The app that torments people to sleep early

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The app that torments people to sleep early

(Global Times) 08:54, October 17, 2013

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Editor's Note:

Are you up on what the hundreds of millions of Chinese netizens are talking about? Take a moment and get the rundown of what's hot, what's trending, and what's drawing the most buzz on the Chinese blogosphere.

The app that torments people to sleep early

Net users are divided on a new sleep-aid app that deters people from staying up all night by "severely" punishing those who ignore their bedtime.

The "Early to Bed" app has enjoyed popularity among smartphone users who want to break the bad habit of staying up late, but others who can't take the "torturous" punishments have chosen to delete the app altogether.

Developed by 23-year-old Yang Yuan, the app reminds users to go to bed every minute after they fail to sleep at the set bedtime. App users who persist in staying up late are then left dealing with a cell phone that locks up and cuts off access to all but basic functions. Those who still refuse to sleep are punished - with questionable texts like: "Sorry mom and dad. I'm gay," being sent to the users' contacts.

Net user Zhexiaodiaichirou was concerned that some of the app's punishments were much too "inappropriate" and would prevent people from using it to break their bad habits.

But Net user Qingqing, who used to only sleep a few hours at night, said that she has successfully reset her internal body clock after using the app for four days. However, she admits that her friends were concerned about her well-being after receiving texts from her phone claiming that she was a lesbian.

Others like Zhang Qinfei, 25, meanwhile, have been too disturbed by the app and have had to remove it from the phone altogether.

School builds poisonfree drinking fountain

Many Net users are surprised by a college's drastic move to install drinking water machines at its dormitories to replace bottled water machines - in an alleged bid to prevent roommates from poisoning each other.

Sichuan University of Media and Communications said the new machines are more convenient for the students, but admitted that avoiding poisoning cases was also a reason behind the move.

A Fudan University student died after his roommate poisoned a shared water dispenser in April. But most Net users believe the school is creating a fuss over the one-off case, overreacting for nothing.

"There was a case that blamed the death of a student on the odor of a roommate's feet - but we can't force people to wash their feet," said Zhang Yizhou, a student at the college, adding that an individual who intends to poison someone will find another way.

Some Net users blamed society's degrading morals for the cause of tragedies like the one at the Shanghai-based Fudan University, saying that the Sichuan school's new measure was just for show.

Still, most students at the college agreed that installing the drinking water machines was a more convenient and cost-effective long-term solution to improving the drinking water quality on campus.

（Editor：DuMingming、Chen Lidan）