on today's show, stop wasting time online. a look at a new application that can help you take your life back. and a better body could be just a click away. how a few simple e-mails can help you shed some pounds. and the touching story of two high school students and how they're turning the lessons they learn into a lesson on giving. we'll see these stories and more from california to new york. join us as we travel across america this week.

i'm veronica johnson. we begin with a look at a new, cheaper alternative to laptops. they're called net books and they're the hottest thing going these days. they make it super easy to go online anywhere without breaking the bank. mike winland has more. >> to understand the popularity of net books, get this. you know what that is. it's a laptop, a 15-inch laptop. it weighs about five pounds or so. this baby is going to set you back 1,500, $2,000 maybe. thiss a net book. it weighs about 2.5 pounds and it costs less than $200. the latestñi trend in net bookss having built-in 3g wireless internet from your cellular company. it also works with wifi. the hp mini sells for 199 bucks,

but you also have to add wireless charges and that costs 39 to $59 a month on a two-year contract, depending on how much data you access. it runs on windows xp, has all of the basic programs you need to do light word processing and spread sheet work on its ten-inch screen. it also has two usb plugs to connect printers and other gadgets and a slot for a memory card. this is not a heavy lifter, but it connects just about anywhere and offers pretty fast internet speeds on verizon's network. my biggest disappointment, short battery life. the most i could get was about two hours. >> sounds like a winner. now, if you're interested, you should know that internet use can get pretty expensive. it all depends on what kind of data plan you have, so shop around. no matter what kind of computer you have, you're probably using it to log on to facebook, right? or maybe the increasingly

popular twitter. well, there are hospitals out there that are getting into the act, too. they're posting videos ask giving patients real-time updates even during surgery. nica robins has more on how social networking is changing the medical world. >> reporter: fingers are flyg across keyboards across the world connecting with friends, family, organizations. but now your local hospital wants to connect with you. >> we've gotten thousands of people in the cleveland clinic. they're really engaging with us. we're giving them content avenue day. news stories, health tips, community stories. they're interacting and giving us feedback. >> a lot of patients are using it to community, share information, share stories. and they've asked us to be there because it's the way that they like to communicate with us. >> reporter: across the country, some use twitter to tweet during live surgeries. uh tweeted updates during the

swine flu scare. uh and the clinic both have video channels on youtube where they can showcase their specialties. >> i think the potential is pretty limitless, but you have to stay tuned in to social media because is constantly changing. and all of the sites are adapting. >> in this day and age, we have to be on so many different platforms to provide that education and provide that access that people want. >> reporter: right now it's used for news and education, but can also be valuable to correct misinformation. >> it's whether or not you choose to be there. you're already being talked about. are you going to engage in the conversation or sit back passively and just watch the conversation? and we've decided to engage in the conversation. >> reporter: or some day actually be a real part of your specific health care. >> what a great use it will be sometime to probably enroll people in clinical trials. make people aware of just what's out there. >> so that's one of the positive sides to internet technology.

but most of us know how easy it can be to waste time online. you just kind of get sucked in. what's supposed to be only a few minutes browsing the web can turn into an hour, two, or more. there's a new application that why can download to help take back our lives. bob shows us how. >> reporter: the internet is turning some americans into mouse-clicking zombies. >> before you know it, you know, an hour has gone by and you've been going through a bunch of stuff. you thought it would only be five minutes. >> reporter: which is why this man has downloaded an ap called self-control. it allows him to enter the websites that waste his time most. >> facebook, twitter. >> reporter: select a duration, and for that amount of time, self-control blocks him from those websites. so he can pay attention to more important things like work. >> it helps me stay focused during conference calls. i'm not browsing on the internet or things like that. >> what was that?

>> reporter: this doctor is a psychologist and author of a book on how to deal with procrastination. >> what is it about the internet that makes it so easy to procrastinate? well, hold up on that one. what is it about the internet that makes it so easy to be distracted, i guess? is that an orchid? >> it is. >> reporter: our brains are wired for novelty, which is exactly what the internet offers. >> that rather than staying with ideas and going deep into them, we want to skim the surface. we kind of jump from idea to idea to idea. the internet is kind of like sugar. you know, you have a taste and you crave more of it. >> reporter: apparently many employees do. salary.com found that visiting non-work-related websites was the most common time-waster on the job last year. costing billions of dollars in lost productivity. as a matter of fact, respondents

say they waste up to two hours a day online. now, he's not that bad. just ask his wife. her gripe is his cell phone. she wishes there was a self-control ap for those things. >> ihink i'm different because -- >> i'm sorry. >> reporter: in oakland, nbc news. >> i like that. the internet is like sugar. we just have to figure out a way to reduce our sugar intake. just like health. coming up on "america this week," how you can create your own personalized legacy surrounding the inauguration of president barack obama and if you can't start your day without that cup of joe, some new health research will give you even more reasons to l

