57 Cognitive Biases That Screw Up How We Think

People aren't as rational as we would like to think. From attentional bias — where someone focuses on only one or two of several possible outcomes — to zero-risk bias — where we place too much value on reducing a small risk to zero — the sheer number of cognitive biases that affect us every day is staggering. Understanding these biases is key to suppressing them — and needless to say, it is good to try to be rational in most cases. How else can you have any sort of control over investments, purchases, and all other decisions that you make in your life? To convey the breadth of cognitive biases, we've picked out 57 of the most notable ones from a much longer list on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases Attentional bias When someone focuses on only one or two choices despite there being several possible outcomes. Availability heuristic Where people overestimate the importance of information that is available to them. One example would be a person who argues that smoking is not unhealthy on the basis that his grandfather lived to 100 and smoked three packs a day, an argument that ignores the possibility that his grandfather was an outlier. Backfire effect When you reject evidence that contradicts your point of view or statement, even if you know it's true. Bandwagon effect The probability of one person adopting a belief increases based on the number of people who hold that belief. This is a powerful form of groupthink. Belief bias A bias where people make faulty conclusions based on what they already believe or know. For instance, one might conclude that all tiger sharks are sharks, and all sharks are animals, and therefore all animals are tiger sharks. Bias blind spots If you fail to realize your own cognitive biases, you have a bias blind spot. Everyone thinks they're not as biased as people may think, which is a cognitive bias itself. Choice-supportive bias A bias in which you think positive things about a choice once you made it, even if that choice has flaws. You may say positive things about the dog you just bought and ignore that the dog bites people. Clustering illusion This is the tendency to see streaks or clusters in random events. A gambler after watching a red come up multiple times in a row on a roulette table may erroneously conclude that red is hot. In a related bias, known as cognitive bias, the gambler may conclude that black is particularly likely to come up since it hasn't come up in awhile. In fact, the results are always random. Confirmation bias A tendency people have to believe certain information that confirms what they think or believe in. Conservatism bias Where people believe prior evidence more than new evidence or information that has emerged. People were slow to accept the fact that the earth was round because they tended to believe earlier information that it was flat. Curse of knowledge When people who are smarter or more well informed can not understand the common man. For instance, in the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" it's difficult for scientist Sheldon Cooper to understand his waitress neighbor Penny. Decoy effect A phenomenon in marketing where consumers have a specific change in preference between two choices after being presented with a third choice. Denomination effect People are less likely to spend large bills than their equivalent value in small bills or coins. Duration neglect When the duration of an event doesn't factor enough into a valuation. For instance we may remember momentary displeasure as strongly as protracted displeasure. Empathy gap Where people in one state fail to understand people in another state. If you are happy you can't imagine why people would be unhappy. When you are not sexually aroused, you can't understand how you act when you are sexually aroused. Frequency illusion Where a word, name or thing you just learned about suddenly appears everywhere. Now that you know what that SAT word means, you see it in so many places! Galatea Effect Where people succeed because they think they should. Halo effect Where we take one positive attribute of someone and associate it with everything else about that person or thing. Hard-Easy bias Where everyone is overconfident on easy problems and not confident enough for hard problems. Herding People tend to flock together, especially in difficult or uncertain times. Hindsight bias The tendency to see past events as predictable. "I knew all along Philip Phillips would win American Idol." Sure you did... Hyperbolic discounting The tendency for people to want an immediate payoff rather than a larger gain later on. Most people would rather take $5 now than $7 in a week. Ideometer effect Where an idea causes you to have an unconscious physical reaction, like a sad thought that makes your eyes tear up. This is also how Ouija boards seem to have minds of their own. Illusion of control The tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events, like when a sports fan thinks his thoughts or actions had an effect on the game. Illusion of validity When weak but consistent data leads to confident predictions. Like one commenter noted on the MIT admissions blog: Why is MIT's admissions process better than random? Say you weeded out the un-qualified (the fewer-than-half of applicants insufficiently prepared to do the work at MIT) and then threw dice to stochastically select among the remaining candidates. Would this produce a lesser class? Information bias The tendency to seek information when it does not affect action. More information is not always better. Inter-group bias We view people in our group differently from how see we someone in another group. Irrational escalation Investing more money or resources into something based on prior investment, even if you know it's a bad one. "I already have 500 shares of Lehman Brothers, let's buy more even though the stock is tanking." Less-is-more effect With less knowledge, people can often make more accurate predictions. Negativity bias The tendency to put more emphasis on negative experiences rather than positive ones. People with this bias feel that "bad is stronger than good" and will perceive threats more than opportunities in a given situation. This leads toward loss aversion. Observer-expectancy effect Our expectations unconsciously influence how we perceive an outcome. Researchers, for example, looking for a certain result in an experiment, may inadvertently manipulate or interpret the results to reveal their expectations. That's why the "double-blind" experimental design was created for the field of scientific research. Omission bias The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse than equally harmful inactions. For example, we consider it worse to crash a car while drunk than to let one's friend crash his car while drunk. Ostrich effect The decision to ignore dangerous or negative information by "burying" one's head in the sand, like an ostrich. Outcome bias Judging a decision based on the outcome over the quality of the decision when it was made. This is not accounting for the role luck plays in outcomes. Overconfidence We are too confident about our abilities, and this causes us to take greater risks in our daily lives. Overoptimism When we believe the world is a better place than it is, we aren't prepared for the danger and violence we may encounter. The inability to accept the full breadth of human nature leaves us vulnerable. Pessimism bias This is the opposite of the overoptimism bias. Pessimists over-weigh negative consequences with their own and others' actions. Placebo effect A self-fulfilling prophecy, where belief in something causes it to be effective. This is a basic principle of stock market cycles. Planning fallacy The tendency to underestimate how much time it will take to complete a task. Post-purchase rationalization Making ourselves believe that a purchase was worth the value after the fact. Pro-innovation bias When a proponent of an innovation tends to overvalue its usefulness and undervalue its limitations. Procrastination Deciding to act in favor of the present moment over investing in the future. Reactance The desire to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do, in order to prove your freedom of choice. Recency The tendency to weight the latest information more heavily than older data. Reciprocity The belief that fairness should trump other values, even when it's not in our economic and/or other interests. Regression bias People take action in response to extreme situations. Then when the situations become less extreme, they take credit for causing the change, when a more likely explanation is that the situation was reverting to the mean. Restraint bias Overestimating one's ability to show restraint in the face of temptation. Salience Our tendency to focus on the most easily-recognizable features of a person or concept. Seersucker Illusion Over-reliance on expert advice. This has to do with the avoidance or responsibility. We call in "experts" to forecast, when in fact, they have no greater chance of predicting an outcome than the rest of the population. In other words, "for every seer there's a sucker." Selective perception Allowing our expectations to influence how we perceive the world. Self-enhancing transmission bias Everyone shares their successes more than their failures. This leads to a false perception of reality and inability to accurately assess situations. Status quo bias The tendency to prefer things to stay the same. This is similar to loss-aversion bias, where people prefer to avoid losses instead of acquiring gains. Stereotyping Expecting a group or person to have certain qualities without having real information about the individual. This explains the snap judgments Malcolm Gladwell refers to in "Blink." Survivorship bias An error that comes from focusing only on surviving examples, causing us to misjudge a situation. For instance, we might think that being an entrepreneur is easy because we haven't heard of all of the entrepreneurs who have failed. It can also cause us to assume that survivors are inordinately better than failures, without regard for the importance of luck or other factors. Tragedy of the commons We overuse common resources because it's not in any individual's interest to conserve them. This explains the overuse of natural resources, opportunism, and any acts of self-interest over collective interest. Unit bias We believe that there is an optimal unit size, or a universally-acknowledged amount of a given item that is perceived as appropriate. This explains why when served larger portions, we eat more. Zero-risk bias The preference to reduce a small risk to zero versus achieving a greater reduction in a greater risk. This plays to our desire to have complete control over a single, more minor outcome, over the desire for more — but not complete — control over a greater, more unpredictable outcome. Read more about zero-risk bias. That's just behavioral biases. There are all sorts of weird things in your head. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cognitive-biases-2013-8

