Cell Phone put to novel idea

Wired

TOKYO -- Your eyes probably hurt just thinking about it: Tens of thousands of Japanese cell-phone owners are poring over full-length novels on their tiny screens.

In this technology-enamored nation, the mobile phone has become so widespread as an entertainment and communication device that reading e-mail, news headlines and weather forecasts -- rather advanced mobile features by global standards -- is routine.

Now, Japan's cell-phone users are turning pages. :MORE::

Mobile phone novels hit bestseller lists

Mobile phone novelists are hitting the bestseller lists as a new generation of writers are tapping out entire novels on the keys of a telephone handset.

In Japan, where new technology trends often come early, so-called keitai shosetsu are a publishing phenomenon.

Out of the top 10 bestselling fiction works in the first half of 2007, five started as keitai novels and boast average sales of 400,000.

Find out if you are living a sustainable living

click the image below.
What would the world look like if everyone lived like me?

Consumer Consequences is an interactive game designed to illustrate the impact of our lifestyles on the Earth.

When crowdsourcing goes mainstream

“Crowd sourced” news network NowPublic.com has closed a $10.6 million series A round of financing led by Rho Ventures with seed investors Brightspark and the Working Opportunity Fund participating.

Crowd sourcing is part of the widely expanding “citizen journalism” category, which encompasses all the new ways non-professionals can participate in the news reporting process. Examples range from commenting, voting on stories, to full out blogging. News commentator Jeff Jarvis has written extensively on the subject. NowPublic is a website that provides these tools to the public so they can report on what is going on around them. Many other news startups also incorporate these tools in different ways, such as NewsVine, OutsideIn, Digg, CitizenBay, recently Topix, and the now defunct Backfence. ::MORE::

Optical illusions and social stereotypes

Despite our best intentions, our minds construct expectations about the world and then perceive it accordingly. We notice different motives, actions or performances based on the biases we've accrued, unaware, over time. ::MORE::

What does all this mean for a journalist? How about, "Question everything you think you see"?

The Empire of debt

Money for nothing. Own a home for no money down. Do not pay for your appliances until 2012. This is the new American Dream, and for the last few years, millions have been giddily living it. Dead is the old version, the one historian James Truslow Adams introduced to the world as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” MORE::

Mario Play

Mario-wannabe Moses Bookbinder has his arms full carrying Laila “Princess Peach” Hansen at the Chugiak High School homecoming festivities Saturday. The freshman class float entitled “Mario Mania” received third place in the interclass homecoming float competition, and the seniors' float took top honors for the day.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, September 20, 2007.

Evicted

See more photos of LA:

What is the purpose of the First Amendment?

(NYT) There's something to be said about the First Amendment.
What's its purpose?

That was the question before a judge in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday, as a street performer named Reverend Billy, a k a William Talen, faced charges of harassing police officers in Union Square Park by reciting the First Amendment to the Constitution.

He was charged with two counts of second-degree harassment, under a statute originally intended for use against stalkers. He was accused of following a group of officers while repeatedly reciting the 40-odd words of the First Amendment through a megaphone, the kind commonly used by cheerleaders.
Read more::

Click here:: to read the Knight Foundation's survey on Constitution Day.

'Dead' Man Wakes Up Under Autopsy Knife

From Reuters, purveyors of premier strange news, comes the Twilight Zone story of Carlos Camejo, who woke up — painfully — on a morgue slab in La Victoria, Venezuela, after being declared dead in a road wreck.

Medical examiners began the autopsy with an incision to Camejo's face, but realized something was wrong because the dead don't bleed. They quickly stitched up the gash.

"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," said the 33-year-old Camejo, whose tale appeared Friday in El Universal newspaper, along with a photo of Camejo holding the autopsy order.

Reuters wrote today that it could not immediately reach hospital officials to confirm the events.

(Post-autopsy photo of Carlos Camejo by Reuters)

Survey reveals dirty little hand-washing secret

The Tomahawk Chop still might be mildly popular at Atlanta's Turner Field, but hand-washing? Apparently, not so much.

