Egypt’s new democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi recently made world headlines on two accounts. The first was for his central role in brokering a cease-fire in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas. The second, which followed almost immediately after the deal was confirmed, was a highly controversial presidential decree that would temporarily insulate his legislative and executive decisions from any judicial oversight. Ian Straughn, visiting assistant professor of anthropology and Joukowsky Family Librarian for Middle East Studies, analyzes the return of protesters to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the future of the Arab Spring in Egypt.(more…)
Microsoft launches national campaign to alert Americans to Google’s new pay-to-rank shopping search practices.
REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 28, 2012 — Bing, Microsoft Corp.’s search engine, today is launching a national campaign to highlight Bing’s commitment to honest search results and to help explain to consumers the risks of Google Shopping’s newly announced “pay-to-rank” practice, in which the shopping search results customers see are not true search results such as they see elsewhere on Google; they are actually ads that are ranked, in part, by who pays the most. More information on these practices is available at https://www.scroogled.com.
Instead of showing you the most relevant shopping search results for the latest coffee maker you’re looking to buy mom, Google’s new redesigned shopping vertical now decides what to show you — and how prominently to display what product offers they show — based partially on how much a merchant selling the product has paid Google. Merchants can literally pay to improve their chances to display their product offers higher than others inside of Google’s shopping “search,” even if it’s not necessarily better or cheaper. That’s not right, it’s not transparent, it’s not what you expect from search, and it’s not how we at Bing think search engines should help consumers get the best prices and selection when shopping. Consumers are urged to visit https://www.scroogled.com to learn more about how to avoid getting “Scroogled,” a term used by Bing to describe Google’s new practice that leaves people with fewer choices and potentially higher prices. (more…)
For those searching for deeper meaning in a failed marriage, writing about their feelings soon after divorce may lead to greater emotional distress, according to new research.
Following a divorce or separation, many people are encouraged by loved ones or health-care professionals to keep journals about their feelings. But for some, writing in-depth about those feelings immediately after a split may do more harm than good, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona.
In a study of 90 recently divorced or separated individuals, UA associate professor of psychology David Sbarra and colleagues found that writing about one’s feelings can actually leave some people feeling more emotionally distraught months down the line, particularly those individuals who are prone to seeking a deeper meaning for their failed marriage. (more…)
By using common materials found pretty much anywhere there is dirt, a team of Michigan State University researchers have developed a new thermoelectric material.
This is important, they said, because the vast majority of heat that is generated from, for example, a car engine, is lost through the tail pipe. It’s the thermoelectric material’s job to take that heat and turn it into something useful, like electricity. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you want to get rid of unwanted, negative thoughts, try just ripping them up and tossing them in the trash.
In a new study, researchers found that when people wrote down their thoughts on a piece of paper and then threw the paper away, they mentally discarded the thoughts as well.
On the other hand, people were more likely to use their thoughts when making judgments if they first wrote them down on a piece of paper and tucked the paper in a pocket to protect it. (more…)
Berkeley, CA — The installed price of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost-tracking report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
The median installed price of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2011 fell by roughly 11 to 14 percent from the year before, depending on system size, and, in California, prices fell by an additional 3 to 7 percent within the first six months of 2012. These recent installed price reductions are attributable, in large part, to dramatic reductions in PV module prices, which have been falling precipitously since 2008. (more…)
You may have received CPR training some time ago, but would you remember the proper technique in an emergency? Would you know what to do in the event of an earthquake or a fire? A new UCLA psychology study shows that people often do not recall things they have seen — or at least walked by — hundreds of times.(more…)
Is your organisation’s public relations practice stale? Or maybe it’s dead? If you are not taking advantage of good PR, then you are missing out on big opportunities for growth. Not only that, but you are probably failing the responsibility you owe to your stakeholders. Good PR means taking your organisation’s presence in the community seriously. Do a good job and keep it fresh.(more…)
