John L. Locke wrote a book called “Duels and Duets”, which is about the different ways men and women use language to communicate. In the book he explains how the differences in speech emanate from different biological needs in both genders. In this interview with Salon, he says that men tend to “duel” as a way to impress others, while women use speech in a less direct manner in an effort to bond. Further insights from the article include:

• Men using uncommon words naturally can signal to females that they are “biologically fit”
• Emails can negatively impact some relationships because they are generally depersonalized
• Men and women don’t need to change the way they talk, they just need to understand the ways they differ

To read more about the different things language says about our traits head to the article here.

Source: Salon

According to the NY Times, this week two New York taxi cab medallions were sold for one million dollars each. Taxi cab medallions are plates that allow drivers to operate a cab inside the city limits, so in a city like New York the medallions can be worth a lot of money as shown. Some of the interesting takeaways from the article are:

• The return value on the medallions from 30 years ago outperformed the stock market and gold
• The amount of taxi medallions is occasionally increased, but rarely and by auction
• When the medallions were first issued, they sold for what would have been $157.50

For that and more you can go to their article.

Source: New York Times

The New York Times analyzed data from the American Time Survey to find differences between how the employed and unemployed spend their time. Some of the interesting trends include:

• On an average weekday the unemployed sleep an hour more
• Unemployed people also spend more time on work activities such as cleaning, laundry and yard work
• They also spend more time in the classroom

To read about some other interesting trends, as well as to use the extremely informative and customizable infographic click here.

Source: The New York Times

Wired sat down with Scott Vener, the music supervisor for the hit show Entourage, and asked him what it took to be successful at his job. Some of the highlights of the interview include:

• Find new music by utilizing the web and keeping up to date on the latest trends
• Make sure you’re subtle with the tunes you use, and don’t be too obvious with the lyrics
• Don’t limit yourself to what the artists intended to talk about in the song

To discover the secret behind getting the job that he has, and to read the story behind the music for the end credits of Entourage click here.

Source: Wired

Yahoo finance took a look at McDonalds and the rest of the Fast Food industry. Some of the more interesting things that it found included:

• Fast Food restaurants used to be a place for college students to work, but increasingly it is older people who are getting those jobs.
• The average age of a fast food worker has risen from 22 to 29.5 in since 2000
• 30% of McDonalds executives and 70% of restaurant managers started off working in McDonalds restaurants in low paying jobs

To read more about the typical wage for a McDonalds employee as well as other details about those who work in the Fast Food industry, click here.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Faced with a budgetary crisis, Jon Huntsman, the governor of Utah imposed a four day work week where employees spent an additional two hours in the office each day. It was a plan that was incredibly successful and led to a variety of benefits including:

• The number of sick days fell by 9%
• Reduced commuter traffic lead to a significant reduction in air pollution
• 82% of workers were happier under the change
• Waiting time for state services actually fell

To read more about whether or not we should implement this in the wider economy as well as what private enterprise has to say about the idea click here.

Source: The Independent

Tim Harford asks you to imagine a world where there are 20 heterosexual men and women, and then you take away one man. What happens? In The Logic of Life Harford argues that since one woman faces the prospect of never finding a mate, she is forced to compete against the other women and might do so by doing things such as dressing more seductively or being more obliging. Then Harford asks you to consider the fact that one in nine young Black men are behind bars whereas one in 150 Black women are in jail. The Economist reported on the implications that Harford draws from this:

• A 1% increase in the male incarceration rate is linked to a 2.4% decrease in the proportion of women who get married.
• Since Black women tend to go to college more often than Black men, there is even more competition among well-educated Black women for Black men of a similar socio-economic status.
• The high demand for eligible Black men causes Black women to “do extra” to get their attention. This often involves offering sex on the first date.

To read about the experience of one Black Women on a date as well as more detailed statistics about the status of jail and marriage get the book or read the Economist’s coverage over here.

Source: The Economist

Microsoft is now officially the owner of Skype, the instant messaging client used by millions around the world. Arstechnica took a look at what Microsoft is likely to do with its new acquisition:

• Skype is likely to retain a mass consumer market appeal through integration with Windows Live, Xbox, and Microsoft Outlook.
• Skype will also probably be integrated with Lync, Microsoft’s business communications program. Because they are built upon different software code bases it could take up to two years for the two to become truly assimilated.
• Skype should soon see a debut on Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 platform.

To read more about the features Microsoft is likely to bring to Skype as well as its future under Windows 8 click here.

Source: Arstechnica

Meet the Numi, a $6,400 toilet produced by Kohler. Sam Brobart was given the opportunity to test it for a month and wrote about the experience in The New York Times. Some of the highlights from the review include:

• There are no levers or buttons. All of the features such as heating, drying, and, of course, flushing, are handled through a large touch screen panel.
• The luxurious supplement automatically detects your presence in the bathroom and greets you by raising the lid. When you’re done it detects if you were sitting or standing and adjusts the type of flush accordingly.
• It also comes with an mp3 player with separate music profiles for different family members.

To read about its other strengths and weaknesses, as well as the final verdict on whether or not you should buy it read the full review over here

Source: The New York Times

Via: Life Inc.

Researchers at the University of Maryland found that higher home prices lead to an increase in the number of births in a home. Some of the more interesting points include:

• Researchers estimate that a 10% increase in house prices would lead to a 4% increase in births
• While the paper does not include data from 2008 onwards, it should be noted that housing prices dropped 18% in 2008 while birth rates fell by 2%
• With the continued uncertainty in the housing markets, America’s fertility may continue to fall.

To find out how the effect varies by ethnicity read the paper here.

Source: NBER

Via: Freakonomics