I like how they say that Bloomberg 'prides itself on its accuracy', as if most other newspapers are totally cool with it if the accidentally publish some living guy's obit. - j1m
“Steve Jobs, who helped make personal computers as easy to use as telephones, changed the way animated films are made, persuaded consumers to tune into digital music and refashioned the mobile phone, has XXXX. He was TK. Jobs XXXX, TK said XXXXX.” - Jim Norris
"Interpersonal and Ground Processes in Long-Term Spaceflight Crews: Perspectives from Social and Organizational Psychology": http://www.ingentaconnect.com/... says fascinating things like "Social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) are personality and social attitude measures with relevant correlates including prejudice and are worth considering as possible select-out criteria for long-term space missions." - ⓞnor
But 'One' is the loneliest number and 42 is the meaning of life. - AJ Kohn
Anyway, seems like there's a whole lot of research on this subject (that article alone has several dozen references, going back to studies of Scott's South Pole expedtition). "Can We Go To Mars Without Going Crazy" (http://discovermagazine.com/20...) also has a lot of interesting anecdotes, though it's several years old now. What I can't find is anything about ideal team size. Team size is a variable in the studies that were done, but they seem to assume it will be fixed by mission constraints. - ⓞnor
'One' may be the loneliest number, but 'Two' can be as bad as one. - Alex Power
42 is not the meaning of life. 42 is the answer to life, the universe, everything. - Amit Patel
Arggh! @e3r (ⓞnor), have you a permalink to the Ingenta story? - John Lam
"Me: I assume NASA selects for people that will get along with anyone." -- ok, you haven't seen The Right Stuff. - j1m
John Lam: The link should be fixed, sorry. Note, it's not a very well written paper, but it's good for a quick overview of at least one stripe of current thinking on the topic. - ⓞnor
What's with option (c) -- is it a personal thing or a cultural thing? I've not often come across accusations of athletes withdrawing because their chances of winning are 'reduced'. Ridiculous suggestions that injury / illness claims are simply a prearranged reason for not winning? Sure, that I've seen. But this? - Reto Meier via fftogo
Linford Christie almost certainly double false-started in the '96 100m final because he knew he couldn't win, so I don't think (c) is un-precedented. - Nick Lothian
@Nick: Almost certainly? What's that based on? (a quick Google didn't reveal that as common belief) - Reto Meier via fftogo
@Reto - there doesn't seem to be much about it on the net, but http://www.swiftpapers.com/ess... references the belief. It was discussed a lot the time on TV & Radio. Reading about it now, it doesn't appear as certain as I remember it at the time, though.. - Nick Lothian
As i watch the opening ceremonies, I can't help but think about how much perfectionism went into the creation of them. - Erica Baker
Some people are motivated by extreme pressure; eg: "I don't swim well at the little meets, because it's just no fun; I'd rather not be there," she said. "When the pressure is on, I know that everything I've trained for is coming to this point in time." (http://www.theage.com.au/artic...) - Nick Lothian
http://tinyurl.com/ohchina The country's quest for perfection apparently includes its children.
Lin Miaoke's performance Friday night, like the ceremony itself, was an immediate hit. "Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke becomes instant star with patriotic song," the China Daily newspaper headline said Tuesday.
But the real voice behind the tiny, pigtailed girl in the red dress who wowed 91,000 spectators at the National Stadium on opening night really belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Her looks apparently failed the cuteness test with officials organizing the ceremony, but Chen said her voice was judged the most beautiful.
"The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen," Chen said. "Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi's voice was the most outstanding." - Erica Baker
I suspected that she was lip-sync'ing but I thought she was lip-sync'ing to a recording of herself. :| - niniane
Clearly China needs to embark on a national campaign to make its little girls more cute. - Melinda Owens
That elegant woman really does look quite graceful and I can only assume she must laso have been pretty ( refer pic about duck rest. in your blog) - viki saigal
I think some people on friendfeed have a lot to learn about what it means when someone asks for an opinion. - Clare Dibble
Are you saying that the commenters should learn that it doesn't mean anything? - niniane
I meant in person I can usually tell if someone actually wants my opinion or if they want their opinion confirmed. It is harder to do over the internet. - Clare Dibble
I think that asking for advice, and then doing what you want to do anyways can be annoying. I do it quite frequently, especially with Clare, but I am trying not to do it as much. Of course, as someone who is giving advice, one must also remember that the decision is ultimately up to the other person. To add to Clare's comment, I think I am frequently looking for confirmation rather than an actual opinion. - Robert Felty
“My brother and I are both owners on the title of his car. I bought insurance for that car. Is my brother insured when he drives it, or does he need to get his own insurance?”
