Recently on Facebook a friend asked: “Hey, atheist friends, I need your help. I would like to listen and read what do you do when you lose somebody who you loved? I have tried several ways to ease the pain, but it is still there.” […]

My answer (edited):

I cope with the grief from the death of loved ones by contemplating the Cosmist possibility, described by many thinkers including Nikolai Fedorov, Hans Moravec and Frank Tipler, that future generations (or alien civilizations, or whatever) may develop technologies to resurrect the dead. A related idea is that our reality may be a “simulation” computed by entities in a higher-level reality, who may choose to copy those who die in our reality to another reality. Contemplating these possibilities is my way to cope with grief, I hope you will find your own way.

{ Turing Church | Continue reading }

Physically securing a company doesn’t necessarily have to be about expensive alarm systems, high resolution cameras and other fancy gadgets. To keep burglars at bay, all you might need is a gadget that tricks them into thinking that you have high-tech security systems.

{ Softpedia | Continue reading | Thanks Tim }

“Smile when you walk into a room. See the group with the target and follow the three-second rule. Do not hesitate—approach instantly. Recite a memorized opener, if not two or three in a row. The opener should open the group, not just the target. When talking, ignore the target for the most part. If there are men in the group, focus your attention on the men. Neg the target with one of the slew of negs we’ve come up with. Tell her, ‘It’s so cute. Your nose wiggles when you laugh.’ Then get her friends to notice and laugh about it.” —Neil Strauss, author of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

The above excerpt from Strauss’s 2005 NY Times bestselling book illustrates just a few of the many tactics outlined for men to pick-up women. These tactics endorse the concept of using aggressiveness and intentional manipulation to select, pursue, isolate, and sexually conquer women. […]

Hall and Canterberry (2011) looked at characteristics of men who use pickup tactics, and the characteristics of women who find them appealing. They found that these men held a more negative attitude toward women, an overt justification of male privilege, and viewed women as lovable yet helpless and vulnerable. They targeted females who were more physically attractive and could be used as a “status marker.” Women who responded positively to these men held more traditional and stereotypic gender roles (i.e., a warm woman, a strong man), and preferred men of high status and resources who could provide for them. […]

But do these tactics really work? […] They found that men who flirted in a more dominant, obnoxious, and physical style were more likely to develop casual relationships with women faster and had more sexual chemistry with them. […] This flirting style communicates an interest in a one-night stand as opposed to a long-term relationship, and this is appealing to women who are interested in the same thing. According to these women, their flirting was not taken as a lack of romantic interest, but rather, as an invitation to respond with submissive playfulness.

{ eHarmony | Continue reading }

In many restaurants throughout the world, wait staff’s income depends largely on the tips received from customers. According to this study, male restaurant customers give higher tips to waitresses wearing red. […]

Men gave between 14.6% and 26.1% more to waitresses wearing red, while color had no effect on female patrons’ tipping behavior at all.

{ SAGE | Continue reading }

photo { Nick Meek }

In recent years, we’ve seen an explosion of scientific research revealing precisely how positive feelings like happiness are good for us. We know that they motivate us to pursue important goals and overcome obstacles, protect us from some effects of stress, connect us closely with other people, and even stave off physical and mental ailments. […]

But is happiness always good? Can feeling too good ever be bad? Researchers are just starting to seriously explore these questions. […]

Too much happiness can make you less creative—and less safe.

[…]

Happiness can hurt us in competition. Illuminating studies done by Maya Tamir found that people in a happy mood performed worse than people in an angry mood when playing a competitive computer game.

[…]

A more nuanced analysis of different types of happiness suggests that some forms may actually be a source of dysfunction.

[…]

Pursuing happiness may actually make you unhappy.

{ GreaterGood | Continue reading }

photo { Sebastian Reiser }

Stickers on produce contain 4-5 digit number, known as a Price Look-Up (PLU) code, for stores to identify produce and distinguish between conventionally-grown, GMO, and organic produce.

PLU codes have been used by supermarkets since 1990 to make check-out and inventory control easier, faster, and more accurate.

• A four-digit code beginning with a 3 or a 4 means the produce is conventionally grown.

• A five-digit number that starts with a 9 means the item is organic.

• A five-digit code that starts with an 8 means the item is genetically modified.

{ Consumer Reports | PLU codes }

photo { Hudson Hayden }

The FBI and national cybercrime agencies are warning people traveling abroad to be wary of shady scammers planting malware via insecure hotel Internet connections.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center notes that malware perpetrators are masking their cybercrime weapons as popup software updates travelers see when setting up their Internet connections.