The Soap and Detergent Association is out with an annual study of the hand-washing habits of men and women. The association sent people out into the field to watch the actual hand-washing habits of people (as opposed to what they claim in surveys). It found that while 92% of people said they washed up in public restrooms, only 77% were observed doing so.

The Turner Field connection? Only 57% of men using public restrooms washed their hands afterward, according to the association. Women did much better: 95% of women washed their hands at the baseball park.

You can read our coverage of the survey or just peruse it for yourself.

Study: Hispanic Teens Abuse More Drugs

(CBS/AP) Hispanic teenagers used illegal drugs at greater rates than white and black teenagers, according to a report released Monday by a White House drug control policy office.

The report, Hispanic Teens & Drugs, warned that while overall illegal drug use among U.S. teens was down, Hispanic teens' use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine outpaced use by their white and black peers. The report blamed drug use among Hispanic teens, in part, on their adaptation to new culture in America.

Why do women read more than men?

I find this to be true. From co-workers to significant other, women do read more than men. I'm not talking articles in a magazine. I'm talking about the novel. Once women stop reading the novel will die, says Ian McEwan. Read the NPR article.

"One thing is certain: Americans—of either gender—are reading fewer books today than in the past. A poll released last month by The Associated Press and Ipsos, a market-research firm, found that the typical American read only four books last year, and one in four adults read no books at all."

When it comes to fiction, the gender gap is at its widest. Men account for only 20 percent of the fiction market, according to surveys conducted in the U.S., Canada and Britain.

'What all of us are wondering is what will happen with this new generation that doesn't read much," says bookstore owner Carla Cohen. "What happens when they grow up?'"

Live like the rich folk do! (30 entries)

On the Worth1000 photoshopping contest, "Fake It Till You Make It" -- photoshopped fakes. link

MISSPELLER

John Maeda is something of a fanatic when it comes to spelling. He created this Misspeller to help cure his pet peeve. Check it out and write in anything in the box and watch it magically misspell.

What's the Right Stuff for the Future of Space?

Popular Science
The first man-made object in orbit didn’t look like much. An aluminum sphere about 2 ft. across, it was filled with pressurized nitrogen and carried two small transmitters that beamed wavering radio signals to the planet below. On day 22, the batteries ran out and the satellite fell silent. A few weeks later, the craft most likely vaporized as it plunged back to Earth.

To Americans at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1 on Oct. 4, 1957, came as a shock—and a spur. The competition that would inevitably be known as the space race was on. Small orbs carrying transmitters were soon followed by larger ones carrying men. And, within a mere dozen years, human beings left footprints in the dust of the moon.

But then, after a handful of lunar missions, we lowered our sights. For the past 35 years, manned spaceflight has been limited to low Earth orbit. “Part of the problem is that, in the big picture, Apollo was premature,” Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin says. “It was a spurt of progress artificially stimulated by the race to beat the Russians.”

Today, with the Cold War long over and cooperation with Russia an everyday event in space, we are making bold plans again: private space missions, a lunar base and, ultimately, the long haul to Mars. And with those big ambitions come big questions: What is the proper balance between manned and unmanned exploration? Is long-term spaceflight too risky for humans? Is it worth the cost?

A Shock Felt Round The World

Ledger
Call it the shock felt round the world: A disruptive, resisting student. Six police officers. A Taser gun. A thoroughly nonplussed U.S. senator. A dazed audience. Multiple video cameras capturing every excruciating moment.

And just like that, the University of Florida - the state's flagship university - is raw meat for every cable news commentator and every Internet blogger in the virtual world.

Wasting away in traffic

The average American will spend almost a full work week in traffic, according to a new study by the Texas Transportation Institute. The 38 hours per year the average commuter spends stuck in their car every year means 26 extra gallons of gas and $710 per person. ::more

Philanthropist has secretly given away an estimated $4 billion

MSNBC
LONDON - He wears a $15 watch, flies economy class and does not own a house or car. For years. few guessed that Chuck Feeney was one of the world's biggest philanthropists, secretly giving away his billionaire fortune.

