It has become the norm for teenagers to own a personal listening device (PLD) previously the Walkmans, then the Discman and now iPods, mp3 players and smart phones. Listening to music on-the-move has increased albeit with hazardous consequences, taking into consideration that this music is delivered to the listeners via high quality earphones at very loud volumes.

According to Professor Chava Muchnik of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Communication Disorders, 25% of all teenagers are in danger of early hearing loss as a direct result of their listening habits. The availability of cheap media players and file sharing platforms has helped fuel this listening habit.

The combination of listening habits of teens and the acoustic measurements of their preferred listening levels, were the main tools used for this research by Professor Chava and her colleagues Dr. Ricky Kaplan-Newman, Dr. Noam Amir and Ester Shabtai.

The results was published in the International Journal of Audiology, clearly stating that teens have very harmful music listening habits when it comes to their PLD devices. In “10 or 20 years it will be too late to realize that an entire generation of young people are suffering from hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging,” says Professor Muchnik.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a predicament that can caused by continuous exposure to loud noise. It is gradual and accumulative and can go unnoticed until the damage has been done. Professor Muchnik warns that at the present rate of exposure, we risk having a generation of teens who will suffer from hearing problems in their 30’s and 40’s, much earlier than past generations.

Firstly, the study consisted of 289 teens between the ages of 13-17. They answered questions about their preferred listening levels and the duration of their listening, on their PLDs. Secondly, the measurements of these listening levels were performed on 74 teens in both quiet and noisy environments. The measured volume levels were used to calculate the potential risk to hearing according to the damage risk criteria laid out by Health and Safety Regulations.

80% of teens use their PLDs regularly, with 21% listening from one to four hours daily and 8% listening more than four hours consecutively. Adding this information to the acoustic measurements, the data indicated that 25% of the teens who took part in the research where at a severe risk of hearing loss, warns Professor Muchnik.

Health and Safety regulations at present use industry-related benchmarks in measuring the harm caused by continuous exposure to high volume noise and this is the only available risk criteria. The professor says that an additional risk criteria must be created for music-induced hearing loss. A good example is where manufacturers of PLDs are govern by a standard that limits the maximum output of their products to 100 decibels.

Schools and parents can play a great role in increasing awareness of these dangers, she says. Teens could choose over-the-ear headphones instead of the ear buds that commonly come with an iPod.

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Steve Jobs was 56-years-old when he died Wednesday after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. Immediately after his death the world began to mourn the loss of a man who was considered anything but ordinary. Jobs was an entrepreneur and an American inventor who will undoubtedly share the historical stage with the likes of other great American inventors such as Thomas Edison.

The Apple brand has become so etched into the human collective consciousness that the world would be a much different place without the innovative work of Jobs and his successful company. According to Millard Brown Optimor’s annual study, Apple is the world’s most valuable brand with a value of 153.3 billion dollars. Apple wasn’t the only company Jobs helped make successful during his lifetime.

Pixar, the popular digital animation studio, has produced popular movies such as Wall-E and the Toy Story films, along with a multitude of other successful movie franchises. According to Seeking Alpha, Jobs invested about 50 million dollars when few shared his enthusiasm about the animation company at the time. In fact, Jobs had sunk in so much of his money into that company that he once said

“If I knew in 1986 how much it was going to cost to keep Pixar going, I doubt if I would have bought the company.” Shortly after Jobs returned to work for Apple, the iMac was introduced. According to Tech Crunch, the iMac caused “Apple’s triumphant return to the industry and a million fanbois bloomed.” Indeed, the world could have hardly imagined that his tenure would bring about such a profound magnitude of successful products.

According to Biography.com, Steve Jobs brought a failing company from the brink of extinction and introduced its products to millions, building a technological empire that rivals and even outperforms the biggest players in the industry today.

Click here to see photos of tributes to Steve Jobs from around the world. The success of the Apple brand depends so heavily on its products design, according to news sources, that the current Apple’s current head of industrial design Jonathan Ive is expected to wield influence over the company’s future products.

