Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Co-workers who drive you crazy

For many people, bad habits are unconscious. Does he know that his obnoxious cell phone talking is driving you nuts? Experts say to address the issue quickly. John might not realize that clipping his fingernails in the lunchroom is repulsive. Suzy is clueless that coffee was not made to be slurped, and Ed doesn't know that showering only three times per week is unhygienic (and stinky!). Let's be honest: Nobody's perfect; not even you. Results from a recent MSN Zogby data poll show that 20 percent of workers say their co-workers have at least one habit that drives them crazy. So while your co-worker might have a more obvious bothersome tendency (like always talking on speakerphone), maybe your constant complaining about everyone else's behaviors has the same effect. In fact, 15 percent of workers agreed their co-workers' constant complaining drives them crazy, and 13 percent say colleagues passing off their work is frustrating, according to the poll. Other irritants included gossip, talking too much and eating smelly food. "You really only have one option when it comes to being annoyed by a fellow employee," says Donna Flagg, president of The Krysalis Group, a business and management consulting firm in New York City. "Simply let your co-worker know how you feel and politely ask them if they would mind curtailing their annoying habit.""The sooner you address an issue you have with a co-worker, the more likely you are to be willing to work with the other person to resolve the issue," she says. "The longer the issue exists, the more you tend to be resentful of it." We asked our readers to tell us what drives them nuts about their co-workers. Here are a few of the most aggravating habits we found: • "I have an employee who is a Packers fan; I am a Bears fan. Every once in a while, I receive an e-mail that varies from photos of Brett Favre or just plain text that says, 'PACK.' It drives me nuts, and I have to pretend it doesn't bother me one bit." -- Gini D., Chicago, Illinois* • "Sharing an office with somebody who just cruises the Web all day long and adds no value to client work." -- Noah B., Washington, D.C. • "I have a co-worker who doesn't bathe nor wash her clothes and subsequently smells. I bought a bottle of Febreeze, which I frequently spray on the fabric-covered chairs and carpet. She also drinks beverages and regularly spills or leaves coffee rings on the console or computer and doesn't bother to clean it up; so I also bought a bottle of Windex cleaner and brought in rags to clean up the messes before I do my shift. In addition, she throws away her used tissues and often misses the garbage can, leaving them on the floor for "whomever" to pick them up. She NEVER misses work, so whenever she is sick, she coughs all over the microphone, uses the computer mouse and presses the buttons with her germy hands; so I bought a container of Antiseptic wipes to wipe down the console and mics to try to prevent illness. Her office should be condemned." -- Karen W., Mankato, Minnesota. • "I have a co-worker who I've worked with for more than 10 years. She slurps her coffee -- all day. I'm not sure if she just loves coffee so much that she can't wait for it to cool or what, but she dives in and sluuuuurrrpps every drink until it's gone. It drives me crazy." -- Corinne Z., Avon, Massachussetes. • "I had an employee who used to scratch her back using her ruler. Sometimes she'd stare at her cube mates. My colleagues would come and tell me this, and I wouldn't have a clue how to deal with it. We both quickly realized this company wasn't a good fit for her and she left a couple of months later. To this day, some of my former colleagues remind me of my back-scratching and staring employee and wonder what happened to basic etiquette." -- Megy K., Chicago, Illinois. • "So, I sit next to this crazy woman. She talks to herself out loud as if someone is going to join in her conversation, which they don't. Anytime a co-worker comes to my desk to ask a question, or just to chat, she feels the need to interrupt my conversation and make it about her every time. She eavesdrops on other co-workers if they have an issue with their own work; she complains about the light over her desk being too bright and made another co-worker loosen the bulb above her desk so it's not 'shining right on her head.'... CNN

