Workers Who Delay Retirement May Be Happiest

Much has been made of the slow economy forcing older people to stay on the job longer than they’d like. Older workers believe health care costs alone will consume their savings in retirement, and about half plan to keep working for no other reason. But how terrible is this, really?

A growing body of research suggests that staying on the job longer is good not just for your wealth but for your health, too. That was the central premise of my first book with gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, and when we published The Power Years in 2005 this was an under appreciated view.

Today this line of thinking is broadly accepted and often the central tenet of financial firms’ advice to under-saved baby boomers. Working just two or three years longer can shore up your retirement security; it gives you the added benefit of staying busy, connected and relevant, all of which diminish stress and loneliness which are so damaging to mental and physical well being.

http://business.time.com/2013/03/15/workers-who-delay-retirement-may-be-happiest/ 

Working into seventies 'should be new norm'

The Institute of Directors said it is “inevitable” that the age at which workers can collect their state pension would rise significantly to cope with rising life longevity and to tackle the ballooning pensions blackhole.

Under current plans, the state pension age is set to rise to 66 in 2020 – six years earlier than Labour had set out – and to 68 by 2046. But the IoD said the Government should use this week’s Budget to go further, increasing it to 68 by 2032 and 70 by 2044. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/budget/9936020/Budget-2013-Working-into-seventies-should-be-new-norm.html 

Insight selling: How retailers sell to us by stealth

Jordan Mittelman is obsessed with cycling - a passion he's harnessed to launch an award-winning business in the heart of Washington DC.

The US capital already has a large number of bike shops, and Mr Mittelman knew his High Street store, Bicycle Space, could only succeed by offering customers more than competitive prices and good service.

"People can find all the products we sell online, and are often so well-read and knowledgeable. They've looked up every detail and come in knowing so much," he says.

"To sell to those people you have to appeal to something greater - we're selling a lifestyle and an experience."

Marketers call this insight selling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21371039 

Madam, I’m Adam: Palindrome Masters Go Head to Head in Championship

For most of us, palindromes are just something we learn about one day in school. The teacher writes “race car” on the board, explaining that the phrase is the same backwards as forwards; minds are temporarily blown; and then everyone goes about their lives. But for true palindromists, crafting these linguistic mirror images is an obsession. And they’re about to test their best creations in a competition judged by the likes of crossword guru Will Shortz and “Weird Al” Yankovic. In this week’s Wednesday Words, we ask the judges what they’re looking for and preview some of the finalists.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/06/madam-im-adam-palindrome-masters-go-head-to-head-in-championship/

Culture Why we need to invent new words

Do not be afraid to make up your own words. English teachers, dictionary publishers and that uptight guy two cubicles over who always complains about the microwave being dirty, they will all tell you that you can't. They will bring out the dictionary and show you that the word isn't there – therefore it doesn't exist. Don't fall for this. The people who love dictionaries like to present these massive tomes as an unquestionable authority, just slightly less than holy. But they're not. A dictionary is just a book, a product, no different from Fifty Shades of Grey and only slightly better written. But you must be careful. Every new word must be crafted. It has to have a purpose, a need. A new word cannot be created with a fisted bash to a keyboard. Like every other word in the language, your new word should be a mashup of pre-existing words. You can steal bits from Latin and German, like everybody else did. Or you can use contemporary English in a new way. But you must capture something that already exists, which for whatever reason has been linguistically mismanaged.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/mar/11/why-we-need-invent-new-words 

George Bellows (1882-1925): Modern American Life

Opening this weekend
George Bellows (1882-1925): Modern American Life16 March—9 June 2013
The Sackler Wing

**** ‘George Bellows’ paintings probe beneath the surface of American life in a beautifully chosen show at the RA’ - The Daily Telegraph

This exhibition will be the first retrospective of works by American Realist painter George Bellows to be held in the UK. When Bellows died at age forty-two, he was considered one of the greatest artists in America. A painter of modern life and a contemporary of fellow Realist Edward Hopper, Bellows’ work marked him out as an important social commentator of the time, able to capture both the harsher realities of New York life and convey his nation’s beauty and grandeur.

This exhibition was organised by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with the Royal Academy of Arts, London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

http://royal-acad-arts.msgfocus.com/q/1oPHuRsF7r989/wv 

How Far Can You Travel in 36 Hours with No Money? Try 7,000 Miles or More

A group of Irish travelers set out to see how far they could get without spending a cent — and you’d be amazed at how far they made it.

In an event known as the Trinity College Jailbreak, nearly 70 students from the Dublin University were given a day and a half to get as far away from the Irish capital as they could without spending any money. “We originally thought people would travel to the U.K. and around Ireland, we never imagined they would make it out of Europe,” Sorcha McCauley, one of the organizers, told TIME over the phone.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/13/how-far-can-you-travel-in-36-hours-with-no-money-try-7000-miles-or-more/ 

Our Personalities Are Constantly Changing, Even if We Think They’re Not

It’s rare that scientific journals explicitly engage philosophical conundrums, but a paper in this week’s Science magazine begins with the question: “Why do people so often make decisions that their future selves regret?” At age 18, that skull-and-crossbones tattoo seems like an unimpeachably cool idea; at 28, it’s mortifying. You meet the man of your dreams at 25 — except that your dreams have become so different by 35 that you end up divorced.