You mean you insured yourself to drive his car? That doesn't seem useful, are you a regular driver of it? He needs to be insured to drive the car too. What with it being his car and all. Don't worry, since he's a young male, it will cost at most 2 kazillion dollars. - j1m
I believe details like this vary from insurance company to insurance company. - Brian Johns
Usually I think you're suppose to put all regular drivers on the insurance policy - Chris White
Yup - if he's a regular driver of the car but is not a named insured, the insurance company probably won't pay a claim. - Daniel Dulitz
whether to insure the primary driver of the car is a detail? also, to my knowledge this wouldn't vary at all within the us. - j1m
Should I be worried that I'm going to Antarctica later this year on a different ship *also* called Explorer? - Kevin Fox
It's the selection of what to post which is hilarious. The pie story for Google Desktop: "No, I should fix the hard ones first, when I'm not as tired.... Oho! That must mean you're going for all 10 pies!" - Nick Lothian
@Nick: Somehow, I have the feeling that if this blog had MY picture on it, you wouldn't have even commented. ;) - Rob Reed
@Kevin It won't be any fun if you just worry the whole time. Assume the best... and take note of where the life jackets are. - Cyrus Lendvay
Yeah, negative effects of "stereotype threat" should be well documented already by social psychology researchers. A web site for illuminating and debunking baseless misunderstandings like this is a great idea. - Niclas Johansson
Maybe it's only Chinese women who become slower after 35 ;) - Paul Buchheit
So you're saying that when my wife turns 35, I should trade her in for a younger model? I suppose an 18-year-old would give me the most years before mental decline sets in... - Gabe Schaffer
But Gabe, your wife isn't Chinese... - Clare Dibble
My sister lives in Orlando and has a pot bellied pig. That thing is scary, and none of us would even consider snuggling with it. - Michael Hylkema
I owned a potbelly as a teenager. However the vet bills became overwhelming for my family. They have to have their hooves and tucks filed down somewhat frequently and it didn't come cheap. He was however a great little pet. He didn't mind being held too much, in fact that is how I got him. My father (at the time working for a radio station) was an announcer for our local county faire. One of the attractions was a potbelly pig race, it was really cute and the owners just loved their pigs. - Rachel L Fisher
My father, knowing I loved pigs introduced me to them. They had a series of babies at the time, just recently weened, and I asked if I could hold one. They were hesitant because pigs aren't often happy to be held, and these had barely been touched by humans. But they put him on a leash and tied it to a post in case he jumped out of my arms and then gave him too me. The pig wiggled for a moment and the curled up and happily went to sleep in my arms. They had never seen that before. They gave him too me. - Rachel L Fisher
Eventually we gave Buddy to our local dr. doolittle lady who let me visit when I wanted. But I missed him a lot, he was a great little guy. Look into vet bills if you are considering this. Also their instinct is to root with their noses and can cause damage to carpets and yards. Just get all your facts first. - Rachel L Fisher
re: Clare. Where I come from, dogs are food, yet people still raise them. - niniane
I would really like to pigsit for a weekend, to find out the extent of the rooting problems and the non-snuggliness. If anyone knows how I can arrange this, or if you own a pig and would like some free pig-sitting, let me know. - niniane
I experienced many emotions while listening to this short clip. - niniane via Bookmarklet
Best. Voicemail. Ever. Words cannot describe. I have never, ever heard such insane douchebaggery. Oh my goodness. I have to listen to it again. - Sacca
Sorry to hear that. I think the photo needs a big FAIL. - Jim Norris
My friend Ellie's dad has this super-power, where every boat he gets on capsizes --- from Zodiacs to a Greek Cruising Liner he was on. I think all things considered, I'd rather that the boat I'm going to get on sinks before I get on it. :-) Hm... I guess I should be grateful you're not coming on the Turkey sailing trip. - Piaw Na
Hey, I didn't make the boat sink! You need to carefully consider the cause-effect relationship. - niniane
So you say... but then you post about it. Coincidence? - Daniel Dulitz
Also, Piaw, I thought your sailing trip was to Greece, not Turkey. - niniane
Greece & Turkey are next to each other. For Visa reasons, it's better for Lisa to visit Turkey. :-) - Piaw Na
I think sometimes the lie is more for the teller than the hearer. Would "Fernando" have been surprised to learn that Melody felt that strongly about those things? I'd rather know the truth so I can decide whether to do something about it or not. - Daniel Dulitz