> many people across the nation and across the world have collected newspapers, photos, magazines and all sorts of momentos to remember president barack obama's historic campaign and election. and thanks to technology, now there's a way for us to write our own version of the events. scott budman walks us through it. >> change has come to america. >> reporter: like any historic ovation, there's a coffee table book to help you remember the obama campaign. but this one put together by author and photo journalist rick smoelen comes with a hefty dose of technology. >> this is how all books will be printed in the future. >> reporter: the obama time capsule doesn't just have photos

taken from every possible angle. you can personalize it online before you order it your own dedication, invitation, even the famous blackberry text message. >> the idea is to subtly weave yourself into a book called "the obama time capsule" to leave for your great-grandchildren. >> reporter: the book uses printing technology from hewlett-packard with additional support from facebook and google. the costs are kept low, about $35, and no book is shipped until it's ordered, which helps the environment. >> i sort of love this idea of using technology to further stor storae story-telling. >> reporter: all of the technology here is hidden. and the human face can be yours. scott budman for nbc news. >> everybody is running to the computer now to check it out. i know.

sit tight. some of our nation's heroes recently went from the war zone to a zone that only a select new men and women have ever experienced. outer space. jay gray brings us the story of four u.s. army soldier who are also now astronauts. >> reporter: in what is already an exclusive club of american astronauts, they are an even rarer breed. >> being an army astronaut, it's different. >> reporter: currently there are only four soldiers in the army nasa detachment. trading the boots and gun of the green army for the back room at johnson space center. learning to operate a robotic arm. fatigues have given way to a full space suit, then six-hour training sessions underwater. it's a much different environment than their previous army experience in the war zone. space is literally a world away from the battlefields in iraq and afghanistan. but these army astronauts are

quick to point out the two missions actually have a lot in common. >> in my mind, there's a very, very close connection because in both cases, they're really a team sport. if you're in the military, everybody has to do their job impeccably in order to succeed. and the same here at nasa. >> as soon as the engines light underneath you, you're very thankful for the training. >> reporter: this colonel called on his army training during a critical spacewalk to repair a torn solar rayon the international space station. >> it would have been impossible for me had i not had my army experience. >> reporter: an experience they're stretching to their limits at nasa. >> one of the prime missions is to seize and hold the high ground. and so it's the ultimate high ground. >> reporter: but even in orbit, they're never that far away from those on the front lines. >> it's a glamorous job to fly in space, but truly my heart is with those soldiers and officers

serving overseas, defending our country. >> once you're army, you're army for life. >> reporter: even in space. jay gray, nbc news, johnson space center. >> there's still much more to come on "america this week," including the down side, yeah, some say there's one, to finding love. why researchers say it can make you gain weight.

if you need a good old cup of coffee to get moving in the morning, you're probably not alone. well now there's new research out there that says a good old cup of joe can give you more than just a little get -up-and-o get-up-and-go. >> reporter: love your coffee? >> i love coffee. i think it's good for the soul. >> it makes me feel good. >> reporter: besides the kick, lots of new research suggests coffee may also help kick back at center diseases. coffee lowers the risk for type two diabetes, helps protect

against liver cancer and colon cancer, reduces the likelihood of parkinson's disease, and may reduce the risk of stroke. >> there are positives in my book. >> reporter: but before you drink up, wake up and smell the coffee, says this doctor, professor of pharmacology. he says the studies make associations, not conclusions. >> the association studies can't prove cause because there are many other differences between people that drink a lot of coffee and people that don't. >> reporter: while the benefits of that cup of coffee outweigh most of the risks, there are some caveats you should know about. for example, the caffeine in coffee can raise the heart rate and affect the regularity of the beat. dr. balkman says watch out for your bones. >> if you drink more than four cups of black coffee a day, that probably has some negative effects on your skeleton. interestingly, ifou drink your

