Your Ebook Is Reading You (WSJ)

Your E-Book Is Reading You (Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2012):

Digital-book publishers and retailers now know more about their readers than ever before. How that’s changing the experience of reading.

It takes the average reader just seven hours to read the final book in Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” trilogy on the Kobo e-reader—about 57 pages an hour. Nearly 18,000 Kindle readers have highlighted the same line from the second book in the series: “Because sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.” And on Barnes & Noble’s Nook, the first thing that most readers do upon finishing the first “Hunger Games” book is to download the next one.

For centuries, reading has largely been a solitary and private act, an intimate exchange between the reader and the words on the page. But the rise of digital books has prompted a profound shift in the way we read, transforming the activity into something measurable and quasi-public. Eben Shapiro explains on Lunch Break. Photo: AP.

In the past, publishers and authors had no way of knowing what happens when a reader sits down with a book. Does the reader quit after three pages, or finish it in a single sitting? Do most readers skip over the introduction, or read it closely, underlining passages and scrawling notes in the margins? Now, e-books are providing a glimpse into the story behind the sales figures, revealing not only how many people buy particular books, but how intensely they read them.

We Know What You Read

Read moreYour Ebook Is Reading You (WSJ)

Study: See Big Mac, Want Big Mac

See also:

Why You Should Avoid Fast Food At All Costs

Dr. Mercola: What’s in the Non-Chicken Half of the McNugget?

Study: Dangerous Chemicals in Food Wrappers Migrate Into Food

What’s in Fast Food Chicken? Hint: It’s NOT Chicken

Junk Food-Addicted Rats Chose To Starve Themselves Rather Than Eat Healthy Food


Study of the Day: See Big Mac, Want Big Mac (The Atlantic, June 26, 2012):

PROBLEM: Though previous studies have predictably shown that food advertisements make people think of eating, little research has been done to understand how the brain responds to such visual cues and what feelings they elicit.

METHODOLOGY: University of Southern California researchers led by Kathleen Page used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure the neurological responses of 13 obese, Hispanic women ages 15 to 25 and see if food reminders trigger hunger and cravings. They chose women for their known responsiveness to food cues and Hispanics because of the high risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in their community.

RESULTS: Viewing images of high-fat food items stimulated the appetite and reward centers in the respondents’ brains. Interestingly, taking in glucose and fructose through sweetened drinks while inspecting the pictures also led to a desire for savory foods.

Read moreStudy: See Big Mac, Want Big Mac

The U.S. Supreme Court And Natural Law

For your information.

See also:

Judge Napolitano On Obamacare: ‘Individual Mandate Most Bizarre Tax In The History Of The Country’ (Video)

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare … AS A TAX!!!


The Supreme Court And Natural Law (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2012):

I won a bet today.

A few weeks ago I wagered with a coworker that the United States Supreme Court would uphold the Affordable Care Act otherwise known as Obamacare.  He reasoned that the federal government has no authority under the Constitution to force an individual to purchase a product from a private company.  My reasoning was much simpler.  Because the Supreme Court is a functioning arm of the state, it will do nothing to stunt Leviathan’s growth.  The fact that the Court declared no federal law unconstitutional from 1937 to 1995—from the tail end of the New Deal through Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society—should have been proof enough.  He naively believed in the impartialness of politically-appointed judges.  For the first time he saw that those nine individuals are nothing more than politicians with an allegiance to state supremacy.

It was a tough but valuable lesson to learn.

Read moreThe U.S. Supreme Court And Natural Law

Internet Piracy: Internet Users Are Now ‘Guilty Until Proven Innocent’

– ?Guilty until proven innocent: Families will have to pay £20 to show they DIDN’T illegally download music under new law (Daily Mail, June 26, 2012):

  • Regime designed to stamp out internet piracy will treat individuals as ‘guilty until proven innocent’
  • People wrongly accused of making illegal downloads will have to pay £20 fee to appeal and prove their innocence
  • Move has angered consumer groups
  • Internet users who illegally download music, movies and e-books will be sent warning letters in a crackdown that could lead to court action for copyright theft.

    A new regime to tackle online piracy will in effect treat individuals as ‘guilty until proven innocent’.

    Those wrongly accused of illegal downloading will have to pay a £20 fee to appeal in a move that has angered consumer groups.

    The controls on internet piracy, due to come into effect in early 2014, were outlined yesterday by the broadcasting regulator Ofcom under the Digital Economy Act 2010.

    The same Act includes punishments that could, in future, see accused families having their internet service slowed down, capped or even cut off.

    Read moreInternet Piracy: Internet Users Are Now ‘Guilty Until Proven Innocent’

    Kyodo: Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Cooling System Suspended – Temperature Safety Limit Could Be Reached On Tueday

    Fukushima reactor cooling system suspended: Kyodo (MarketWatch, June 30, 2012):

    TOKYO–The cooling system for the spent fuel pool at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant’s No. 4 reactor automatically suspended operation Saturday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, Kyodo News reported Saturday.

    The utility known as Tepco has been unable to activate a backup cooling system for the pool and is looking into the cause of the trouble, officials of the plant operator said later in the day, adding it is unlikely the temperature will rise rapidly.

    The water temperature of the pool was 31 C at the time of the suspension at around 6.25 a.m. local time and no leakage of water with radioactive materials has been found, Tepco said.

    The temperature of the pool rose 0.26 C per hour by late Saturday afternoon, according to the utility.

    If Tepco continues to be unable to cool the pool, the temperature could reach 65 C, which is the upper limit designated in the safety regulations, on Tuesday morning. The cooling system at the No. 4 reactor was previously suspended on June 4.

    Read moreKyodo: Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP Cooling System Suspended – Temperature Safety Limit Could Be Reached On Tueday

    US: States Declare Emergency After Storms Leave Over A Dozen Dead And Millions Without Power

    States declare emergency after storms leave over a dozen dead and millions without power (FOX News, July 1, 2012):

    WASHINGTON –  Multiple governors declared emergencies as temperatures rose in the aftermath of powerful storms that swept through the mid-Atlantic region Friday night, resulting in at least 13 deaths and leaving more than three million without power.

    Under the statewide emergency declaration, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio, can utilize all government resources immediately to help those in need. The District of Columbia also declared a state of emergency.

    Read moreUS: States Declare Emergency After Storms Leave Over A Dozen Dead And Millions Without Power

    Can Blood Tests Detect Cancer? Vitamin D Tests can Long Before Tumor Development

    Can Blood Tests Detect Cancer? Vitamin D Tests can Long Before Tumor Development (Natural Society, June 26, 2012):

    Can blood tests detect cancer? Dr. Cedric Garland of the University of California- San Diego has been working on the relationship between Vitamin D deficiency and cancer for years. What he has found, but what’s remained quiet among mainstream medicine, could revolutionize cancer detection, prevention and treatment.Can Blood Tests Detect Cancer? Vitamin D Tests Can

    In this video interview released in 2009, Dr. Garland discusses his research with Carole Baggerly of Grassroots Health. He suggests that by simply raising Vitamin D in the blood, we could potentially prevent over 75% of breast cancer and colon cancer deaths annually.

    This number is shocking and one who isn’t well informed of the workings of big medicine may be surprised that Vitamin D isn’t being pushed heavily by doctors and the government to help lessen the tragic effects of cancer. For those of us who stay informed of such things, however, their lack of enthusiasm isn’t surprising. The information answers the question ‘can blood tests detect cancer’ with a sounding ‘yes’.

    Read moreCan Blood Tests Detect Cancer? Vitamin D Tests can Long Before Tumor Development