These 10 Everyday Activities Are Slowly Killing You

We all want to live longer, healthier lives but there are hidden dangers all around us. Here are just a few of the tons of things we do every day that can shorten your lifespan without you knowing it. 1. Sitting Bad news for office workers. Even if you regularly exercise, long periods of inactivity are unhealthy. A study published in 2012 in the journal BMJ Open estimated that individuals who reduced excessive sitting to less than three hours a day could add two years to their life expectancy. 2. Sleeping too much Sleeping too little is of course bad for your health (and makes you gain weight), but sleeping too much can be equally harmful. A review of sleep studies showed that people who slept more than nine hours a night were at a 41% higher risk for heart disease than those who slept seven to eight hours a night. 3. Staring at a screen Research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests that spending more than four hours a day in front of a screen, like watching TV or surfing the Internet, can increase risk of heart attack and stroke by as much as 113%. Another study published in BMJ Open estimated that reducing screen time to less than two hours a day, individuals could add almost 1.4 years to their life expectancy. 4. Taking medication for non life-threatening illnesses Taking medication for things like insomnia or anxiety could lower some people's life expectancy. In a 12-year study, published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, scientists found that individuals not taking such medications had about a 5% lower mortality rate than those taking medication. 5. Lacking a sense of humor Laughter has a long list of health benefits according to the Mayo Clinic — it helps boost the immune system, reduces stress, and provides an emotional release. Laughing also burns calories. 6. A long commute Not only does commuting take up lots of time on a daily basis, it may also be taking time away from your total life span. Unpublished work presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers suggested that people with commutes longer than 30 minutes die earlier than others. Long commutes mean less time for exercise and sleep — both of which contribute to a longer and healthier life. 7. Stressing out We've all heard that stress can be harmful to our health and immune system, but research published in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences suggests it can actually damage our very DNA. Compared to non-stressed people, study participants with chronic stress had shorter telomeres — the regions responsible for protecting and connecting the ends of DNA strands, so our genes don't degrade over time. 8. Not having sex Having sex not only relieves stress, it burns calories and may even increase your life span. A Duke University study found that women with enjoyable sex lives lived almost eight years longer. Another study, in the journal BMJ, suggests that men who reported a higher frequency of orgasms had a 50% reduction in mortality. 9. Eating Poorly Things like processed foods, too much red meat, and not enough fresh fruit and vegetables all can contribute to serious health problems. Excessive red meat consumption contributed to higher cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality, according to a study in the journal Internal Medicine. 10. Being anti-social Isolation and loneliness can take a toll on your body in the same way excessive stress does. The MacArthur Study of Successful Aging demonstrated that people who rated themselves highly valuable in their friends' and family's lives were more likely to live longer than those who rated themselves lower. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/activities-that-could-be-killing-you-2013-9

22 Things Happy People Do Differently

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. – Dalai Lama There are two types of people in the world: those who choose to be happy, and those who choose to be unhappy. Contrary to popular belief, happiness doesn’t come from fame, fortune, other people, or material possessions. Rather, it comes from within. The richest person in the world could be miserable while a homeless person could be right outside, walking around with a spring in every step. Happy people are happy because they make themselves happy. They maintain a positive outlook on life and remain at peace with themselves. The question is: how do they do that? It’s quite simple. Happy people have good habits that enhance their lives. They do things differently. Ask any happy person, and they will tell you that they … 1. Don’t hold grudges. Happy people understand that it’s better to forgive and forget than to let their negative feelings crowd out their positive feelings. Holding a grudge has a lot of detrimental effects on your wellbeing, including increased depression, anxiety, and stress. Why let anyone who has wronged you have power over you? If you let go of all your grudges, you’ll gain a clear conscience and enough energy to enjoy the good things in life. 2. Treat everyone with kindness. Did you know that it has been scientifically proven that being kind makes you happier? Every time you perform a selfless act, your brain produces serotonin, a hormone that eases tension and lifts your spirits. Not only that, but treating people with love, dignity, and respect also allows you to build stronger relationships. 3. See problems as challenges. The word “problem” is never part of a happy person’s vocabulary. A problem is viewed as a drawback, a struggle, or an unstable situation while a challenge is viewed as something positive like an opportunity, a task, or a dare. Whenever you face an obstacle, try looking at it as a challenge. 4. Express gratitude for what they already have. There’s a popular saying that goes something like this: “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.” You will have a deeper sense of contentment if you count your blessings instead of yearning for what you don’t have. 5. Dream big. People who get into the habit of dreaming big are more likely to accomplish their goals than those who don’t. If you dare to dream big, your mind will put itself in a focused and positive state. 6. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Happy people ask themselves, “Will this problem matter a year from now?” They understand that life’s too short to get worked up over trivial situations. Letting things roll off your back will definitely put you at ease to enjoy the more important things in life. 7. Speak well of others. Being nice feels better than being mean. As fun as gossiping is, it usually leaves you feeling guilty and resentful. Saying nice things about other people encourages you to think positive, non-judgmental thoughts. 8. Never make excuses. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Happy people don’t make excuses or blame others for their own failures in life. Instead, they own up to their mistakes and, by doing so, they proactively try to change for the better. 9. Get absorbed into the present. Happy people don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future. They savor the present. They let themselves get immersed in whatever they’re doing at the moment. Stop and smell the roses. 10. Wake up at the same time every morning. Have you noticed that a lot of successful people tend to be early risers? Waking up at the same time every morning stabilizes your circadian rhythm, increases productivity, and puts you in a calm and centered state. 11. Avoid social comparison. Everyone works at his own pace, so why compare yourself to others? If you think you’re better than someone else, you gain an unhealthy sense of superiority. If you think someone else is better than you, you end up feeling bad about yourself. You’ll be happier if you focus on your own progress and praise others on theirs. 12. Choose friends wisely. Misery loves company. That’s why it’s important to surround yourself with optimistic people who will encourage you to achieve your goals. The more positive energy you have around you, the better you will feel about yourself. 13. Never seek approval from others. Happy people don’t care what others think of them. They follow their own hearts without letting naysayers discourage them. They understand that it’s impossible to please everyone. Listen to what people have to say, but never seek anyone’s approval but your own. 14. Take the time to listen. Talk less; listen more. Listening keeps your mind open to others’ wisdoms and outlooks on the world. The more intensely you listen, the quieter your mind gets, and the more content you feel. 15. Nurture social relationships. A lonely person is a miserable person. Happy people understand how important it is to have strong, healthy relationships. Always take the time to see and talk to your family, friends, or significant other. 16. Meditate. Meditating silences your mind and helps you find inner peace. You don’t have to be a zen master to pull it off. Happy people know how to silence their minds anywhere and anytime they need to calm their nerves. 17. Eat well. Junk food makes you sluggish, and it’s difficult to be happy when you’re in that kind of state. Everything you eat directly affects your body’s ability to produce hormones, which will dictate your moods, energy, and mental focus. Be sure to eat foods that will keep your mind and body in good shape. 18. Exercise. Studies have shown that exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft does. Exercising also boosts your self-esteem and gives you a higher sense of self-accomplishment. 19. Live minimally. Happy people rarely keep clutter around the house because they know that extra belongings weigh them down and make them feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Some studies have concluded that Europeans are a lot happier than Americans are, which is interesting because they live in smaller homes, drive simpler cars, and own fewer items. 20. Tell the truth. Lying stresses you out, corrodes your self-esteem, and makes you unlikeable. The truth will set you free. Being honest improves your mental health and builds others’ trust in you. Always be truthful, and never apologize for it. 21. Establish personal control. Happy people have the ability to choose their own destinies. They don’t let others tell them how they should live their lives. Being in complete control of one’s own life brings positive feelings and a great sense of self-worth. 22. Accept what cannot be changed. Once you accept the fact that life is not fair, you’ll be more at peace with yourself. Instead of obsessing over how unfair life is, just focus on what you can control and change it for the better. Source: http://www.lifed.com/22-things-happy-people-do-differently http://successify.net/2012/10/31/22-things-happy-people-do-differently/

Can crowdsourcing diagnose diseases better than doctors?

