15 February, 2013

No. of FB friends decides your success metric

The number of friends you have on social networking sites like Facebook, can reveal how successful you are, and even how often you move, researchers have said.

Researchers from the University of Virginia and the London Business school said the ''perfect'' number of friends actually depends on several socioeconomic factors, and varies from country to country.

Shigehiro Oishi, a psychology professor in the University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences, and Selin Kesebir of the London Business School explored the benefits of social networking strategies in two studies currently published in the journal Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"In the age of Facebook, many Americans seem to opt for a broad, shallow networking strategy," the Daily Mail quoted the researchers, as saying.

"Yet cross-cultural research has shown that having many friends is not always viewed positively outside the United States," they added.

According to the paper, the researchers claimed that one reason why Americans may prefer a large social network is that 'Americans move around a lot'.

Another important factor may be the economic conditions at a given time, they added.

"When times are prosperous, your friends are less likely to need much help, whether it's covering a hospital bill or providing babysitting, and so a broad network of friends is easy to maintain," the paper quoted them, as saying.

"But when times aren't as flush, having more friends might incur huge costs in terms of both time and resources," they said.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

15.02.2013

Kitchen, not bathroom, most unhygienic place!

Indian women make mistake of ignoring kitchen hygiene because 'guests don't venture in', reveals survey

The next time you kick off a spring cleaning session at home, a good place to start with might be your kitchen.

While most of us are sure to blurt 'bathroom' when asked to name the most germ-infested spot in a home, the truth is far from it, say microbiologists.

Studies conducted across the world have revealed that it's the innocuous kitchen sponge that is 2,00,000 times dirtier than the average toilet seat.

Researchers at the Indian Medical Academy (IMA) aren't surprised.

A survey conducted by them (IMA) last month across 1,400 homes in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune revealed that most subjects named the toilet as the hotbed for germs, with 95 per cent respondents believing that a kitchen that 'looks' clean ought to be hygienic.

Dr Preetaish Kaul, medical advisor with the IMA, says the logic is simple. Germs and bacteria need food to survive, so it's only natural that they will breed in an environment that offers it. "The kitchen is ideal because it's where food is readily available, allowing bacteria to thrive," he says, "almost everything in the kitchen is loaded with harmful bacteria. If not cleaned thoroughly and regularly, they can spread severe infections."

Of the respondents surveyed by IMA, 33 per cent said they cleaned their living room daily, 22 per cent said they cleaned their bedrooms every day, and two per cent it was their bathroom that they cleaned daily.

Not a single respondent from this sample group, at least, admitted to cleaning the kitchen every day. Most said it was a difficult area to keep clean, and since it wasn't usually frequented by guests, unlike the living room, they didn't feel compelled to give it a good and regular scrub.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

15.02.2013

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character

Albert Einstein