Guys more likely to cheat on high-earning women

Baffled by how Jesse James could have cheated on his superstar wife, Sandra Bullock ? Or why Eric Benet stepped out on Halle Berry (Halle Berry!)?

A new study may help explain it. Men who earn significantly less than their female partners, or who earn nothing, are far more likely to cheat than those in relationships where incomes are more or less equal, the study found.

In fact, men who were completely dependent on their partner's income were five times more likely to cheat than men who contributed an equal amount of money to the relationship, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

You’d think such men wouldn’t want to risk their meal ticket. But lower-earning men may be self-medicating their inner macho guy, says Cornell University sociology graduate student Christin Munsch, who conducted the study.

“Having multiple sexual partners may be an attempt to restore gender identity in response to these threats,” she writes. “In other words, for men, sex [outside their relationship] may be an attempt to compensate for feelings of inadequacy with respect to gender identity.”

In fact, says Munsch, we finally have scientific support to the enduring cliché about why any man would drive a Hummer: he’s overcompensating.

But if you’re a woman, here’s the lousy part: “At the other end of the spectrum, those making a lot more are also more likely to cheat,” said Munsch. Men can be bad whether we’re broke or filthy rich.

Original article.

Google, Verizon make Net neutrality proposal

IDG News Service - Google and Verizon Communications have released a proposal that suggests the U.S. Federal Communications Commission should enforce network neutrality rules and fine broadband providers up to $2 million for violations.

Officials from the two companies, in an announcement today, said they hope to move the often-contentious Net neutrality debate ahead with the recommendations. Under the proposal, broadband providers could not block or degrade Web traffic, although they could provide "differentiated online" services apart from the public Internet.

The announcement comes after days of rumors and news reports that the two companies had reached an agreement on how Verizon would handle Google's traffic. But the proposal is a set of recommendations to U.S. policymakers and broadband providers, and the proposal would not allow for any prioritization of Google's traffic on the public Internet, said Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon's chairman and CEO.

"There is no business arrangement, and reports that there was a business relationship are false, misleading and incorrect," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman and CEO.

Under net neutrality, or open Internet, rules, broadband providers would be prohibited from selectively blocking or slowing Web traffic.

"The original architects of the Internet got the big things right," said Alan Davidson, Google's director of public policy, and Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president of public affairs, policy, and communications, in a blog post. "By making the network open, they enabled the greatest exchange of ideas in history. By making the Internet scalable, they enabled explosive innovation in the infrastructure."

The proposal is an effort to "find ways to protect the future openness of the Internet and encourage the rapid deployment of broadband," Davidson and Tauke wrote.

original article.

Brother intros iPhone app, allows users to scan to and print

Printer specialists Brother UK has launched what the company says is the world's first iPhone application that allows users to scan to and print from their smartphones.

Brother iPrint&Scan allows customers to wirelessly print from and scan to their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad - with a compatible printer from Brother's latest inkjet multifunction printer range."Smart phones are becoming an essential modern day business tool and we are pleased to be able to offer even more convenient features for our customers," said Phil Jones, sales and marketing director at Brother UK announcing the application.All of Brother's latest inkjet multifunction printers introduced from 2009 onwards that have a wireless interface will be fully compatible with the application. Models with network interface are also compatible when connecting to a wireless network."iPhone users have been waiting for an app like this for quite some time. We're really pleased to be at the forefront of innovative printing technology, providing businesses with the means to succeed," Jones adds.Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Brother iPrint&Scan is free and requires the iPhone 3.0 Software Update or later and a compatible Brother printer.

The application is initially launched in English, with plans to introduce French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch versions by the end of 2010. Brother also has plans to develop similar applications for other smartphones including Google-based Android 1.6 handsets.

Original Article.

Postal Service Seeks 2-Cent Rise in First-Class Mail

July 6 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Postal Service proposed raising the price of first-class stamps by 2 cents, to 46 cents, while rates for periodicals increase 8 percent and parcels 23 percent to narrow a deficit projected at $7 billion this year.

The increases would generate $2.3 billion in the first nine months of 2011, the service said today in a statement. Increases, which must be reviewed by Postal Regulatory Commission, would take effect Jan. 2.

“We’re doing this because the Postal Service really faces a serious risk of financial insolvency,” said Stephen Kearney, a senior vice president with the Postal Service.

