Facebook or Fakebook

Great Article:

By NED POTTER | ABC News – Mon, Nov 7, 2011

We may "friend" more people on Facebook, but we have fewer real friends -- the kind who would help us out in tough times, listen sympathetically no matter what, lend us money or give us a place to stay if we needed it, keep a secret if we shared one.

That's the conclusion made by Matthew Brashears, a Cornell University sociologist who surveyed more than 2,000 adults from a national database and found that from 1985 to 2010, the number of truly close friends people cited has dropped -- even though we're socializing as much as ever.

On average, participants listed 2.03 close friends in Brashears' survey. That number was down from about three in a 1985 study.

"These are the people you think of as your real confidants, your go-to people if you need something," Brashears said.

Brashears asked people online from a database called TESS -- Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences -- to list the names of people with whom they had discussed "important matters" over the previous six months. He reports the results in a forthcoming issue of the journal Social Networks.

Forty-eight percent of participants listed one close friend when asked, 18 percent listed two and 29 percent listed more. A little more than 4 percent didn't list anyone.

What's going on? Brashears said his survey can't tell us conclusively, but his guess is that while we meet just as many people as we used to, we categorize them differently.

Does that mean we're more isolated in these times when we seem to meet more people online than in person? (How many of your Facebook "friends" are really friends of yours?) Defying some of the stereotypes of the digital age, social scientists say Facebook may actually be healthy for us. Keith Hampton at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania wrote a report for the Pew Research Center in which he found that "Internet users in general, but Facebook users even more so, have more close relationships than other people."

"Facebook users get more overall social support, and in particular they report more emotional support and companionship than other people," wrote Hampton in a blog post. "And, it is not a trivial amount of support. Compared to other things that matter for support -- like being married or living with a partner -- it really matters. Frequent Facebook use is equivalent to about half the boost in support you get from being married."

But online contact and personal contact are different. While Hampton reports we know more people because of Facebook and similar sites, Brashears reports there are fewer whom we choose to trust with our most intimate worries.

"We're not becoming asocial," said Brashears, "but these people give us social support, and they give us advice."

A case of being too full of himself

Hue Jackson, coach of the Raiders:

"We're going to create something that's great," Jackson said in July. "I'm not interested in being good. I'm interested in being great."  10/17

While others retreated from any definitive call on whether Carson Palmer would be behind center on Sunday, Raiders coach Hue Jackson continued to have fun with the game of NFL cat and mouse.
"I know who the starting quarterback is," he told the media gathering with a wink after Friday's practice in Alameda.  10/21


Coach Hue Jackson wanted to set the record straight about the signing of free-agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  Houshmandzadeh is a Raider because Jackson, and not quarterback Carson Palmer, made it so. He said he wanted Houshmandzadeh in July but was overruled by owner Al Davis.
"Carson Palmer had nothing to do with this," Jackson said Wednesday. "I tried to get T.J. during training camp."  11/02


Only a few days ago, right after Jason Campbell's serious injury, Jackson acquired Carson Palmer and bragged that it was the "greatest trade in football."  Then Jackson spent all week teasing with the possibility of Palmer starting this game over semi-incumbent Kyle Boller. 10/23

"I've (Hue Jackson talking) sat at this man's (reference to Al Davis) knee for two years and I've been involved in that draft," he said. "I've helped shape this team over the last couple of years, as far as draft picks are concerned on this football team. So, I know what they look like, run like, act like, sound like ... the whole nine yards. Now, it's just a matter of making sure that all the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted as we move forward." 10/10

"We're chasing a championship," coach Hue Jackson said with Palmer flanked beside him at an introductory news conference Tuesday afternoon. "I'm very excited about this football team and where it has a chance to go." 10/18

"This is a new beginning for this football team," Jackson said. "We don't care if they're ugly, we don't care if they're pretty. We just don't care. Our No. 1 purpose when we play is to win. 10/09

 

The key ingredient

Raiders cornerback Stanford Routt describing Tom Brady:

"He's real good at improvising," Raiders cornerback Stanford Routt said. "A play breaks down, don't panic. He won't even throw it away, he'll slide in the pocket, tell his receiver move this way, move that way and he'll make the throw. So yeah, he's definitely one of the best in the game if not the best."

Recession???? Why do we give the doomsayers so much attention when reality says otherwise??

In Plague-Filled August, American Consumers Shopped Like Champs

By Daniel Gross, economics editor at Yahoo! Finance

(Abridged version)
August was a plague month for the American economy. It started with the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis, continued with nausea-inducing market volatility, and closed with a small earthquake and a massive hurricane — all with a steady drumbeat of European instability in the background.

