On single-sex school, bikinis and decision-making

Research says single-sex schools help children thrive.

It says boys, particularly, have trouble paying attention in class, and often ignore instructions and generate sloppy work. Among the reasons, the article concludes, are more female teachers (than male teachers), superior female student counterparts (girls read faster and control their emotions better), and unfit educational structure.

An alum of both types of schools myself, I fairly agree with the argument, but am not sure about the details - perhaps because the article refers to U.S. education. (Shoot! There was also literally no girl in most of my Mechanical Engineering classes.)

To me, the boys of single-sex schools can practically say "there is one less thing to worry or think about". Thus they can more freely express their feelings and actions.

Most of which are usually deemed unmannered.

What are other potential advantages? Well, they can benefit through better decision makings.

What?

Well, there's this research that scientifically demonstrated that bikinis make man stupid, that sexy images rob male brain of ability to make wise decisions. The paper is formally titled "Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice".

How will this benefit the students? While there shouldn't be any bikinis at school, I'd say that you never know what's in young men's mind... or what they can imagine. For single-sex school students, at least this imagination part is eliminated or 'constrained'.

The experiments must be like torture to the 358 young men subjects.

Read this: "In one test, the men looked at images of women in bikinis or lingerie and at images of landscapes. In another, some men were given T-shirts to handle and assess while others were given bras. Another batch of men was assigned to watch a commercial featuring men running over landscapes while other guys watched a video of “hundreds of young women, dressed in bikinis running across hills, fields and beaches.” (No word on whether they used “Baywatch” slo-mo)."

How valid is this research? If concentrating itself is difficult, let alone making decisions, then the research must be quite valid.

Take an example from my friend, at his previous company.

One of his best technicians was fixing a pump when a female employee with sizeable yet well-proportioned boobs (that's how he explained to me) passed by. Without realizing it, the technician let his fingers cut (but did not require amputation) in the pump. Recordable accident.

In manufacturing environment (in any environment, in fact) it's a big deal. But you know what the technician said?

"It's OK. It's worth it."

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Blogging addiction

Rima lists "20 signs you're a blog addict". From the comments, most, if not all, plead guilty of being addicts.

How bad blogging addiction can be?

None reported so far. But how about this: "At least two cases of phone addiction have been reported in Britain where young people who were obsessed with their phones and became depressed when the number of incoming calls or messages dropped."

Not too far off, perhaps?

If mobile phone addiction can be a good indication, you (we?) may end up in a mental health clinic. Just like these two Spanish kids who were treated in mental clinic.

Two children are learning to live without their mobile phones after becoming so badly addicted to the technology they were admitted to a mental health clinic.

The children, aged 12 and 13, were treated for mobile phone addiction

They were brought in after spending an average of six hours a day on their phones, talking, texting or playing games.

Their parents became concerned that the children, aged 12 and 13, were unable to carry out normal activities without their handsets. They were failing at school and deceiving relatives in an attempt to obtain more money for phone cards.

However, it may take a year to wean them off the "drug", said Dr Maite Utges, director of the Child and Youth Mental Health Centre in Lleida, north-east Spain, where they have been treated for the past three months.

"It is the first time we have used a specific treatment to cure a dependence on the mobile phone," she said.

"They both showed disturbed behaviour and this exhibited itself in failure at school. They both had serious difficulties leading normal lives."

Both children had had their own phones for 18 months and were not controlled by their parents.

"One paid for their phone by getting money from the grandmother and other family members, without explaining what they were going to do with it," said Dr Utges.

At least two cases of phone addiction have been reported in Britain where young people who were obsessed with their phones and became depressed when the number of incoming calls or messages dropped.

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Prospectus - friends with benefits

In case you haven't heard, the term friends with benefits refers to two individuals (friends, as the term implies) who mutually and regularly engage in sexual activity without any aspirations of anything more than just sex. How does it compare to the traditional relationship? The prospectus below provides the answer. :)

(Found this on Yes, I Can't See You)

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Next generation soccer: topless

Austria 10 - Germany 5.

Whoa, wait. Didn't Germany beat Austria one-nil?

That's Euro. We're talking about Sexy Soccer, or topless soccer, or whatever you want to call it. It was played on the beach with one football, two goals, and two topless ladies teams.

"The traditional swapping of shirts afterwards was not an option as the six-a-side teams wore nothing but thongs, with the national colours painted on to their bare skin."

Get the idea? Picture to prove?

The players seem to be playing pretty hard...
"We played pretty hard, we even had some injuries, like I for example broke my toe nail," 29-year-old bank employee Doris Fastenmeir told Reuters.

But they're not professional players after all...
"I was supposed to hold the balls but I really have no idea how to do that," said German keeper Jana Bach. "Maybe it is because I am not all that much into soccer. I am more into shoes to be honest."

I'm a big fan of Germany. But after seeing the pictures, I think I'll be just a neutral soccer fan...


This is where all hooligans and bonek united...

Links:
Some nice pictures, also here.
Full report from Reuters.