Born in New Jersey during the Depression to a blue-collar Irish-American family, Feeney co-founded Duty Free Shoppers (DFS), the world's largest duty-free retail chain. He liked making money but not having it, and gave it away for years in strict secrecy.

Journalist Conor O'Clery's new book "The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune" (Public Affairs $26.95), reveals that Feeney may be destined to go down in history as one of the greatest American philanthropists.

Witty, self-deprecating, frugal and astute, Feeney was listed by Forbes Magazine in 1988 as the 23rd richest American alive and worth $1.3 billion, richer than Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump. He wasn't.

Four years earlier, Feeney had placed most of his money in charitable foundations.

Leadership through women's history

Rebecca Rush is leading the effort behind "Border Women’s Heritage and Leadership Center," a nonprofit that aims to celebrate the stories of local women during the Civil War.

Rush wants to use the lessons learned from women’s experiences in border states like Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and establish a leadership development program.

The leadership program would help communities work together during crises, handle emergencies, and learn character development.

National Innovation Award Program launched

The Olympus Innovation Award Program, now in its fourth year, represents Olympus' ongoing commitment to technological innovation and education. The program includes three awards, the Olympus Innovation Award, the Olympus Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award and the Olympus Emerging Educational Leader Award.

Prizes range from $10,000 for the Innovator award to $1,000 for the emerging educational leader.

visit http://www.olympusamerica.com
And for some redundancy:
Olympus Launches National Innovation Award Program for 2008

London is afraid of Islam

Two good buddies from London are moving to Miami soon.
Their main reason: They are afraid of another terrorist attack in London.
They say that radical Muslims have too much freedom and their government is afraid to offend anyone, ever since the Danish cartoon incidents. They also point to the doctors who attempted car bombings in July (07).

I think that we need to be more tolerant of people we don't know or understand.
I also think that anything that is done to any extreme/radicalism is detrimental for all people.
So my message is: Back off everyone. Live and let live.
Link to "Islamophobia" on the rise in Europe

Change of seasons play out on nature's grandest stages

In Miami we are blessed/cursed with two seasons: Summer and Winter. That's why it's such a big deal when we see snow, or see trees changing colors (palm trees turn brown when they hit the ground).

So when I got this list that Ian Wilker of Gorp.com came with of the top 10 Autumn escapes: Fall's best forests. I had to share.

To the true insiders — people who live and work in one corner or another of the great North American forest — it's pretty much a given that autumn's the best time of year to be out in the woods.











1. Willamette National Forest,OR
2. Inyo National Forest, CA
3. Coconino National Forest,AZ
4. Gunnison National Forest, CO
5. Chequamegon-Nicolet N.F., WI
6. Mark Twain National Forest, MO
7. Pisgah National Forest, NC
8. Allegheny National Forest, PA
9. Green Mountain National Forest, VT
10. White Mountain N.F.,NH - ME

Dams and Genocide in Guatemala

During the last week of July, 2007, Rights Action organized a delegation comprised of activists from Mexico, Canada, and the United States who immerged themselves in the municipality of Rabinal so as to become informed on the continuously arduous struggle in search of justice and healing due to one of the most atrocious cases of human extermination prompted by so-called economic development.

The cheapest family

With gas and grocery prices soaring, Americans could learn from one Arizona family that has been beating the high cost of living for years.

Watch the VIDEO >> A fascinating glance at the frugal family of seven who live on less than $35,000 a year. They call themselves "the Warren Buffet of groceries." (Warning: you have to sit through a commercial to watch the clip.)
Read the ARTICLE >>
Frugal family reveals how they save money

Constitution? What's that?