When people come together, they can solve difficult medical problems faster and more cheaply than the traditional clinical process. CrowdMed is a crowdsourced medical diagnosis platform. The company participated in the most recent Y Combinator class and launched publicly today at the TEDMED event in Washington, D.C. “The premise of the wisdom of crowds is that a large group of nonexperts can be very wise once you have the right mechanisms in place to aggregate their collective intelligence,” said founder Jared Heyman in an interview with VentureBeat. “Many people operate under the assumption that crowds are unwieldy, but they can be smarter than expert individuals. If I had to choose between one doctor and one random person on the street for a diagnosis, I would choose the doctor. But if I have to pick between one doctor and hundreds of people with relevant information to share, I would pick the crowd.” Heyman previously founded an online market research firm called Infosurv, where he experienced the power and accuracy of collective wisdom, and its capability to predict potential outcomes. In 2003, his sister got sick with an undiagnosed medical condition. She spent years going to specialist after specialist, but none of them could figure out what was wrong. By the time she was diagnosed with a rare disease that affects one in 15,000 women, she had seen 16 different doctors and racked up over $100,000 in medical bills. “This illness almost killed her — she lost three years of her life,” he said. “Many physicians are hyper-specialized these days and have a hard time seeing things outside of their speciality. This is a problem with the medical system, which meant my sister couldn’t get an accurate diagnosis. I thought there has to be an alternative between Google searches and WebMD and bouncing from doctor to doctor.” Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/16/yc-startup-bets-crowdsourcing-can-diagnose-diseases-better-than-doctors/#hGsPCAECGg37dpay.99 DreamIt Health, a new Philadelphia-based, health-focused chapter of incubator DreamIt Ventures, has announced its first class of ten startups. Independence Blue Cross (IBC) and Penn Medicine are sponsoring the class and Venturef0rth is providing the working space for the companies. The new accelerator was launched in December 2012. The startups will be provided with up to $50,000 in funding, office space, mentoring, and resources for developing and testing health-related products. The incubator will last four months, and companies will receive coaching from both entrepreneurs and health care executives. DreamIt Ventures has launched 80 companies over the past four years, including one health-related startup, 1DocWay. Supporting sponsors include global professional services company Towers Watson, and law firms Morgan Lewis, and Pepper Hamilton. In the FAQ section on DreamIt’s website, the company discusses the need for another health-specific incubator, explaining the health-specific resources DreamIt will provide startups. “For startups to be successful in healthcare, they need access to unusual resources typically out of reach – from … EMR systems to integrate with to big data sets of protected health information. In partnering with titans of industry such as Penn Medicine and Independence Blue Cross, we are opening up these resources to our companies,” the FAQ reads. Here are the ten startups: AirCare is developing an online and mobile app that will use video tele-nursing and patient analytics in an attempt to lower readmissions and improve patient outcomes. Biomeme is focused on creating a point-of-care molecular diagnostic device that is low-cost and mobile, to help clinicians and epidemiologists track infectious diseases in near-real time with smartphones. Fitly is an app that promotes healthier eating for kids with gamified mechanics. Families compete against one another to earn points by eating healthier foods, and Fitly provides meal plans, grocery lists, and even discounts. Winning families can win prizes up to and including cars and vacations, according to the company’s website. Grand Roundtable facilitates crowdsourcing for complex patient treatment solutions within a group of professionals, and provides doctors with easier means to compare patients’ electronic records to a database of similar patients from around the world. Medlio is an app that acts as a smart health insurance card, offering patients up-to-date information and providers more accurate front-end cost estimates. OnShift is developing a physician messaging platform for clinicians caring for the same patient which also incorporates care analytics. Osmosis is a web and mobile platform that uses a social learning framework to educate medical students, better preparing them to acquire and retain knowledge. MemberRx leverages electronic health records to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals by choosing the best generic or branded drug for a specific patient n a specific case. SpeSo Health is an analytics platform connecting patients with rare or complex diseases to online second opinions about their treatment or condition. Stat is a service aiming to speed up patient transport and lower costs by matching providers and payers with idle transportation resources. Source :http://mobihealthnews.com/21516/new-incubator-dreamit-health-launches-first-class/ The doctors expertise can also be crowdsourced: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/10/the_doctors_will_see_you_now.html Sometime in 1995, an e-mail from China arrived in my inbox with a desperate request for medical advice. I was a naïve medical student at Johns Hopkins University and an early adopter of the modem; the e-mail's author was identified only as "Peking University." In broken English, the message described a 21-year-old woman who had felt sick to her stomach and within days lost all her hair. This problem went away, but a few months later, "She Began to facial paralysis, central muscle of eye's paralysis, self-controlled respiration disappeared," and needed to be put on a ventilator. "This is the first time that Chinese try to find help from Internet," the message explained. "Please send back e-mail to us." With immature confidence I consulted some texts and replied that maybe she had a weird form of lupus. I never heard back and figured it was a prank. The following year at the supermarket, I was browsing the August issue of Reader's Digest and saw a piece titled "Rescue on the Internet." It turned out that I wasn't the only one who'd replied to the posting, and the whole thing had not been a hoax. Incredibly, hundreds of doctors had seen the brief message and correctly determined that the patient was being poisoned by a tasteless, odorless heavy metal called thallium. Soon after, Chinese doctors were able to give an antidote to save the woman's life. (She did end up permanently disabled.) In 2006, Wired magazine coined the term "crowdsourcing," to describe the process of seeking a problem's solution from a wide community, often online. Such collaboration certainly didn't come naturally to doctors. For millennia, they'd worked as solo practitioners who jealously guarded their secrets. But the Chinese e-mail episode shows how large groups of doctors might come together to solve a problem. More than 1,000 trained medical professionals independently guessed at the cause of the woman's illness, and while many were wrong, almost one-third suspected thallium poisoning. That was enough to get her doctors in China to consider the possibility and then confirm it. Advertisement In many ways, such crowdsourcing resembles an expert poll—sort of like Trident's claim that "four out of five dentists" recommend sugarless gum, minus the commercial bias. And it works. One example: the New England Journal of Medicine hosts a weekly, online "image challenge," which shows mysterious x-rays or biopsies and asks for a diagnosis via multiple-choice. I don't often pick the right answer, but if you look at the aggregate choices from tens of thousands of other doctors around the world, the plurality invariably hits the mark. Doctors in the United States have found help from their peers for real-life situations, too. Earlier this year, an internist (and sometime Slate author) named John Schumann posted the details of a peculiar case to a widely-read medical blog. A friend of his had developed inexplicable weight loss, low blood counts, and a weird, softball-sized mass in his liver. A dozen doctors saw the MRI scans and other test results online, and about half came up with the correct diagnosis: a benign growth of blood vessels. Debunking the myth of the lone maverick, health researchers suggest that groups of doctors outperform individuals not only in diagnosing problems but also in treating them. In 2007, NEJM began polling its readers for consensus opinions on tough treatment questions: how to handle an abnormal prostate cancer screening test, how to treat an athlete's skin infection, what to do for hepatitis C infection, and a few others. Responses from almost 20,000 doctors across the globe were tabulated. Still, patients may be uncomfortable turning over their care to a majority vote of faceless doctors. But the reality doesn't have to sound so scary and impersonal. In some cases, crowdsourcing works by soliciting many ideas, and then having designated subspecialists vet them. (As on Wikipedia, not all contributors are given equal authority.) At major medical centers, for example, a group of experts called a "tumor board" reviews tough cancer cases as a group, e-mails around the country for advice on the hardest ones, and then discusses the options with the individual patient. In my own field of pediatric cardiology, more than 1,500 doctors worldwide subscribe to an e-mail list for crowd-sourcing tough issues, but the final decisions are left to the cardiologist who knows the patient. Doctors can draw on group consults when necessary, but nonphysicians rarely have access to the power of crowd-sourced medicine. To be sure, many patients with complex or poorly understood medical problems like amyotrophic lateral sclerosiscongregate in large virtual communities such as PatientsLikeMe, where they share details of their medical treatments and symptoms with each other—and occasionally even launch their own unregulated and informal drug trials. These communities provide some helpful information and support for many people.

The Thinking LMS

What can colleges learn from Facebook? The popular social networking platform certainly seems to have their students’ attention. Yet if Facebook does add unique value as a teaching platform, that value has so far proven limited. Where Facebook has shown unique value is as a data-gathering tool. Never has a website been able to learn so much about its users. And that is where higher education should be taking notes, said Angie McQuaig, director of data innovation at the University of Phoenix, at the 2010 Educause conference on Friday. If Facebook can use analytics to revolutionize advertising in the Web era, McQuaig suggested, colleges can use the same principles to revolutionize online learning. The trick, she said, is individualization. Facebook lets users customize their experiences with the site by creating profiles and curating the flow of information coming through their “news feeds.” In the same motion, the users volunteer loads of information about themselves. “Kevin and I might have the exact same list of friends on Facebook,” McQuaig said, picking on one audience member near the front. “But because we have different interests and different knowledge bases, his home page is going to be completely different from mine, and his experience is going to be very different from mine. And Facebook knows everything that we do, every click… if they know I’m a vegan, they can give me great advertisements [relating to] veganism.” The most successful commercial websites are already moving in this direction, and higher education -- which itself is growing increasingly Web-based -- needs to catch up, McQuaig said. “What we really need to do now is deeply understand our learners,” she said. This is where the University of Phoenix is headed with its online learning platform. In an effort ambitiously dubbed the "Learning Genome Project,” the for-profit powerhouse says it is building a new learning management system (or LMS) that gets to know each of its 400,000 students personally and adapts to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of their “learning DNA.” Unlike analog forms of student profiling -- such as surveys, which are only as effective as the students’ ability to diagnose their own learning needs -- Phoenix’s Learning Genome Project will be designed to infer details about students from how they behave in the online classroom, McQuaig said. If students grasp content more quickly when they learn it from a video than when they have to read a text, the system will feed them more videos. If a student is bad at interpreting graphs, the system will recognize that and present information accordingly — or connect the student with another Phoenix student who is better at graph-reading. The idea is to take the model of personal attention now only possible in the smallest classrooms and with the most responsive professors, make it even more perceptive and precise, and scale it to the largest student body in higher education. “[Each student] comes to us with a set of learning modality preferences,” McQuaig said. The online learning platform Phoenix wants to build, she said, “reject[s] the one-size-fits-all model of presenting content online.” In the age of online education and the personal Web, the standardized curriculum is marked for extinction, McQuaig said; data analytics are going to kill it. Not yet, though. The project is early in the design phase. In fact, Friday was the first time that Phoenix, known for playing its hand close to the chest, had shared the conceptual framework for the Learning Genome Project at a major conference. The company plans to publish research on the topic soon, McQuaig told Inside Higher Ed after her presentation. Also, in order to make the platform as flexible as it needs to be, Phoenix plans to phase out its current in-house learning management system and build the new one with open-source tools. It even plans to share some (but not all) of what it builds with other institutions, she said. Phoenix is certainly not the only institution focusing on how data logged by learning management systems can be used to improve learning. Nor is it the only institution trying to use some of the principles that have made Facebook and Netflix so successful. Two days earlier at Educause, envoys from the South Orange Community College District had unveiled a project called Sherpa (http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/2010/sherpa-increasing-student-success-recommendation-engine), which uses information about students to recommend courses and services. McQuaig said Phoenix has been in conversations with a number of universities that are working toward similar learner-centered online platforms. There are challenges, McQuaig said. Being so attentive for all its students at once will require a lot of data processing; whether the system — as Phoenix envisions it — can work reliably at scale remains to be seen. In any case, she said, it will be expensive to make. And then there are the inevitable privacy issues: Some Facebook users have become more guarded in recent years about the personal data they feed the system due to concerns about how that data might be used; one could imagine a similar backlash against an online learning platform built on the same principles. A for-profit company that collects data not only on what students like but also on how their minds work might make some people uneasy. (McQuaig later told Inside Higher Ed that Phoenix is committed to "ethical use of the data" and letting students choose how much information they submit.) But that is where online education, and the Internet as a whole, is headed, McQuaig said. And when Phoenix makes a claim about the future of education, many people are inclined to listen. At a time when the company and its for-profit ilk have been portrayed by some in Congress as pariahs, Phoenix is also envied by many traditional colleges for having the predominant brand in the fastest growing sector of higher education. In a preamble to McQuaig’s presentation, the university's provost, Adam Honea, discussed Phoenix’s history as an online pioneer with a conspicuous we-told-you-so subtext. “Historically, I felt that many times we were trying to explain why we were doing what we were doing,” Honea said. Now that everyone else has caught on, he said, Phoenix is looking at the next step. “One of the purposes of this presentation was to share with you our early thoughts and to say, ‘Hey, we’re having a lot of active discussions with scholars and leaders in the field who are interested in building this,' ” McQuaig said, “'and if you’d love to chat with us, we’d love to chat with you.'” Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/18/phoenix#ixzz2A4DTnYYY Inside Higher Ed