Ive has many of the company’s successful products on his resume, having executed the industrial design of the iMac, iPod and and iPhone. Evidently, even great leaders need to surround themselves with great individuals in order to succeed. Hence, Jobs’ creation of the Apple Industrial Design Group could be the most important factor in the continuing success in that company’s future.

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Have you ever heard a song and flipped out wanting to know the artist and the song name? Hoping that you’ll remember it long enough so you can go home and download it as soon as you can ? Well, thats what it’s like for almost all people who have heard of Crystal Seth, and even myself.

Once a freshman at Pennsylvania State University Altoona campus I heard a cover to Airplanes by B.O.B at a frat party. I remember clearly everyone whispering in excitement who is this? And then followed that you heard  “He’s goes here?!”

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Penn., Seth Goldsmith (Crystal Seth) has been attending Pennsylvania State University since May 2009, and is now a junior at the main campus. The 20 year old still juggles his career in music while focusing on school. With three mixtapes out and over 80,000 views currently on his YouTube channel, Crystal Seth is anything but a amateur.

His most recent mixtape “Self Portrait” already has more than 700 downloads, and two music videos to go along with it. His mixtapes and songs are popular for everyone and anyone in any mood, or any place. parties, loudly in your car, or while doing homework in your dorm room, Crystal Seth is a college student’s new favorite artist from Pennsylvania State University all the way to the University of Massachusetts.

How did you first start getting into rapping?

I started rapping when I was 15. I was friends with Mac Miller and my friend’s older brother is [an] established Pittsburgh artist: Beedie. I spent more time with them and it became all the more clear to me that hip-hop was something I was interested in pursuing. I didn’t always think that I would be as indulged in it as I am now I just did it for fun. People along the way that have listened to me are the ones that have pushed me to take this more seriously, like my manager Eric Caplan.

Has the college experienced helped your career?

College has definitely helped me network my music locations that I wouldn’t be able to access being a resident of Pittsburgh, though I’d say the majority of my fan base still falls within the city of steel.

How do you balance school and music?

To be honest it is really difficult to balance school and music. For instance I achieved a 3.4 GPA the 1st semester of my sophomore year, in the second semester I was preparing for my debut mixtape ”Self Portrait” and with driving to New Jersey every weekend to record you struggle to stay organized and I definitely wasn’t on a good sleep schedule. Needless to say my GPA declined a little bit but nothing too serious, I was able to stay on top of my work load for the most part.

Where do you get inspiration for your lyrics?

I get inspiration for my lyrics from my life, where the creativity comes in isn’t just talking straight forward, you have to make your situation seem foreign to people but you also want them to relate to it. I’m also very inspired by other artists; listening to certain people may give me an idea or enlighten me to want to go and tackle something new. Whether it be lyrics, flow or song structure. I’m a big fan of the Pittsburgh hip hop scene; I listen to a lot of burgh music. I would advise any artist or even a fan to stay up on your local music, ignoring what your city has to say is like rooting for the away team.

Where do you see your career a year from now?

It’s hard to say where my career will be in a year, the hip-hop industry is so difficult to break into. I have a little buzz rolling right now and I’m hoping that it will continue to grow. I can, however, say with confidence that I will keep growing as a writer and as an artist. I’ve learned so much by just doing it, putting in the time and effort in music is the only way to grow. I plan to continue doing so, and the difference in my music since last year is like night and day; I believe it’ll be like that a year from now as well.

How would you describe your career right now?

My career now is fantastic. I think regardless of where this will take me I’ll always remember this period of my life. I’m hungry you know? I love making music, I love grinding and achieving new milestones. The team that I have is the best thing ever, we’re all very close and work well together. In terms of accomplishments I’d say opening for Wiz Khalifa, getting shows period and collaborating with some artists that I’ve known of since I was like 14. I’ve worked with people who have done tracks with Max B,  Mac Miller, and Juicy J. Not a lot of people can say that.

