far better than the singles that are released. The question is whether performers will continue to produce solid music that isn't a "single" as Internet sales overtake CD sales. The trend in that direction is pretty clear and it will be our collective loss if performers cut back their musical production to produce only songs that they think are marketable.
Cassiopeia says: I happen to make my living being creative for the Internet. Only someone with so much money and so little sense of reality could make such a statement, effectively casting thousands, maybe millions, of people into unemployment and offhandedly deciding how millions of people are allowed to spend their spare time.
Read all the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.
Warning: Laser Printers Could Be a Health Hazard
poppyd says: I worked for nine years in the cartridge remanufacturing industry. I was told or heard our manager tell someone repeatedly that toner had nothing in it to harm us. But when it takes weeks to get it out of your skin, one could only imagine what it has done to our lungs.
zboner says: Once again, something in this world is "hazardous." Every time we take a breath, it could be hazardous. I heard this on the news, and if it does release any particles, it will be there for a few seconds then it will just pretty much evaporate.
TomClark7 says: Toner is a compound of iron oxide and polymer (plastic). Breathing plastic can't be all that healthy. I used to get a huge head rush from exposure, and feel exhausted after it. Many people get dizzy if they have to make many copies of something and stand [next to the copier] in an unventilated closet where some companies stick these things.
ImaPhake says: Toner doesn't "evaporate." Any toner that gets dispersed into the air eventually settles onto surfaces where it's located (desks, chairs, the floor, your computer, everything). The toner particulate can subsequently be reintroduced to the air you breathe when it's disturbed by dry dusting, an office fan, moving things around, etc. If you do a large amount of printing with a laser printer, take a white handkerchief (or white glove if you're Michael Jackson) and wipe the surfaces next to and near the printer. You will likely see it turn grayish in color due to toner particulate on those surfaces.
Read all the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.
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