November 20, 2006, 5:06 AM CT

Adolescent Girls More Active if Neighborhoods Have Parks

Adolescent girls who live within half a mile of a public park are significantly more physically active than other girls, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have found.

The study found that physical activity was higher for girls who lived within a mile of parks and showed highest levels among girls who lived less than one-half mile from a park, said Dr. Diane Catellier, a study investigator and research associate professor of biostatistics in the UNC School of Public Health. The researchers found that girls only got about 114 minutes a week of intense physical activity outside of school hours, or about 16 minutes a day.

Dr. Deborah Cohen, a senior natural scientist at RAND Corporation and lead author of the study, said the U.S. surgeon general recommends that all children and adolescents get at least 60 minutes of exercise a day. "We still have a long way to go in encouraging girls to be active".

The results appear in the November 2006 issue of Pediatrics. The study was led by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization. Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill, the University of Arizona, the University of South Carolina and San Diego State University participated. Funding was provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 19, 2006, 9:17 PM CT

Shocking Games

The English have an entire line of "Shocking" games (not even going to try and psychoanalyze that). First up, there's the popular "Shocking Liar" based on -- from what I can tell -- lie detector science. Warm up questions are used to regulate your readings. Ready? ZAP! It says you lied. The game measures the 'lie levels," using a sequence of five LEDs going from red to green. Seems you weren't close enough to the truth.

Then there's the "Shocking Arm Wrestling". Let me tell you from experience that the first couple of times it's funny, but no adult is going to want to be shocked three times.

For the masochistic, there's always the classic. Place your finger in one of the four chambers, push the button and await your fate.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 7, 2006, 7:39 PM CT

How about 'Die Another Day'?

A fascinating new study from the recent issue of the Journal of Consumer Research is the first to conceptualize sequels as the movie equivalent of brand extensions. According to traditional branding research, extension evaluations improve when the extension is perceived to be similar to the parent brand. However, Sanjay Sood (UCLA) and Xavier Drze (University of Pennsylvania) find that the effect of similarity reverses when it comes to movies. Compared to numbered movie sequels, the researchers found that named sequels performed better at the box office and had a longer shelf life.

"With intangible experiential goods, similarity is not valued because people tend to satiate on experiences," explain the authors. "In other words, consumers prefer sequels that are markedly different from the original movie because they do not want to see the same movie twice".

Each movie released by a Hollywood studio is a brand that has to be packaged and promoted effectively to consumers. Launching these brands is an expensive activity. In 2004, the average cost of bringing a movie to market was almost $100 million. With financial stakes so high, the studios have turned to sequels as a way to capitalize on the success of hit movies.

Two experiments demonstrate that the name of the sequel is an important indicator to potential moviegoers about the similarity between original and sequel. The researchers compared sequel evaluations for a numbered title (e.g., Daredevil 2) versus a named title (e.g., Daredevil: Taking it to the Streets). Evaluations improved with named sequels because numbered sequels were perceived to be too close to the original movie. In fact, for numbered sequels, consumers were not only quicker to judge the sequel but also less able to recall details about the sequel's storyline.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 8:59 PM CT

Kylie's Back!

Kylie Minogue's comeback is well and truly on the road. The princess of pop touched down at Sydney airport on Sunday to kick off her Showgirl Homecoming tour with a gig on 11 November and said she was "thrilled to be back".

Kylie had to postpone her world tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, but she has beaten the disease and can't wait to get back to work. "I travelled with pretty much all the band, the dancers, so we're on tour again, whoa!" she said to reporters, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. Last week Kylie spoke of the unstinting support her boyfriend Olivier had given her during her battle and said her ordeal has made her embrace her career even more.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 8:20 PM CT

Pseudo French iPod Cases

What to do if you feel your cool factor on the wane? Get your Francophilia on. Le Pod by Your Sister's Mustache is a kicky little iPod holder with four designs to choose from. But be forewarned: none of them has anything to do with France, French culture, or anything remotely French-related. Or at least I don't think so. (hmm). Seriously though, who cares about the throwaway Franglish used to promote this product.

The important thing is you will feel that special je ne sais quoi when, instead of scrounging in your bag for your iPod, you slide it out of one of these colorful holders conveniently tucked around the strap of your cooly ironic, yet sartorially astute hipster handbag or tote.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 8:16 PM CT

Productive fun with Wacom's Cintiq

Kevin Kelley recently picked up a 21 inch Cintiq drawing display, and he's in love with it. The Wacom Cintiq is an LCD monitor with a touch screen sensor embedded over the image. Essentially it's a cross between a graphic artist's drawing tablet and an LCD monitor. Differing from standard touch screen monitors is the 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity that the input area is able to discern, and the unique "pen on paper" texture of dragging a pen across the surface. Kelly bought his $2,500 Cintiq on the recommendation of artist Scott McCloud who has said that the input method made him more productive, and completely eliminated the symptoms of his hand strain malady.

Wacom released the first Cintiq tablet seven years ago. It was a 15 inch flat panel touch screen display, and a lot of geeks discounted it as a one shot gimmick. Personally, I thought that it was a glorious evolution in computer hardware, and I remember dreaming of when the technology would be the standard for all computers. Sadly, prices of desktop tablet monitors have remained high enough that only professional interests, such as design houses and graphic artists, can justify the expense. I'd love to install one at home, but it's a hard sell when I didn't even spend $2,500 on my tricked out desktop!

