Wisdom of Crowds
"How many jellybeans in this jar?" Repeated studies show that a collective guess is often more accurate than any individual. We hold crowds accountable for the stock market bubble, boorish behavior at baseball games and the rise of Britney Spears. But in his new book, 'Wisdom of Crowds', James Surowiecki argues that the combined intelligence and input of a group of people can create optimum con... posted on Aug 25 2004, 1,302 reads

The Magic Number
Looking for happiness through financial success? Wondering what is the magic number that equals satisfaction? It's $40,000 a year. Really. Oprah's magazine says so. And so does Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert, who studies such things. Maybe you're thinking there's another magic threshold. Like maybe $40 million. But Penlope Trunk doesn't think so. When she ran in circles of venture capitalist... posted on Aug 13 2004, 1,471 reads

Children Under Five
A whopping four million children under the age of five die annually in South Asia, where at least 432 million earn less than $1 a day, says the latest UNDP report. On the bright side, South Asia has halved income poverty and the proportion of people without access to safe water, while dramatically reducing infant mortality rates as well.... posted on Aug 11 2004, 1,303 reads

We The Media
An open source newspaper, you can call it. A small California newspaper has undertaken a first-of-its-kind experiment: a community newspaper, for and by the community. They are asking people in their neighborhood to be the writers and photographers. Anyone can submit news, which immediately goes up online and if selected, goes into the print edition that reaches 22,000 households. "It's also y... posted on Aug 10 2004, 1,344 reads

Twinkie Tax
From a recent report by CSPI: Upgrading from a 3-ounce Minibon to a Classic Cinnabon costs only 24% more, yet delivers 123% more calories. Switching from 7-Eleven’s Gulp to a Double Gulp costs 42% more, but provides 300% more calories. It costs 8 cents more to purchase a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese, small French fries, and small Coke (890 calories) than it costs to buy the Quarter... posted on Aug 03 2004, 1,348 reads

Branded
A high schooler wears a Pepsi shirt to school on Coca-Cola day and gets suspended for insurrection. A sixth-grader covets a $500 Kate Spade bag, only to toss it a year later. A family drops $1,400 a day to take an SAT tutor along on vacation. These dispatches from a label-obsessed adolescence come courtesy of Alissa Quart, whose new book, Branded, informs readers that youthful consumerism doesn't ... posted on Jul 28 2004, 1,567 reads

Lesser TV, Better Health
The amount of television watched as a child is directly related to the risk of health problems as an adult, new research shows. Researchers estimate that 17 percent of overweight, 15 percent of poor fitness, 15 percent of elevated cholesterol, and 17 percent of current smoking in 26-year-olds could be attributed to watching more than 2 hours per day of television.... posted on Jul 22 2004, 1,014 reads

Energizing Elixir
Love is in the air almost everywhere -- in movies, on TV, in greeting cards and, of course, in steamy romance novels. Ministers preach about it, pop stars sing about it, but what exactly is love? Researchers at Fetzer Institute are trying to understand its subtler, altruistic nature and coming to interesting conclusions. For instance, having a clear-eyed assessment of your spouse, and not the am... posted on Jun 12 2004, 1,176 reads

Sixty Five and Over
One in three people will be 65 or over by the year 2050, according to a report by the Census Bureau which foresees the world's population growing to more than 9.2 billion. In 1990 the world's women, on average, were giving birth to 3.3 children in their lifetime. By 2002 it had dropped to 2.6 children. AIDS and declining fertility were cited as factors for slower population growth.... posted on Jun 05 2004, 1,437 reads

Reading a Smile
Think you're good at reading people? Most people feel they are, but actually fail miserably at it, confusing a half smile with approval when it signals contempt, or accepting an expression of apparent confidence while missing the concealed fear that lies beneath it. Misreading facial expressions and the emotions underlying them is a result of our inability to recognize minute expressions -- micro... posted on Jun 01 2004, 1,446 reads