And TV-watching couch potatoes tend to be lazy.

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One-way broadcasting via television created passive couch potatoes, whereas the net is interactive, and, he says, stimulates and improves the brain.

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Created to help the world's couch potatoes turn the tube on and off without having to make the arduous 2-meter journey to the TV set, the standby feature has spread to virtually every appliance in the home and office.

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Couch potatoes were also about 50 percent more likely to die of any cause during the four-year study.

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And while CBS (nyse: CBS - news - people ) will come away the biggest winner of all when some 90 million couch potatoes tune in to see the Indianapolis Colts take on the Chicago Bears this Sunday, many stand to benefit.

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Each time a PlayStation 2 or Nintendo GameCube makes its way atop another television, or another family subscribes to an online game service, what passes for entertainment today--our movies and our stars, the Steven Spielbergs and Meg Ryans--fades just a bit, and we edge just a bit forward from our position as couch potatoes into couch possibilities.

FORBES: Choice Bits