A Knight Foundation study found that:

1. More than half of all high school students say they have not heard of Constitution Day, mandated by federal law since 2004 to be the day the Constitution is taught in schools. Just 1 in 10 remember how their high school celebrated the day last year.
2. Despite increases in the number of First Amendment classes from 2004 through 2006, nearly three-fourths of students still don’t know how they feel about the First Amendment, or take it for granted.
3. Students support individual free expression rights that directly affect or interest them; they’re less supportive of rights that are less relevant to their lives.
4. Parents, not teachers, have the greatest influence on students’ choice of news sources.
5. More students are turning to the Internet to find their news. Their definition of news isn’t much different than that of their parents.

Today in History:
On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Short-term use of mobile phone not linked with brain tumor

Now here's something that will have people talking. All right, we all can't stop talking on our cell phones. Oh, life in 1995, things were simple and I was unreachable. The deal is that I've been hearing reports that cell phones cause brain cancer for as long as I can remember, but now here's the counter articles that say otherwise. I wonder why INDUSTRY is in all caps... hmmm. Kind of reminds me of cigarette era studies that said they were good for you.
Food Consumer
A recent UK study funded by the government and INDUSTRY sources found no evidence to suggest that use of mobile phone for a few years was linked to elevated risk of brain cancer.
Mobiles, cancer link inconclusive The Age
Mobile Phones Do No Harm, UK Report Medical News Today

100 Q&A about Arab Americans

Like all people, Arab Americans are too often described in simplistic terms. Although the Arab culture is one of the oldest on Earth, it is, in many parts of the United States, misunderstood. There are no easy, one-size-fits-all answers.

Culture, language and religion are distinct qualities that act in different ways to connect Arabs, and to distinguish them from one another. The differences that seem to separate Arab Americans from non-Arabs can be much smaller than the variations that at times differentiate them from one another. It takes time to learn the issues and to understand them, but it is essential and rewarding for us to do that. Misunderstanding ultimately hurts each one of us.
Read more

Senses Challenge

This is a really interesting test: brain teaser, entertaining and educational link. Try it.

Here's how to eliminate flight delays

Click image to enlarge:

IBM avatar turns words into sign language

AP
Here's a productive twist on the animated characters known as avatars that carry out fantasies in virtual computer worlds. IBM Corp. researchers have developed an avatar that can translate spoken words into sign language.
LINK >>

Here's how you become a citizen journalist

Link >>>

Intelligence Community is getting social

Spyspace, Spookbook, and MySpy are just few of the names that the blogosphere has been jokingly throwing around about the new CIA “A-Space” project. A-Space, in case you haven’t heard of it yet, is the intelligence community’s first (?) foray into social networking. Lots of ink has been spilled about the project [1] [2] [3] [4], and we’ve seen lots of silly comments about the project, like questions of flirting and dating vs. data analysis improvements.

Community Pays to Install its Own Pay Phone

Elena Tyrrell, postmistress of Canyon, Calif., organized her town in the Oakland Hills area near San Francisco to buy a pay phone for the community after AT&T removed its phone.

Keeping your teeth clean could help prevent a heart attack

Here's another reason to brush your dirty teeth. Dentists are now saying what the headline of this blog just told you. What they found was that those with the worst blockages in their arteries had the most severe gum disease. Surprised? Well even if you don't brush, or floss, your gums become irritated. And in case you forgot, or need a "gentle" reminder. Here's a guide to...

How to Brush Your Teeth

It is very important to brush your teeth at least once a day. Brushing cleans the teeth, makes the breath smell fresh, and wards off serious illnesses that occur when you have gum disease.