The commission has 90 days to rule on the proposal, one of several steps the Postal Service is considering to cope with a decline in mail volume as Internet use increases. The service also is seeking approval from Congress to end Saturday delivery, provided since the Post Office was founded in 1863.

“The Postal Service is wrong on the law, wrong on the economics, and wrong as a matter of public policy,” James Cregan, executive vice president of government affairs for the Magazine Publishers of America, said in an interview before the announcement. The increase will drive away profitable mail, heading the service toward a “death spiral,” he said.

Mailers of catalogs, magazines and newspapers are prepared to fight the rate increase, Cregan said. The group’s members include Time Warner Inc. and Meredith Corp.

‘Exceptional, Extraordinary’

The Postal Service is using a legal provision that lets it propose increases greater than the rate of inflation under “exceptional or extraordinary” circumstances, Kearney said. The average increase would be 5.6 percent, compared with inflation of 0.6 percent, he said.

Express mail and priority mail, such as the flat-rate boxes advertised by the Postal Service, are excluded from the current proposal, and higher prices for those offerings will be announced in October, the agency said.

A 23 percent increase would apply to parcels under one pound, said Maura Robinson, a spokeswoman. Heavier packages typically used to ship books, videos and merchandise face an average increase of about 7 percent, she said.

The Postal Service’s parcel charges “will remain competitive, which shows how underpriced they are now,” Kearney said.

The Postal Service lost $1.6 billion in its recent quarter as customers continued to use the Internet to pay monthly bills and read publications that previously were delivered by mail. The service projects a deficit of $238 billion through 2020.

Mail volume dropped 6.3 percent from Oct. 1 through March 31, the service said May 6. Profitable types of mail are falling faster than less-profitable categories, which include bulk advertising mail, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said.

The agency also has asked Congress for permission to delay a required retiree health benefits payment and for more flexibility to close facilities.

--With assistance from Angela Greiling Keane in Washington. Editors: Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert

To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Shields in Washington at Tshields3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net.

original article.

HTC EVO 4G In Short Supply

Sprint says demand for the 4G smartphone has been greater than expected.

By Esther Shein
InformationWeek
June 30, 2010 01:12 PM

Sprint HTC EVO 4G SmartphoneDue to higher than expected demand, the HTC EVO 4G smartphone is in short supply, said its carrier Sprint Nextel.


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Data Warehouse Appliance Promises Database Transparence, Mixed BI Workload, Massive ScalabilitySprint CEO Dan Hesse acknowledged this week that sales of the device, which was launched at the beginning of June and is widely viewed as the carrier's answer to the Apple iPhone 4, have been far greater than they anticipated. Both Hesse and HTC said they believe the issue has more to do with underestimating the demand for the 4G phone than a lack of available components.
"We're certainly doing everything we can to ensure we're supplying devices as quickly as possible. We're seeing greater demand for our products than we ever have in the past," HTC spokesman Keith Nowak said in a statement to Reuters.

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The news follows the rocky start the EVO 4G has experienced since its debut on June 4. On Monday, HTC and Sprint began offering an update for the device after reports surfaced about bricked phones. And some users also complained about the device's touchscreen, claiming that it separates from the device and causes light leakage.

Sprint also caught some flak for overestimating early sales, after announcing that the $199.99 phone set a single-day sales record.

The HTC EVO 4G also runs on Sprint's 3G network if the phone is used in places that don't yet have 4G. The Android 2.1-based device has a custom Web browser designed for the 4.3-inch touchscreen.

Its long list of features include simultaneous voice and data capability in 4G or Wi-Fi coverage areas for Web surfing; Google Goggles, which provides the ability to search anything from books and DVDs to barcodes and logos using pictures instead of words; 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor; two cameras: an 8.0-megapixel auto-focus camera with HD-capable video camcorder and a forward-facing 1.3-megapixel camera; built-in mobile hotspot functionality allowing up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 3G or 4G speeds; and integrated HD video capture so users can capture and share live video via the Qik Web site and social media sites.

The EVO 4G also comes with the ability to transmit video from the device to an HDTV via a separate HDMI cable; a built-in kickstand in the back to watch videos; Adobe Flash technology; and pinch-to-zoom and automatic text reflowing for Web page views.