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The Onion: naked woman picture gains popularity on internet

FYI:
1. This was copied and pasted from last week's article on the Onion
2. There is a real naked picture in the original article - don't click it at work (The Onion is not intended for readers under 18 years of age)
3. Again, this is from the Onion; don't join this group

Naked Woman Picture Gains Popularity On Internet

SAN FRANCISCO—According to leading web experts, a photo of an unidentified naked woman has caused an online sensation after appearing on the Internet sometime last week.

The inexplicably popular photograph, which features the woman exposing both breasts as well as providing an unobstructed view of her vagina, has been visited an estimated 750,000 times since it was first discovered two months ago.

"For some reason, people cannot seem to get enough of the naked woman picture," said Michael Vianna, a web analyst for Comstar Market Research who has been closely following the trend. "Though the image displays no discernible function or real-world application, it continues to enjoy immense popularity with Internet users. It is utterly perplexing."

Vianna, who closely examined the photograph over several days in an attempt to understand its appeal, said that the nude-lady photo falls completely outside typical uses for the Internet, like checking e-mail or accessing helpful information such as tax laws and driving directions. Even more unusual, the photo contains no information regarding the woman's acting or modeling career, her possible relevance to American history, or name.

"This image contains no encrypted data or practical content of any kind," Vianna said. "Even more baffling is that, in terms of web traffic, this seemingly pointless image has vastly surpassed websites as informative and indispensable as WebMD.com and Yahoo! News."

"If only she were wearing a T-shirt with some slogan on it or standing in front of a national monument, perhaps then we could begin to understand this enigmatic image," Vianna continued. "In the end, however, it is simply a picture of an unclothed female approximately 20 to 30 years of age posed with her breasts and vagina clearly visible."

According to Vianna's research, there are no significant patterns relating to the viewing behavior of those accessing the picture except that the majority of the traffic usually comes late at night. And, though web-usage reports indicate that the naked woman picture interests people of all ages, income brackets, and ethnic backgrounds, there is no evidence that the photo has ever been shared with viewers' family members or coworkers, or featured in a CNN.com photojournalism slide show.

"It appears as if every one of yesterday's 27,430 viewers accessed this specific portrait independently of one another, and may even have searched for it intentionally," Vianna said. "What could have driven them all to seek out this particular photo of an anonymous, undressed woman? We may never know."

The unaccountable popularity of outwardly useless Internet content such as the naked woman picture is not unheard of. According to freelance web consultant Joseph Ziarko, these Internet "memes" are difficult to explain, as there are no factors to dictate why something as nonfunctional as a 6 x 9" digital capture of a well-endowed, tan-skinned woman lightly moistened by either sweat or beach water would interest so many people.

"No one really understands why these things catch on," Ziarko said. "Like the Hamster Dance website from a few years back or the recent interest in LOLCats, there is some intangible quality about this photo that thousands of otherwise-normal people find captivating. Maybe the fact that it is in such sharp focus."

Though interest in the photo currently remains high, Ziarko predicted that the Internet-using public will soon tire of the naked woman picture once the web is saturated with images from imitators attempting to duplicate its popularity.

"By next month, the Internet could be home to literally hundreds of pictures of naked women," Ziarko said. "There's simply no way the trend can sustain itself. People will very quickly get bored with the constant barrage of bare breasts and vaginas."

Many experts agree with Ziarko, but others in the field have suggested that the picture could spark a lucrative industry in which images of naked women are licensed to decorate promotional gas-station soda cups.

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This week's red

Yup.

Red is this week.
Dedicated to Mascherano, Bennett, and the little red devil.

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Dear penis

The older a man is, the further the relationship with his penis...? *LOL*

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Kokomo

Certain things click just like that to some (memorable) events in the past. Whether nice or ugly.

Heard on the radio yesterday - Kokomo by the Beach Boys from the soundtrack of Cocktail is one of them, back to some years in high school, with significant involvement from Sheque. No details to be shared :)

"We'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow..."

PS. Elisabeth Shue was hot, by the way.

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Just add water...

This is from a couple months ago. Some Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol, which was part of their final-year school project.

What a surprise, eh.

They plan to price the powder, called Booz2Go, quite aggressively. It is said that a packet would cost $1.35 to $2. Assuming each packet can make a 24 oz. (~720 ml) drink, its equivalent alcopops, Smirnoff Ice for example, also cost about the same - around $2.20. If, however, a packet can only make 12 oz. drink, popular alcopops would be relatively cheaper at $7.99 for six-pack.

Since Booz2Go is likely to be exempted from tax, this looks like a quite profitable business.

So it's clear that Booz2Go has a niche market that will pay the premium. Like those who can't buy alcoholic drinks.

Like kids under the legal age of drinking.

"Because the alcohol is not in liquid form, we can sell it to people below 16," said project member Martyn van Nierop.

Poor youngsters - early exposure to alcohol.

Anyway, assuming this product will take off, what else can we expect the demand to increase? The complement goods - water. Or perhaps soon grape and orange juice...

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