Odds and Ends off the Net

 Here are a few of my favorite topics found on the net.

• Where do people get their legal knowledge?  TV, of course.  That's the result of a geographically narrow yet interesting little survey that probably surprises no one.  I often warn my own journalism students that the drama they see on television cop/court shows is nothing like the real world.  Most trials are dull, often painfully so, and rarely anything happens that will surprise you if you've taken the time to read depositions and the like.

• What's the most dangerous TV show?  Spartacus and Game of Thrones, at least in body counts, according to this story.  I've not watched the former, but the latter?  Oh yeah, I can see it.

• In another happy finding, young people are dumber than even you thought, at least when it comes to contraception and birth control.  Oh, great.

• Smartphones are turning us into "real time information seekers and problem solvers."  Really.  It says so here, on a tech website, so it must be true.  Actually the story is based on Pew data, an excellent info source.