The Gwendolyn Project

Do celebrities really cheat more? Well, according to NPR, there’s three options:

1. It just seems like celebrities cheat more because more attention is paid when they’re caught.

To those who wonder why humanity has such an intense interest in celebrity cheating, my favorite primatologist Frans De Waal would say that it’s instinctual for our species to pay close attention to the mating habits of those we consider higher up on the social ladder. As for why we feel the need to judge public men for their private lives, I would guess that this tendency developed as a way for a society to try to maintain the social stability monogamous pairings created by trying to enforce compliance with social norms through public shaming, but I’d have to do more reading on that one…

2. They just have more opportunity ’cause women find power to be “the ultimate aphrodisiac.” (Children of powerful men have a better survival rate in a society) Note: Men don’t necessarily find powerful women sexy. (Sigh. Sadly, doesn’t work both ways)

3. To rise so high in politics, entertainment, or sports, you typically have to have a rather high self-esteem and, therefore, may think you deserve to be able to follow a different set of social mores than everyone else. For example, Tiger Woods says he “felt entitled.” (So, the argument in this option is that it’s not so much the fame that corrupts the man, but that fame attracts men who already have a propensity to feel like they can do whatever they want)

Read more in-depth:

NPR article

I love the idea of the Apple iPad – nothing gives me writer’s block like sitting down to a laptop or desktop. I’ve already taken to doing a lot of my writing pecking away at my iPhone, allowing myself to roam freely through the house, releasing my inner kinesthetic thinker. But it’s my policy never to buy a first generation version of almost anything; I figure in a year and half, they’ll have fixed most of the bugs, tripled the iPad’s capability, and dropped it in price (though it’s not outrageously expensive at the moment)

Even though I’m delaying gratification, today’s release still excites me.  1. Because of the paradigm shift it’s creating and 2. because I really, really just want to try it out, so someone should buy one (hint, hint).

You might think paradigm shift too strong a description – tablet computers have been on the market before. But I’d have to agree with Andy Ihnatko from the Chicago Sun Times when he says they’ve all just been “laptop computers with the keyboard section broken off, ” with every electronic feature that has ever sold well thrown in. Whatever you think about the marketing machine that is Apple, when they design a product, they throw away preconceived notions  and build simple, elegant and problem-solving technology, forcing Ihnatko to wonder “if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple.”

So, you’ve got a unique product, partnered with Apple’s super-trendy brand identity, and suddenly the business world takes notice and a paradigm shift takes place. Heck, companies are building versions of their sites just to accommodate the iPad’s Flash-less state. (A WHOLE ‘nuther interesting can of worms, where Apple has decided to diss Flash in favor of the yet-unreleased HTML5. Apple’s David Hyatt is an editor of HTML5, and I have a sneaking suspicion Apple is over having to share a piece of the pie with someone else’s proprietary software). I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next couple years, we see the basic design of web pages shift as well – reading a screen like a book is a different psychological animal than reading from an upright computer screen.

A first generation product is never up to snuff, but a couple of the current features I like are:

1. The Netflix application – I’m a big fan of the built-in Netflix in our Playstation, so I like the idea of streaming Netflix to an iPad .

2. No ATT contract required for 3G service – you pay by month, picking and choosing the months you want as you go. Not really ATT’s style, so I’m guessing Apple threw its weight around to force them into this.

A couple of the current cons:

1. Backlit screen for reading – I stare at computer screens all day, reading a book is one of the ways I give my eyes a break. E-readers are getting closer and closer to that paper-like quality; a backlit screen just seems to be a step backwards to me.

2. No way to print directly – I have a feeling this con will disappear in the next couple of generations.

I’ll leave you with a thought from Any Ihnatko:

The most compelling sign that Apple got this right is the fact that despite the novelty of the iPad, the excitement slips away after about ten seconds and you’re completely focused on the task at hand … whether it’s reading a book, writing a report, or working on clearing your Inbox.

For some good reading about the Apple iPad try:

PCWorld
Andy Ihnatko’s review at the Chicago Sun Times
A summary of reviews from Kottke, one of my favorite bloggers

My brother-in-law -a man of many eloquent words who could make an hour long discussion on paper clips interesting-  recently posted an article from The Atlantic by Jonathan Rauch on understanding the introvert – in his case his wife. Growing up, my sister and I were never regarded as introverted – most likely because compared to the rest of our family we were downright social butterflies. I, especially, would gab nonsensically about pretty much anything I was thinking. Billed as the family extrovert, it took me many years to realize that liking to talk does not an extrovert make.

As Rauch points outs:

Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shy people are anxious or frightened or self-excoriating in social settings; introverts generally are not. Introverts are also not misanthropic… Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring.

I like people, but after extended socialization I need alone time to recharge and feel centered – a foreign concept to extroverts who need the company of others to feel rejuvenated.

Rausch also notes:

[An introvert] can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk.

That one strikes home. I rarely get crippling stage fright and I like to feel that I’m a pretty decent speaker, but my small talk is painfully awkward, especially in groups of more than, well, one other person. Give me a topic to discuss and I’m back on firm footing, but small talk is my kryptonite.

Rausch also seems to buy into the notion that gifted people tend to be introverts. I’d argue that the high numbers of introverted writers, artists and intelligentsia do not spring from a genetic link between giftedness and introversion; rather, introverts simply have more alone time on their hands to start -or more importantly finish- that novel, screenplay, mosaic, or theory of general relativity. I also take umbrage at such a narrow definition of giftedness. Ease and connection with other people is a valuable gift and arguably more useful; the world is ruled by extroverts after all, from politics to business.

The rest of Rausch’s article is more of a diatribe of an individual who feels oppressed by his extroverted overlords. My favorite touch is his reply to the question: are introverts arrogant?

Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts.

Said with no trace of irony.

I say, why can’t we all just get along? Extroversion is the yin to my introverted yang. I adore my outgoing extrovert of a boyfriend and as long as he understands that when I say “honey, I need to be alone” I do not mean “I don’t love you,” life is beautiful.

Wesleyan frames a Cornell professor for murder. That’s unfortunate. [IvyGateBlog]

A couple days ago, what I thought was a forest fire turned out to be a truck belching an inconceivable amount of smoke. I think just driving by it increased my chances of lung cancer so, anyway, this FAIL reminds me of that… [Fail Blog]

My Mom Is a Fob totally takes a college career counselor off guard. [My Mom Is A Fob]

Friend of Irony reminds us of our own mortality [Friends of Irony]