Posts Tagged: tech

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15
Aug 10

Teen Sex Not Always Bad for School Performance

There’s good news for parents who worry that their teenagers’ sex lives are affecting their school performance: A provocative new study has found that teens in committed relationships do no better or worse in school than those who don’t have sex.

…LOS ANGELES There’s good news for parents who worry that their teenagers’ sex lives are affecting their school performance: A provocative new study has found that teens in committed relationships do no better or worse in school than those who don’t have sex.
The same isn’t true for teens who “hook up.” Researchers found that those who have casual flings get lower grades and have more school-related problems compared with those who abstain.
The findings, presented Sunday at a meeting of the American Sociological Association in Atlanta, challenge to some extent assumptions that sexually active teens tend to do poorer in school.
It’s not so much whether a teen has sex that determines academic success, the researchers say, but the type of sexual relationship they’re engaged in. Teens in serious relationships may find social and emotional support in their sex partners, reducing their anxiety and stress levels in life and in school.
“This should give some comfort to parents who may be concerned that their…

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Teen Sex Not Always Bad for School Performance

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15
Apr 10

Developers Need Twitter But How Much Does Twitter Need Them?

The importance of the relationship between Twitter and its third-party developers was made clear by the number of people who came to the company’s first developer conference. But developers have voiced concerns about the impact of Twitter’s moves and the one question they’ve been asking–where do we go from here?

…of the traffic for Twitter comes from outside Twitter.com, through third party companies.
The conference comes amid a delicate time in the Twitter-developer relationship. After Twitter this week announced its acquisition of Atebits, owner of iPhone client Tweetie, and the launch of its Twitter Blackberry application, developers who make apps to access tweets have voiced concerns about the impact of Twitter’s moves.
But Evan Williams, chief executive, explained the decisions by saying the company was trying to increase the number of users of Twitter. By creating a Twitter mobile app, which did not exist before, users would more easily find and join Twitter, which will ultimately result in more users for developers, Williams said. He showed a video of a user having a hard time trying to find a Twitter app on the iPhone to illustrate the need.
I know this was a controversial decision to many people because there were other Twitter apps on this platform, Williams said during his keynote speech. There are…

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Developers Need Twitter But How Much Does Twitter Need Them?

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15
Feb 10

Disgraced pastor Ted Haggard facing new sex allegations

A megachurch paid a 20-year-old man to keep silent about a sexual relationship he had with disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard, a senior church pastor said. Haggard, who was fired amid allegations that he used drugs and patronized a male prostitute in 2006, had a sexual relationship with a second man — a 20-year-old volunteer at his church.

…In November 2006, allegations surfaced that Haggard had a three-year relationship with Mike Jones, a male escort, involving drugs and sex for money. After those allegations became public, New Life fired Haggard and he resigned as president of the national organization. On Friday, New Life Church announced Haggard’s relationship with the volunteer in a letter to the congregation. In the last three weeks, Boyd said, the young man told him that he was considering going public with his story because Haggard was portraying himself as a victim in an upcoming HBO documentary called “The Trial of Ted Haggard,” which is scheduled to air Thursday. “I counseled him it wasn’t going to help him or the church’s healing. Plus it was in violation of the agreement we signed with them,” Boyd said. An interview with the former volunteer is scheduled to air Monday evening on KRDO-TV of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Haggard is scheduled to appear on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Thursday night. The 2006 controversy involving Haggard…

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Disgraced pastor Ted Haggard facing new sex allegations

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14
Feb 10

Ripe Fruit May Inspire Mosquito Repellents

Fruit flies actually have a love-hate relationship with the smell of fruit. And a new insight into the chemistry of that attraction and repulsion could lead to novel repellents for other insects, researchers say.