5 symptoms men shouldn't ignore

Ask doctors if their male patients ignore big and obvious health symptoms, and they'll respond with laughter -- huge peals and guffaws. Some doctors say men are more likely than women to ignore symptoms or deny that they even exist. Once they regain the ability to speak, these doctors will say things such as "I don't even know where to start," and "You don't have enough room in your story for all the symptoms men blow off." Conventional wisdom, they say, is true. Women listen to their bodies and go to the doctor when something isn't right. Men tend to seek medical attention when they're at death's door -- or when their wives prod them into going. "I think it's a macho thing," says Dr. Barron Lerner, professor of medicine and public health at Columbia University. "Or maybe it's denial. Maybe they think if they deny a problem, it doesn't exist." "I call it the ostrich phenomenon," says Dr. Harvey Simon, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and editor of the Harvard Men's Health Watch newsletter. "Guys are very prone to sticking their head in the sand and hoping when they emerge everything will be back to normal. It's a very, very bad idea."While the list, according to these physicians, is endless, here are the top five symptoms men ignore -- sometimes until it's too late. 1. Chest pain You'd think this would be the last thing a man would ignore, but our men's health experts say it happens all the time. "They think, 'Oh, I'm just out of shape, or I'm having a little indigestion, or I'm under pressure,'" says Dr. Joseph Scherger, a clinical professor of family medicine at the University of California, San Diego. "It's quite classic for men to do that." Simon says, "I tell my medical students that the most common symptoms of a heart attack is chest pain, and the second most common one is denial." Bottom line: Anyone experiencing chest tightness, chest pain or shortness of breath needs medical attention. 2. A big belly "Belly fat is the worst fat you can have," says Dr. Harry Fisch, a professor of clinical urology at Columbia. "A big belly is a sign a man has low testosterone levels. And the lower the testosterone, the greater the risk of diabetes and coronary artery disease." While a woman might go on every diet in the world to lose weight, men often have a different solution: They lower their belts. "I've had men say to me, 'See, my pants size hasn't changed.' I say, 'Baloney. Your belly is still there. It's just above your belt,' " says Simon... CNN

Power of Praise

Positive reinforcement works — on children, on work colleagues, even on pets So why don’t you use it on yourself? Take a moment to revel in your own successes and those of others, says life coach Gail Blanke. Everyone will feel better for it.“Good girl to sit!” “Good girl to come!” “Good girl to tinkle outside!” “What a good girl! Yes, you are!” That’s me talking or, rather, cooing, clucking, and sometimes shrieking to our golden retriever, Willa. Willa is 10 months old, breathtakingly gorgeous, and nothing short of a total terror. To say that she has a mind of her own is like saying Rosie O’Donnell is more or less opinionated. She is our third golden (golden-retriever owners refer to their dogs as “goldens”), and although both of her predecessors were greathearted, neither was known for being particularly well behaved. In fact, Molly, whose paws Willa hopes to fill, never did stop jumping up on people, grabbing hors d’oeuvres out of guests’ hands, stealing whole chickens off the kitchen counter, or pulling my arm out of its socket when she was on the leash. “This one will be different,” I said when we picked up the seven-week-old dumpling Willa from the breeder. “Yeah, right,” said our older daughter, Kate. Although Kate lives on her own now, she was already anticipating bringing friends to our apartment and having them knocked to the ground by what would undoubtedly be, judging from Willa’s giant puppy feet, a very, very large golden. “Well, I have a book that tells you how to train a golden-retriever puppy,” I said, “and the key thing is positive reinforcement.” Kate looked even more dubious. I continued, “It says that you have to keep catching her doing something right — not something wrong — and praising her. You’re supposed to start each sentence with ‘good girl’ for whatever good thing she does and make a big fuss over her.” “Hey, go ahead and try it,” Kate said. “You sure don’t have anything to lose.” So I started using the “good girl” method of training, and you know what? It works. A few nights ago, my husband was standing outside calling Willa, but she wouldn’t come. “Willa, come — darn you!” he said. “Watch this — I’ll get her,” I said. I yelled, “Willa! Good girl to come! Good girl!” and she came flying down the hill behind our house and into my arms... RealSimple