Fertility Tourism

Fertility tourism may be next European boom Effective IVF treatments cheaper in eastern countries BERLIN - European Union expansion could lead to fertility tourism, with couples travelling to the block’s eastern countries where treatment is just as effective but much cheaper, experts said on Wednesday. In Slovenia and Hungary, among the 10 countries that joined the EU last month, pregnancy rates following in-vitro fertilization are higher than in Germany and Britain and treatment is a fraction of the cost. “Discrepancies in prices between countries, particularly between east and west, means that it is vital that potential patients can compare not only prices, but the quality and efficacy of the treatments on offer,” Professor Karl Nygren, of the Sofiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, told a fertility conference. Preliminary data from a report on assisted reproduction technology in Europe by Nygren and Dr. Anders Nyboe Andersen, of the Copenhagen University in Denmark, show doctors in some eastern European countries are performing more fertility treatments than in western nations. Denmark has the highest availability of fertility treatments in Europe, with 1,923 cycles per million of the population in 2001. By comparison Slovenia, which ranked fifth, had 1,222 treatment cycles while the Netherlands had 963 and Britain 593 cycles per million. Decline in multiple births In Britain, the cost of one cycle of IVF ranges from $3,630 to $7,260 but in Hungary and Slovenia it could be half the price. Both countries have good systems of collecting data and the pregnancy rate for IVF per embryo transfer in Slovenia is 36.2 percent and 31.9 percent in Hungary, which surpasses Germany with 28.6 percent and Britain with 28.4 percent. “With EU enlargement and the increasing freedom of movement that this brings, it has become even more important that countries collect accurate and complete data on the assisted reproduction technology carried out in their clinics,” Nygren told the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting. The report also showed a decline in multiple births, which can be dangerous for both the mother and children, after fertility treatments.

Medical Tourism in Romania

General Medicine Quality of care, low prices and easy travel make Romania a popular overseas health care destination for EU people who are seeking surgery and treatment abroad. Medical tourism has been on the increase in Romania over the last few years. Plastic Surgery Romania offers high standards of cosmetic surgery at a fraction of most EU prices. It's an excellent location to consider for affordable cosmetic surgery (breast reduction and augmentation, facelift, rhinoplasty and liposuction). Dental Clinics Dental surgeries in Bucharest, Romania are equipped with up-to-date technology and provide diagnostic services, restorative and prosthetic dentistry as well as cosmetic dentistry and dental implant treatments. http://www.romanianhealth.com/

Nutrisvelt

Analysis and Control by MBI: Multifrequency Bioelectrical Impedance Weight and Body Mass Index data is helpful, but it is not enough information. Multifrequency Bioelectrical Impedance provides a precise analysis of the body composition in two minutes, in a non-invasive, painless manner, and gives you a leading edge compared to single frequency devices, limited to total body water and fat mass data. Go one step beyond and work with relevant data such as: fat mass at ideal hydration level - fat free dry mass - fat free water ratio - intra and extracellular water - muscular and body frame mass, and much more. How does it work? An electrical current is safely sent through the body at various very low intensities. Its travel speed (impedance) is measured and then interpretated by software using regression equations based on international scientific research and publications as well as on Nutrisvelt's own experimentations. Fat, working like an insulator, slows down the current speed and the fat mass can then be measured. MBI, thanks to lower intensities, also measures extracellular water. The intracellular water can therefore be deducted. The exact measuring of the phase angle also provides precise data about the fat free mass and the bone mass. With over 25 years of experience in the bioelectrical impedance field, Nutrisvelt's R&D department has developped state-of-the-art equipment from single frequency to multifrequency devices. Today, the 2nd generation MBI device, Aminostats BIO-ZM II, offers the latest technology and the most precise hand-held device available on the market. MBI is now a proven technology which is used in the medical, sports, fitness and nutrition fields as well as in weight-loss clinics. Diet Rebalancing using Professional Nutrition Software Nutrisvelt's controlled weight-loss and slimming program emphasizes the necessity to work with individuals on adapting their diet habits to reach long-lasting results in accordance to their objectives. Its strength is then to rely on Nutrilog's utmost technology and 15 years of experience in developing nutrition software for professionals. Aminostats BIO-ZM II is the first and only device to have built-in diet rebalancing software driven by MBI. According to a person's body composition analysis, the software suggests the proper nutritional objective and recommends an individualized nutritional framework adapted to her needs in complete safety. Each time measurements are taken by BIO-ZM II, nutritional objectives can be reassessed and the nutritional framework adapted accordingly. Fat Loss Control with Systemic Food Supplements The diet rebalancing action on fat loss is reinforced from the inside by systemic natural food supplements. The systemic line has been especially formulated using natural dry extracts from the totum (whole) of plants. This process provides higher concentration of active principles and is a guarantee for quality and efficiency of Nutrisvelt products. Why systemic? Systemic means that all natural food supplements formulated by Nutrisvelt are complementary to each other and can be safely taken in association one with the other for added effects, which are: body cleansing drainage circulation (anti-cellulite) transit (flat stomach) fat burning and elimination muscle enhancement and strengthening fat absorption appetite moderator anti-aging/anti-oxidation Dual-Frequency Ultrasounds for a Double Slimming Effect The Nutrisvelt slimming program relies on exclusive dual-frequency ultrasound technology to treat both superficial fat, including cellulite, and deep internal fat. How does it work? There are two types of ultrasounds: high and medium frequency (HMF) ultrasounds and low frequency (LF) ultrasounds. Both are used in the medical and aesthetics fields. HMF ultrasounds, which have a convex stream, are less sensitive to change of tissue density and, therefore, are not refracted. They are mainly used in physiotherapy, non invasive surgery and facial treatments. LF ultrasounds, which have a concave stream, are very sensitive to change of tissue density and, therefore, are immediately refracted. They are mainly used for echography and cellulite treatment. There are also two types of fat: Superficial fat, which is hypodermic fat that eventually transforms into cellulite, parallel and steomatic fat. Deep internal fat, which is mostly visceral fat located around organs in the abdomen. Therefore, there are two types of ultrasound for two types of action on fat: Low frequency ultrasounds for a mechanical action on superficial fat. LF ultrasounds cause a molecular agitation that weakens the cellular membrane of fat cells and liberates fatty acids (through the lipolysis of triglycerides) as well as water into the lymphatic system. They also increase temperature that causes an hypervascularization to restore blood microcirculation. The "jack hammer" effect of LF ultrasounds breaks fibrosis networks of cellulite and LF ultrasounds sonophoresis effect allows active principles of cosmetics to penetrate through the skin for a long-lasting action on fat cells. Medium frequency ultrasounds for an informative action on deep internatl fat. Low intensity MF ultrasounds stimulate the neuro-sympathic system which liberates noradrenaline to cause lipolysis in stimulated areas and all over the body. Each treatment session is twenty minutes. The technique is pain free. Results are visible after two sessions. Oscillating Plate After every ultrasound session, liberated fatty acids must be drained from the lymphatic system to the blood stream. Once in the venous system, fatty acids become available energy to muscles. Although other drainage techniques are efficient, none of them stimulates muscles to use up freed fatty acids. Also, the oscillating plate is free-hand and therefore doesn't need any particular handling. How does it work? The Myotatic Reflex is defined as the reflex contraction of a muscle in response to its own stretching. The myotatic reflex (or stretch reflex) informs the central nervous system on the change of length and speed of the muscle length. As soon as a muscle stretch is noticed and reported, the response is a muscular contraction that enables to keep the initial position. This muscular contraction is fueled by glycogen stored in the muscles and by circulating energy, fatty acids. Main benefits strengthens muscles increases basal metabolic rate favours fat loss fights osteoporosis activates micro-circulation fights cellulite eliminates toxins after each ultrasound session uses up fatty acids liberated by the ultrasound Effects on Cellulite Scientific studies on cellulite have shown that the use of an oscillating plate significantly reduces effects of cellulite more rapidly than other treatment methods. The oscillating plate is the ideal support to the Nutrisvelt Slimming Program, based on analysis, nutritional follow-up, food supplements, ultrasound treatment and drainage.

