Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:02:29 GMT

Outrageous Refrigerated Internet Oven

Wait until you read this! A refrigerated oven that works when you connect to it via your cell phone or the Internet.


Yes, that is right. The oven keeps your food nice and cool to maintain its freshness, and then when you are nearing time to go home from work, you can call up your oven from the Internet or from your cell phone and start the cooking process.

When you arrive home it is all cooked and ready to eat. And if you are delayed a little on the way home you can call your oven and place the food on hold for awhile, or if you are really going to be late you can place the cooked food in refrigeration until you are ready to come home. You can warm the food remotely and still have a nicely cooked meal when you arrive home. Posted by: Elwyn Jenkins      Read more     Source

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:02:14 GMT

Does Dating Require Talking on the Phone?

I don't answer my phone.

There, I've admitted it for the whole world to read. I really don't enjoy talking on the phone. It bores me. So it's really rare that I have phone conversations just for the sake of having a conversation. If I really want to exchange "catching up" information with someone, I usually revert to emails or instant messengers or social networking site comments. And when the rare phone conversation does occur, it's usually because I've initiated it since I don't ever pay attention to my phone when it rings. I'm usually doing something else.

But when you're involved in online dating, you inevitably get to the part where the other person wants your phone number. Many people feel that in between the online connection and the face-to-face meeting must lie a medium ground and they resolve that with the phone conversation. The phone chat lets you put a voice with the name, weed out people whose conversational style gives you the creeps and make the whole thing a little more "real" so you're both more likely to show up.

So the phone conversation before the first date is a good thing. Except if you hate the phone. I'll openly admit that I've never met people who would probably have been good dates because they insisted on a phone conversation first and I didn't want to bother. The way I see it, if they really place that much importance on the phone, they can find a gal who likes to talk their ears off. It just ain't for me.

But I'll also admit that my approach is somewhat extreme. Most people who don't like phone chats will find that a really quick conversation to confirm meeting times and places isn't so bad. So, I don't really think that the pre-date phone conversation is necessary. But I do think that most people will find the dating transition to go more smoothly if they do the phone thing every now and then.

I just don't take my own good advice.

Note: If you want to do the phone thing but don't want to give out your number, try using CallDigits. This service gives you an anonymous number for the purpose of dating.

Question of the Day: Is it a deal breaker if someone from online won't talk to you on the phone? Posted by: Kathryn Vercillo      Read more     Source

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:29:55 GMT

Expectations

Who is setting your expectations?

Wil Schroter from Bigger Blog talks about expectations in Who's Setting the Expectations at Your Startup Company?

We here about companies like YouTube and others that within a short period of time become very successful and in the case of YouTube sold to Google for large sums of money. As Wil points out, that leaves many entrepreneurs wondering why that not happening to us is.

He points out that you should not let investors, your staff and the media tell you what to expect from your start up. Instead he plain and simple says that you should be setting expectations for your business.

What I would ad again is that you need to know what your expectations are. You need to set goals for yourself and have them written down. Have that target out and visible so that you can see your goals everyday and to insure you are keeping aim on those goals. Posted by: John Dornoff      Read more     Source

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:39:26 GMT

Grow Through Continued Education

You've heard the quote "why is youth wasted on the young" right? Well, the same can be said for education. My teenaged son, like everyone one of us before him, thinks of high school as a venue for furthering his social life. Occasionally he'll be inspired by a topic or a teacher, but for the most part, school is a necessary evil.

There are times when I'd give anything to have the financial freedom to walk away from work and just immerse myself in learning eight hours a day. There are so many things I want to learn and so little available time to devote to learning in a busy adult life.

However, that being said, I make it a point to attend an educational seminar every quarter. I'm always on the look out for new programs and Corporate College East in Cleveland offers a whole host of great classes.

But today I stumbled upon a website listing 10 places to get free business education.

There are classes on financial learning, business start up, entrepreneurial topics, business administration, you name it, you can find it free or affordable.

Question for you: do you seek out new ways to learn?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer Posted by: Deborah Brown      Read more     Source

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:10:04 GMT

Human Calendar

The Human Calendar.
It''s possible to put a ''portable'' version of humancalendar.com on your website. Users should see the correct date depending upon their location. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:36:06 GMT

Russia May Give Green Light to Hedge Funds

According to Russian internet newspaper, Gazeta.KZ, hedge funds for qualified investors could appear in Russia as soon as next year. Valery Petrov, General Director of the Ingosstrakh Investitsii management company, noted that Russian hedge funds could also be seen as an alternative to investment in futures and options. "Market traders who prefer hedge funds will be able to invest at home, improving the country's competitiveness," Petrov said.

Meanwhile, he doubts that Russian management companies will begin to transfer funds from foreign into Russian hedge funds, as western funds are tailored for either foreigners or Russians who already had taken their funds abroad. "That is why competition between local and foreign hedge funds, run by our management companies, will be not for old assets but for new clients," Petrov stressed.

