Anti-Groping Cellphone App.

Wow. You read the title correctly. The 7th most downloaded cellphone application in Japan these days is an anti-groping app that allows women to send messages to male gropers on trains. The “Anti-Groping Appli” was created back in 2005 by games developer Takahashi and has recently jumped in downloads. I’ve been told this is a big issue over there– although I didn’t personally experience it. But wow, the fact that it’s prevalent enough for an application to be created– and actually downloaded, is a little nutty. And the messages; let’s face it, are hilarious. It’s funny to me to think that showing someone a text message on a train ANYWHERE in the world might actually deter them from doing anything. That would never work in the states. Apparently, instituting all female train cars in Japan wasn’t quite enough to alleviate this ridiculous problem. Bizarre. Read the full story over at ABC.com.

Bill Clinton at UBS

For anyone who is interested, former President Bill Clinton will be doing a book signing at the University Book Store on University Way in the Udistrict next Thursday, November 1st. Times and details have yet to be confirmed because it was just announced today, but you can find more info as it becomes available at the UBS blog, The Shelf Life.

Save San Diego

 

Head over to HMBrand.com and buy some stuff. Our friend Skip is doing his part to help those effected by the CA Wildfires– he’ll be donating $5 of every online purchase to the SD Red Cross.

BREAKING NEWS!

….is SUCH an overplayed term in the media. It really gets on my nerves. I remember when that special music and the flashy “Breaking News” graphics used to mean an ACTUAL serious emergency or event. Now it’s just to tell us the paternity of Anna Nicole’s baby, or that our President wants to hold another worthless news conference so he can lie to us some more about the war in Iraq. Have you ever noticed that there’s Breaking News about 20 times a day? Doesn’t that just make it regular news?! These fear tactics are getting really old. I think this overabundance of Breaking News actually desensitizes us. I used to be really scared as a kid, when the Breaking News would come on & now I barely even pay attention. I think it’d be really interesting to watch the news for a full 24 hour period and count how much of that time there’s a “Breaking News” banner flashing on the bottom of the screen. How obnoxious.

That’s how the cookie crumbles…

Came across this Op-Ed in the NYTimes.com today called “The Rich Are More Oblivious Than You And Me.” It’s a really interesting (and quite funny) piece that explores the idea that as one gets richer, they become more “disinhibited” and therefore less sensitive to those around them and less cautious in general. It basically seeks to answer the question “Why do rich people do such stupid things and why are they always acting like idiots?” The article seems to have been sparked by the recent crash of a red $1.5 million dollar Ferrari Enzo by actor Eddie Griffin at a charity event. Other stupid rich people moments highlighted in this article? Steve Wynn elbowing a $139 million Picasso painting, and Mel Gibson’s Anti-Semetic tirade back in July 2006.

My favorite part of the article is a test used to explore the notion that power makes people “stupid and insensitive.” It’s what Richard Conniff calls the “Cookie Monster Experiment.” “Researchers led by the psychologist Dacher Keltner took groups of three ordinary volunteers and randomly put one of them in charge. Each trio had a half-hour to work through a boring social survey. Then a researcher came in and left a plateful of precisely five cookies. Care to guess which volunteer typically grabbed an extra cookie? The volunteer who had randomly been assigned the power role was also more likely to eat it with his mouth open, spew crumbs on partners and get cookie detritus on his face and on the table.” It’s interesting to think about whether or not power and money breed an attitude of entitlement? I guess the “cookie monster’s” mothers never taught them to ask if anyone else wanted the last item on the plate, before devouring it themselves. Makes me think it would be a good follow up study to explore whether or not money and power make you lose your manners and “good home trainin’!”

It’s an interesting article, and delves a little deeper into this subject. Check it out above, or right here.