His approval ratings may be low, but he’s as newsworthy as ever. President Bush? Senator Craig? Nope, we’re talking about OJ.
Google OJ Simpson and you’ll get 11.6 million results. So where does that rank among others with low approval ratings? President Bush gets 45 million; Senator Craig just 1.1 million. Apparently one good way to lower your visibility is to deny that you’re gay.
Britney Spears got 61% more results than the president with 72.3 million. Among other bad girls in the news, Paris Hilton came in 2nd with 40.6 million. Lindsay Lohan couldn’t even break eight figures; she had under 10 million Google results.
Math’s most famous and longstanding mystery – finding a proof for Fermat’s Last Theorem – was finally solved by Professor Andrew Wiles. But he gets only 158,000 Google results. Albert Einstein garnered four million.
Einstein is still way behind OJ but I have faith: given enough of the fourth dimension of time, Einstein will eventually triumph.
Showing posts with label Paris Hilton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paris Hilton. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Waiting Game
"We have good clocks in our heads for roughly three minutes," said Paco Underhill, founder of Envirosell, a retail consulting firm. "Once we get beyond that, time expands wildly. If somebody waits four and a half minutes and you ask them how long they waited, they'll say 15."
What's Paco talking about? Purchasing groceries of course! But Americans are used to waiting; a recent study finds we spent 48 hours every year just waiting in lines, and not just for groceries.
The top five waits?
#5: fast food restaurants – I guess the line is slow but the food is fast;
#4: airports – to get there faster you have to wait;
#3: hospitals and doctor's offices – I'm sure Michael Moore has something to say about this;
#2: retail stores – even when there's no debut of the iPhone; and
#1: the Dept. of Motor Vehicles – I wonder if Paris Hilton ever waits in line at DMV.
Improvements are being made: a Pittsburgh health clinic installed kiosks that reduce wait times by 80%. Gourmet supermarket chain Whole Foods now uses a single line that cuts wait time from 20 minutes down to four. Some USA airports now offer Clear cards – for $100 a year – that enable travelers to bypass long security lines.
So you might think everyone's in the fast lane now. But not at Disney. MIT Professor Richard Larson – an expert in queue theory – says that Disney understands waiting psychology. According to Larson, "You may be waiting 45 minutes to get to the ride, but the experience starts when you join the line, because of all the distractions and entertainment around you." Right – just like the DMV!
Ultimately, psychology may be the key: in NYC complaints about long waits for elevators plummet when mirrors are installed. Or maybe Apple should just give everyone an iPhone so we can all watch Paris Hilton on Larry King.
What's Paco talking about? Purchasing groceries of course! But Americans are used to waiting; a recent study finds we spent 48 hours every year just waiting in lines, and not just for groceries.
The top five waits?
#5: fast food restaurants – I guess the line is slow but the food is fast;
#4: airports – to get there faster you have to wait;
#3: hospitals and doctor's offices – I'm sure Michael Moore has something to say about this;
#2: retail stores – even when there's no debut of the iPhone; and
#1: the Dept. of Motor Vehicles – I wonder if Paris Hilton ever waits in line at DMV.
Improvements are being made: a Pittsburgh health clinic installed kiosks that reduce wait times by 80%. Gourmet supermarket chain Whole Foods now uses a single line that cuts wait time from 20 minutes down to four. Some USA airports now offer Clear cards – for $100 a year – that enable travelers to bypass long security lines.
So you might think everyone's in the fast lane now. But not at Disney. MIT Professor Richard Larson – an expert in queue theory – says that Disney understands waiting psychology. According to Larson, "You may be waiting 45 minutes to get to the ride, but the experience starts when you join the line, because of all the distractions and entertainment around you." Right – just like the DMV!
Ultimately, psychology may be the key: in NYC complaints about long waits for elevators plummet when mirrors are installed. Or maybe Apple should just give everyone an iPhone so we can all watch Paris Hilton on Larry King.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Birth order
Birth order and intelligence. Is there a connection? What do you think?
MaryKate or Ashley?
Venus or Serena Williams?
Wilbur or Orville Wright?
Michael or Janet Jackson?
Prince William or Prince Harry?
Jeb or George W. Bush?
Paris or Nicky?
After nearly a century of debate, a large study just published in Science Magazine provides evidence that the first-born tend to be more intelligent.