1. Use a mouthwash rinse first so as to kill most of the bacteria before rubbing them around the rest of your mouth.
2. Floss before brushing, so that there isn't a large barrier of bacterial plaque between the brush and your teeth.
3. Wet your toothbrush slightly.
4. Squeeze a pea-size amount of toothpaste onto a soft-bristled toothbrush. Your toothpaste should contain fluoride and bear the American Dental Association (ADA) seal.
5. Use short, back-and-forth brushing motions to clean the outside and inside surfaces of the teeth, as well as the chewing surfaces. Follow with up-and-down motions to clean the inside surfaces of the front teeth.
6. Brush along the gum line. This is extremely important, as gum disease starts here. Brush gently to avoid damaging your gums. Make sure to brush your back molars, where bacteria like to hide.
7. Open your jaws, and brush the tops and back of your teeth. Make sure you clean all of your teeth.
8. Brush your tongue to remove bacteria that cause bad breath.
9. Spit into a sink.
10. Wash your mouth out with water to remove all remaining toothpaste.

Going online remains risky

Consumer Report
The lone-wolf geek you imagine hunched over a computer in his basement isn't the only one out to steal your identity on the Internet.

Cybercriminals increasingly operate in an elaborate networked underworld of Web sites and chat rooms, where they sell one another stolen account numbers, tools for making credit cards, scanners to pick up card numbers and PINs from ATMs, and viruses and other malicious software.

Ad Nauseam

When advertising companies team up with pharmaceutical companies, the result can be sickening. For example, when the sleep drug Lunesta hit the market, so did an epidemic of sleeplessness. In her new book, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer, Shannon Brownlee deconstructs direct-to-consumer drug marketing.

click here to listen: Run time 07:45 minutes

From business to social change

The Innovators in Social Responsibility Awards Gala will take place in New York City next week.

What all the Innovators being honored have in common is that they got their start in the business world. And they are now using the business acumen they gained from top jobs on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley to make a social impact. The honorees have started social enterprises that create jobs in the Middle East, offer credit to the global poor, ensure children have access to clean water, and reduce our carbon footprint.

United Nations to Build Cell Networks in Africa

While the One Laptop per Child project is busy kitting out the third world with computers, the smart money in the West is pushing towards integrated devices, and a move away from PC type computers. There's something screwy there, right?

For the developing world, a cellular network can make a much bigger difference to everyday life, and it's cheaper, too. The UN knows this, and is busy enabling half a million more people to use cellphones in Africa. The networks will cover 79 villages in 10 countries.

Atacama Desert, Chile, 2003

National Geographic picture of the day.

A vizcacha, close relative of the chinchilla, rests on an outcropping in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Ellis Island site helps search for historic treasure

More than 22 million passengers and members of ships' crews entered the United States through Ellis Island and the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924. Information about each person was written down in ships' passenger lists, known as 'manifests.' Manifests were used to examine immigrants upon arrival in the United States. Now you can search these millions of records for information on individual Ellis Island passengers.

For MTV, the best may have been off-camera

MTV has always tried to pump up its annual Video Music Awards with momentous live performances. But in an era when fans can watch concerts on their cellphones and spy on hours-old gigs by way of YouTube, it’s harder than ever to arrange a performance that feels like a big deal.

Hot news: Polar meltdown predicted

BBC
Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be gone by the middle of the century, says a US government agency.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) says parts of the Arctic are losing summer ice so fast that no bears will be able to live there within several decades.

Justice D.A.N.C.E.

Just a fun song and great video.


MTV article about this video

"Justice and I did the concept based on record covers I've done for Ed Banger. Then we met with [directors] Jonas & Francois to discuss the key moments that had to be in the shooting. Like when Gaspard shakes Xavier, the letters fall down off his T-shirt; or when the girl plays the keyboard on her shirt and the keyboard falls to the ground," So Me said. "Those needed to be done because you can't go back and do that later, and there were like five or six really important instances like that."

A new sponsor for journalism in China

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has become a sponsor of a business journalism program that launches on Sept. 17 at Tsinghua University. The goal of this initiative, run by the university and the Washington-based International Center for Journalists, is to create business journalists able to produce insightful, balanced coverage of China’s markets and the global economy. Deloitte Touche joins the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Merrill Lynch and Bloomberg who were founding sponsors of the program.