…To study the contradiction, Ray and Turner turned to the sensory detectors on the insects’ antennae. “Each antenna is shaped like a strawberry, with hundreds of tiny hairs on it,” Ray says. Inserting minute electrodes into pores on some of the hairs let the researchers check for activity in a neuron bearing the the specialized receptor known to detect CO2. The researchers monitored that activity while releasing both fruit odors and CO2. Two of the fruit odors strongly reduced the neuron’s reaction to CO2.
Those two inhibitor molecules, 1-hexanol and 2,3-butanedione, were quite a surprise, Ray says. “They do not look anything like CO2.”
Yet he and Turner note that earlier studies show that as bananas ripen, concentrations of 1-hexanol increase by 777 percent and 2,3-butanedione by 4,900 percent.
To see whether the inhibitors indeed act on the receptor, “we took the awesome power of fly genetics,” Ray says, and put the receptor protein in a neuron that normally has nothing to do with CO2 detection. Isolated…

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Ripe Fruit May Inspire Mosquito Repellents

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13
Feb 10

The Pocket Spy: Will Your Smartphone Rat You Out?

THERE are certain things you do not want to share with strangers. In my case it was a stream of highly personal text messages from my husband, sent during the early days of our relationship.

…Greetings. Technology won’t slow down forpersonal security. A person can insulatethemselves from others treachery , by justbeing careful. Life has always been like that. It is a part of everyones Human Nature , tostir things up a bit , and see if anything fun , or profitable can be found. We all do it , at least a bit. Those slimey scheeming nosey people , whoare out there , are not going to just go away. So rise above them , and say to yourself” SO WHAT “. It could be seen as a compliment , that someone goes to the time and effort tosmear you. Friends , family or workmatesthat are worth caring about , will see rightthrough any nasty smear campaign. Otherswho fall for such an old ploy , show them-selves , as easily mislead. Life has alwayshad Human treachery in it. About money , the world is full of schamersand tricksters. If one has ANY wealth ,others will try to get it from you. We livein an imperfect world. Be happy with thegood things in our world , and enjoy yourphone , but be a cautious adult. Take…

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The Pocket Spy: Will Your Smartphone Rat You Out?

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11
Feb 10

Mathematical "truth serum" promotes honesty

The method relies on asking questions in pairs and analysing the relationship between the answers in a so-called Bayesian approach – which assumes that the answers are interlinked. The first question queries the individual.

…For example, he describes a situation where two paintings are viewed by a group of 10 people who are then asked, privately, to pick their favourite. Seven people say they prefer painting A, while three vote for painting B. If, on the second question, all 10 people said they thought everyone else would prefer painting A, then those three people expressing a personal preference for painting B might be thought of as a safer bet for having told the truth. That is because, argues Prelec, despite what they thought was more popular, those individuals still chose the other painting….

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Mathematical "truth serum" promotes honesty

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9
Feb 10

Human Infidelity Linked to Gene

Swedish researchers said Tuesday what women have suspected all along: that marital woes can often be attributed to men’s genetic makeup, according to a study linking a common male gene to relationship problems.

…Sept. 2, 2008 — Swedish researchers said Tuesday what women have suspected all along: that marital woes can often be attributed to men’s genetic makeup, according to a study linking a common male gene to relationship problems.

The gene variant, which is present in four of 10 Swedish men, can explain why some men are more prone to stormy relationships and bond less to their wives or girlfriends, a team of researchers at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute said.
“There are, of course, many reasons why a person might have relationship problems, but this is the first time that a specific gene variant has been associated with how men bond to their partners,” Hasse Walum, one of the researchers, said in a statement.
The team found that men who carry one or two copies of a variant of the gene often behave differently in relationships than men who lack the gene variant, called allele 334.
“The incidence of allele 334 was statistically linked to how strong a bond a man felt he had with his partner,” the statement…

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Human Infidelity Linked to Gene

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9
Feb 10

Mind-reading headsets will change your brain

In the coming months, cheap headsets that let you control technology with the electrical signals generated by your firing neurons will go on sale to the general public. Our relationship with technology – and our brains – will never be the same again.

…I don’t think the main use in games will be control, as joysticks and pads do a decent job of this already. Also, I think it might be tiresome to make your mind think a certain way just to control something. But detecting mood might serve to adjust facial expressions of online avatars. Also, having the game respond to one’s emotions might draw one further into the game as there will be in game benefit to letting yourself actually feel emotions in response to game scenarios. Imagine non player characters reacting to your emotions the way a real person might react to your body language….

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Mind-reading headsets will change your brain


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