coffee with milk, it's probably protective. >> reporter: on the other hand, what was once considered an evil brew is now at least low-risk, if not healthy. >> after hearing about the health benefits of coffee, will you be drinking more of it? >> if i choose to do, i won't worry. >> wow. i just stopped drinking coffee. now i've got to start up again. in other health news, while most couples try to get in shape for their wedding day, a new study finds they don't stay that way for long. researchers at the university of north carolina chapel hill say that married couples are twice as likely to become obese as those who are in a romantic relationship but don't live with their partner. a new analysis shows that risk rises the longer couples stay together. they say that other studies have shown married couples are less likely to smoke and they live longer. but they're also more likely to have the same eating habits and exerse habits, which could hinder efforts to lose weight altogether. well, if you're struggling

with your waistline, let's see, i think i'm okay, at least today, logging on to your computer could be a key to dropping that extra weight, and it could be as easy as just showing up for work and reading your e-mail. an interesting new study. >> reporter: what if you could harness the power of your work computer to work on a healthier you? researchers studied the effects of an e-mail intervention program. this is the type of e-mail about half of the 787 participants received every week. reminders to set small but attainable goals, including lacing up your running shoes and taking a short walk. >> the beauty of this kind of e-mail system is it's like e-mail house calls once a week. in other words, a message goes out with a very tailored, specific message for you on how you can become physically more active. >> reporter: the e-mails paid off. overall, employees ate more fruits and vegetables, cut back

on saturated fats, and exercised more. sending a strong message to employers. these programs could save big bucks. >> if everyone increased their physical activity level as much as the people in this study, especially the people who needed to do that, then the pay-offs for the employers would be rather extraordinary in terms of productivity, in terms of decreased disease and disability. >> reporter: thanks to the e-mail program, some employees went from no exercise to working out an hour a week. big changes from a cheap health coach who's just a click away. >> and here's a surprising finding. employees stuck with their new healthier habits at least four months after the e-mail program ended. pretty good. well, the story of two high school seniors and the lesson in generosity we should all learn from them, when we come back.

a new car feature can keep

teens under control while behind the wheel. ford has introduced its my key feature. it allows parents to set certain controls on their vehicles. everything from speed to radio volume can be set and determined by the parents, even if the teen is behind the wheel. my key also encourages seat belt usage and keeps traction controls activated. ford says the new technology is an industry first that was designed to keep teens safe while behind the wheel. well, in california, a graduating senior made a big difference by making an incredible gesture. it happened at everett alvarez high school in salinas. that's where you'll find senior latisha garcia, who won hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. but that's not the whole story here. stephanie shaw reports. >> reporter: hector watched his

little brother graduate middle school a day ahead of his own graduation, a day he wasn't sure would come. hector came to the u.s. when he was only 5. his parents had to work 18-hour days to get by. >> i don't want it to be like that with my family. i want to spend time with them. >> reporter: so hector studied hard at school and it paid off. this year, he was accepted into uc davis. >> i'm already poor as it is and the school is charging me an extra fee to attend because i'm not a zcitizen. so i can't pay the $20,000 a year. plus the extra fee, that's impossible for me. >> reporter: it was impossible before an act of kindness from his friend and classmate, latisha. she gave up a $40,000 scholarship so hector, the runner-up, could go to college. >> she got a lot of scholarships. so this was like the only chance

that he got to go to college. >> it doubles the money my parents make in a year together. so, yeah, i was speechless. i was breathless. >> reporter: in mexico, hector says he would have stopped at middle school, leaving the classroom to start work in the field. he and latisha are the first in their families to graduate high school and move on to higher education. >> my parents don't know english. they're not -- they couldn't have a good job. they're low-income. seeing how hard my parents worked for so little, it made me like want to get more, strive for more. >> reporter: and she did. she won over $700,000 in scholarship offers. she decided on princeton. the university is paying her full ride worth nearly $210,000. now latisha and hector say they're ready to excel and help kids in their home-town neighborhoods. >> a they seem hopeless. they always -- their facial expressions are sad and anger.

and i think i can reach out to these kids somehow. i want to help them out. that's actually the american dream for me. >> well, there are certainly some talented students in the salinas union high school district. more than $5.3 million were awarded to this year's graduating seniors. wow. we're going to leave you in amsterdam where a special bike is creating a spectacle. it's a beer bike, folks. multiple people ride on it, pedaling like sipping on the frothy brews. and as you might imagine, boy, there's some concerns. there have been a number of accidents on the beer bikes, but the people actually steer the bikes, they don't drink. thanks for joining us. until next time, i'm veronica johnson for "america this week."