{ Laptop | Continue reading }

Recent world tragedies have led to an increased emphasis on the importance of deception training - especially at security checkpoints in airports, bus terminals, and train stations – that is designed to avert potential terrorist attacks. Past research on deception has identified the physiological and behavioral cues that can expose the individual liar, but most major terrorist acts involve two or more coconspirators. […]

 “Deception has been studied as an almost exclusively individual-level phenomenon,” said Tripp Driskell. “You have a hard-nosed detective on one side of a desk and a suspect on the other. But there are many situations today, especially in security settings, in which the opportunity exists to question two or more suspects. The bottom line is that there are many occasions in which people conspire to lie or to deceive. In fact, many terrorist acts are carried out jointly by multiple participants or conspirators, and initial encounters with these suspects are likely to be in a group setting.” 

“We believe that the key to distinguishing truthful dyads from deceptive dyads is the concept of transactive memory,” he continued. “Two people describe an event differently if they had actually performed that event together versus if they did not but are fabricating a story about an event that did not take place. When we are questioned about the event, we recall it also in a joint manner - you recall some information and I recall some information. This is not as evident when two people recall a story that is fabricated or that did not take place.”

{ Human Factors and Ergonomics Society | Continue reading }

A couple of online articles have discussed whether you would be conscious of being shot in the head with the general conclusion that it is unlikely because the damage happens faster than the brain can register a conscious sensation.

While this may be true in some instances it ignores that fact that there are many ways of taking a bullet to the head.

This is studied by a field called wound ballistics. […]

Firstly, if you get shot in the head, in this day and age, you have, on average, about a 50/50 chance of surviving.

{ MindHacks | Continue reading }

photos { Irving Penn | Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel | more }

40 Work Hacks to Improve Your Marketing Productivity

[…]

8. Communicate with teammates in person. […]

9. Use two different computers (or just different browsers) to separate distracting things like email from what you’re actively working on. […]

11. Use a Google Doc to keep a list of all your personal/work passwords handy so you can access them quickly and easily. [and SSN?][…]

14. Wear headphones without listening to music. […]

34. Adopt the “Inbox Zero” methodology, and treat your email like a to-do list.

{ HubSpot | Continue reading }

photo { Vivian Maier }

{ On Tuesday/Wednesday June 5/6, Earth will have the best seat — the only seat — for a great show: the Transit of Venus across the face of the Sun. | Discover | full story }

unrelated { Is drinking through your nose dangerous? }

photo { Thomas Mailaender }

Meeting new people can be a delicate business. How do you make sure that people get a right impression of who you are and what you’re capable of? Many people therefore tend to keep things formal and are hesitant to brag about themselves. But recent research in the Journal for Social Psychological and Personality Science reveals that it is wise to actually show  your best self when meeting new people. At least, when you want them to really get to know you.

{ United Academics | Continue reading }

Neuroscientists at NYU and Harvard have identified the neural systems involved in forming first impressions of others. […] Making sense of others in a social interaction is not easy—each new person we meet may be a source of ambiguous and complex information. However, when encountering someone for the first time, we are often quick to judge whether we like that person or not. In fact, previous research has shown that people make relatively accurate and persistent evaluations based on rapid observations of even less than half a minute.

{ eScienceNews | Continue reading }

related { Why First Impressions Are So Persistent }

painting { Marcus Harvey, Girl in Burka with Red Underwear II, 2007 }

He said that there are three key elements that all the successful ones had in common. […]

(1) Don’t have a lot of overhead. Don’t commit to a large rent. Don’t have a large mortgage or, if you do, pay it down quickly.

{ EconLog | Continue reading }

photos { John Crawford }

One of the most important things to remember when thinking about pitching is that there are huge numbers of pitches in the world. Venture capitalists hear quite a few of them. And they find the process frustrating because it is such a low yield activity (a tiny fraction of first pitches lead to subsequent diligence and even fewer of those lead to a deal). So if you want VCs to listen to you, you need to force them to listen—to break through the clutter. Doing so requires you to hack into the VC mind. 

Conceptually, pitching sounds easy. You are smart. You have a great idea and you tell people with money that great idea. They’re rational; they give it to you. 

But it’s not that easy. What you essentially have to do is convince a reasonably smart person to exchange his capital for your piece of paper (a stock certificate) that is really nothing more than a promise about something that may be valuable later but, on a blind statistical basis, probably won’t be. It turns out that this is difficult.