What’s your major? Are you going to continue with school as your career furthers?

I’m definitely going to stay in school, I’m a telecommunications major and my minor is music management. After I graduate I’m going to go to a school where I’ll be a credited music engineer after a six-month intensive in studio program, that’s sort of like my grad school.

Is there any advice you would give to artists that are trying to get their voice heard?

My advice to anyone trying to get music heard is don’t rush. Perfect your work, find your niche before you release something… be yourself or you will be laughed at. So focus on the music, with the Internet as its main supplier (mostly free) music gets consumed so quickly that if you put out a good project it won’t get overlooked, and if it does, you’ll know it, and that means you aren’t ready yet.

I still believe I’m not ready to blow up yet, I still have too much to learn. It’s a long process, it’s like sports, there’s a lot of good ball players in college, but if you aren’t a freak of nature and you can’t separate yourself from the next man, you wont make it.

If you havent heard of any of his music, you will soon. Crystal Seth’s talent is something worthwhile to look out for. You can download Seth’s music off of his facebook fan page ..www.facebook.com/CrystalSethAddicts or on youtube at www.youtube.com/crystalseth412.

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For all of you new technology addicts, Apple is bringing you new high technology devices that won’t disappoint you. What can you expect next? The launch of the Iphone 5, new and improved apps, new software and yes, even a new Ipad. Launching around August or September of 2011, Apple will be releasing the Iphone 5, which will be the most advanced phone to come about yet. The Iphone is designed to be a sim-free phone with an eight Megapixel camera, which could could even be as efficient as a digital camera. Instead of having to insert a SIM card into the phone, the SIM card will be embedded in the phone itself. The eight Megapixel camera will be able to take pictures and HD video without the annoyance of getting red eye in a picture. All of the world was amazed after Facetime, which was an app on the Iphone 4 that let you video chat with a camera in front of the phone. Now with the new Iphone 5, Facetime not only works on wifi, but it also works on the 3G and 4G network. This will make international calling capable and possible because of the four antennas that will be built into the phone.

Just released, the Ipad 2 is lighter, thinner, and now has two cameras? The new Ipad 2 is 33% thinner, 15% lighter even smaller, so it fits in your hands just right. The new Ipad has a built in A5 chip, which means it can do everything twice as fast on the web, calls, and games. Graphics are more defined and can upload nine times faster. It is hard to imagine a better quality then the first Ipad, but with all of Apples technology, you have to see it to believe it. Also, just like the new Iphone, the Ipad has a camera in front and in the back. Making the Ipad perfect for Facetime, video recording, and even photobooth which makes the Ipad the smallest compatible computer.

What is the Ipad and Iphone without the applications? Just recently, on June 6, 2011, CEO Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. reveled their new software, Icloud, at the Keynote Address press event. Usually, at this event, Apple announces a new release of an Iphone, but instead, this June, their reveling their new software. The New Icloud technology synchronizes files, music over the internet. Amazon and Google have already tried to accomplish this, but licensing and property issues got in the way. Therefore, both companies’,Cloud software, only let a user upload music and share with those it chooses. Apples Icloud software will allow users to “scan and match” which scans a music library from a label and matches it with the music stored.

There are new apps for Iphones, that are launched almost everyday. Now, 350,000 apps later, you can basically accomplish everything you need to do on your Iphone or Ipad without even leaving your seat. Mint personal finance, Nike training club, and ImapmyRide are just some of the new apps for the Iphone. These applications are automatic finance managers, bike routing apps, and personal trainers. It is hard to find a company nowadays without an application for an Iphone or Ipad. Is Apple going too far? A lot of people are expecting technology to take away the ability of people to physically and emotionally connect. With any of apples technology, you can talk, see, and accomplish anything you need to do without actually doing it. Is this good or bad? That’s for you to decide. Apple Inc. somehow and someway will always advance their technology, get on the Apple train before you cannot catch up.

Image Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/acaben/

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