She makes a lot of good points about gaming, although most of it is focused on World of Warcraft. McGonigal has written her PhD on why people are a so much better person in games than in real life. Basically it explains why it’s so easy to get sucked into those games since people feel that it’s better than real life.

Who am I to question someone with a PhD, although I believe that the statistics she’s looking at includes casual gaming, which gives many other “skills” rather than what she believes you’re getting from playing WoW. Immediately I don’t want to listen to what she’s saying because she’s constantly saying so many positive things are coming from the awful game WoW but she then goes on to explain how other games created could actually be helpful. Just be careful to dress those games up as non-educational, cos what gamer is going to want to be playing something you can actually learn from!

What do you think? Can gaming save the world? Leave a comment below or tweet your thoughts @HelloLiefje

Researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology report they were able to cloak a tiny bump in a layer of gold, preventing its detection at nearly visible infrared frequencies.

Their cloaking device also worked in three dimensions, while previously developed cloaks worked in two dimensions, lead researcher Tolga Ergin said.

The cloak is a structure of crystals with air spaces in between, sort of like a woodpile, that bends light, hiding the bump in the gold later beneath, the researchers reported in Thursday’s online edition of the journal Science.

Read more here.

Which way is she spinning for you? Clockwise or anti-clockwise? There is no correct answer.

Depending on which way you see her spin tells you which side of your brain is most dominant. If you see her spinning clockwise then the right side of your brain is used most and vice versa.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Click the spoiler below if you wanna figure out how to make her switch directions

Neat huh? So do you see clockwise or anti-clockwise?

But if you were wondering why men don’t seem to like curvy ladies,’The Modern Man‘ has the answer for you.

Do men like fat women? Are men shallow because they are attracted to skinny women? In this video, Dan Bacon cuts to the truth of the matter and explains why men don’t find fat women attractive.

Here are the 15 reasons:

1. A fat woman isn’t the entire package that we’re looking for in a woman.
2. A fat woman looks like ‘used goods’.
3. A fat woman makes unattractive sounds during sex.
4. A fat woman lowers a man’s status.
5. A fat woman attracts less-favorable treatment in society.
6. A fat woman’s true physical appearance is hidden.
7. A fat woman is unhealthy.
8. A fat woman will likely pass on her bad habits to the children.
9. A fat woman is missing the most attractive element.
10. A fat woman is ‘heavy-lifting’ in the bedroom.
11. A fat woman requires more food.
12. A fat woman doesn’t have a natural, female form.
13. A fat woman is usually lazy.
14. A fat woman usually has psychological issues.
15. A fat woman looks older than she is.

I can admit that i’m shallow but this takes the cake. This douche can not understand that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. I’ve known a lot of men who are really turned off by skinny women and love to have some junk in the trunk.

Well I have 15 reasons why I would like to be fatter:

1. My boobs would get bigger
2. I’d  be warmer in the winter
3. More brands of adult clothing sizes would fit me
4. I’d be stronger (more weight = MORE POWER)
5. I could participate in those “OMG I can’t eat that, it’ll go straight to my thighs” conversations
6. I could eat more than just an appetizer in a restaurant
7. More cushion for the pushin
8. I could take up two seats on a bus and just pay for 1 without looking like a bitch
9. My appearance would match my fitness level
10. The fatter you are, the less wrinkles you have
11. I could eat full portions in a restaurant so I wouldn’t have to reassure the staff that “your food is fine, i’m just full.”
12.  My friends and family will not worry that i’m not eating enough
13. I’ll be less likely to get ill (i’m always catching colds)
14. I’d actually start caring about the nutrition info on food packets
15. My (future) kids would love to hug me cos i’d be soft

Do any of you agree with this guy? Or does he just sound like a balding idiot?

The answer of the report was no, but google is indeed changing the way people think. The report surveyed 895 technology stakeholders via the internet. About 76 percent of respondents said that Google will not make us stupid.