We're just now sorting through the interface issues of tablet computing, but progress is being made. slowly. Some industries will have an easier time making a move to an alternative input scheme: video game controls are well suited to this type of human interface. The Nintendo DS has been an overwhelming success in part because of the novelty and utility of the touch screen, and the hands-on Starcraft video floating around is nothing short of sexy. Ben Kuchera disagrees with me, but I think that this is the direction that all computer interfaces will move towards if the public can ever afford to adopt the hardware en mass.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 8:09 PM CT

How to disassemble iPod Shuffle 2

iFixit recently published a complete guide on how to disassemble the world smallest MP3 player - iPod Shuffle 2. All you need are just a spudger and a Philips screwdriver #00.

Well, let skip all the dissassembling process. What I want to know is what the heck inside this tiny thing!

On the top of its circuit logic board, you can see five button sensors, ARM chip and data cable ribbon. No idea about the ARM chip, but it has the number: 337S3300 844A N05WDK01 0642 ARM.

The bottom of the board has a Li-ion polymer battery and headphone jack plug, which is most impressive part of iPod Shuffle 2. The plug is multi-modal and switches between USB, analog audio, and possibly power modes.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

October 31, 2006, 9:03 PM CT

Productive fun with Wacom's Cintiq

Kevin Kelley recently picked up a 21 inch Cintiq drawing display, and he's in love with it. The Wacom Cintiq is an LCD monitor with a touch screen sensor embedded over the image. Essentially it's a cross between a graphic artist's drawing tablet and an LCD monitor. Differing from standard touch screen monitors is the 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity that the input area is able to discern, and the unique "pen on paper" texture of dragging a pen across the surface. Kelly bought his $2,500 Cintiq on the recommendation of artist Scott McCloud who has said that the input method made him more productive, and completely eliminated the symptoms of his hand strain malady.

Wacom released the first Cintiq tablet seven years ago. It was a 15 inch flat panel touch screen display, and a lot of geeks discounted it as a one shot gimmick. Personally, I thought that it was a glorious evolution in computer hardware, and I remember dreaming of when the technology would be the standard for all computers. Sadly, prices of desktop tablet monitors have remained high enough that only professional interests, such as design houses and graphic artists, can justify the expense. I'd love to install one at home, but it's a hard sell when I didn't even spend $2,500 on my tricked out desktop!

We're just now sorting through the interface issues of tablet computing, but progress is being made. slowly. Some industries will have an easier time making a move to an alternative input scheme: video game controls are well suited to this type of human interface. The Nintendo DS has been an overwhelming success in part because of the novelty and utility of the touch screen, and the hands-on Starcraft video floating around is nothing short of sexy. Ben Kuchera disagrees with me, but I think that this is the direction that all computer interfaces will move towards if the public can ever afford to adopt the hardware en mass.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

October 31, 2006, 7:46 PM CT

The Buddy System for Safe Social Networking Online

The Federal Trade Commission today announced a new game that quizzes players on their online social networking practices and offers tips to help keep kids and teens safe online. The game, "Buddy Builder," is available in English and Spanish.

In the game, players move through different rounds by correctly reacting to common requests found on social networking sites. For example:

Accept or Deny: It's me, your Uncle John! Thanks for the link - Aunt Mary and I love your page. can you add us to your buddy list?

When players accept, they are advised: Yes, this is a fairly safe bet (assuming you actually had an Uncle John and Aunt Mary, and you invited them to visit your page!) If you're at all unsure, why not call or e-mail him to check?

Accept or Deny: Wazzup? I think I know U - send me your pic (in swimsuit, pls!)?

When players deny, they are advised: Good thinking. Consider not posting your photo online - not only could it be altered in embarrassing ways, but do you really want strangers to know what you look like?

The quiz is one of several offered by OnGuardOnline, a multimedia, interactive consumer education campaign launched by the FTC and a partnership of other federal agencies and the technology industry. The comprehensive Web site, OnGuardOnline.gov has tips, articles, videos, and interactive activities. There is no copyright on the quizzes or other information on OnGuardOnline.gov; the information can be downloaded by companies and other organizations to use in their own computer security programs. The content is available in Spanish through AlertaenLinea.gov.........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source

October 31, 2006, 7:24 PM CT

Download Soundflavor DJ

Windows only: Freeware application Soundflavor DJ is an iTunes companion designed primarily as a playlist generator.

We've been seeing a lot of playlist generators for iTunes lately, but so far Soundflavor has impressed me the most. Like the rest, Soundflavor fingerprints your music and builds playlists based on similarity of fingerprints (with the option to populate playlists with more or less similar music); by now this whole things become fairly old hat, but Soundflavor has still managed to impress me with innovative extras, like concert notifications when artists in your library are playing in your area (free registration with Soundflavor required) and the ability to integrate songs from other shared iTunes libraries on your network (!).

My only complaint with Soundflavor is that its interface is a bit stutter-y on my computer (it's also got around a 40MB memory footprint, which ain't terribly small). Then again, these are the kind of complaints I make when I'm especially interested in a software, so I certainly think it's worth a try. Soundflavor DJ is a free download, currently Windows only with the promise of a Mac version in the works. - Adam Pash.

Site........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source