Community and Society

Ten tips for raising tech-savvy and tech-safe kids

But fast-forward to 2017 and you're now responsible for raising a child whose life will revolve around digital technology, and who will have to be tech-smart, tech-savvy, and tech-safe to survive out there in the wild.

So what are some tips to help you along the way?

We asked for your experiences, and expert Joanne Orlando — an analyst and researcher in technology and learning who has worked as an advisor for the Government, for Apple, and for the children's television show Play School — for her best pieces of advice.

How to better manage your relationship with your phone

How does it feel for you? What emotions come up in your mind and body?

What about when you realise you've left your mobile device at home, or in a taxi? Are you bereft? Do you crave it?

Last year, 84 per cent of Australians owned a smartphone — and among young people, that figure was 94 per cent.

And our dependence on mobile devices has crept up on us over time, leading to a range of problems, University of Washington Information School's Professor David Levy said.

The most important thing your doctor should do

It involved using a camera to look for abnormal growths inside my bowel.

But, lying on the operating table waiting to be put to sleep, I suddenly realised the surgeon about to do the test hadn't introduced themselves.

Maybe they would speak to me afterwards, I thought.

But I was mistaken — not even a quick "hello".

The relationship between patient and doctor is as old as medicine itself.

Despite advances in drugs, surgery and scans, the process of getting better always starts with a conversation.

Baby brings memory and speech back to aged care resident with dementia

Morleen Templeman, 83, has had trouble communicating since being diagnosed with dementia and moving into the care of Feros Village in the northern New South Wales town of Bangalow.

Care manager Jo Dwyer said Mrs Templeman had experienced a lot of frustration since losing her speech.

"Morleen is troubled, and you can see that, but she can't tell us why," Ms Dwyer said.

"One of the biggest ways she's been affected is her speech, she'll be out there muttering and muttering but nothing is clear, only very occasionally she might say 'thank you' or 'pretty flower.'"

The dying process: What to expect when someone is close to death

The majority of deaths on screen are violent, bloody, traumatic affairs, with few realistic portrayals of what a death from illness or so-called "natural causes" actually looks like.

Little wonder we have such a fear of death, and especially of being in the presence of it.

It's still a terrifying notion, because most of us have no idea what we will see.

My own curiosity about death led me to write a book on the topic.

In bringing together medical research and personal stories from those who've undergone near-death experiences, I learned a lot.

Sydney Film Festival's Screenability puts spotlight on people living with disabilities

For the first time, films that have been made and acted by people living with disabilities will be a key part of the program.

It has been made possible by Screenability — an arts initiative in New South Wales to help more people with disabilities break into the film industry.

"I think it's really important that you have creatives with disability in charge of that narrative," Sydney Film Festival's Screenability programmer Sofya Gollan said.

Pepe the Frog cartoonist kills off character that became hate symbol

A Pepe cartoon released on Saturday in comic book stores shows Matt Furie's creation in an open casket.

In a Time magazine essay last year, Furie described Pepe as "chill frog-dude" who debuted in a 2006 comic book called Boy's Club and became a popular online subject for user-generated mutations.

But internet trolls hijacked the character and began flooding social media with hateful Pepe memes more than a year before the 2016 presidential election.

Dance me to the end of adulthood

From leg irons to tap dancing

David Watson, 83, took up tap dancing in his 40s, and has danced ever since.

He took up it up by chance, after accompanying a friend from work to a dance class in Melbourne.

The ex-architecture lecturer recalled the very first lesson on a "lousy" floor located above a porn shop in Swanston Street.

"I used to have to hide my face as I walked in," Mr Watson laughed.

Are you an unvaccinated adult?

The Medical Journal of Australia recently reported that of the 4.1 million unvaccinated Australians, 92 per cent (3.8 million) were adults.

Didjeridu joins Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to bring The Sound of Australia

A new exhibition showcasing the history and the culture of the instrument aims to change that.

A career as an instrumentalist has taken William Barton from "the soundscapes of the Australian bushland" to Carnegie Stadium, the Beijing Olympics, and even a private concert for Queen Sofia of Spain.

Now it's taken him to Adelaide's Town Hall, where he's collaborating with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, as part of the world-first exhibition on the didjeridu, The Sound of Australia.