DRACO: A new drug that could cure everything from colds to HIV

Breakthrough: A new drug that could cure everything from colds to HIV Our most powerful antibiotics can kill many different kinds of bacterial infections at once, but we're still searching for a single all-purpose drug that kills viruses. We may have just discovered it. Technically speaking, any drug that is used to treat a virus is known as an antiviral, and we use them to treat HIV, hepatitis, and certain flu strains. But those antivirals all have to be very specifically designed to take down one particular virus. The situation is even worse for vaccines, which don't exist for some diseases (and aren't practical for others, like the common cold) and need to be constantly redesigned to remain effective against evolving viral strains. Creating a single antiviral drug that could kill lots of different viruses is a longstanding dream of medical researchers. Beyond all the obvious benefits of such an honest-to-goodness wonder drug, an all-purpose antiviral would give us a much better chance of fighting back against outbreaks of exotic viruses like SARS and swine flu. As a minor but still rather nice bonus, it could also be that long awaited cure for the common cold. According to MIT research scientist Todd Rider, we're closer to such an antiviral than ever before. He's developed a drug named Draco, which he says has successfully vanquished 15 different viruses in lab trials on mice and human tissue. Those viruses include a quite literal murderer's row: dengue fever, polio, the swine flu, and the particularly nasty Ebola virus. And, yes, the common cold has also been tested, and Draco was able to get rid of it as well. So how does Draco work? According to Rider, it combines his backgrounds in engineering and biology, wiring together a pair of proteins. The first protein detects that a virus has entered a cell, which triggers the second protein. In turn, that protein acts as a kill switch, destroying the infected cell to cut off the spread of the virus. That sacrifice represents a grimly practical solution, and so far, it seems to be working. This is a seriously intriguing result, but there's some room for skepticism here. One cautious voice is that of Cambridge researcher Leo James, whose own antiviral research involves supercharging the immune system. He points out that Rider's results are highly unusual, and as such needs to be replicated by scientists elsewhere before we have a really good understanding of what's really going on here. Either way, even though Rider has already put Draco to work on human tissue, that doesn't mean we're ready for human testing. There's a long road ahead for this drug, which will require tests on multiple rounds of larger animals before it's ready for human trials. Because viruses and human cells become so closely intertwined during an infection, it can be hard to control for all the side effects of an antiviral. A good example of this is interferon, which was hailed a potential antiviral wonder drug back in the 1950s. Interferon works by detecting infections and sending signals to other cells to build up their defenses in preparation for an attack. The problem is that the drug also sends white blood cells racing to the infection. That's great news for more serious infections like hepatitis, for which interferon is still used today. But for more mild infections, like a cold, the inflammation, fever, and pain caused by the interferon cure is worse than the virus itself. Draco has some similarities to interferon - they're both protein-based, which means Draco could also provoke an immune response. According to Rider, there's been no immune response so far in the mice who have received the drug. That's good news, but it may not directly correlate to the experience humans would have with the drug. If Draco or one of the other antivirals works out, it would change the face of global health overnight. The ability to cure minor infections like the common cold could save people from a few days each year of ill health - which across an entire population would add up to a vastly more efficient workforce. And, looking even more broadly, the existence of an all-purpose antiviral would do a lot to reduce the health scares caused by new viral outbreaks, equipping us with a ready-made tool for the next big pandemic.

The toxic chewing-gum

Here is a list of the most common ingredients in the most popular chewing gum products on the market: Sorbitol, Xylitol, Mannitol, Maltitol Gum Base Glycerol Natural and Artificial Flavors Hydrogenated Coconut Oil and Starch Aspartame –Acesulfame Soy Lecithin Colors (titanium oxide, blue 2 lake, red 40) BHT Malic Acid, Citric Acid Every time you chew gum, your brain is tricked into thinking that you are eating food. Therefore, it sends signals to your stomach, pancreas and other organs involved in digestion to prepare for this “food”. Your salivary glands and pancreas will begin to emit enzymes, which are necessary to digest food and absorb nutrients from food. Constant emission of enzymes over time will deplete enzymes and over time this process can slow down. If you are not breaking down and absorbing food properly over time, you will get disease because the body needs nutrients to rebuild and thrive. A Great Alternative for Fresh Breath A great alternative to chewing gum is to carry around a small bottle of organic food grade peppermint oil and when you would like fresh breath, just put one drop in your mouth and you will have achieved the same effect. You can find many food grade oils that are wonderful for helping you have fresh breath.

CO-4 grass, melia dubia, can generate substantial power

Released by Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) during 2008, CO4 exhibits phenomenal biomass yield,” says Dr. G. Kumaravelu, senior Scientific Adviser for Biomass and Bioenergy programme of an international Chennai based business conglomerate called Archean group and former member, State Planning Commission. This grass can be grown in most soil types, except in heavy clay, highly alkaline and water logged areas. The slips for growing this grass are being produced by the Agricultural/Veterinary University and interested farmers. “To verify its utility for power production, 5 to 6 months old, mature grass crop was harvested and weighed. The yellow mature stem, with more fibre and lignin content yielded around 200 dry metric tonnes per hectare. An sppropriate practice package has been arrived at, within a year, by our trials using biofertilizers, nutrients, biochar and chemical fertilizers with drip irrigation to ensure sustained high yield. About 2,000 acres of grass cultivation can supply raw material to run one 10 MW biomass electric power mill, continuously, all through the year without break,” says Dr. Kumaravelu. Archean — a multinational company — is going to grow this grass along with another fast growing tree, Melia Dubia, as intercrop in several hundred acres in different parts of Tamil Nadu. “I had demonstrated last year, that about 100 metric tonnes per hectare of biomass could be harvested from one year drip irrigated melia dubia plantations. That again is a comparable world record for tree species.This woody biomass also releases energy of over 4000 Kcal / Kg. Together, both these highest biomass yielders could be used to generate substantial power for our State,” he explains. The State Government, accepting the innovation in principle, announced in the Assembly, that they would help in setting up a 10 MW power. Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/article3408600.ece

Nursing industry desperate to find new hires

Registered nurse Pat Boodoo reviews patient data during a shift last month at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare … MILWAUKEE – Please, please accept a high-paying job with us. In fact, just swing by for an interview and we'll give you a chance to win cash and prizes.

Sounds too good to be true, especially in an economy riddled with job cuts in nearly every industry. But applicants for nursing jobs are still so scarce that recruiters have been forced to get increasingly inventive.

One Michigan company literally rolled out a red carpet at a recent hiring event. Residential Home Health, which provides in-home nursing for seniors on Medicare, lavished registered nurses and other health care workers with free champagne and a trivia contest hosted by game-show veteran Chuck Woolery. Prizes included a one-year lease for a 2009 SUV, hotel stays and dinners.

"We're committed to finding ways to creatively engage with passive job seekers," said David Curtis, president of the Madison Heights-based company.

Recruiters like Curtis may have little choice. The long-standing U.S. nurse shortage has led to chronic understaffing that can threaten patient care and nurses' job satisfaction, and the problem is expected to worsen.

The shortage has been operating since World War II on an eight- to 10-year cycle, industry experts say. Each time the number of nurses reaches a critical low, the government adds funding and hospitals upgrade working conditions. But as the deficit eases, those retention efforts fade and eventually the old conditions return, often driving nurses into other professions.

"We recently had a hiring event where, for experienced nurses to interview — just to interview — we gave them $50 gas cards," said Tom Zinda, the director of recruitment at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in the Milwaukee-area city of Glendale. "We really try to get as creative as we can. It's a tough position to fill."

Recruiters across the country have tried similar techniques, offering chair massages, lavish catering and contests for flat-screen TVs, GPS devices and shopping sprees worth as much as $1,000.

Even strong salaries aren't doing the trick. Registered nurses made an average of $62,480 in 2007, ranging from a mean of $78,550 in California to $49,140 in Iowa, according to government statistics. Including overtime, usually abundantly available, the most experienced nurses can earn more than $100,000.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts about 233,000 additional jobs will open for registered nurses each year through 2016, on top of about 2.5 million existing positions. But only about 200,000 candidates passed the Registered Nurse licensing exam last year, and thousands of nurses leave the profession each year.

Several factors are in play: a lack of qualified instructors to staff training programs, lack of funding for training programs, difficult working conditions and the need for expertise in many key nursing positions.

Cheryl Peterson, the director of nursing practice and policy for the American Nurses Association in Silver Spring, Md., said employers must raise salaries and improve working conditions.

"The wages haven't kept up with the level of responsibility and accountability nurses have," said Peterson, whose organization represents nurses' interests. Chronic understaffing means nurses are overworked, she said, and as burned-out nurses leave the situation spirals for the colleagues they leave behind.