Studies like this are tricky because they deal with many statistics that change quickly over time. For example, in the U.S. and Canada, as average family size decreased the proportion of first-borns went from 27% in 1960 to 44% in 1984. But I love science, it can explain so much.
Conventional wisdom, the other way to explain much but without the burden of science, holds that eldest children value order, rules, and structure, middle children tend to be outlandish and nonconformist to get people to pay attention to them, and the youngest are friendly, outgoing, and also manipulative. Only children try to become adults at an early age, and tend to excel both intellectually and emotionally, but they may not like to share.
If you're not the eldest, you can take heart: other studies have shown no correlation between intelligence and net worth. One possibility is that smart people place lesser value on money. Another is that being smart and working hard are two different things.
So who do the Science Magazine study results predict will be the more intelligent of our celebrity couples? Here are older siblings:
Ashley
Venus Williams
Orville Wright
Michael Jackson
Prince William
Jeb Bush, and
Paris Hilton
Paris may be even smarter now after spending some time behind bars. But the study also says there is no good explanation behind the two point IQ advantage the eldest enjoys. Sometimes, even in science as in life or with Paris, we just can't find a reason for things.
MaryKate or Ashley?
Venus or Serena Williams?
Wilbur or Orville Wright?
Michael or Janet Jackson?
Prince William or Prince Harry?
Jeb or George W. Bush?
Paris or Nicky?
After nearly a century of debate, a large study just published in Science Magazine provides evidence that the first-born tend to be more intelligent.
Studies like this are tricky because they deal with many statistics that change quickly over time. For example, in the U.S. and Canada, as average family size decreased the proportion of first-borns went from 27% in 1960 to 44% in 1984. But I love science, it can explain so much.
Conventional wisdom, the other way to explain much but without the burden of science, holds that eldest children value order, rules, and structure, middle children tend to be outlandish and nonconformist to get people to pay attention to them, and the youngest are friendly, outgoing, and also manipulative. Only children try to become adults at an early age, and tend to excel both intellectually and emotionally, but they may not like to share.
If you're not the eldest, you can take heart: other studies have shown no correlation between intelligence and net worth. One possibility is that smart people place lesser value on money. Another is that being smart and working hard are two different things.
So who do the Science Magazine study results predict will be the more intelligent of our celebrity couples? Here are older siblings:
Ashley
Venus Williams
Orville Wright
Michael Jackson
Prince William
Jeb Bush, and
Paris Hilton
Paris may be even smarter now after spending some time behind bars. But the study also says there is no good explanation behind the two point IQ advantage the eldest enjoys. Sometimes, even in science as in life or with Paris, we just can't find a reason for things.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Blue eyes
Paris Hilton’s eyes are really brown (she wears blue contact lenses). Frank Sinatra was known as Old blue eyes. What is it about blue eyes?
Blue eyes are basically a human trait. Blue-eyed black lemurs are the only non-human primates to have truly blue eyes. There are some cats with blue eyes: Here’s a strange fact: Regardless of breed, white cats with two blue eyes are usually deaf.
Lots of insects have blue eyes: the huge caterpillar of the oleander hawk moth for example. And the one in a million cicada found yesterday by a 6 year old in a Chicago suburb.
Here are the numbers for humans: Around 8% of the world's population has blue eyes, although nearly 90% of Icelanders have blue or green eyes. Thirty-four percent of non-Hispanic whites born in the US between 1936 and 1951 have blue eyes – it was 57% for those born between 1899 and 1905. Like UPS, the US is going brown.
Categorizing people by eye color is tough: Actress Kate Bosworth has one blue eye and one hazel eye. Actress Jane Seymour has one brown eye and one green eye. Contrary to appearances, David Bowie’s eyes have the same color. It’s just that the pupil of one eye is always dilated; making it look like it has a different iris color.
Most Caucasians are born with blue eyes, which may change to green, hazel, or brown as they grow older. Exposure to light after birth triggers the production of melanin in the iris so that by age three the eyes take on their permanent color, assuming no contacts of course.
Here’s some other blue trivia: There are only two animals with blue tongues, the Black Bear and the Chow dog. A robin's egg is blue, but after you put it in vinegar for thirty days it turns yellow. Blueberries are the only non-purple blue fruit or vegetable. I wonder if that’s on Paris’s jailhouse menu.
