I recently wrote a post about Sensei's mobile phone fitness trainer for people desiring motivation, personalized recipes and other fitness tools/goals delivered via a text message. New research reveals automated exercise reminders are effective.

Stanford University researchers studied 218 sedentary adults over the age of 55 in the Community Health Advice by Telephone (CHAT) study. The study's goal was to get the previously sedentary participants to walk briskly for 30 minutes or do some alternative medium-intense activity for a total of approximately 150 minutes per week. One-third of the group received no phone calls, one-third were called by trained health educators and the final third received computer-generated, interactive phone calls (e.g., press "1" if you made last week's goal) -- along with prerecorded motivational advice.

Guess what? After a year, both called groups attained the 150 minute goal. Human-called participants averaged 178 minutes, while the computer-called averaged a respectable157 minutes. The zero-call group came in much lower, only 118 minutes. I respond quite well to external motivation for personal fitness -- reading about fitness and health, along with blogging for That's Fit, spark me to workout significantly more.

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In my house, the women always talked more than the men. Although I'm no overly chatty myself, my mother spent hours on the phone every night, whereas my dad's conversations were very to-the-point and no longer than 2 minutes long. And in my own small family, I spend more time chatting than my partner, although the difference is only slight. Which is why I find it surprising that recent studies have shown that men talk more than women on average.

However, it also depends on the context -- women are more chatty when talking to kids or classmates, and men are more chatty when it comes to spouses and strangers. This seems to go against most commonly-held stereotypes, don't you think?

What do you think of these findings? Are you the chatty one in your relationships?

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A small study of 100 participants conducted by the chairman of the Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India found long-term cell phone users who chatted on their mobile for an hour or more a day, were more likely to suffer from high-frequency hearing loss.

Users who had their phones for four years or more were most effected, while those who had only had their mobiles for two years were less likely to have problems. According to the article, those suffering from high-frequency hearing loss have trouble hearing consonants like s, f, t and z.

It's important to keep in mind though, that the study is small and the researcher who conducted it points out that a much larger study and more research needs to be done before any definitely links or conclusions can be drawn. So don't panic, but maybe try not to chat on your phone for hours on end either.

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Technology has added so much to our society, but it's also taken away a lot -- including our friends and our sex lives. According to new studies, Internet is taking away from many offline activities like socializing and sex, with as many as one in three people saying that they give up time with friends and spouses in order to spend it on the Internet.

What's more, people can't seem to live without the Internet. Only 7% said they could go a week without Internet access, and 48% of people say they feel as if something important is missing if they have to go without Email or the web.

While I don't think I sacrifice time with my friends and family for the Internet, I have serious trouble going without it for a few days. But then again, it's the sort of the basis of my career. How important is the Internet for you?

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