Links - 8th October 2012

"You have to love what you do. If you want to make money, sell weapons
or become a mafia boss." - Amir Kassaei

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Gender Differences in Personality Traits Across Cultures: Robust and Surprising Findings - "Secondary analyses of Revised NEO Personality Inventory data from 26 cultures (N = 23,031) suggest that gender differences are small relative to individual variation within genders; differences are replicated across cultures for both college-age and adult samples, and differences are broadly consistent with gender stereotypes: Women reported themselves to be higher in Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Warmth, and Openness to Feelings, whereas men were higher in Assertiveness and Openness to Ideas. Contrary to predictions from evolutionary theory, the magnitude of gender differences varied across cultures. Contrary to predictions from the social role model, gender differences were most pronounced in European and American cultures in which traditional sex roles are minimized. Possible explanations for this surprising finding are discussed, including the attribution of masculine and feminine behaviors to roles rather than traits in traditional cultures... self-reported gender differences are more pronounced in Western, individualistic countries. These countries tend to have more progressive sex role ideologies, endorsing such items as "A women should have exactly the same freedom of action as a man" and "Swearing by a woman is no more objectionable than swearing by a man"... Williams and Best (1990) also found that gender stereotypes were most differentiated in Western, individualistic culture"
This extension to the Five Factor model shows that besides being crazy, women are emotional and closed-minded; contrary to feminist theory, gender stereotypes are not responsible for all gender differences
Keywords: five factor model gender, psychological disparities societies greater gender equality, larger equity society

Lawyer: Is it right to jail Shaw for 'honest' mistake? - "He said the underage prostitute was neither trafficked nor coerced into prostitution and worked hand-in-glove with the agency to actively misrepresent herself as above 18... "Is it right to send anyone to jail who makes an honest and reasonable mistake as a result of a fraud or deceit perpetrated upon him? Is it even right to convict such a person in the first place?" He added: "It is no exaggeration to describe this case as falling at or very near the extreme outer edge ofculpability. "It is so very far removed from the type of predatory, conscious and exploitative conduct which this offence is really aimed at. "In my respectful submission, it would be an 'absurdly draconian result' and abhorrent on these facts to send Mr Shaw (and others in like position) to jail, let alone convict him.""

24 testimonials couldn't save Howard Shaw - "the common law has long recognised that a person who commits an act under an honest and reasonable mistaken belief is treated, in the eyes of the law, as morally blameless because he lacks criminal intent. "The question to be asked in this case is: What possible public policy objective is served in sending to jail someone who has no criminal intent, who makes an honest and reasonable mistake and genuinely believes he is engaging in perfectly lawful conduct? Why won't a fine do?" he added. Mr Singh said it was the underage prostitute who had engaged in predatory conduct, entrapping men who were entirely unaware of her deception. But Judge See said the fact that Shaw did not ask the girl about her age or make any effort to verify her age, showed it was not an "honest and reasonable mistake". "It may have been a genuine mistake, but not an honest and reasonable one. He made no enquiries about her age and went ahead to have sex with her. He could have been guarded against an offence, but he took the risk," the judge added. "Perception is subjective and prone to errors and lies. Our senses are not always reliable and prone to mistakes." Shaw must have realised the risk that he was putting himself into, should she not be 18, added Judge See""
Perhaps the silver lining in this case is that more men will be aware that they need to ask for ages (and preferably ID too) if they are not psychic (though that won't save them if the ID is fake). I don't think many people realise that this also applies to non-commercial sex with girls under the age of 16 - a "reasonable mistake" is no defence their either.

Man hailed as hero for saving wife over mother - "Xiao Guo told reporters he had heard of people asking married couples the question, "If your mother and your wife were drowning, who would you save?" But he never imagined it would happen to him."

Goodbye Hotmail, hello Outlook.com - "Microsoft tells me its new email header contains 60 per cent fewer pixels and 30 per cent more messages are viewable in a user’s inbox"

Star Wars: The Old MMO Problem - "there's a problem with what we've come to accept as conventional MMO design. It's that that design rests on ideas which are explicitly manipulative of players, having been cynically created to trap them in a system that will never reward them enough to make them feel they can stop playing. This is the dirty little secret of most MMOs. They are not designed to be fun, interesting or even social experiences. They are designed purely so that you keep playing. They are not entertainment; they are traps. "