“Even at 68, people think, Ugh, I’m not the person I was at 58, but I’m sure I’ll be this way at 78,” says one of the Science study authors, Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of the book Stumbling on Happiness.

http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/04/our-personalities-are-constantly-changing-even-if-we-think-theyre-not/ 

Your Facebook ‘Likes’ May Be More Revealing Than You Think

A study shows that what you ‘like’ on Facebook can predict, with remarkable accuracy, everything from your race to your sexual orientation, political affiliation and personality type.

Researchers studied more than 58,000 people who had volunteered to participate in the “myPersonality” application on Facebook, in which subscribers allowed access to their list of ‘likes,’ as well as the results of online personality tests that the scientists asked the participants to take. The researchers wanted to see whether such information, which is publicly available on many Facebook pages, could predict a number of aspects about Facebook users’ lives that they presumably kept to themselves, such as sexual orientation, ethnic origin, political views, religion, personality traits, substance use (including cigarettes, alcohol and drugs), and intelligence level.

http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/12/your-facebook-likes-may-be-more-revealing-than-you-think/?iid=hl-article-mostpop1 

Being Global While Sounding Local

Traditionally a university has been defined by, indeed defined itself as, a place. People “go to” universities, even in a world where the virtual may seem to have made place less important. Students often will pay, and pay significantly, to study at universities, putting a premium on the real, the immediate, and the academic experience in a particular environment. The Harvard experience is Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. However generous the institution is with its online content, that is only a tantalizing fragment of the Harvard experience. Not valueless, of course, but different.

To study at a particular university means to study in a unique setting and in a distinctive program. The importance of that experience for many leads them to want to return to their alma mater, literally to revisit their memories and to reconnect in their university setting. Nowhere is this more powerful than at the most prestigious universities.

So what does this mean in a world where higher education is increasingly globalized, and where many of us think long and hard about our global strategy?

http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/being-global-while-sounding-local/31915?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en 

The Second-Chance Club

Nobody wants to be here. In remedial English, earning no credit, stuck. Now—after months of commas, clauses, and four-paragraph essays—students have one last chance to write their way out.

Twenty students sit at computers, poised to start the final in-class essay for English 002 at Montgomery College. Just outside Washington, this suburban community college is tucked in a neighborhood between two Metro stations. Anybody can enroll here, and all kinds do.

The professor, Greg Wahl, walks around the room. On every blank screen, a cursor blinks.

In 85 minutes the students must craft a thesis and clear topic sentences, using evidence to support their opinions. They have to answer one of three questions, about their assigned book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, or their difficulty in mastering goals for the course, such as "Write and edit sentences that observe the conventions of standard American English."

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Second-Chance-Club/137817/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

Is Facebook Losing Its Cool? Some Teens Think So

Baret Steed is tired of Facebook. She’s had an account since she was 13, but isn’t a fan of the fact that the social network now includes not only her friends, but also her parents, aunts, and uncles. “It’s almost like they’re the only ones on there,” she says. “All your relatives are constantly commenting on your stuff. I appreciate the gesture and wanting to keep up with my life, but it’s kind of annoying.”

http://business.time.com/2013/03/08/is-facebook-losing-its-cool-some-teens-think-so/ 

The Unnecessary Agony of Student Evaluations

Student evaluations can be either the most painful or falsely ego-boosting things we faculty members read. Sadly, they’re becoming more and more important as American universities veer toward private-enterprise models of educational management. Based on the concept of the customer survey, they have been taken public by a range of Web sites, most famously Rate My Professors.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/03/01/the-unnecessary-agony-of-student-evaluations/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en 

Babies can hear syllables in the womb, says research

Scientists say babies decipher speech as early as three months before birth.

The evidence comes from detailed brain scans of 12 infants born prematurely.

At just 28 weeks' gestation, the babies appeared to discriminate between different syllables like "ga" and "ba" as well as male and female voices.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21572520 

Teleworking: The myth of working from home

Yahoo has banned its staff from "remote" working. After years of many predicting working from home as the future for everybody, why is it not the norm?

When a memo from human resources dropped into the inbox of Yahoo staff banning them from working from home it prompted anger from many of its recipients.

"Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings," the memo said.

"Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21588760 

Nobody's Perfect Niemals, niemals würden Briten Pferdefleisch essen

Wenn Engländer sagen, sie könnten ein Pferd essen, ist das ganz sicher nur metaphorisch gemeint. Deswegen trifft der jüngste Fleischskandal unseren Lieblingsbriten Ian McMaster besonders hart - and now let's switch to English.

 On a recent trip to Britain from Germany, I was sick within six hours of arriving. And when I say "sick", I don't mean that in the North American sense of just generally feeling ill. I mean violently sick - vomiting or, as we say more colloquially, "throwing up". I realize that's probably TMI (too much information). And I do apologize if you're reading this over lunch.

I can imagine the typical German reaction to my experience: "Well, what else would you expect from that ghastly food?" Much as Germans love Jamie Oliver and his countless cookbooks, many still believe that the average standard of food in Britain lies somewhere between disgusting and life-threatening. And that, à la Asterix, we put mint sauce on everything (that's true only for lamb).

http://www.spiegel.de/karriere/berufsleben/nobody-s-perfect-ian-mcmaster-und-der-pferdefleisch-skandal-a-886155.html