My brother feels a little better about his iPhone

Can you hear me now?
After getting numerous complaints for knocking down the price of the iPhone, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs announced that he'll give every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week, he said in a letter to customers.

Popcorn Lung patient ate two bags a day

CBS News
Wayne Watson loved microwave popcorn so much he would eat at least two bags each night, breathing in the steam from the just-opened package, until doctors told him it may have made him sick.

Watson, whose case of "popcorn lung" is the sole reported case of the disease in a non-factory worker, said he is convinced his heavy consumption of popcorn caused his health problems.

More Links >>
First Consumer Case of 'Popcorn Lung' Raises Concerns About ... Wired News
Popcorn May Cause Lung Disease ABC News
Additive to microwave popcorn could make you sick MSNBC
Baltimore Sun - HULIQ
all 1,084 news articles » CAG

My brother is angry at his iPhone

Apple announced recently that it would drop the price of the super hyped iPhone, after the release of the iPod touch. I warned my brother not to break the bank a few months ago, but he was one of millions that had to jump when Apple said jump. I understood that it was first generation and besides - 8 GB - that's a child's hard-drive. I say you waited this long. Keep waiting. During Christmas the price will drop and by next summer they will be giving it out for free with a two-year contract.

Need a Loan? Usury for Beginners

Great article about Prosper.com, the writer creates an account and explores the site, which is all about lending money, being neighborly and taking financial risks.
WSJ
By JONATHAN V. LAST
Of all the wonders that the Internet has brought us, none is as special as Web 2.0. The next generation of Internet empowers you, me -- some might say We, the People -- to click our way to self-actualization. We're an Army of Davids, taking the world back from the corporate Goliaths, one Web site at a time. The new Internet lets us be who we've always wanted to be.

Yes, we all have lofty goals, like helping the infirm, reaching out to shut-ins or starting a catering service. But what we've always wanted to be may seem, to some, a bit less commendable. For instance, I've always wanted to be a loan shark. There's something luridly poetic about outlaw lending: Getting the juice ticking at 30% on some hard-luck mope; making profits off of the backs of the union guy who lost it all at the race track or the stock broker with the expensive drug habit; sending minions like "Bobby Bats" out to do collections. It's like being a banker, only cooler.

Link >>>>>

One Vote Under God

Faith in presidential campaign: this is a great feature done by the NEWS 21 students.
By Ben Branham, John McDermott

The following is an interactive matrix examining the intersection of faith and politics on the stump as presidential hopefuls line up for their chance to win the White House in 2008. Issues range from abortion and public education to religious history and gay rights. Every candidate so far declared for office has been thoroughly researched for any mention of faith and its impact on their decision to reach a particular stance. Use the following matrix to explore how faith has been invoked as a part of their respective campaigns.

Click here for the interactive presentation

COMMENTS

GPS in taxis: Big Brother or boon?

InfoWorld

New York City cabbies don't like the idea of being tracked by satellite. But what alternative do any of us really have?

I feel badly for New York City cab drivers, but I'm inclined to be philosophical about their plight. What they are going through is a precursor to what all of us face as technology gets deeper and deeper under our skin.

Where exactly do we draw the line between technology and expediency? Or more specifically: Where do we draw the line between our rights as individuals versus the ability of technology to strip away almost all of our freedom to behave like humans?

Futurist sees way to end world woes

The Age AU
Businesses will need to rethink their approach to growth and focus more on sustainability and innovation to save the planet, says futurist and author Thomas Homer-Dixon.

"I know if I were a CEO or a president, then I would be trying to maximise shareholder value and that means adopting the best technology and adopting the philosophy of growing the company in the best way possible," he said.

"The larger consequence of increasing carbon dioxide output is going to be a disaster. Part of it is not being so fixated on efficiency and productivity and more fixated on resilience and innovation."

Homer-Dixon is a Professor at the University of Toronto – he specializes in Peace and Conflict Studies and is the author of several books on a variety of associate issues.