Unless Fernando dumber than a stone, he knew he was being lied to. It's hard to see any point in lying if you're somehow that bad at it. (Or maybe niniane was exaggerating the lameness of the lie for comic effect?) - j1m
Dumping can probably also be a last resort if all previous means of communicating the issue failed because the dumpee-to-be wasn't listening. - Philipp Lenssen
I don't think saying "I don't date fat people" is all that respectable either, but that's just me. In a way, hearing "you're too fat" would actually be great because then I'd know that the person who dumped me was in fact too shallow for me. But that requires a certain politics of body image and self-esteem. - Lilly Irani
@Lilly: That's exactly what I mean about the lie being more for the teller. - Daniel Dulitz
The truth can be very uncomfortable. People generally prefer denial. - Paul Buchheit
What if you ended relationships in whatever way felt 'right' but then agreed to exit interviews with an unaffiliated third party, so each side could have notes for improvement/reflection. - Kevin Fox
I have to agree with Philipp, they were not not open in their communication to one another ..but good communication from both partners is needed. - Peter Dawson
The times I actually heard some variant of, "you're too fat" in my dating life, it didn't come off as shallow. I am, in fact, fat, though, and it was usually from boys who legitimately liked me, but just couldn't get past my girth. Truth is important in the negotiation and preservation of a relationship. I don't know if a breakup is the place for "honesty" though, because each person is at a different place in how dead the relationship is and I've found truth at that point to be very subjective. - Clare Dibble
Is the truth all that well-defined or all that useful in this sort of situation? I feel like I have a difficult time even knowing *what* I feel sometimes, much less *why* I feel that way. (Maybe I'm just out of touch with my feelings and emotionally unavailable or something =P) On the other hand, I couldn't imagine telling a girl that she was too fat or not attractive enough even if I did feel that way. (Does feeling that way make me shallow? Is that really just a result of body image politics?) - Jim Norris
There are several comments about not liking fat people, and that being shallow, but I think the fact is, for a relationship to work, there must be physical attraction. I happen to be attracted to larger women. Does that make me less shallow? On the other hand, I am totally turned off by people I view as being not very intelligent, especially people who write LOL in the wrong context. - Robert Felty
As far as relationships, I've always been the dumped (not as bad as it sounds because I've only had 2 relationships...and that IS as bad as it sounds). In situations of turning down someone, I try to be politely honest. And I came to that after having been painfully bullshitted by cowards any number of times. Yet I've met people who would have preferred being lied to or getting a runaround. I've learned that The Golden Rule is flawed because not everyone likes to be treated the same way you prefer. - Spidra Webster
In the usual spirit of "solutions should always accompany criticisms", the reason "you're too fat" is harsh. Dumping should probably pass the "it's ok to white lie" test. If it was any sort of relationship at all the dumpee already knows the reason... - Steve Lacey
do people really break up because someone gains a little weight? how shallow! - Adam Sweet
I dislike how it's considered "shallow" (in a negative way) to reject someone because you are not attracted to them. When it comes down to it, we all want to date someone attractive. Why don't we just admit it? Yes, inner beauty is important, but what we really want is someone who's attractive *and* has inner beauty. Sometimes we're forced to compromise if we can't have both. But let's admit that, instead of pretending that physical attraction is so much less respectable than intellectual attraction. - niniane
It's too bad we use the term 'dump' in regards to ending relationships. It rewards the first one who verbalizes a desire to get out of a relationship. Usually a series of events led to the breakup, and along the way, each person probably shares the blame for a failed relationship. - Chris White
I think somewhere along the line, evaluating people only based on their physical attractiveness (which is "shallow" even though it may not be "bad") got confused with taking physical attractiveness into account. I need to be with someone attractive. I have my own definition of that which occasionally confuses the people around me into thinking I don't take physical attractiveness into account. :-) - Daniel Dulitz
