sleep

Zeo sleep tracker goes mobile

Health and wellness firm Zeo's labeling of sleep problems in America as an "epidemic" might not be hyperbole. Some 64 million of us grapple with sleep issues every night, and another 49 million struggle at least a few nights a week, according to the firm's analysis of U.S. Census data.

Zeo, which first caught our eye in 2005 under the name Axon Labs with an alarm clock called SleepSmart, now offers a highly evolved mobile sleep system that employs a wireless headband to track all known sleep phases, including Light, Deep, and REM sleep.

The Zeo Sleep Manager then sends the resulting sleep data directly to the user's mobile device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and soon Android-based smartphones), which then syncs to the user's online Zeo account, where a ZQ sleep score that summarizes sleep quality is calculated. (It used to be transmitted to an SD card and then had to be manually uploaded.)… Read more

The 404 906: Where Qwikster delivers the booty (podcast)

Happy birthday to the emoticon, invented 29 years ago today on a computer-science bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University. Thanks for making parents around the world feel tech-savvy. :)

Before we get into the important Netflix news of of the day, Jeff tells us about his weekend experience at "Sleep No More," an interactive theater experience in New York that's loosely based on the Macbeth story--with a creepy twist. The plot plays out in various acts throughout a three-story abandoned warehouse in Chelsea, so tune in to hear more spoiler-free details and reserve your tickets here!

Next we'll get into the Netflix mea culpa delivered by e-mail and blog post this morning that's giving current Netflix subscribers even more reasons to moan about the recent price hike.

CEO Reed Hastings announced that the company will soon split in two, with the name of the DVD mail rental service changing to Qwikster (not to be confused with Quixtar, QuickStar, Kwikster, Quickster, or Quik-Star), while the video-streaming arm will retain the Netflix name and Web address.

We'll also talk today about a satellite plunging from space, a group of scientists that are poaching PS3 gamers to help find a cure for AIDS, and the last single-space parking meter disappearing in Manhattan today.

The 404 Digest for Episode 906

The emoticon was invented 29 years ago today. Netflix CEO: " I slid into arrogance." PS3 users are helping to find a cure for AIDS. A satellite loosely based on "Donnie Darko" is coming to Earth. World's largest sperm bank refusing donations from redheads. Iguana Fart.

Episode 906 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 865: Where we don our bedtime spanx (podcast)

The Sleep Doctor Michael Breus is back on the show to answer your questions about how sleep affects everything from your weight to your memory, and even your mental health. We never get enough time to talk to Dr. Breus, but today we pick his brain about waking up sleepwalkers, how to get your kids back on a summer sleep schedule, and the best natural sleep aid.

The 404 Digest for Episode 865

Rocked to sleep-- not just for babies anymore. Check out Dr. Breus's book, " The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight through Better Sleep" For-hire Brooklyn woman reads you bedtime stories. Go the ***k to sleep! Add Dr. Breus on Twitter!

Episode 865 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Survey: Most college kids sext, some then forward

Anthony Weiner, your parents may have gotten your name right, but man, you were born a generation too soon.

Because while the pundits and researchers expound on the many reasons sexting is bad for us as individuals and a society, and while state legislators draft bills to expel students who sext from school, or to define sexting between minors as child pornography, it seems that these days, the student who sexts is far more common than the student who doesn't.

So say researchers at the University of Rhode Island, who are running three studies that examine the impact of … Read more

Options for sleeping displays in OS X

Regardless of whether you have only one display attached to your Mac or if you have multiple displays, there may be times when you would like to quickly turn them off either for when you are away from your computer or for when you are only using one monitor and do not wish to use the others. Apple offers a few default configuration options for various display setups in OS X, allowing you to adjust when the system puts them to sleep.

Managing all displaysApple's options for managing displays are a bit scattered around the system and the system … Read more

Addressing slow sleep times in OS X

Putting a system to sleep is far more convenient than shutting it down between uses, because it allows you to save the machine's running state, to quickly pick up from where you left off without having to load the OS and programs again. While sleeping is usually a fairly quick process, sometimes problems can occur that cause it to take a long time or even hang. In these cases, even if you close a laptop's screen the system will stay running, and will then either just continue to run normally or not respond to any user input.

Unfortunately, … Read more

New software can boost battery life for Wi-Fi devices

A new program developed by a Duke University grad student promises to double the battery life of cell phones and other mobile devices by tweaking how they tap into Wi-Fi networks.

As described by its creator Justin Manweiler in a Duke Today story, downloading videos and other hefty content via Wi-Fi can cause a huge drain on the battery of a mobile device. This drain can be especially severe in crowded cities and other locations where multiple devices have to battle for available bandwidth.

So in an example cited by the story, downloading a movie in midtown Manhattan chews up … Read more

'Problematic Internet usage' more common than asthma

Two recently published studies out of Seattle Children's Research Institute indicate that certain levels of media usage can lead to depression in college students as well as disrupt sleep patterns in preschool children.

Not exactly earth-shattering.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the researchers found in the first study that out of the 224 college students who took the Internet Addiction Test, only 9 of them (4 percent) scored in the "occasional problem" or "addicted" range.

To put what sounds like a small number in perspective, the researchers say that Internet over-usage is now more prevalent than asthma.… Read more

This Day in Tech: LulzSec hacks U.S. Senate site; Man gets sued after tweeting about wife's affair

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Thursday, June 16.

Clouds gather over RIM The BlackBerry maker reports $4.9 billion in earnings, below the $5.2 billion it expected, and announces layoffs starting next quarter. Shares of the company were halted just before the news hit. More

Senator renews pledge to update digital-privacy law Sen. Patrick Leahy says law enforcement concerns kept him from proposing that search warrants be required for police to learn the previous locations of Americans' cell phones. More

'Sleep' author: I don't support piracy … Read more

Adjust time period for hard-disk sleep in OS X

In order to conserve power and extend battery life in laptops, Apple offers an option to automatically spin down hard disks when not in use. This option can be found in the Energy Saver and can be configured for different energy schemes (battery or power adapter), but is limited to having the system put the hard disk to sleep whenever possible, without many configuration options. By default this will put disks to sleep that have not been accessed for 10 minutes, and while this may work for most people, others may wish to fine-tune this behavior.

While hard drives will … Read more