*Link >>>

Listening for Better Leadership

CIO
You've gone into your boss's office hoping to talk about something that's troubling you. When you begin to speak, your boss looks toward his BlackBerry, picks it up, then starts to compose a message. You slow your talking, not sure if he's hearing anything you're saying until he motions you to continue. When he's done e-mailing he jerks his chin up a few times in a "let's get on with this" move and before you can finish talking, cuts you off by going into his advice mode. Instead of hearing what you have to say, he gives you a long speech about all the things you need to do to fix the situation, which he gets wrong because he has not understood the situation. Then he tells you abruptly he has another appointment.

What would you do?

Poetry in emotion

Yorkshire Post UK
Poetry is often seen as high-brow, something eccentric that you might associate with old ladies or bow-tie wearing professors. Yet it can provide comfort to many of us during our darkest hours.

*Link >>>>

Second life? get a life

I can find a lot of things that are wrong with Second Life. Especially when people don't spend enough time in the real world and get lost in their created fantasy land, or island. The WSJ (8/10/07) found the perfect specimen.

Take Ric Hoogestraat, who is married to Sue and works at a call center in the Phoenix area but spends 30-plus hours a week inside the online Second Life video game, pretending that he is the digitally drawn Dutch Hoorenbeek, a 6-foot-9, muscular babe magnet who lives on his own island.

That unnerves Sue, especially since Dutch recently "married" a digital woman and set up housekeeping with their two digital dogs. (The real-life creator of the new Mrs. Hoorenbeek has never met Ric and says she never will.)

Dutch and his online wife spend hours shopping and motorcycling together, leaving Ric little time for real-life wife Sue. "Is this man cheating on his wife (meaning Sue)?" the Journal asked. Sue says: "You try to talk to (Ric) or bring (him) a drink, and (he)'ll be having sex with a cartoon."

Beach offers artists cheap rent

Miami Herald

Artists may not have to struggle with expensive rents in Miami Beach in the future. The Miami Beach City Commission is expected to give preliminary approval for incentives to create affordable housing in an area to be designated as the Cultural Arts Neighborhood Overlay or CANDO.

A final vote on CANDO is expected in October. If it passes, Miami Beach would be the first city in Miami-Dade to offer such a program.

CANDO is the brainchild of Mayor David Dermer, who announced in April 2006 his intention to bring new artists to the city and lure back artists who have left the Beach because of gentrification and escalating rents; and to encourage new arts-related businesses to open up there.

A few can catch a liar

Research suggests that most people cannot tell from demeanor when others are lying. Such poor performance is typical not only of laypeople but also of most professionals concerned with lying. In this study, three professional groups with special interest or skill in deception, two law-enforcement groups and a select group of clinical psychologists, obtained high accuracy in judging videotapes of people who were lying or telling the truth about their opinions.

These findings strengthen earlier evidence that some professional lie catchers are highly accurate, and that behavioral clues to lying are detectable in real time. This study also provides the first evidence that some psychologists can achieve high accuracy in catching lies.
A Few Can Catch a Liar.
Psychological Science, 10.
Download PDF Version

Google Earth’s Hidden Surprise: A Flight Simulator

Hidden inside Google Earth is a secret Flight Simulator that takes full advantage of Google’s extensive satellite imagery.

To access the hidden feature, open Google Earth and hit Command+Option+A (note it must be capital A) or Ctrl+Alt+A if you’re using a Windows Machine.

The Google Earth Flight Simulator comes with two aircraft options, a F16 Viper and the more manageable SR22 4 seater. Players have the option of commencing the game from their current location in Google Earth or can pick from a list of pre-determined runways. Control instructions can be found here.

Overall the game play is fairly simple in terms of control, but the striking difference is flying over real pictures of locations. I took a quick flight from San Francisco International, headed North to the Golden Gate then turn back over the city before heading towards the Valley. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as good visually as the paid Microsoft Flight Simulator, and in terms of actually presenting real objects it was better.

Thanks to Marco for the how-to.