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Money is sexy

August 30th 2010 08:28

Money compensates for bad hair too

There is an old joke that defines "charisma" as something that short, fat, balding rich men have. An Israeli academic has just proven it correct.

Dan Ariely, who is a Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University in the US, determined that short men looking for women through online dating sites are disadvantaged and the only thing that can compensate, in the eyes of women, for their shortness of stature is money.

Specifically, men need to earn about US$35,000 more a year for every inch they are under 5ft10in.

Prof Ariely reached the conclusion after polling 28,000 online daters.

His research also revealed that women think men are most desirable aged 27, men think women are most desirable at 21, women go more for looks while men go more for age and weight, and both lie a lot in creating their online profiles.

For women, the attractiveness of men rises the more education they have, but men don't return the compliment, generally giving a woman no extra credit for a degree beyond a bachelor's. Intimidated?

Professor Ariely's rather sad findings are published in his book "The Upside of Irrationality".

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Dating, Human nature, Psychology, Romance

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Uchitel teaches Tiger a lesson

August 24th 2010 03:15

VYOOS EDITORIAL

The shameless milking of a situation for notoriety and profit is something that Rachel Uchitel understands. For her, it’s not a matter of social conscience or philosophy. For Rachel, it’s a career move.

Rachel Uchitel was the first woman named in the never-ending Tiger Woods transgression story. Her name sits atop what turned out to be a long list.

Her name has been popping up ever since. We are not saying she receives money every time she is interviewed. Just most of them. Call it a nice return for her investment in a few steamy sessions with that randy philanderer Woods.

It’s a game she knows how to play well – or at least the pack of piranhas which gathers around the Rachel Uchitels of this world knows how to play.

The game is to tell all, bit by tantalising, lucrative bit. Facts are convenient if they fit; much more important is a plentiful supply of anecdotes, comments, advice and post-coital reflection.

Scripted scruples.

For a price.

Then you wait for the phone to ring, which it will do every time Tiger does something newsworthy. Such as mishit a drive. Such as have another bogey-laden misstep in the track back to Superstardom. Such as finalising his divorce.

That’s what happened yesterday when Woods and Elin Nordegren and a large number of lawyers met in a Florida court to sign off on their split.

“We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future,'' they said in a statement released by the lawyers (Nordegren reportedly had eight of them present).

What the statement didn’t make clear is the settlement details. Guesses so far range between $US100 and $500 million.

Did someone mention money? Back to Rachel Uchitel who, piranha-like, smelled an opportunity, scripted and polished something sellable to say, and released a statement of her own, through a lawyer of her own.

“Tiger can begin again but he should never forget the human wreckage that he has left behind and the fact that he has still not been fully accountable for the suffering that he has inflicted on women,” said Rachel.

“He has broken his wife's heart and the hearts of many others. His apparent lack of honesty in his relationships doomed his marriage and caused a break that could not be repaired.''

Oh really? Rachel, we know you have heard this before, but you knew he was married, you knew he had two small children, and you bonked him anyway. It takes two to philander. By what bizarre extension of logic do you now find it plausible to preach morals to him?

Our advice to you is to get a new press writer. The above is way too transparent, showing, as it does, a woman as bereft of common sense as she is of consideration.

It’s one thing to understand the shameless milking of a situation for notoriety and profit. It’s another to do it consistently well. Keep producing this kind of twaddle, Rachel, and you may have to look for a new career move.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Celebrity watch, US, Vyoos Editorial

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For travellers, the magic number is 8

August 23rd 2010 04:13

It is a fact of modern life that every person on board any given aeroplane paid a different price for their ticket.

This is a result of modern marketing practice which sees airlines offering discounts for advance bookings. The earlier you book, the cheaper the seat. Every nanosecond you hesitate, the price jumps. A family emergency necessitating a last-minute travel decision means a significant revision of the airline’s quarterly profit projection.

So it is with joy that we see that two Japan-based economists have studied this numbers game and have come up with a simple formula to help you choose the best time to book your plane ticket.

The formula is this: ?A = gUG min(k - g, (1 - g)(1 - r)), where ? is a variable which … okay, that is not so simple.

Breaking it down, the answer is eight – next time you wish to fly, book eight weeks before lift-off.

Also, do it later in the day rather than earlier.

The researchers, Makoto Watanabe and Marc Möller, said any earlier than eight weeks and the risk of needing to change your travel date outweighs the savings advantage. Any later than eight weeks, and watch the price rise quickly.

The discrepancy between times is probably due to business types preferring to book trips during work hours and budget holiday types preferring to book from home in the evenings, the researchers said.

The research has just been published in the Economic Journal.

news.com.au

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Japan, Economics

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They want to build a mosque near Ground Zero

August 4th 2010 03:46

VYOOS EDITORIAL
They are going to build a mosque and Islamic community centre close to Ground Zero in New York. The final obstacle to the development has just been removed with a vote by New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission to reject landmark status for an existing building on the site. The rejection, which was unanimous, will allow for demolition of the existing building and construction of the mosque and community complex

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: North America, US, Religion, Vyoos Editorial

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Croc justice

July 18th 2010 08:47

The dry language police use to describe their business to the world is unique. It's all about persons and unknowns and enquiries into situations. We could call it procedural polemics. Plenty of arrests, but hardly arresting.

This week, however, came a news story which lent itself perfectly to police-speak

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia

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No gay marriage. Forget the honeymoon

June 30th 2010 04:46

VYOOS EDITORIAL
Julia Gillard’s honeymoon period is over. For me at least.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Leadership, Politics, Vyoos Editorial

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Beauty and the fleeced

June 29th 2010 06:51

Phyllis Diller once said, "When I go to the beauty parlor, I always use the emergency entrance. Sometimes I just go for an estimate." This sort of honest appraisal of oneself is something the winner of the 2010 Miss Cornwall beauty pageant has yet to learn.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Europe, UK, Human nature

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Don't judge a Prime Minister by its gender

June 29th 2010 06:40

The news blasting around the world from Australia is that we have a female Prime Minister. At last. New Zealand got one 13 years ago, Britain 31 years ago, Sri Lanka 50 years ago and Egypt 3483 years ago. About the only places in the world yet to elect a female head of state are the United States and the Vatican.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Politics

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British school bans short skirts

June 23rd 2010 13:13

VYOOS EDITORIAL

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Bureaucracy, Europe, UK, Fashion, Vyoos Editorial

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You must not kiss in public

June 11th 2010 04:06

As Iran’s police are being issued with wheelbarrow-loads of women’s robes, and instructed to go forth and hunt down and cover any woman wearing devil’s clothing, also known as jeans, and as a Saudi court sentences a young man to four months in prison and 90 lashes, considered a fair punishment for the crime of kissing his girlfriend in a shopping mall, Sri Lanka has decided that it too wants membership of the International Organisation of Killjoy Fundamentalists.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Asia, Sri Lanka

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August 2010

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June 2010

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