Trendspotters

The LA Times, has an article exploring the business of cool hunters, trend forecasters, planners, researchers, and futurists, as they fancy themselves. From the article:

They travel the world; watch people shop, eat and frolic; videotape and photograph them; monitor blogs; study census data; chat online with tens of thousands of consumers (most under 35); and devour every shred of pop culture they can find. They believe their research not only keeps marketing executives at Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Nike and Microsoft, among others, attuned to our cravings, but they map the origins of choice and cultivate that most precious commodity of all: consumer insight.

Bush Defrocked

FRANK RICH the New York Times Op-Ed writes, The Faith-Based President Defrocked. The Harriet Miers nomination will be remembered as the flashpoint when the faith-based Bush base finally started to lose faith in our propaganda president.

People are so anxious to get a copy, and they are searching for it. The top search on technorati right now is "Bush defrocked".

This article is only available to TimesSelect subscribers, but you can read it here.

Tag: Best Bookmarker

Bookmarking online content and categorizing it with 'tags' is becoming an important way to surf the web. Robert Andrews interviews an influential tagger and looks at a new social-bookmarking search engine. Plus tips from top taggers.

True Sexploration: Trick or Treat?

For some singles, a Halloween mask may reveal more than it hides.
In fact, according to a recent national survey conducted by TRUE, the leading scientifically based online relationship service, those identified as Traditionalists by TRUE's Sexploration test are anything but traditional when it comes to their Halloween costumes; an amazing 86 percent of Traditionalists want to either dress up in sexy costumes themselves or have their partners do so.

Of the five thousand respondents surveyed, more than 62 percent thought Halloween was a great date night (or chance to meet someone romantically) and over 45 percent planned to dress up for the occasion. Watch out New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, as the survey found singles in these cities are ready to trick, treat ... and get sexy.

Mad about Cocaine

Another British has been celebrity says a six-month cocaine habit may have contributed to his subsequent mental illness. It seems like the British have been burying the heads in coke, ...er sand for too long.

Sleepless in America

With a good night's rest increasingly losing out to the Internet, e-mail, late-night cable and other distractions of modern life, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that too little or erratic sleep may be taking an unappreciated toll on Americans' health.

It makes one wonder wether the 24/7 connected global village is such a good thing at all. Find out more...

What's in a name?

The Kabalarian Philosophy believes that your name creates your thinking and could be the single biggest factor that influences your personal and business success.

I have found the supposed meaning behind my name on the Kabalarian web site, and posted
an extract of it here:

Although the name Chadell creates the urge to be reliable and responsible, we emphasize that it causes an emotional intensity that is hard to control. This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the nervous system, worry, and mental tension.

Your name of Chadell makes you very idealistic and generous, with the strong desire to uplift humanity leading you into situations where you can express your desire to serve others. You want to assume responsibilities and to look after people; however, you can become too involved in other people's problems and tend to worry. Your name gives you a natural desire to express along artistic and musical lines. You desire a settled home and family life, and are expressive and attentive to your loved ones.

Free Text Searches Replace Directory Assistance

Some wireless phone carriers in the US charge for each call to Directory assistance, in this case the $1.50 for each call to 411.

If you know how to send a text message on your mobile phone then listings for a neighborhood services or even a weather forecast or stock quote are as close your mobile phone.

And it's pretty much free -- unless your phone plan charges text-messaging fees.

Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., as well as the smaller 4Info Inc., are now offering text-messaging search features that allow users to send a query to the search engines via text message and receive a reply within seconds.

The three work in a similar fashion: To use the service, a user sends a text message with the search request to the five-digit number for YAHOO (92466) or GOOGL (46645) or 4INFO (44636).

Searching by text is still a relatively new idea that is expected to gain in popularity as the big search-engine companies compete to attract users.