Pondering Windows XP's demise

While Windows XP will soon become scarcer on PCs and drop entirely from retail shelves, the fact of the matter is that the software is going to be a mainstay--particularly in businesses--for some time. Microsoft can wave its magic wand and force PC makers to stop offering the operating system, but corporations have a lot more leeway. Microsoft's influence is considerably less when it comes to convincing businesses to upgrade or swaying developers to write Vista-specific programs. Still, the end of XP sales by big-name computer makers is an important symbolic step for Microsoft as it tries to convince even Vista's critics that the operating system is really the only Windows game in town. It also helps Microsoft in the all-important numbers game. Vista actually has a fair amount of features that could be exploited by developers. Under the covers, the operating system has a new graphics engine, a peer-to-peer mechanism, and other features that really only come to light when developers start targeting them. The problem is that, so far, there's been darn little Vista-specific software. The best examples I've been able to find in more than a year's time are a new version of Print Shop and a Vista-specific incarnation of Yahoo Messenger. A new study says that Vista is still attracting very little developer attention, a point that underscores Microsoft's need to nudge the discussion away from Windows XP. For more on the subject, check out this video in which I discuss the matter with News.com colleague Charlie Cooper in our Daily Debrief video talking about that issue, as well as a report that Vista is still not attracting very many developers... CNET

Windows XP era draws to a close

After a long-announced transition, June 30 marks the end of an era at Microsoft. Well, really it's the end of two eras. Most people think of Bill Gates, of course, and I'll have plenty more to say about his impending shift to part-time work in the coming days. But another epoch is also really coming to an end--that of Windows XP. Windows XP: Get it while you can. (Credit: Microsoft)As of June 30, large PC makers will no longer be able to sell Windows XP-based PCs, at least on mainstream notebooks and desktops. Retailers will also have only until their current supply is exhausted to sell boxed copies of the operating system. Despite a brief "Save XP" movement (and continued criticism of Windows Vista from many corners), it appears that Microsoft is not going to change the deadline, which is now just two weeks away. Although XP will disappear as an option for most computer buyers, the operating system will live on in several key ways. • XP will be available on PCs from smaller computer makers known as "system builders" until January 31, 2009. • XP will be available for so-called ultra-low-cost-PCs until June 30, 2010. • The low-end Windows XP Starter Edition will continue to be available in emerging markets until June 30, 2010. • Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Business come with downgrade rights. Some computer makers are using this option to offer machines that appear as Windows XP products but are "factory downgraded" to XP. The downside is that only pricier versions of Vista qualify, but the benefit is that the machines come with the option to eventually move to Vista for no added fee. Microsoft says it will continue to make XP discs available to computer makers to enable downgrade rights through at least January 31, 2009. • Microsoft is not ending support for Windows XP. Mainstream support continues until 2009, while extended support is not due to end until April 2014... CNET

Making roads safer by reading drivers' moods

If current research pans out, the car of the future could figure out not only where you drive, what sort of music you listen to, news preferences, what you like to eat, or whom you are calling--but it might also know how your mood affects your driving. And eventually, it could turn into the ultimate backseat driver, taking full control if it's not satisfied with the way you're manning the steering wheel.It might sound like something from the distant future, but researchers at Stanford University are working on all manner of technological improvements to the automobile. They're hoping features like camera detection of face movements, voice analysis, and sensors in the steering wheel will result in cars that can accurately detect a driver's mood and make appropriate adjustments if it's affecting their driving.Clifford Nass, a professor at Stanford and director of its Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab, believes autonomous driving will not be limited by the technology itself, but rather how much responsibility people are willing to outsource to their cars. We have already seen them give up some control. Antilock brakes and stabilization systems, for instance, are already standard features, and the next step could manage everything from imposing speed controls for lead-footed drivers to using sensors trained on road surfaces to guide the car by itself... CNET

Making roads safer by reading drivers' moods

If current research pans out, the car of the future could figure out not only where you drive, what sort of music you listen to, news preferences, what you like to eat, or whom you are calling--but it might also know how your mood affects your driving. And eventually, it could turn into the ultimate backseat driver, taking full control if it's not satisfied with the way you're manning the steering wheel.It might sound like something from the distant future, but researchers at Stanford University are working on all manner of technological improvements to the automobile. They're hoping features like camera detection of face movements, voice analysis, and sensors in the steering wheel will result in cars that can accurately detect a driver's mood and make appropriate adjustments if it's affecting their driving.Clifford Nass, a professor at Stanford and director of its Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab, believes autonomous driving will not be limited by the technology itself, but rather how much responsibility people are willing to outsource to their cars. We have already seen them give up some control. Antilock brakes and stabilization systems, for instance, are already standard features, and the next step could manage everything from imposing speed controls for lead-footed drivers to using sensors trained on road surfaces to guide the car by itself... CNET

