I'd be all thumbs with a non-qwerty keyboard

What's got two thumbs and can type 65 words a minute? This guy! Researchers have designed a new keyboard layout for tablets and smartphones which leaves eight of the standard finger complement hanging, rearranging the letters so that they can be speedily prodded at by the helpfully opposable thumbs of the user.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/29/qwerty-tablet-keyboard-touch-type 

Police-speak: An appreciation

The police have always had their own language. But their often-mocked manner of speaking to the public displays a streak of comic genius, says Charles Nevin.

As we tweet, text, abbreviate and generally truncate our way through this frantic life, it's good to know that there is at least one small area of public discourse where a relish for orotundity and a delight in stately sarcasm still flourish. I refer, of course, to those upstanding upholders of order, our police.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22295624 

TED Talk: Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Toddlers becoming so addicted to iPads they require therapy

Children as young as four are becoming so addicted to smartphones and iPads that they require psychological treatment. 

Experts have warned that parents who allow babies and toddlers to access tablet computers for several hours a day are in danger of causing “dangerous” long term effects.

The youngest known patient being treated in the UK is a four-year-old girl from the South East.

Her parents enrolled her for compulsive behaviour therapy after she became increasingly “distressed and inconsolable” when the iPad was taken away from her.

Her use of the device had escalated over the course of a year and she had become addicted to using it up for to four hours a day.

Dr Richard Graham, who launched the UK’s first technology addiction programme three years ago, said he believed there were many more addicts of her age. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/10008707/Toddlers-becoming-so-addicted-to-iPads-they-require-therapy.html 

 

The peril of 'showrooming'

Have you ever seen something you wanted in a shop, tried it, checked the price online on your smartphone, found it was cheaper, and walked out? Welcome to the world of "showrooming".

"The staff at Jessops would like to thank you for shopping with Amazon" read the sign in a shop window shortly after the British camera chain went into administration.

It was a dry reaction to a growing problem for "bricks and mortar"-focused retailers. Showrooming is said to have exacerbated the decline of high-profile brands like Comet.

Gadget stores, bookshops and the cosmetics industry are all losing sales to showroomers, but solutions have proved hard to find.

Kelly Buckle, 23, of Birmingham, sometimes spends more than £200 in a single shopping trip - but never actually gets as far as the checkout.

"I can go in and smell a perfume and then find it online for £30 less," she says. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22098575 

First Printed Book in America Expected to Fetch Up to $30M in Auction

A copy of the Bay Psalm Book, the first printed book in the land that would eventually become the United States of America, will head to auction in late November where it is expected to fetch anywhere between $15 million to $30 million.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/04/21/first-printed-book-in-america-expected-to-fetch-up-to-30m-in-auction/ 

50 Must-Have iPad Apps

Fifty must-have apps, from A to Z: Here’s a list of essentials every iPad owner should consider. Each entry features alternative options to check out, too, for well over 150 apps in all. Did we miss something? Tell us about the apps you can’t live without in the comments section below.

http://techland.time.com/2013/04/15/50-must-have-ipad-apps/ 

Was wollen Sie von Sheryl Sandberg wissen?

Frauen verhindern ihren Aufstieg selbst, schreibt die Facebook-Managerin in ihrem Buch. Ist sie die Stimme einer neuen Frauenbewegung? Wir stellen ihr Leserfragen.

 

Als Sheryl Sandberg vom US-Magazin Forbes zur fünftmächtigsten Frau der Welt gleich nach Angela Merkel und Hillary Clinton gewählt wurde, fühlte sie sich bloßgestellt. Wie eine Hochstaplerin sei sie sich vorgekommen, schreibt die Facebook-Managerin in ihrem Buch Lean in – Frauen und der Wille zum Erfolg.

Unter dem Hashtag #leanin sind Kommentare zum Buch auf Twitter zu finden. Am kommenden Donnerstag wird Sandberg bei der ZEIT-Konferenz Frauen in Führungspositionen in Hamburg zu Gast sein. Wir werden der Managerin ausgewählte Leserfragen in einem Videointerview stellen. Unter #leanin können Sie Fragen vorschlagen.

http://www.zeit.de/karriere/beruf/2013-04/aufruf-leser-fragen-sheryl-sandberg 

6 Points to Make in Your Self Evaluation

When preparing for an annual review, you'll want to compose a self evaluation that includes both your strong points and areas in need of improvement. This exercise is meant to help you evaluate your strong suits, as well as identify areas in need of improvement. To devise such a document, you'll need to include certain key points that will help you come up with an overall performance improvement strategy. 

http://workingmoms.about.com/od/executiveopportunities/a/6-Points-To-Make-In-Your-Self-Evaluation.htm 

Viewpoint: Why do tech neologisms make people angry?

The bewildering stream of new words to describe technology and its uses makes many people angry, but there's much to celebrate, writes Tom Chatfield.

From agriculture to automobiles to autocorrect, new things have always required new words - and new words have always aroused strong feelings.

In the 16th Century, neologisms "smelling too much of the Latin" - as the poet Richard Willes put it - were frowned upon by many.

Willes's objects of contempt included portentous, antiques, despicable, obsequious, homicide, destructive and prodigious, all of which he labelled "ink-horn terms" - a word itself now vanished from common usage, meaning an inkwell made out of horn.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21956748 

Margaret Thatcher Milchräuberin, Falkland-Kriegerin und Gewerkschaftsschreck

Innen- wie außenpolitisch war Margaret Thatcher eine Hardlinerin, die keine Angst vor Konflikten hatte. 1982 führte sie ihr Land in den Falklandkrieg gegen Argentinien, innenpolitisch legte sie sich vor allem mit den bis dahin äußerst einflussreichen britischen Gewerkschaften an. So umstritten sie war, als erste Regierungschefin in London prägte sie ihr Land nachhaltig. Konservative Politiker verehren noch heute ihre Politik des Thatcherismus. Margaret Thatcher starb im Alter von 87 Jahren an den Folgen eines Schlaganfalls.

http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2013-04/fs-margaret-thatcher-2 

Margaret Thatcher: Portrait of the Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher died April 8, 2013 from a stroke. She was 87. She had been the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century. She set off a profound reversal in national fortunes that became known as Thatcherism — transforming her country's politics such that for Labour to come back to power, the erstwhile Socialists had to adopt a much more centrist stance, hence Tony Blair's "New Labour." What Margaret Thatcher began is also rightly referred to as the Thatcher Revolution because the leader of the Conservative Party was a radical ideologue whose policies turned British society upside down — and still cause heated if not vitriolic arguments. In recognition of her 11-1/2 years in office and her immense achievements, historians will inevitably rank her alongside Winston Churchill as the greatest of this century's British Prime Ministers.

http://world.time.com/2013/04/08/margaret-thatcher-portrait-of-the-iron-lady/

Why Stretching May Not Help Before Exercise

To stretch or not to stretch? The latest understanding of pre-workout routines may have you rethinking yours.

Recently, the New York Times summed up the latest evidence suggesting that static stretching–slowly moving muscles until they just start to hurt and holding the stretch briefly–doesn’t prevent injuries, and actually impairs strength and speed in some athletes. According to the Times, two recent studies support limiting stretching before physical activity. 

http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/08/why-stretching-may-not-help-before-exercise/?iid=hl-main-lead