F2P vs subs - "F2P players never end up paying $60 for a game they then find they dislike, as happens in the packaged goods world. In packaged goods, there are a lot of marketing practices designed to make you pick up and pay for something you do not want, often in large lump sums. (In grocery stores, it’s making you move more slowly on the expensive aisles, by doing things like having smaller, bumpy tiles on the floor; in games, it is things like touched-up screenshots). As a consequence, free to play is more democratic... people playing for free are subsidized by those who pay — often quite a lot... Whales exist independently of the business model, and what free-to-play does is allow them to spend more on their hobby. Thus the free to play business model ends up monetizing core fans better while actually giving access to more players at the free-to-cheap end... If you’re freaked out by seeing business practices nakedly, realize that what’s changed is that you can see them. And to my mind, that’s actually better for you than blissful ignorance"

Email Attachments in Body instead of in Attachment Line - McCombs Wiki - "When I attach a file to my email, why does it sometimes go in the body instead of the header? Usually this has to do with the format of the email. When you send new email messages through Outlook, by default they are set to be HTML emails. However, some mail programs use Rich Text or Plain Text messaging. If you are replying to a Rich Text email, you’ll notice that the attachment goes in the body of the email. If you are replying to an HTML or Plain Text email, it will go in the Attachment line."

Are Butterflies Two Different Animals in One? The Death And Resurrection Theory

In Olympics weightlifting, you need every drop of power to win. on Twitpic

mashapotato: littleyoshiie: the fuck is going... - Tell what? - "Choi was checking why the sensor reacted even though the foil touched his butt(in fleuret, only upper body is valid target area), by POKING HIS BUTT WITH THE OPPONENT’S FOIL."

Is India ready for ‘Jism 2′? - "It stars a hard-core adult film actress and has a title that would appear to leave little to the imagination. But it’s not a porn movie — Bollywood is certainly not ready for that. Jism 2— the word means “body” in Hindi language — will be released across India on Friday, promising to be one of the most graphic films in Bollywood history... ”Pretending to police the moral values of a society is the easiest way for politicians to earn brownie points”"

What Pericles would say about Obamacare - "The mess in and around Obamacare is a good illustration of what’s wrong with democracy in the United States. Notice I do not say “what’s wrong with democracy”... Pericles’ democracy was designed to reduce the power of wealth to a minimum and it did so. We know that, because for the almost two hundred years of democracy in Greece, the rich often tried to bring it down and replace it with oligarchy. A second cause Pericles would point out is our dependence on elections. “Elections!” you exclaim. “But aren’t they the essence of democracy?” Not at all. Pericles’ democracy cut way back on the use of elections for two reasons: elections give money an opportunity to exercise power, and elections make cliquish infighting the norm in politics. What ought to be the norm (Pericles would say) is serious discussion of what is best for the people... powerful representative bodies in Athens, such as the Council (like our senate), the courts, and the lawmakers, were composed of representatives selected by a lottery to represent equally the divisions of the city, somewhat like an American jury. These representatives didn’t have to run for election, so they didn’t need to listen to special interests, build up a war chest, or do stupid things to embarrass a political party"

Why Most Manufactured Pet Foods Should Not Be Fed To DOGS & CATS - "Scientifically formulated, manufactured pet foods are packed with chemical supplements used to ‘fortify’, i.e. make up for deficiencies in the basic ingredients that are slaughter house and food and beverage industry waste byproducts, and other chemical additives to flavor/taste-enhance, stabilize, preserve, color and ‘texturize’ ( appear like meat and gravy rather than a grey mush)"

India’s first Playboy bunny, under siege - "Hefner is a sexist pig that lives off the objectification of women’s bodies and posits nudity as faux-empowerment... I am now forced into an awkward position where I have to defend Chopra’s decision to pose nude for Playboy in the face of misogynist ideas about women’s purity and modesty as it relates to Indian nationalism. Critique the retrograde and sexist ideas about sexuality that give a magazine like Playboy so much capital, fine. But not the women that choose to do it. Conflating a woman’s sexual expression with the purity or modesty of her culture is one of the roots of sexism and patriarchy."
Translation: like children, women have no moral agency and can do no wrong. Vive le féminisme !

Fighting Fantasy is back! Try your skill in Blood of the Zombies - "I shall satisfy my nostalgic yearnings with this, one of the best things you will see all week. It's a collection of "you chose wrong" endings from the Fighting Fantasy and Choose Your Own Adventure books, and it couldn't be more brilliant. Here's a couple to whet your appetite. From Fighting Fantasy #12: "When you offer the fruit to the chief he takes a piece, bites it and promptly falls over dead. The rest of the aliens are appalled, and leap at you with needle-sharp spears; the ferocity of the attack breaches your armour. You collapse under the wave of bodies, never to rise. You have failed." Disaster! And from Fighting Fantasy #11: "She strikes you down, before helping you to your feet. You walk together into the Valley of Death, where your spirit will wander alone until the end of time." Bleak for a children's book, no?"

YOU CHOSE WRONG - "Your adventure ends here. Badly"