Some hospital departments where experience is vital, such as the emergency room or intensive-care unit, simply cannot hire newly minted nurses. So managers in those areas have even fewer staffing choices.

Nurses qualified to teach aspiring nurses are scarce chiefly because they can make at least 20 percent more working at a hospital, experts said.

"It can be hard to turn down that extra money," said Robert Rosseter, the associate executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in Washington, D.C.

Many recruiters have looked for employees overseas, and about one-fourth of the nurses who earned their licenses in 2007 were educated internationally, most in the Philippines and India.

Some health organizations go out of their way to recruit as many nurses as possible even when they're overstaffed.

Residential Home Health, the home-nursing company in Michigan, is always looking to hire, Curtis said. Even with 375 clinical professionals on staff, his recruiters are eager to sign up as many as 50 more nurses and therapists, hence the Chuck Woolery event.

Zinda, the Milwaukee-area recruiter, said creative recruiting helps to introduce nurses to his hospital. Besides offering interviewees $50 gas cards, he has provided $100 gift cards to the local mall, and created a Facebook page to target younger nurses.

Attracting good candidates is about offering good working conditions, he said, but creative recruiting goes a long way in generating a buzz.

"Bottom line, you need to get people excited about what you're offering," he said. "If you don't, they can easily go elsewhere."

Confessions of a car salesman

y first day on the job started with signing about 50 different forms. Most of these were for specific purposes — to show that I understood I wasn't supposed to take dealership car keys home, drive under the influence or sexually harass my co-workers. But one form was of particular interest. It showed the breakdown of the commission structure.

Commissions were based on the "payable gross" to the dealership and were applied in three tiers. If the payable gross was from $0 to $749, our commission was 20 percent of the profit, from $750 to $1249 the commission was 25 percent of the profit. Above $1250 the commission was 30 percent of the profit. In other words, the higher the profit for the dealership, the higher the commission I would earn. Obviously, this motivated salespeople to build profit into the deal so they could hit that magic mark and get into the 30 percent bracket.

When I was interviewed for the job, the dealership was vague about how I would be paid. On the one hand they promised I could make serious money through commissions — maybe four or five grand my first month. On the other hand, they alluded to an hourly wage to begin with. Now I found that I was, in fact, working on straight commission. If I sold cars I made money. If I didn't sell, I didn't make a penny. Maybe that's why there were so many salespeople working here (about 85 in new and used cars). It didn't cost the dealership extra to have a big staff.

When I was done signing forms I was turned over to Michael, my assistant sales manager (ASM). He told me I would be working with five other guys on the "A Team." They were just arriving for work — still straightening their ties, combing their hair — and he introduced me to them as they showed up. There was Oscar, a barrel-chested young guy with a gang tattoo on the back of his hand; Richard, a 6-foot-3-inch weightlifter from Hungary; Tino, who had a quiet dignity that made me think of him as a restaurant maitre d'; Jimmy, a mustachioed soccer fanatic and Juan, six months out of the U.S. Marine Corps.

These were my team members, Michael said. They would be like family, like my brothers. If I couldn't make a deal with a customer, I was to turn them over to someone on my team. Then, if that customer bought the car we'd split the commission. This practice of "turning" customers was stressed repeatedly. I was working in what is known in the business as a "turnover house."

We had a brief meeting in one of the sales cubicles and then the rest of the team went out front to look for "ups." Ups are customers who walk onto the lot. This name comes from the way customers are handled by whichever salesman or woman is "up." The salespeople are always asking, "Who's up next?" The "up system," the order in which customers are taken by the sales staff, is very serious business.

Michael began explaining how the dealership was run. We sold new cars on our side of the building, and used cars were on the other side. In each of the front corners of the building were the new and used car "towers." These glassed-in offices were restricted to employees. Inside was a raised platform where the sales managers sat. When you went into one of the towers, you found yourself behind a high counter, looking up at your bosses, like being in a courtroom or a police station. The sales managers are sometimes referred to as "the desk." Salespeople would say, "You have to clear that deal with the desk." Or, "Who's on the desk today?"

The next step in my training involved the use of the "4-square work sheet." Michael told me the 4-square was my friend, it was the salesman's tool for getting "maximum gross profit." As the name implies, the sheet is divided into four sections. When you have a prospect "in the box" (in the sales cubicle) you pull out a 4-square and go to work.

The information about the customer is written along the top together with the make, model and serial number of the car they want to buy. Then the salesman writes the sticker price of the car in large numbers in the upper right square on the worksheet. Michael stressed that the price of the car should be written in large clear numbers to give it a feeling of authority. He added that we should always write "+ fees" next to the price of the car (This includes license fees and sales tax.).

"Good penmanship is essential," he said. "This makes it harder for them to negotiate. "You're saying, 'Mr. Customer, if you want our beautiful new car, this is the price you're going to have to pay.'"

The other boxes on the 4-square are for the price of the trade-in, the amount of the customer's down payment, and the amount of the customer's monthly payment.

"When you negotiate, this sheet should be covered with numbers," Michael said. "It should be like a battleground. And I don't want to see the price dropping five hundred dollars at a pop. Come down slowly, slowly. Here I'll show you how."

The process begins by asking the customer how much they want for a monthly payment. Usually, they say, about $300. "Then, you just say, '$300... up to?' And they'll say, 'Well, $350.' Now they've just bumped themselves $50 a month. That's huge." You then fill in $350 under the monthly payment box.

Michael said you could use the "up to" trick with the down payment too. "If Mr. Customer says he wants to put down $2000, you say, "Up to?" And he'll probably bump himself up to $2500." Michael then wrote $2,500 in the down payment box of the 4-square worksheet.

I later found out this little phrase "Up to?" was a joke around the dealership. When salesmen or women passed each other in the hallways, they would say, "Up to?" and break out laughing.

The final box on the 4-square was for the trade-in. This was where the most profit could be made. Buyers are so eager to get out of their old car and into a new one, they overlook the true value of the trade-in. The dealership is well aware of this weakness and exploits it.

The opening numbers were now in place on the 4-square. At a glance, Michael said, you could see the significant numbers of this deal — purchase price of the car, trade-in, down payment and the monthly payments. As you negotiated you could move from box to box, making progress as you went. It allowed you to sell a car in different ways. For example, if the customer was determined to get full value for his trade-in, you could take extra profit elsewhere — in the purchase price or maybe even in financing.

The first numbers that go on the 4-square come from the customer. The down payment and the monthly payment are only what they would like to pay. Now, it's time to get the numbers that the dealership would like the customer to pay. These numbers are called the "first pencil" and they come from a sales manager in the tower. Michael said that the first pencil was the dealership's starting position. "You have to hit them high," Michael explained. "You have to break them inside — make them understand that if they want our beautiful new car, they're going to have to pay for it."

Here's how we were supposed to get the first pencil from the tower. After the customer test-drove the car we brought them into a sales office and offered them coffee or a Coke to relax them. Then we filled in the information about the car on the 4-square. We then picked up the phone and called the tower. Michael held his hand like a phone receiver with his thumb and little finger sticking out. "You say, 'Yes sir. I have the Jones family here with me and they have just driven a beautiful new whatever model, stock number blah blah blah.' Then you say, 'Is it still available?' Of course you know it is. But you want to create a sense of urgency. So you pause, then say to the customer, 'Great news! The car's still available!' Then the tower will give you the first pencil. Write it in each of the boxes."

I later found out that the first pencil is arrived at by the dealership in a very unscientific way. For every $10,000 that is financed, the down payment they try to get is $3,000 and the monthly payment they try for is $250. In this way, a $20,000 family sedan would require about $6,000 down and a $500 a month payment. (These payments are based on very high interest rates calculated on five-year loans. These numbers are so inflated that a manager I later worked with laughingly called them, "stupid high numbers.")

"But here's the beauty of this system," Michael said, "these numbers aren't coming from you — you're still the good guy. They're coming from someone on the other end of the phone. The enemy."

Michael returned to his scenario. "OK, so when you give these numbers to the customer you say, 'Here's a pretty good deal for you.' But Mr. Customer says, 'Oh man! Michael, I told you I can only put down $3,000.' So you cross out the $6,000 you wrote and put down $5,750. You say to the customer, 'Is that more what you had in mind?' And you nod as you say this. Try to get them agreeing with you."

This reminded Michael of something and he laughed. "Here's another thing. Never give the customer even numbers. Then it looks like you just made them up. So don't say their monthly payment is going to be $400. Say it will be $427. Or, if you want to have some fun, say it will be $427.33."

While Michael was training me, he didn't ever say, "Here's how to cheat the customer," or, "This is how we inflate the prices." In fact, he stressed that I was supposed to treat customers with respect to build a strong C.S.I. (Customer Satisfaction Index). But manipulation and overpricing was inherent in everything he said. The reason for this was simple — without overpricing we couldn't make a living. What we were selling was profit. Or, as Michael put it, "This is money for you — money for your family."

At times Michael became very excited as he thought of new things to teach me. At one point he said, "Oh! This is a good one! This is how you steal the trade-in." He looked around quickly to make sure no one overheard him. "When you're getting the numbers from the desk, they'll ask if the customer has a trade-in. Say it's a '95 Ford Taurus. And say you took it to the used car manager and he evaluated it and said he would pay four grand for it. If you can get the trade for only three, that's a grand extra in profit.