Seven Tips For Better SMS Searching

1. Follow the form. All search engines will accept a ticker symbol for quotes and "weather 90210" for forecasts, but each has its own code system. Check out google.com, 4Info.net, and yahoo.com for guidelines.
2. Not all services are created equal. We recommend using Yahoo! SMS for stock quotes, 4Info for movie times and drink recipes and Google for settling trivia bets. All three handle weather decently, but who can ever really get it right?
3. Use your zip code rather than city name for the best results.
Only Yahoo! and 4Info let you reply for more listings. Use them instead of Google if what you're looking for needs refining.
4. Practice makes perfect. The more familiar you are, the better. You can even hone your search skills by using desktop demos on your PC.
4. Memorize letters, not numbers. Google's is GOOGL, or 46645. YAHOO and 4INFO are what they are.
5. When all else fails, dial 411. It's only 3 digits.

Forbes Wireless

Texas Massacre tops horror poll

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, made in 1974, tops a poll of the greatest horror films of all time.

The black America Paradox

In the world of race in America in 2005 nothing is ever as simple as black or white.

In 2005 black unemployment in the US was 10,8%, compared to 4,7% for whites.

More than 70% of whites own their homes. Fewer than 50% of blacks do.

Blacks are twice as likely as whites to die from disease, accident or murder.

Black life expectancy is six years less than white life expectancy.

Blacks are three times as likely as whites to be jailed and their sentences are often six months longer.

Net worth of a black household is 10 times less than a white one.

Even as the old racism lies dead, its legacy endures in the American economy. As the black middle class grows and black politicians rise to the pinnacle of power, wealthy America -- both black and white -- has still not come to grips with the problems of its millions of poor black citizens. Protest will not win these issues. All the old racist laws have been stricken from the books. Now it's economics.

The paradox that divides black America

Is Press Cowed By Terror Warnings?

Craig Crawford is columnist for Congressional Quarterly, on-air analyst for MSNBC, CNBC and CBS’ “Early Show” and author of a new book titled, “Attack The Messenger: How Politicians Turn You Against The Media.” He is very skeptical about how the news media seems to take terror warnings at face value despite the pattern of politicians provoking these episodes at suspiciously opportune moments. Is Press Cowed By Terror Warnings?, he asks:

"Even more disturbing to me in yesterday's subway warning was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's comment that a news outlet had gotten the story two days earlier but agreed to withhold releasing it until the government gave the green light. Perhaps Bloomberg's position on this will turn out to be credible, but his claim that the extra time was needed for law enforcement to handle this threat seems worth questioning.

The result was that a news media outlet was persuaded to join a conspiracy of silence until the government was ready to announce the news, which happened to coincide with White House strategy for Bush's speech and also just so happened to serve as a neat distraction from Rove's latest bad news.

Fear is a powerful weapon, thats why politicians, terrorists, businesses and just about anyone who wants mind control depends on it. Only the the truth can set you free, as the old cliche goes.

Seven Up is best ever documentary?

A TV series that has tracked the lives of a group of children at seven-year intervals over the past four decades, has been named the greatest documentary in a poll of filmmakers.

It beat such classics as the wildlife series Life On Earth, The World At War and Death On The Rock, about the SAS shooting of IRA suspects in Gibraltar.

But the presence of films by controversial American pundit Michael Moore in the Top Ten has annoyed some industry luminaries. Others are surprised by the good ratings of reality TV shows such as Faking It and Wife Swap.

A majority of 400 documentary makers and film experts agreed that Seven Up, the longest-running documentary in TV history, deserved to win.

Heather McCartney blasts 'hypocritical' Naomi Campbell

Heather Mills McCartney has launched a ferocious attack on supermodel Naomi Campbell for wearing fur. The second wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul described the British model as 'superficial, shallow and hypocritical' This coming from Heather, an ex-model, is frankly silly.

mudslide Mayan mass grave

A Guatemalan village buried under tons of dirt and debris may be declared a Mayan mass grave as rescuers give up digging for the remains of up to 1,400 people killed in a mudslide triggered by Hurricane Stan. Full Story...

Quake toll rises to 18,000

Reuters reports that the death toll from a huge south Asia earthquake rose to 18,000 in worst-hit Pakistan alone on Sunday, as rescuers dug out hundreds of dead children buried under schools and found towns and villages reduced to rubble.