TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPICS: CURING HICCUPS / MYSPACE AND ADULTS

Here's a stat that really surprised me... according to a recent study by ComScore Media Metrix, a whopping 68 PERCENT of Myspace users are age 25 and older. Many people have thought of Myspace as a teenage wasteland, but clearly the trend is toward social networking sites becoming a significant part of adult the user's Internet experience.

So I've got a busload of helpful tips on Myspace usage, and if you want to make it go away forever, I can help there too. Oh, and science has discovered a cure for intractible hiccups. Read on!

Got Hiccups? Go Digital!

Have you ever had hiccups that just wouldn't go away? It turns out the cure may be worse than the disease, depending on your point of reference. The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize winners were awarded last week, on the campus of Harvard University. And among the winners were a group of researchers who claim that the cure for persistent hiccups is "digital rectal massage."

Read on for details, and to see who won the dubious distinction of winning the Ig Nobel prizes in Mathematics, Literature, Physics and other fields of scientific endeavor...

http://askbobrankin.com/cure_for_hiccups.html

Myspace - Not Just For Teens

Just a year ago, teens 12-17 accounted for 25 percent of the MySpace audience, but today they represent only 12 percent of the total. That doesn't mean that FEWER teens are using Myspace (far from it), but rather relects the fast that LOTS more adults are getting on the social networking bandwagon. The group with the largest increase in Myspace participation was adults in the 35-54 age bracket.

If that makes you curious about jumping into the fray, here are some helpful articles that I've written to help you get started, and successfully navigate the Myspace waters:

* MYSPACE: GOOD OR EVIL? http://askbobrankin.com/myspace_good_or_evil.html

* MYSPACE SAFETY TIPS

* SEARCHING IN MYSPACE http://askbobrankin.com/searching_in_myspace.html

* MYSPACE LAYOUTS http://askbobrankin.com/myspace_layouts.html

* ADD MUSIC TO YOUR MYSPACE PROFILE http://askbobrankin.com/add_music_to_myspace.html

Jane... Get Me Off This Crazy Thing!

If you've tried Myspace, and you've decided it's just not for you, that's fine -- there are plenty of other places to hang out online. Or maybe you're more concerned about your kids, and what THEY do on Myspace, either at home or school.

One concerned parent wrote to me after having trouble cancelling her daughter's Myspace account, because it contained too much personal information. So I wrote a tutorial for those who want to cancel a Myspace account and remove the profile, even if you no longer have access to the password or email account associated with it.

* CANCEL A MYSPACE ACCOUNT http://askbobrankin.com/cancel_myspace_account.html

If you want to block your child's access to Myspace at home, or you're interested in how both public and private schools are dealing with access to Myspace, check out these articles:

* BLOCKING ACCESS TO MYSPACE http://askbobrankin.com/blocking_myspace.html

* BLOCKING MYSPACE AT SCHOOL http://askbobrankin.com/banning_myspace.html

Fetch, PreFetch, or Not to Fetch?

There's a myth about Windows XP performance that's been floating around in cyberspace for a few years, and it has to do with a little- known feature in the operating system called PreFetch.

Some well-meaning folks have been spreading the word that disabling this feature will make Windows start and run faster. But just the OPPOSITE is true. Here's the scoop:

http://askbobrankin.com/windows_prefetch.html

That's all for now, see you next time! -- Bob Rankin