“Google allows us to be more creative in approaching problems and more integrative in our thinking. We spend less time trying to recall and more time generating solutions”

- Paul Jones of ibiblio.org at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

This survey was sparked by an article published in The Atlantic by Nicholas Carr. According to Carr;

The process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves. When the mechanical clock arrived, people began thinking of their brains as operating “like clockwork.” Today, in the age of software, we have come to think of them as operating “like computers.” But the changes, neuroscience tells us, go much deeper than metaphor. Thanks to our brain’s plasticity, the adaptation occurs also at a biological level.

I don’t know if google is making us stupid, but it sure is convenient. My spelling is probably worse than when I was 14 years old and I find myself googling things like “what is the cutest kitten in the world?”

What do you think? Leave a comment or tweet your thoughts @HelloLiefje

Cute! Visit John’s website to find out more.

“The factors in brewing that influence silicon levels in beer have not been extensively studied” said Charles Bamforth, lead author of the study. “We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer.”

“Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon,” concludes Dr. Bamforth. “Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer.”

Details of this study are available in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Or you can just read more at the Science Daily.

Hmm, maybe theres something good then about the miracle beer diet?:

They had been dating for 1.5 years and from the get-go, it this guy was dangerously obsessed with Alba. He plastered her pictures all over the walls, had pictures of her on his cellphone and did his best to morph his insecure girlfriend into a mirror image of the actress.

The man demanded 21-year old Xiaoqing do her make-up as Alba does  (even when she slept) and gave her a blonde wig for Christmas, which he asked her to wear all the time.

How in the world could she break it off with such a gem? She told a Chinese newspaper they broke up last month when she threw her wig and fake eyelashes to the ground after people laughed at her.

But afterwards, she said she reconsidered:

“I love him very much…. that’s why I always followed his opinions. I don’t want to lose him,”

She got the idea to get plastic surgery after she wasn’t “getting over” her ex. Her friends must have been sick of her bitching because it was them who recommended she get the surgery.

The news of this surgery caught wind because of a video posted on Youtube:

Word of the crazy woman actually reached the actress Jessica Alba, who was less than flattered with the news. According to the NY Daily News, Alba responded saying:

“I think you should never have to change yourself like that, If somebody loves you, they’ll love you no matter what.”

This is just insanity, Xiaoqing is already a very pretty girl and she isn’t thinking about the consequences of such surgery. Can’t she just open up a magazine and learn from people like:

Octomom

Heidi Montag

Donatella Versace (via wireimage.com)

And most importantly, Jocelyn Wildenstein?

Wildenstein ended up this way from numerous procedures she made in order to keep “youthful looking” for her husband.

Another gross part to this story is that a plastic surgery clinic in Shanghai offered to do the work for free in order to “showcase their skills”.

What do you think? Does the world need another Jessica Alba? Leave a comment or send a tweet to @HelloLiefje

I guess the billboards reading “H1N1 now available” weren’t working as they wished, because now Walgreens have moved up a level and started slapping advertisements for the virus on their food.

Do you think people will know that it means they’re selling the vaccine? I think it just looks like they’ve got some H1N1 flavoured Häagen Dazs – yummy!! Leave a comment or tweet about it to @Helloliefje

“While on holiday in Lanzarote, the family went on a camel ride but I refused – I was scared the poor camel wouldn’t be able to get up.”

“And I used to cringe when my husband Steve touched me, I felt horribly self-conscious and used to get breathless in bed from exertion.”

Of course, the weight wasn’t lost just through Wii Fit, Lara also cut out all the “comfort” foods she was eating. “I’ve become a real exhibitionist,” she laughs. “And the best thing is the improvement in my sex life.”

“As far as I’m concerned the Wii Fit saved my life.”

Take note those of you who love gaming / computers but wish to get fit! If Wii Fit isn’t up your avenue, you could always just build yourself one of these.