Humans are massively cognitively biased in favor of near-term thinking. VCs are no different. That’s curious, because you’d think they would have overcome it, since good long-term thinking is sort of the entire nature of venture capital. But humans are humans. VCs are just sacks of meat with the same cognitive biases as everyone else. (…)

You must address both sides of their brains; you have to convince VCs that your proposal is economically rational, and then you must exploit their reptilian brains by persuading their emotional selves into doing the deal and overcoming cognitive biases (like near-term focus) against the deal. You should also offer VCs entertainment. They see several pitches a day (most bad) and that gets boring. Be funny and help your cause. In the tech community, even one joke will suffice.

{ Blake Masters | Continue reading }

synthetic polymer paint on paper { Mike Kelley }

Recent years has seen the emergence of a popular ‘raw food’ movement. Dehydrating food to make it palatable, raw-foodies argue that cooking food destroys valuable vitamins and enzymes, rendering it nutritionally impoverished. It sounds logical, but – especially with vegetables – is often false. Many vegetables actually gain nutritional value after careful cooking or steaming. Furthermore, a strict vegan raw food diet is not good for long term health. (…)

Red meat is notable in that it contains a good source of B-vitamins that are essential for healthy muscles, skin and nerves. It also contains iron and other important minerals. Like most things however, steak should be in moderation as a high intake is associated with colon cancer and other health nasties. (…)

• The longer steak is cooked, the fewer vitamins it contains

• Cooking meat in water reduces its vitamin content further (the vitamins leech out into the water)

• The levels of iron and zinc increase with cooking

• Fat levels drop with cooking

{ Doctor Stu | Continue reading }

photo { Thomas Demand, Junior Suite [Whitney Houston’s last supper], 2012 | NY Times | DesignBoom }

Humans can only process small amounts of information at a time (consciously that is… the estimate is that we handle 40,000,000 pieces of information every second, but only 40 of those make it to our conscious brains). One mistake that web sites make is to give too much information all at once. (…) Think progressive disclosure.

{ 48 Psychological Facts | Continue reading }

It’s famously tough getting through the Google interview process. But now we can reveal just how strenuous are the mental acrobatics demanded from prospective employees. Job-seekers can expect to face open-ended riddles, seemingly impossible mathematical challenges and mind-boggling estimation puzzles. (…)

1. You are shrunk to the height of a 2p coin and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do? (…)

3. Design an evacuation plan for San Francisco. (…)

5. Imagine a country where all the parents want to have a boy. Every family keeps having children until they have a boy; then they stop. What is the proportion of boys to girls in this country? (…)

6. Use a programming language to describe a chicken. (…)

7. What is the most beautiful equation you have ever seen? (…) Most would agree this is a lame answer:
E = MC2
It’s like a politician saying his favorite movie is Titanic.
You want Einstein? A better reply is:
G = 8πT (…)

8. You want to make sure that Bob has your phone number. You can’t ask him directly. Instead you have to write a message to him on a card and hand it to Eve, who will act as a go-between. Eve will give the card to Bob and he will hand his message to Eve, who will hand it to you. You don’t want Eve to learn your phone number. What do you ask Bob? (…)

11. How much would you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle? (…)

14. Can you swim faster through water or syrup?

{ Wired | Continue reading }

images, clockwise from top left { 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 }

quote { thanks Tim }

In my new book Drop Dead Healthy, I try to become the healthiest person alive. In doing so, I examine hundreds of activities to determine if they are healthy.

Is meditation healthy? Yes. Petting dogs? Yes, because it lowers the blood pressure. Sitting? Definitely not. Going to a noisy restaurant? No. Taking naps? Thank God yes.

One of the few activities I didn’t discuss: Reading. Is reading healthy? Or will it slowly murder you?

No doubt I’m a bit biased, but I’ve come to the conclusion that overall, books are, in fact, good for your health. (…)

More and more research shows that sitting is bad for you. It significantly increases your chances of heart disease and slows your metabolism.

This is why, for my book, I ignored the siren call of my chair and did a lot of reading standing up. Reading on your feet burns about 34 more calories per hour than reading while sitting. Eventually, I took it further. I bought a treadmill, converted it into a desk, and did all my reading and writing while walking. It took me about a thousand miles to write the book.

{ AJ Jacobs/Omnivoracious | Continue reading }