And can Paris Hilton wear blue contacts in jail? Or is she, too, going brown?
Blue eyes are basically a human trait. Blue-eyed black lemurs are the only non-human primates to have truly blue eyes. There are some cats with blue eyes: Here’s a strange fact: Regardless of breed, white cats with two blue eyes are usually deaf.
Lots of insects have blue eyes: the huge caterpillar of the oleander hawk moth for example. And the one in a million cicada found yesterday by a 6 year old in a Chicago suburb.
Here are the numbers for humans: Around 8% of the world's population has blue eyes, although nearly 90% of Icelanders have blue or green eyes. Thirty-four percent of non-Hispanic whites born in the US between 1936 and 1951 have blue eyes – it was 57% for those born between 1899 and 1905. Like UPS, the US is going brown.
Categorizing people by eye color is tough: Actress Kate Bosworth has one blue eye and one hazel eye. Actress Jane Seymour has one brown eye and one green eye. Contrary to appearances, David Bowie’s eyes have the same color. It’s just that the pupil of one eye is always dilated; making it look like it has a different iris color.
Most Caucasians are born with blue eyes, which may change to green, hazel, or brown as they grow older. Exposure to light after birth triggers the production of melanin in the iris so that by age three the eyes take on their permanent color, assuming no contacts of course.
Here’s some other blue trivia: There are only two animals with blue tongues, the Black Bear and the Chow dog. A robin's egg is blue, but after you put it in vinegar for thirty days it turns yellow. Blueberries are the only non-purple blue fruit or vegetable. I wonder if that’s on Paris’s jailhouse menu.
And can Paris Hilton wear blue contacts in jail? Or is she, too, going brown?
Monday, June 4, 2007
Not the Hilton Hotel
Paris Hilton went to jail late last night. What are the stats on prisoners, women, and just how unusual is Paris? Here are the numbers...
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2.2 million prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons and local jails, so 1 in every 136 Americans is in jail. Women make up only 7% of the inmates. African Americans account for 3%. Here’s the telling stat: the average American has a 1 in 15 chance – 6.8% - of serving time in prison during his or her lifetime. It’s 1.8% for women.
At age 26 Paris Hilton is in the prime jail age. Of those between the ages of 25 and 29 8.1% of black males, 2.6% of Hispanic males, and 1.1% of white males were in State or Federal prison.
Paris Hilton’s stay at the all-female Century Regional Detention Facility is expected to be 23 days. While her placement in a special needs section of the facility may be deemed special treatment, her time served percentage based on good behavior will be normal according to both Federal and State statistics.
Sometimes good behavior will simply not make a difference. The average time served before execution is 121 months, with no time off.
So is Paris unusual? The numbers say that just being a woman in jail makes it so. But I’m not sure she needed that distinction.
According to its most recent quarterly filing with the SEC, the Hilton Hotels Corporation expects to spend $330 million this year for hotel renovation, hotel investment and special projects. Hmmm. Special projects. Could that maybe include a certain jail cell 20 minutes south of LA?
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2.2 million prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons and local jails, so 1 in every 136 Americans is in jail. Women make up only 7% of the inmates. African Americans account for 3%. Here’s the telling stat: the average American has a 1 in 15 chance – 6.8% - of serving time in prison during his or her lifetime. It’s 1.8% for women.
At age 26 Paris Hilton is in the prime jail age. Of those between the ages of 25 and 29 8.1% of black males, 2.6% of Hispanic males, and 1.1% of white males were in State or Federal prison.
Paris Hilton’s stay at the all-female Century Regional Detention Facility is expected to be 23 days. While her placement in a special needs section of the facility may be deemed special treatment, her time served percentage based on good behavior will be normal according to both Federal and State statistics.
Sometimes good behavior will simply not make a difference. The average time served before execution is 121 months, with no time off.
So is Paris unusual? The numbers say that just being a woman in jail makes it so. But I’m not sure she needed that distinction.
According to its most recent quarterly filing with the SEC, the Hilton Hotels Corporation expects to spend $330 million this year for hotel renovation, hotel investment and special projects. Hmmm. Special projects. Could that maybe include a certain jail cell 20 minutes south of LA?
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