But when the going got tough, the tough went shopping. Or at least that's what the data that has poured in on Thursday indicates.
First, news from the nation's single largest retail sector: automobile. Sales were generally up sharply from a year ago, and up from July. GM sold 218,479 cars in August, up 18 percent from August 2010 (and up 1.7 percent from July 2011). (Interesting note: the Cruze alone accounts for about 10 percent of GM's sales). Ford's sales in August, at 175,220, were up 11 percent from August 2010 (though down a bit from July 2011). Rounding out what used to be known as the Big Three, Chrysler reported August sales of 130,119 vehicles, up 31 percent from the year-before, but also up 16 percent, from July sales. Want more? Nissan North America, up 19.2 percent from August 2010. Volkswagen, up 10 percent from last August. Toyota and Honda, which report later in the day on Thursday, are likely to report sharp declines, due to lingering inventory problems related to the earthquake/tsunami in those companies' home country.

Next, look at the news on non-automotive retailing. As Reuters reported: "Many top U.S. retailers reported better-than-expected August sales, withstanding Hurricane Irene and sagging consumer confidence." Among the trains tracked by Retail Metrics, same-store sales rose 5.5 percent in August from last year, as the Financial Times reported. The International Council of Shopping Centers said same-store sales in the chains it tracks rose 4.6 percent in August 2011 from August 2010. Check out some of the individual chains: Macy's, same-store sales up 5 percent from August 2010; Target, same-store sales up 5.4 percent from the year before; Limited Brands, same-store sales up 11 percent; Saks, up 6.1 percent. At Costco, U.S. comparable sales were up 9 percent from the year before; excluding the higher price of gasoline from a year ago, same-store sales were up 6 percent.

Despite the rising chorus of doomsayers and double-dippers, the third quarter is looking like it will be stronger than the second quarter. Macroeconomic Advisers, which updates its projections in real time, pegs growth in the current quarter at about 2 percent. While that's nothing to write home about, it's twice the rate of second quarter growth. What's more, payroll jobs, which help drive spending, continue to grow at the (anemic) pace of about 25,000 per week. The savings rate remains high, and many signs of stress — credit card delinquencies — continue to trend down. On aggregate, Americans are in a better position today than they were a year ago to do what they like to do: buy stuff.

The overwhelming majority of people in the U.S. aren't watching CNBC, reading Politico.com, harrumphing about the latest outrage from the European Central Bank, or digging out from the ravages of Hurricane Irene. As New Yorkers and beltway types were in full freak-out mode over the S&P downgrade, the locals were generally going about their business — going to work in their Priuses, eating natural foods, and shopping.

World Number 1 player Novak Djokovic on having fun

“It is all in good spirit and trying to have a good time and enjoy myself. Tennis is a difficult game and we have a long year and a lot of traveling and matches so it is nice to keep things relaxed sometimes.

“When you are relaxed you have more energy and it is good for your mentality. If you are happy and having fun then you have a chance to play your best tennis. People shouldn’t think that having fun and laughing mean I am not serious about tennis, if they underestimate me like that it is a mistake.”

 “I am playing the best tennis of my life,” Djokovic said. “I think everything in general just came together. Progress can be a slow process and it takes a while to really understand the game, understand the life that I’m having, and you learn from your mistakes obviously.

“You try to get better as a person and as a player each day you wake up. I think it’s really important as well to carry yourself off the court in a good way. I am aware of the responsibility that I have as a present No. 1 to represent the sport as well in some ways off the court. So I need to do that in the best possible way.”

Skyping

In 2005, eBay under the stewardship of Meg Whitman bought Skype for $3 Billion.  Out came the experts, know-it-all's, critics and 2nd guessers from all circles questioning her sanity.  In 2011, eBay sold Skype to Microsoft for $8 Billion. 

She was recently quoted in an interview regarding the outcome of the acquisition:  "I always had great confidence in the Skype acquisition.  It was incredible technology that changed everything about the way we communicate with each other.  That's what leadership is: you do what you think is in the best interest of the company and shareholders, and sometimes it takes a little while for the entire story to be told.  Sometimes in life you don't get recognition easily."

Culture does matter

The Krafts (Robert and Myra) laid the foundation for how the New England Patriots do business. While there are sometimes disagreements, there is always a level of respect. “You have to respect everyone in your business and everyone you do business with,” said Kraft, gesturing toward a woman who pushed a cart through the cafeteria. “From this woman doing that job all the way up to the players, you have to respect them.”

Since Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994, the team has compiled the best record in the league, won three Super Bowls and appeared in five (with a 5th round draft choice as QB, retread veterans, and a coach nobody wanted prior to arriving in New England). By contrast, the Cincinnati Bengals, despite being run by the son of NFL Hall of Famer Paul Brown, have amassed one of the worst records in the league over that time and made the playoffs only twice (losing the first game each time).

“The difference is everything,” Chad Ochocinco said. “It’s not just what you see on the field. I saw it in the first meeting. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is how a team is supposed to be run. Finally, I get to really be part of that.’ ”