Officials fear design of nuclear bomb went to others

Four years after Abdul Qadeer Khan, the leader of the world's largest atomic black market, was put under house arrest and his operation declared over, international inspectors and Western officials are confronting a new mystery left by him, this time over who may have received blueprints for a sophisticated and compact nuclear weapon found on his network's computers. Working in secret for two years, investigators have tracked the digitized blueprints to Khan computers in Switzerland, Dubai, Malaysia and Thailand. The blueprints are electronic and rapidly reproducible for creating a weapon that is relatively small and easy to hide, making it potentially attractive to terrorists. The revelation this weekend that the Khan operation even had such a bomb blueprint underscores the questions that remain about what Khan, a Pakistani metallurgist and father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, was selling and to whom. It also raises the possibility that he may still have sensitive material in his possession. Yet even as inspectors and intelligence officials press their investigation of Khan, officials in Pakistan have declared the scandal over and have discussed the possibility of setting him free. In recent weeks, American officials have privately warned the new government in Pakistan about the dangers of doing so. "We've been very direct with them that releasing Khan could cause a world of trouble," a senior administration official who has been involved in the effort said last week. "The problem with Pakistan these days is that you never know who is making the decision — the army, the intelligence agencies, the president or the new government." The illicit nuclear network run by Khan was broken up in early 2004. President George W. Bush declared that shattering the operation was a major intelligence coup for the United States. Since then, evidence has emerged that the network sold uranium enrichment technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Investigators are still pursuing leads that he may have done business with other countries as well. Khan is an expert in centrifuges used to produce enriched uranium for bomb fuel, and much of the technology he sold involved enrichment. But it was only in recent days that officials disclosed that they had found the electronic design for a bomb itself among material seized from some of Khan's top lieutenants, a Swiss family, the Tinners. The same design documents were found in computers in three other locations connected to Khan operatives, according to a senior foreign diplomat involved in the investigation. American officials and inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency say they have been unable to determine if the weapon blueprints were sold to Iran or the smuggling ring's other customers. The bomb blueprints bear a strong resemblance to weapons tested by Pakistan a decade ago, said two senior diplomats involved in the investigation. Pakistani officials have balked at providing much information about the newly revealed warhead design, just as they have refused to allow the CIA or international atomic inspectors to directly interrogate Khan, who is still considered a national hero in Pakistan for helping it become a nuclear weapons state... IHT

Korea's new generation of 'Web 2.0' protesters

June 1987, Seoul's City Hall Plaza reverberated with a chant that signaled the end of military rule in South Korea: "Dokjetado!" or "Down with the dictatorship!" In June this year, the plaza has once again become a rallying point for crowds calling for the removal of an unpopular government: "Out with Lee Myung Bak!" But the similarity ends there. And in those differences is the challenge for President Lee and anyone else engaged in politics in this highly wired country, where the Internet has merged with the South Korean penchant for street demonstrations. "The Internet fits Koreans' quick-paced temperament," said Kim Il Young, a political scientist at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. "As you have seen recently, when the nation's world-class Internet infrastructure, its nationalism and its hot temper all come together, you have a major conflagration." In the 1980s, streets around the plaza lit up with orange flames as students clashed with the police, trading firebombs for tear gas. The military dictators had a clear-cut enemy; they arrested activist leaders. In contrast, the people jamming the same streets this month looked almost like cheerful vacationers on a mass picnic - teenagers in school uniforms, mothers pushing baby carriages, fathers with children on their shoulders, singing and shouting slogans. And the police investigating who organized the country's biggest antigovernment protests in two decades ended up rummaging in cyberspace. When Lee agreed in April to lift a five-year-old import ban on U.S. beef, despite widespread fears that the meat might not be safe from mad cow disease, it quickly became a hot topic on the Internet, first among teenage girls gathering at fan Web sites for television personalities, and later at Agora, a popular online discussion forum at the Web portal Daum. There, people suggested that they stop just talking and take to the streets. When a high school student began a petition on Agora calling for Lee's impeachment, it gathered 1.3 million signatures within a week. The police were caught off-guard on May 2 when thousands of teenagers networking through Agora and coordinating via text messages poured into central Seoul, holding candles and chanting "No to mad cow!" The mainstream media and the government ignored them at first. But protesters stepped forward as "citizen reporters," conducting interviews, taking photographs and, thanks to the country's high-speed wireless Internet, uploading videos to their blogs and Internet forums. One video showing the police beating a female protester caused outrage on the Internet and prompted even more people to join the demonstrations... IHT