It will be more convenient for Russian management companies to service local clients through domestic hedge funds, believes Oleg Zheleznov, managing partner at Da Vinci Capital. "It would also be good if these funds, as well as mutual funds, were exempt from tax. In some countries such as Ireland or Luxembourg, this is possible," he said. Posted by: Alex Akesson      Read more     Source

December 6, 2007, 3:33 PM CT

Hiring Practices Influenced by Beauty

A new study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences finds that the attractiveness of interviewees can significantly bias outcome in hiring practices, showing a clear distinction between the attractive and average looking interviewees in terms of high and low status job packages offered.

"When someone is viewed as attractive, they are often assumed to have many positive social traits and greater intelligence," say Carl Senior and Michael J.R. Butler, authors of the study. "This is known as the 'halo effect' and it has previously been shown to affect the outcome of job interviews." The study explored the influence of the halo effect in a mock job negotiation scenario where male and female interviewers were shown pictures of attractive or average looking male and female job applicants.

Female interviewers were found to allocate attractive looking male interviewees more high status job packages than the average looking men. Female interviewers also gave more high status job packages to attractive men than to attractive women. Average looking men also received more low status job packages than average looking women. Male interviewers did not differ in the number of high or low status job packages that were given to attractive looking interviewees of either sex, though the male interviewers gave out more low status job packages overall, irrespective of the sex of the interviewee......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

December 4, 2007, 10:21 PM CT

Ethnic discrimination not only based on prejudice

Our belief in power hierarchies is important in how we view and treat people. This is shown in a dissertation by Alexandra Snellman from Uppsala University that examines how racist and sexist prejudice creates social hierarchies and ethnic discrimination in various situations.

Discrimination and hierarchies are created not only as a result of our prejudices but are affected by other factors as well. Alexandra Snellman has studied how the social hierarchies we inhabit and our belief in power hierarchies, so-called social dominance orientation, impact our view of other people. Her studies shows that socially dominant individuals, that is, those who have a strong faith in power hierarchies in general, also tend to create hierarchies and practice ethnic discrimination more than other people do.

The existence of and background to ethnic hierarchies have previously been studied only in the Netherlands and the former Soviet Union. Alexandra Snellmans findings show that an ethnic hierarchy exists in Sweden as well, where people have the least social distance to the upper groups and the greatest distance to the groups at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Patriarchal culture, religious commitment, and how long immigrant groups have been represented in Sweden are among factors that probably affect where you wind up in the local hierarchy, she explains......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

December 4, 2007, 10:06 PM CT

Using a product before buying it changes what you want

Consumers often decide to buy an item before having a chance to try it out. In this scenario, they tend to prefer products with more features. However, a study from the recent issue of the Journal of Consumer Research expands our understanding of the differences between direct experience and indirect experience. Rebecca W. Hamilton (University of Maryland) and Debora Viana Thompson (Georgetown University) reveal that once consumers actually try products, their preferences shift from the item with the most bells and whistles to the one that is easiest to use.

Our studies indicate that after using a product, consumers think more concretely than they do after reading a product description without using the product. Hamilton and Thompson explain. After using a product, consumers become more focused on its feasibility (i.e., how do I obtain the product benefits?) as opposed to its desirability (i.e., what are the product benefits?).

For example, study participants were asked to choose between an mp3 player with more pre-loaded songs and one that was easier to use. Those who were only given product information (indirect experience) were more likely to choose the player with more songs. Those who were given a chance to try the product (direct experience) were more likely to choose the device that was easier to use. Interestingly, two weeks later, the majority of participants in both groups preferred the device that was easier to use, indicating that consumers who purchase a product based on an indirect experience such as an advertisement or seeing on display are more likely to be ultimately dissatisfied with their purchase......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

December 4, 2007, 9:58 PM CT

Optimism isn't always healthy

People are generally optimistic, believing theyll do better in the future than theyve done in the past. This time around, Ill actually use that gym membership. Im sticking to the diet this time. Now is the time to start saving for a down payment on a house. However, a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that this optimism bias can lead us to make immediate choices that go against our long-term goals.

Ying Zhang, Ayelet Fishbach (both of the University of Chicago), and Ravi Dhar (Yale University) identify how different mindsets work in conjunction with an optimistic attitude. They observed that when people think about the goal in terms of progress, they are more likely to make a detrimental decision such as eating an unhealthy snack. However, when people focus on commitment to a goal, they are more likely to choose an action consistent with its attainment.

For example, when [a] workout is framed as progress toward the goal of being healthy, going to the gym elicits the perception of partial goal attainment and suggests that it is justified to enjoy a tasty but fatty cake, the scientists explain. In contrast, when [a] workout is framed as commitment to the goal of being healthy, going to the gym signals being healthy is important and thus suggests that one should refrain from the tasty but fatty cake to ensure the final goal can be attained......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source