Be careful with that new technology in your hand. An examination of 101 popular smartphone apps (games and other software applications for iPhone and Android phones) showed that 56 transmitted the phone's unique device ID to other companies without users' awareness or consent. Forty-seven apps transmitted the phone's location. Five sent age, gender, and other personal details to outsiders.
The findings reveal the efforts by online-tracking companies to gather personal data about people in order to build databases of information about them. Many companies don't have privacy policies and there isn't much you can do about it.
iPhone apps transmitted more data than the apps on phones using Google's Android operating system. Apps sharing the most information included TextPlus 4, for text messaging. It sent the phone's unique ID number to eight ad companies and the phone's zip code, along with the user's age and gender, to two of them.
Both the Android and iPhone versions of Pandora, a music app, sent age, gender, location, and phone identifiers to various ad networks. iPhone and Android versions of the game Paper Toss each sent the phone's ID number to at least five ad companies.
Millennial Media lists 11 types of information about people that developers may transmit to "help Millennial provide more relevant ads." They include age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and political views. MySpace also sent a user's income, ethnicity and parental status. Bottom line, the more you play, the more you pay is even more true in the information age.
Jan 7, 2011
Brain Stuff
The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
1. Learn the “It” in “Use It or Lose It”. A basic understanding will serve you well to appreciate your brain’s beauty.
2. Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake?
3. Remember that the brain is part of the body. Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.
4. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset and you look forward to every new day in a constructive way.
5. Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges. Challenge your brain often with fundamentally new activities.
6. We are the only self-directed organisms in this planet. Aim high. The brain keeps developing, no matter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.
7. Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment.
8. Don’t Outsource Your Brain. Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them. That way, you are training your brain.
9. Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are “social animals”, and need social interaction.
10. Laugh Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor, full of twists and surprises.
1. Learn the “It” in “Use It or Lose It”. A basic understanding will serve you well to appreciate your brain’s beauty.
2. Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake?
3. Remember that the brain is part of the body. Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.
4. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset and you look forward to every new day in a constructive way.
5. Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges. Challenge your brain often with fundamentally new activities.
6. We are the only self-directed organisms in this planet. Aim high. The brain keeps developing, no matter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.
7. Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment.
8. Don’t Outsource Your Brain. Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them. That way, you are training your brain.
9. Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are “social animals”, and need social interaction.
10. Laugh Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor, full of twists and surprises.
Did You Know
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his life.
Romeo had more lines than Juliet.
Wilt Chamberlin was never fouled out of a game.
Q is the only letter that does not appear in any US state name.
Starting this month, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for about the next 19 years.
Romeo had more lines than Juliet.
Wilt Chamberlin was never fouled out of a game.
Q is the only letter that does not appear in any US state name.
Starting this month, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for about the next 19 years.
Record Firsts
Everyone likes to show the top ten lists from the past year, but for something different, here are top ten sports firsts from days gone by.
• The first to swim 100 meters in under a minute: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), July 9, 1922
• The first sprinter to break 10 seconds in the 100m: Jim Hines, 9.9 seconds, at the 1968 AAU Championships
• The first high school student to break the four-minute mile: Jim Ryun, 3:58.3, in 1965, for Wichita East High School
• The first NBA player to reach 20,000 career points: Bob Pettit, 1964
• The first baseball player to reach 3,000 career hits: Cap Anson, 1897
• The first golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Jack Nicklaus, 1970, after taking second place in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am
• The first woman golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Kathy Whitworth, 1981, after taking third place in the U.S. Women's Open
• The first million-dollar gate for a fight: 1921, Georges Carpentier vs. Jack Dempsey
• The first Indianapolis 500 winner to average more than 100 miles per hour: Peter DePaolo, 101.27 mph in 1925, in a Duesenberg Special
• The first winning Super Bowl coach to wear headphones on the sidelines: Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XVI, 1982
• The first to swim 100 meters in under a minute: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), July 9, 1922
• The first sprinter to break 10 seconds in the 100m: Jim Hines, 9.9 seconds, at the 1968 AAU Championships
• The first high school student to break the four-minute mile: Jim Ryun, 3:58.3, in 1965, for Wichita East High School
• The first NBA player to reach 20,000 career points: Bob Pettit, 1964
• The first baseball player to reach 3,000 career hits: Cap Anson, 1897
• The first golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Jack Nicklaus, 1970, after taking second place in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am
• The first woman golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Kathy Whitworth, 1981, after taking third place in the U.S. Women's Open
• The first million-dollar gate for a fight: 1921, Georges Carpentier vs. Jack Dempsey
• The first Indianapolis 500 winner to average more than 100 miles per hour: Peter DePaolo, 101.27 mph in 1925, in a Duesenberg Special
• The first winning Super Bowl coach to wear headphones on the sidelines: Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XVI, 1982
Nano
Researchers at the University of Nottingham created a special birthday present for Martyn Poliakoff, a professor of chemistry. It’s a periodic table of the elements inscribed on the surface of one of his own hairs.
