A lot is up for grabs this November in America—the presidency of the United States, for one. Not to mention a third of U.S. Senate seats, all seats in the U.S. House, and state-level amendments on issues ranging from voter ID to same-sex marriage (Minnesota has both on the ballot).
But almost six million Americans will sit this one out because of something they’ve done. They’re felons—perpetrators, at some point in their lives, of a serious crime. (more…)
Study suggests people prefer Bing’s Web search results nearly 2-to-1 over Google.
REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 6, 2012 — Beginning today, America can click and choose which Web search results it prefers by participating in the Bing It On Challenge, available at Bing.com. Based on research that indicates people prefer Bing Web search results over Google, Bing is inviting consumers to come and see for themselves with an online test designed to show that the quality of Bing’s Web search results has surpassed Google’s.
Although most people identify themselves as Google searchers, an independent study commissioned by Microsoft Corp. shows people chose Bing Web search results over Google nearly 2-to-1 in blind comparison tests.* Given those findings, Bing decided it is time to let people see for themselves that there is a better option in search. (more…)
Synopsis
After his father’s death in the late 1940s, 24-year-old aspiring writer Sal Paradise meets 20-year-old ex-jailbird Dan Moriarty and his beautiful wife Marylou in New York. Dan is extremely charming and has a flexible moral code, and is as fascinated by Sal’s obsession with writing as Sal is by the unfettered freedom of his lifestyle. The two men spend intense nights of drinking, dreaming of another world, and forming a friendship that will take them on a trip across America. After staying at Bull Lees place in Louisiana, Sal, Dean, and Marylou continue traveling – naked and utterly enjoying themselves. (more…)
UMN study shows eating less is about reduced desire as well as willpower
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL — New research from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management suggests learning how to stop enjoying unhealthy food sooner may play a pivotal role in combating America’s obesity problem. The research, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, explores how satiation, defined as the drop in liking during repeated consumption, can be a positive mechanism when it lowers the desire for unhealthy foods.
“When people talk about self-control, they really imply that self-control is willpower and that some people have it and others don’t when facing a tempting treat,” says Joseph Redden, an assistant professor of marketing at the Carlson School and lead author of the ‘Healthy Satiation: The Role of Decreasing Desire in Effective Self-Control.’ “In reality, nearly everyone likes these treats. Some people just stop enjoying them faster and for them it’s easier to say no.” (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Most of America’s urban cores were designed for walking but offer little in the way of supermarkets, healthy restaurants and other amenities for residents to walk to, according to a study led by a Michigan State University scholar.
The study is one of the first to show that poor residents living in declining urban neighborhoods want healthy food choices – evidenced by their willingness to travel long distances to find them. Past research has generally assumed that poor people will shop at whatever store is closest. (more…)
Intelligence historian cites changing focus of American espionage
In the spy trade, predicting the future is a risky business at best, but experts believe that America’s intelligence efforts will focus on Iran, North Korea and China.
Matthew M. Aid, intelligence historian and expert on the National Security Agency, discussed the forces driving this emerging strategy during a talk on Wednesday, May 2, in Mitchell Hall.
Aid’s talk, “The Future of Intelligence and Espionage,” concluded the spring 2012 Global Agenda speaker series “Spies, Lies and Sneaky Guys: Espionage and Intelligence in the Digital Age.” (more…)
USGS scientists have developed a new method for mapping grasslands that demonstrate high potential for growing biofuel crops with relatively little energy input and environmental impact.
The pioneering investigation used remote sensing data from satellites to identify detailed areas of the Greater Platte River Basin (most of Nebraska, parts of adjacent states) that are best suited for producing cellulosic (from the cell walls of plants) biofuel derived from hardy switchgrass, a native plant that grows wild or is easily cultivated. (more…)
University of Minnesota law professor Dale Carpenter’s first book, Flagrant Conduct, took him nearly nine years of research and writing to complete. Research that included, he says, “sitting in police department parking lots at 3 a.m., trying to catch officers going on and off duty so that I could interview them.”
He characterizes the amount of time he put into the book not as a job but as a way of life. If he had been looking for a payoff in writing it, he found it. With reviews in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and this past Sunday, the crème de la crème of the review world—the cover of The New York Times Book Review—it’s clearly a hit with critics. (more…)
