Considering the fact that if you are reading this, you have most likely been causally browsing the Internet for some period of undetermined time, these findings from scientists at Swansea and Milan Universities are probably relevant to you: Surfing the internet is like a drug. (Though, really, anyone who has inadvertently spent an entire afternoon browsing Wikipedia to see what ‘90s sitcom actors are doing now could have told you this.) The researchers found that users who spend long periods of time browsing the web can experience actual “withdrawal symptoms” when they go offline. The researchers say that negative moods, anxiety and even depression are among the psychological consequences of Internet addiction. If Sandra Bullock’s The Net taught us nothing, it’s that Internet access is not a privilege that should be taken lightly. See what you and your invention hath wrought, Al Gore! … Discuss

You know those little Facebook “Like” buttons, comment fields and sharing widgets that are found on pretty much every website? Well, yesterday evening, for a brief time, they caused a massive error across the Internet, affecting sites that contained the sharing tools. Starting at about 7 p.m. ET, users who were browsing the web and were already logged on to Facebook, were redirected to a broken login screen when trying to visit their intended sites. Even major websites like CNN, Gizmodo and The Washington Post were affected by the error. Facebook, which values ideas like privacy and keeping sensitive information undisclosed, released the following statement to NBC News that offered no details, explanation or apology: “For a short period of time, there was a bug that redirected people from third party sites with Facebook Login to Facebook.com. The issue was quickly resolved” … Discuss