HTC's Droid Incredible, sold at Sprint's biggest competitor, Verizon Wireless, is also in short supply, according to Verizon's website, which says that due to high demand the device will ship by July 28.


Virtualization and cloud computing have taken over the mantle of hottest technology that only a few years ago was held by unified communications, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to align the cloud with UC--or any major initiative, for that matter. Download our report here (registration required).


original article.

Texting While Driving: Everyone's Doing it

The stereotype of a teen texting while driving has been challenged by new research from Pew, which found that adults engage in the high-risk behavior as much as younger age groups do. Laws banning texting behind the wheel don't seem to be having any impact at all, noted Russ Rader, a spokesperson for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

Adults are at least as likely as teenagers to text and engage in other distracting behavior behind the wheel, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Twenty-seven percent of adult survey respondents said they have sent or read text messages while driving. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds reported a texting-while-driving rate of 26 percent in the same survey, which was conducted in May.

Adults 18- to 33-years-old were the most likely to report texting while driving, with 59 percent saying they've done so. Half of 34- to 45-year-olds admitted texting behind the wheel, while 29 percent of those 46-65 reported such behavior. And half of all passengers said they've been chauffeured by a texting driver.

"Even those of us who make a conscious choice to put down our cellphones while driving may still be at risk when we are passengers simply sharing the road with other distracted drivers," Pew Senior Research Specialist Mary Madden told TechNewsWorld.

Forty-four percent of adults have been in a car while the driver recklessly used a cellphone in a way that could have hurt them or someone else, the survey also found. One in six respondents, or 16 percent, said they'd been so distracted by their phones that they actually hit something as a result.


Disparate Results
The Pew survey's findings on adult texting run counter to some other research suggesting that teens are much more likely to engage in what is generally viewed as a predominantly teenaged activity. For instance, a February report released by the Insurance Institutes of Highway Safety found that incidences of reported texting-while driving were highest with 18- to 24-year-olds and declined consistently with age.

Regardless, there's evidence that texting-while-driving may be on the increase, despite a spate of legislation seeking to stop the practice, as well as a federal Department of Transportation summit and subsequent ban on texting behind the wheel by federal employees.

In January, Pew found that 34 percent of texting adults had sent or received a message while driving, while about 47 percent of all texting adults reported texting and driving in the May survey. Although the wording in the two surveys was somewhat different, it is likely evidence that such activities are becoming increasingly common, Madden said.

Laws Ineffective
Legislation doesn't seem to be having any impact at all, noted Russ Rader, a spokesperson for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

"If politicians think laws against texting and handheld phoning are going to be a big boon for safety, it isn't coming," Rader told TechNewsWorld.

The Pew center doesn't take policy positions and didn't include any recommendations in its report. But it's likely that technology may turn out to be the best solution -- not just to texting while driving, but all forms of distracted driving.

Technology exists to block cellphone signals while a vehicle is in motion, and automakers are increasingly beginning to equip cars with collision warning systems, equipment that automatically applies the brakes if an accident seems imminent, and even sensing technology that can tell when a driver is falling asleep.

"We have to realize that distracted driving is much bigger than anything we do with our phones, and it's nothing new," said Rader. "People have been driving distracted since Henry Ford -- whether it's checking out the driver in the car next to you, scolding the kids at the wrong time, or just daydreaming."

original article.

Starbucks Offering Free Wi-Fi starting July 1st

Starbucks Corp. will make wireless Internet service free at all U.S. stores starting July 1, eliminating a previous fee of $3.99 for two hours of access.

The move comes after McDonald’s Corp. earlier this year dropped all access fees on wireless Internet service, as the fast-food chain sought to make its restaurants a more suitable place to hang out.

Starbucks had offered wireless Internet service at its stores through provider AT&T Inc. under an array of options.

Customers who had a registered Starbucks loyalty card could get two hours of free wireless Internet service a day, while users of AT&T mobile devices that had Wi-Fi capabilities received unlimited access to the service.

Customers who subscribed to AT&T’s DSL service could also use Starbucks wireless Internet service free of charge. All other Starbucks customers were charged $3.99 for two hours of access.

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz disclosed the changes Monday at the Wired Business Conference in New York. Starbucks customers using the in-store Internet will also, starting in the fall, be able to have free access to various paid sites, including WSJ.com, through a network developed with Yahoo Inc.

original article.