"So what you do is this," Michael pretended to pick up the phone again, "you ask the desk, 'What did we get for the last three Tauruses at auction?' Then they'll give you some figures — they'll say, $1,923, $2,197 and $1,309. You don't have to say anything to the customer. But he sees you writing this down! And he's going, 'Holy crap! I thought my trade was worth $6,000.' Now it's easy to get it for $3,000. That's a grand extra in profit. And it's front-end money too!" (I later learned that front-end money was what our commissions were based on. Back-end money was made on interest, holdbacks and other elements of the deal.)

We talked for almost two hours before Michael finally ran out of gas. He told me that for the next two days I should get to know the inventory and watch the other salespeople. Then I could learn how to "meet and greet." He invited me to check out some keys and test-drive the cars.

"Product knowledge," he said, tapping his forehead. "Very important. You need to get to know these cars inside and out."

I walked outside and surveyed the car lot. The new cars were on our side of the lot — the used cars to my right. Across the street was another dealership, also selling Japanese cars, and up and down the street were still more dealerships. Most of the manufacturers were represented here. Then, in the distance, was the freeway, a solid river of cars. Cars were everywhere.

"What were you selling before?"

I turned to find Oscar, one of my teammates. He had a broad friendly face to match his incredibly stocky build. Later, I found out he was a high school football star. I couldn't imagine trying to knock him off his feet.

"I used to sell videos," I told him.

"Like X-rated videos?" he asked eagerly.

"Naw. Training materials. Stuff for companies to train the people that work there."

"Oh yeah. We got some like that here." He popped his knuckles. I tried to read the tattoo on the back of his hand. "Michael show you around the lot?"

"No. He was explaining the 4-square."

"You never sold cars before?" he asked.

"No. This is the first time."

"It's easy, man. You'll do good. Hey, I'll show you around." He ducked into the sales office and came back with a set of car keys. "Let's take a ride."

We walked through the line of new cars, each gleaming with water droplets from being washed that morning. Oscar showed me how the lot was arranged with the high-end cars facing the street, the SUVs, minivans and trucks along one side and the mid-sized sedans near the dealership entrance. He told me there was also a back lot with more inventory and even more cars in a rear fenced parking area. As we talked, a car carrier pulled up and more cars began rolling down the ramp.

Oscar opened the door of a high-end sedan in a sport trim. It had a big V6, leather bucket seats, a sunroof and alloy wheels. The sticker showed a total price of $28,576. A second dealer's sticker showed an extra $236 for the custom wheels.

"You're walking through the lot with Mr. Customer and he's eyeballing all these cars," Oscar said. "He stops next to this one and bam! that's the one you're gonna sell him. You pull it out of the row, open the doors and ask him to see how good the seats feel. When he sits down you slam the door and take off."

"You mean, you ask him if he wants to demo the car?" I asked.

"Hell no. They never go for a demo if you ask them. 'Cause they know they're weak. If they drive it they'll buy it. The feel of the wheel will seal the deal, my friend. So you got to kidnap them, man. Just slam the door and take off. Come on, let's go."

We got into the car and he palmed the wheel, backing up, then pulling out onto the street. A block later we hit a light. When it turned green Oscar punched it and I felt the G's pressing me back into the leather.

"Whoa," I said. "Great torque."

"Strong," he agreed, checking the rearview mirror. We made a right, then another right into a shopping center parking lot. We got out.

"Now you got them away from the dealership, you can relax a little, show 'em how awesome this car is. What you want to do is open all the doors and windows, the hood and the trunk. Then you do your walk around. You start at the driver's door and you point stuff out as you go. 'Mr. Customer, this car's got the highest safety rating because it's got front crumple zones and breakaway engine mounts. It's got a 170-horsepower V6 with four valves per cylinder and blah, blah, blah.' See, it doesn't really matter what you say — most people don't even know what the hell you're talking about -— but the important thing is to keep talking: 'Here's the headlights, here's the gas cap. Here's the trunk. Here are the tires.' Anything! Understand?"

"Got it," I nodded.

"Good. Now you drive."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You be Mr. Customer. You get behind the wheel. See, you got to be in control on the demo. Because when you get back to the lot, you got to get them in the box and make a deal."

I slid into the driver's seat and closed the door. Oscar sat beside me, buckling up.

"Make a right here," he said. "See, the test drive route is just a bunch of right turns. If you want to go a little farther, go straight there."

"I want to go a little farther," I said, wondering if he was trying to control me. Besides, driving this car felt great. What was it Oscar said about the feel of the wheel? We came up on a railroad crossing. The tracks rumbled under my wheels, distant and muffled.

"Point out stuff on the route," Oscar said. "Like those tracks. Like this turn. Like the way it brakes. Everything. Just keep talking and building confidence in the product."

I looked over at Oscar wearing his white shirt and silk tie. He had slipped on a pair of wrap-arounds and with his black hair combed back he looked very smooth. Later I learned that he came out of a gang-infested area of the city. A job like this allowed him to drive brand-new cars, handle money deals, wear a tie and act like a big shot.

"Thanks for your help, man," I said when we got back to the lot and put the car away.

"No problem, bro." He shook my hand. "You're gonna do good here."

Over the next few days I noticed that car salesmen shook hands with each other a lot. I shook hands with each of my team members when I arrived in the morning; we shook hands before we left the dealership at night. We might shake hands with each other two or three more times during the day. If I happened to be standing on the curb and if another salesman walked up I shook hands with him. It was like we were all staying loose, practicing on each other, for that moment when we would greet Mr. Customer and needed to use a good handshake that's going to seal the deal.

At one point, during a sales seminar, I was actually taught how to shake hands. The instructor, a veteran car salesman said: "Thumb to thumb. Pump one, two, three, and out." Another vet told me to combine the handshake with a slight pulling motion. This is the beginning of your control over the customer. This would prepare the "up" to be moved into the dealership where the negotiation would begin. The car lot handshake is sometimes combined with the confident demand, "Follow me!" If you employ this method you turn and begin walking into the dealership. Do not look back to see if they are following you. Most people feel the obligation to do what they are told and they will follow you, if only to plead, "But I'm only looking!"

Besides hand shaking there's also a lot of high-fiving, fist-bumping, back-slapping and arm-squeezing going on among the salespeople. Furthermore, there's a certain amount of tie-pulling, wrestling and shadow-boxing during the slow periods.

Later that first day, I was standing on the curb outside the sales offices waiting for ups when a voice boomed over the intercom, "All new and used car salesmen report to the sales towers."

I went into the new car tower while the used car guys went into their tower. It was my first time actually going into this cramped room. There was only a small space around the perimeter of the desk where the salesmen stood, all of us looking up at the three sales managers who loomed above. On that shift, the sales staff was made up of all men. In fact, out of the 85 salespeople, there was only one woman working on the floor selling cars. There were, however, several women in the fleet department and working in the finance and insurance department.

Behind the sales manager's desk were three large white boards. The first listed the names of all the new car sales people. Beside the names was a blue box for each car they sold. Since I started near the end of the month, some of the salesmen had a long row of blue boxes showing they sold as many as 35 cars. Others had only two boxes. This board enabled everyone to see who was doing well, and who was falling behind. The next board showed the number of cars sold by the entire dealership. And the final board listed the names of the salespeople who hadn't sold any cars for three days.

How to reset Passat service light

Some Volkswagen dealers would have Passat owners thinking they need to bring their cars to them for oil change services or purchase a special tool to reset the "Service" light illuminating on the dashboard. This is a mileage interval light that trips every 3,000 to 5,000 miles that indicates an oil change is necessary. You do not need a special tool to change your oil, nor do you need to bring the car in to the dealer.



Instructions

1.
Step 1

Sit in the driver's seat of the Passat and close all the doors.
2.
Step 2

Position the trip/odometer button to display the odometer mileage reading, then hold it down with the forefinger on your left hand.
3.
Step 3

Turn the ignition key to the "key-on/engine-off" position to turn on all the power options for the Passat without actually starting the engine. At this point, a service indicator light will display (in the form of a wrench).
4.
Step 4

Press the minute adjustment button on the clock (or turn the knob clockwise on European manufactured Passats) and release the trip/odometer button.


On 2007 and newer Passats, there are some that have a "wrench button" to the right side of the trip reset. You would hold this button down instead of the trip/odometer, turn the ignition key to the "key-on/engine-off" position, release the wrench button and press the "min" (minute adjustment) button on the clock to reset.

What are you passionate about

If this “passion” thing goes on to your nerve, and if you get irritated just on the mention of “find a subject you are passionate about and work on it” then get used to this and similar phrases, because this is very, very important. You will require a strong inner pushing to carry on for months in times when there will be no hope of getting so much as a glimpse of success. This you cannot do, if you are not passionate about the subject you are blogging about. Your passion for the subject will keep you going even if success doesn’t come by, and perseverance pays here as well.

Ask the following questions and make a list of the answers you get, if you are to find your passion:

1. What made you forget your food today, yesterday, or day before?
2. What keeps coming to your mind when you have nothing to do?
3. One activity you can’t imagine to quit, apart from smoking or drinking?
4. One thing you have clung to since your childhood? Or for at least 3-4 years?
5. One subject that you cannot help but read?
6. If you have all the time and wealth of the world what would you like to do, and how long will you be doing that?
7. What is that one thing about which you know more than anyone else around you?
8. What kind of advice do your friends seek from you, and on what topic?
9. What is that one thing for which you are considered an expert?

