Short Takes - 2005-01-26

Italian doctors are warning, especially young people, that excessive text messaging could lead to acute tendonitis in the fingers. The warning got a lot of attention in newspapers, which told the story of a 13-year-old girl who needed special orthopedic treatment after typing 100 short messages a day on her cell phone. According to a recent study, some 37% of Italian children are "cell phone addicts," and irritability and mood swings were other symptoms.