Professor Poliakoff said, “Although the application was lighthearted I felt that it enabled us to show people how such nano writing is done. Our microscopist, Dr. Mike Fay, made the whole operation seem so simple and really demystified it in a most appealing way.” Too bad they didn't wait to do it with the atomic weights just added to the periodic table for the first time in over a hundred years.
Professor Poliakoff said, “Although the application was lighthearted I felt that it enabled us to show people how such nano writing is done. Our microscopist, Dr. Mike Fay, made the whole operation seem so simple and really demystified it in a most appealing way.” Too bad they didn't wait to do it with the atomic weights just added to the periodic table for the first time in over a hundred years.
Ginseng Benefits
Although this Asian herb is taken mainly to boost energy, stamina, and overall health, researchers have begun to examine its efficacy in fighting the common cold. A study conducted by Canadian researchers found that taking ginseng every day reduced the severity and duration of cold symptoms, and appeared to prevent colds as well. Caveat Emptor
The Taxman Cometh
States have been feeling the pinch from unemployment causing them medicaid outlay increases and tax income decreases, and the budgets are being squeezed. Rather than rein in spending as we are forced to do, states are looking for ways to increase current or make new taxes.
Cell Phone charges are up up 2% in 2010 over 2009. The tax hikes, which could amount to as much as 75% in some localities next year. On average, 15% of a monthly cell phone service bill is already made up of taxes and fees, compared to 7% for most other goods and services
E-book charges could start to be taxed not just by the state you live in, but also by the state where the server that you're downloading from is located. A buyer living in New Jersey who purchases a $10 e-book housed on a server in Texas might pay $1.52 in taxes (7% sales tax in N.J.; 8.25% in Texas). Taxes could add up to 21% of the total price, assuming multiple states apply taxes to the same transaction.
Cable Bills have already seen increases, such as Denton, Texas, where the city council voted to increase the public-access television fee (which pays for public, education and government channels) from 50 cents each month to 1% of the subscriber's bill. At an average cable bill of $75 per month, it goes to 75 cents from 50 cents.
Cell Phone charges are up up 2% in 2010 over 2009. The tax hikes, which could amount to as much as 75% in some localities next year. On average, 15% of a monthly cell phone service bill is already made up of taxes and fees, compared to 7% for most other goods and services
E-book charges could start to be taxed not just by the state you live in, but also by the state where the server that you're downloading from is located. A buyer living in New Jersey who purchases a $10 e-book housed on a server in Texas might pay $1.52 in taxes (7% sales tax in N.J.; 8.25% in Texas). Taxes could add up to 21% of the total price, assuming multiple states apply taxes to the same transaction.
Cable Bills have already seen increases, such as Denton, Texas, where the city council voted to increase the public-access television fee (which pays for public, education and government channels) from 50 cents each month to 1% of the subscriber's bill. At an average cable bill of $75 per month, it goes to 75 cents from 50 cents.
Dec 31, 2010
Happy Friday
Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully, prepare prayerfully, proceed positively, pursue persistently.
I am planning and preparing to proceed toward pursuing a Happy Friday!
I am planning and preparing to proceed toward pursuing a Happy Friday!
Irish Rovers
Used to watch this group piped in from Canadian TV. Here is a leftover from Christmas - Christmas in Kilarney. Also, one for tonight 'Wasn't That a Party'. Enjoy!
Hogmanay
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of New Year's Day, or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday. Literally translated it means "gift."
There are many customs associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbor and often involved the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt, coal, shortbread, whiskey, and fruit cake, intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day. The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year.
There are many customs associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbor and often involved the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt, coal, shortbread, whiskey, and fruit cake, intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day. The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year.
Mistletoe
There are many stores about Mistletoe and the origins of use, dating back to Pliny the Elder, but this is the one I like. According to Norse/Germanic legend (Tom Knudson also likes this one), Frigga got all the plants and animals of the Earth to promise not to harm her son - except mistletoe. Loki, the god of mischief, took that opportunity to kill Baldur with a spear made of mistletoe. Frigga's tears then turned into mistletoe berries, which brought Baldur back to life, prompting Frigga to declare mistletoe a symbol of love. It's appropriate that we speak of Frigga on Friday as some references show this as the early etymology of the word Friday. Last chance to use the mistletoe to kiss your favorite this season.
What the Heck is an Auld Lang Syne
Tonight at least a few of us will be singing about Robert Burns 1788 poem put to music. The song is also sung at funerals, graduations, and other occasions of farewell. Literally translated, it means "old long since" , but usually interpreted as "days gone by." So now we sing it loosely meaning "for the sake of old times."
He begins asking if it is right that old times be forgotten, and asks to remember long time relationships.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne? (and days gone by)
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp, (You'll buy your pint cup)
And surely I'll be mine! (and I'll buy mine)
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
He begins asking if it is right that old times be forgotten, and asks to remember long time relationships.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne? (and days gone by)
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp, (You'll buy your pint cup)
And surely I'll be mine! (and I'll buy mine)
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
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