The history of the internet is complex. Its birthday can go as far back as 1958 with the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) or as early 1995 with advent of internet privatization or several dates in-between, like the creation of the World Wide Web on March 12, 1989- the point is the relationship status of the internet is "it's complicated" and it doesn't look like it will be changing any time soon. While we have all come to know and depend on the internet there is no denying that it is still evolving and its latest evolution is net neutrality and figuring out just what that means. Merriam-Webster defines net neutrality, also known as open internet, as the idea, principle or requirement that internet service providers should or must treat all internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source or destination. The United States Federal Communications Commission established the Open Internet Order to regulate how your internet service providers, companies like Cox and Century Link, must treat you. Internet service providers must be transparent, they can't block lawful content and they can't discriminate. Currently this regulation only applies to internet service providers and does not apply to other organizations in the tech industry but some wonder if there should be more government regulation on the internet especially where constitutional issues are concerned. Freedom of speech is one the most fundamental rights of the U.S. and some wonder if these companies who have the ability to censor speech should they be checked by the Open Internet Order and brought under more regulations. Other's believe as Thomas Jefferson did and who is quoted as saying, "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves;" in other words it should be left up to the people. What do you think?    

What? If you don't know what sine die means don't worry you aren't alone, neither does the majority of the population but these words are very important when they are tied to the Arizona State Legislature. Merriam-Webster defines sine die as "without any future date being designated (as for resumption.) When the Arizona State Legislature adjourns, or ends, sine die it means that this is the end of the legislative session. Once the legislative session ends the laws that have been decided during that legislative session will go into effect 90 days after the session adjourns. Since the legislature adjourned in May, this means all the new laws are now in effect. To learn more about the laws that were passed visit the Arizona State Legislatures website.  

August means students will be dusting off their alarm clocks or turning on their forgotten alarm apps and heading back to school. The joy of sleeping in on a weekday will come to an end, or will it? A debate has waged for years about whether school should start after 8:30 a.m. Among those who are for the later start time is the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) who state that doing so "will align school schedules to the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents, whose sleep-wake cycles begin to shift up to two hours later at the start of puberty." AAP also states that on average a teenager needs to receive 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night, so a child whose natural sleep cycle started at 8:30 p.m. would change to a start time of 10:30 p.m. when he hit puberty and if he received the minimum 8.5 hours of required sleep wouldn't wake up until 7 a.m. That doesn't leave much travel time or anything else if school starts at 7:30 a.m. Adequate sleep would also reduce other side effects like depression and car accidents and overall increase the effectiveness of lessons. If you aren't tired then its just easier to pay attention. However, the opposing side states that late start times are unnecessary and that the reduction of artificial light, light from televisions, computers, tablets and phones, would have the same effect on our sleep/wake cycle. Parents who take their kids to school would also be greatly impacted by the later start times especially if they are unable to change their work hours. The California State Legislature may soon be providing us with a long awaited answer to this debate as a bill marches through the legislature. In time we will see what becomes of it and if any other state follows suit. Until then, there is always the snooze button.        

No, I am not talking about the purple ribbons used to raise awareness for domestic violence and abuse but the WiFi company, Purple, from Manchester, England who decided to see if anyone was paying attention to their contracts. We have all seen the long user agreements and skipped to the bottom where it says "I accept" without reading what exactly we agreeing too. Well, it turns out 22,000 people agreed to pick up animal waste, manually relieve sewer blockages and paint snail shells to brighten their existence as part of the “Community Service Clause” placed in their WiFi contract. The agreement also stated that anyone who read the contract and contacted the company informing them of such, would receive a prize. One resolute person did so. One out of 22,000 that is an unfathomable .000045%! While Purple does not plan to actually enforce the agreement they did successfully prove their point, we aren’t reading our user agreements and you never know what you could actually be signing away. Learn more about contracts here.