Urban Legend A Korean company solicited American dog shelters for excess dogs to turn into soup.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/edibles/dogsoup.htm

Claim: A Korean company solicited American dog shelters for excess dogs to turn into soup.

Status: False.

Example: [Letter from Kea So Joo, Inc, 1994]

Dear Executive Director,

Excuse my English Please, Thank You. First congratulation on all you good work with animal. We support. We would like to help your company make money, so we like to offer help so you make money.

Dog shelter kill million of dog, cost money. Dog shelter cremate dog cost money. Dog shelter need money to operate. Where it get money? Hard to get money.

Many people like to eat dog. People need to eat dog. Where do they get dog? Some people they raise dog to eat. Some steal dog, make some people angry, hurt some people. That not right.

We like make proposal to your dog shelter to sell us dog. You save money, you make money. We buy all dog, regardless of size or color. We prefer big, young, strong dog but we take all dog from your dog shelter. We cook dog in America. We can dog in America and sell some dog in America in Asian market place. Lot people in America eat dog. Most dog we ship oversea. Lot people eat dog. Many country eat dog. Korea, China eat dog, Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia eat dog. Dog is healthy for you. This way your cost of business is less. You make more money, more people happy. You get cleaner air. No burn up dog. No waste dog. People pet no disappear. Everybody happy.

Cause we understand some people no like idea to eat dog. But they make trouble for people who like eat dog. Those people called two face. Those people eat cow, rabbit and mice, squirrel and frog and every thing else, but still give us trouble. But dog is good food. Dog is good medicine, make sick people strong, make old people young, make penis hard, make sex good again. Our business getting very big. Need more dog. We are prepared to offer you ten cents per pound per dog. We pick up dog every day, so you also save on feeding dog. We like very much to speak with you and make deal. Please tell us how many dog available in your business. We have deal already to do same with dog shelter in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. We hope to be eventually in big city cross America. You can join us now, save money and continue doing your good job. We do big business together. We have big business already with many dog breeder and many dog hospital. Dog no suffer, We have quick death for dog.

Looking to hear from you soon,

Thank you

Kim Yung Soo
President
Kea So Joo, Inc.

See the rest of the story at the link...

Skaggs believed the American public, with its own prejudices regarding which animals it's okay to consume, would go bonkers when confronted with the dog-meat proposal -- and he was right. Animal rights groups and public officials took the story completely out of his hands -- in the process, he believes, exposing their own racism and cultural bigotry. One of the messages of the prank, Skaggs maintains, was "We are culturally intolerant. It was about prejudice, as illustrated in the letters, faxes and calls I received."

Dog meat is indeed consumed in many Asian countries, a fact that horrifies Americans. Americans have no qualms about eating beef, even though cows are sacred in some religions, and the eating of cows in those countries would be greeted with as much enthusiasm as dog-eating would be here. But dog meat is officially banned in Korea, in part because of foreign pressure. If India tried to pressure us to give up hamburgers, though, we'd be outraged.

This was far from the first hoax perpetrated by Skaggs. He is the master, and his 30-year career of pulling these off speaks for itself. He has staged dozens of hoaxes and has fooled hundreds of newspapers and television shows. On 13 May 1986 he was interviewed by David Hartman on ABC's Good Morning America as Joe Bones, the head of the Fat Squad, a group of commandos who would move in with you and, for $300 a day, physically restrain you from eating. He made The New York Times as Jo-Jo, a Gypsy leading a protest against the term "gypsy moth."

No one who fails to do his research is safe from Skaggs, as those of the media who skip this step yet look to feature him in segments about hoaxes find out. In 1988 Entertainment Tonight wanted to interview him for such a piece. Skaggs sent an imposter in his place, and only after the interview aired on 14 September 1988 was ET informed how it had been fooled. He pulled a similar prank in 1991 on the television game show To Tell the Truth. When Geraldo looked to Skaggs to do its homework for them in a piece about news people fooled by Skaggs, it quickly learned its mistake -- Skaggs manipulated that show into running an interview with a non-existent journalist about a hoax he'd never perpetrated.

His earliest stunt dates back to 1966 when he (and a few friends -- he's not that strong) took a 200-lb. sculpture depicting a naked rotting skeletal corpse with a human skull, barbed wire crown of thorns, long human hair, and a metal penis dangling between the legs, affixed it to a 10-foot cross made from telephone poles, dragged it to the top of a knoll in Tompkins Square Park in New York City, and erected it upon that spot. Later versions of the prank involved Skaggs' dressing as Jesus and carting a cross through the streets every Easter.

Growing increasingly annoyed by the tourist buses that would cruise through the East Village gawking at the long-haired hippies, Skaggs decided turnabout was fair play. In 1968, he filled a Greyhound bus with aging hippies and took them on a tour of Queens, ostensibly to take photos of life in Squaresville.

Since those early days, he has turned up as a psychic attorney ("Why deal with the legal system without knowing the outcome beforehand? Let me tell you whether to sue or settle, if you'll win or lose."), a doctor who treats baldness by transplanting scalps from cadavers (Hair Today Ltd.), and the proprietor of a canine brothel for sexually deprived pets (the Cathouse for Dogs). As "Giuseppe Scaggoli," Skaggs advertised the opening of a celebrity sperm bank. Hoax or not, the number given out received calls from across the country from women who were willing to bid on Bob Dylan's, Mick Jagger's and Paul McCartney's semen.

He hung a fifty-foot bra on Wall Street. He has promoted fish-tank condominiums, replete with living rooms, bathrooms,and kitchens for "upwardly mobile guppies." (That last one backfired slightly -- all the media attention gained by this prank prompted Neiman Marcus to offer $5,000 fish condos in its 1996 Christmas Book catalog. There were four different units, sold individually: a guppy-sized living room, a cozy little kitchen, a parlor and a bedroom -- all appointed with furniture, fixtures, and even decorations such as framed portraits of cats.)

His 1981 cockroach pill hoax was classic. Posing as "world-famous entomologist Dr. Josef Gergor," he announced the development of a miracle vitamin from the hormones extracted from a super strain of cockroaches. The vitamin was said to cure acne, arthritis, anemia, and menstrual cramps and immunize against the side effects of nuclear radiation. (Remember that immortal assertion that only the cockroaches would survive a nuclear holocaust? So, apparently, did Skaggs.)

1992 found "the Rev. Anthony Joseph." pedaling a mobile confessional booth attached to a bicycle outside the Democratic National Convention in New York for the benefit of the press and delegates who otherwise wouldn't have time to make confession: "Religion on the go for people on the move!" was his motto.

And then there was the Crusade for Sidewalk Etiquette, a proposal which would have banned short people from carrying umbrellas and required fat people to walk single file and wear neutral-coloured clothing.

In 1992, "Dr." Joseph Skaggs booked a booth at a huge Toronto computer show to showcase his exciting new product, SEXONIC. The world's first sexual virtual reality program was touted as capable of "translating individual fantasies into a stunning approximation of reality" to "enable our clients to experience sublime pinnacles of delight that most people only dream of." The demonstration, of course, did not come off -- Canadian customs officials supposedly seized the non-existent hardware and software at the border, claiming SEXONIC was morally offensive to Canadians.

No discussion of Skagg's tricksterism would be complete without a mention of the Solomon Project, an amazing but thoroughly fake computer program that could review a court case, apply the law, and spit out a ruling. The promise of an impartial electronic contraption that would remove human foibles from the judicial system proved irresistible to a world bone-tired of the O.J. case. CNN sent a camera crew to interview Mr. Bonuso (Skaggs) at his New York laboratory -- a SoHo loft he'd packed with actors posing as refugees from the Microsoft Corporation. At its peak, the hoax involved some 25 grim-faced actors pumping data into computer terminals as CNN cameras recorded the performance. CNN aired the segment on 29 December 1995.

Why does he do it, you ask? "My message exists on different levels," says Skaggs. "Besides trying to point out the iresponsibility of journalists, I'm also seeking to show the public's gullibility. Too many people are always looking for something outside themselves to take care of them rather than looking at themselves to address the problem. They tend to believe everything they read. It was sad to get calls from people with illnesses who were so desperate they were willing to take roach pills. Some were disappointed when I told them there were no such miracle pills. With others, you could see that a bell went off and they might be more cautious in the future. I'd like to think so, anyway."

"I let the media go with it; I judge success by how many people I'm able to reach with the message." And the message? "Question authority in all its shapes and forms. Don't suspend critical thinking for wishful thinking."

Skaggs sees his role as that of the archetypal trickster, a character found in the literature and mythology of most cultures, whose role is to jar his fellows out of the workaday rut of their routines that includes accepting "news" as gospel. He speaks seriously about his pranks, describing their function, at best, as serving to raise the consciousness of those who are "sleepwalking on automatic pilot."

Skaggs makes the point that if he can con the media as one lone activist with a fax machine, perhaps readers and viewers can learn to be a bit skeptical of news orchestrated by vast government, political, and business empires.