United Nations a "talking shop" of 192 nations

More than just talk By Ban Ki Moon Monday, June 16, 2008 Detractors often call the United Nations a "talking shop" of 192 nations where, it has memorably been said, "no issue is too small to be debated endlessly." But the real UN, almost invisible to the general public, is the action-oriented UN. This real UN feeds 90 million people in more than 70 countries - forming a thin blue line between hungry people and starvation. It wipes out debilitating diseases like smallpox and polio and vaccinates 40 percent of the world's children. It provides $2 billion annually in emergency disaster relief and maintains the second-largest army in the world - a global peacekeeping force of 120,000 men and women who go where others can't or won't go. In my travels, often to the world's most difficult places, I always try to meet the faces behind these facts and figures. At a film festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I recently introduced a few of them to Hollywood screenwriters and directors who wanted to learn more about the UN. One was a young Canadian woman from Unicef, the UN agency dedicated to the protection, well-being and rights of children the world over. Her name: Pernille Ironside. Her job: to go with a small team into the eastern wilds of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There she confronts warlords and demands that they give up their "child soldiers," boys and sometimes girls as young as 8 or 10 who have been recruited or kidnapped to fight in the country's long-running guerilla wars. Often as not, she succeeds. Over the past few years, the UN mission in the DRC has secured the release of 32,000 of an estimated 35,000 such children. Pernille hopes to win back the rest by the end of this year. Another was Kathi Austen, a UN arms-trafficking expert who has spent much of the past decade tracking illegal weapons smugglers operating in the DRC and other conflict zones across Africa. Partly as a result of her dogged efforts, the alleged leader of one of the world's largest trafficking networks, Viktor Bout, was recently arrested on terrorism charges in Thailand. Ishmael Beah, a Unicef advocate for children affected by war, told of his life as a child soldier during the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone. Thanks to a UN rehabilitation program, he not only survived but thrived, eventually finding his way to America where he attended Oberlin College and wrote a best-seller about his experiences. A young woman from Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara, told her story, as well. At the age of 12, rebels killed her parents and, as happened to many thousands of other children, cut off both her hands. With the UN's help, she too survived. She is now living with an adoptive family in Toronto and going to college. She returns periodically to her homeland to share her story and raise awareness about the work Unicef does around the world. In my job I meet many other faces of this real UN, seldom so famous but no less selfless or dedicated. Indeed, our most important work is often the least visible. Visiting West Africa this spring, I saw UN teams in Liberia struggling to help the government restore the most basic social services after years of war: electricity, water, sanitation, schools. In Ivory Coast, I met with UN advisers helping a nation divided by conflict to hold elections and usher in an era of genuine and enduring democracy. In Burkina Faso, just south of the advancing Sahara desert, the UN has been bringing diesel generators to rural villages without power. The machines are used to grind grain, alleviating hunger; they can recharge cell phones, allowing farmers to be in touch with regional markets and help them decide what and when to plant. Usually these small enterprises are run by women's collectives, giving them new authority and status in their communities. Through such small actions we change the world. Sometimes, I wonder how it is that I, growing up as the poorest of Korean youngsters in a village destroyed by war, not always knowing where my family's next meal would come from, could one day be part of this noble enterprise. As for the Talk Shop on Turtle Bay, site of UN headquarters in New York, let us remember that talking sometimes achieves things, too. It's the talk that put UN peacekeepers on the ground in 18 countries on four continents. It's the talk that raises the money and mandates the programs that feed so many of the world's hungry. It's the talk that marks the world's first steps toward dealing with climate change, the global food crisis and a daily array of humanitarian crises. The convening power of the UN is the ultimate "soft power" on the globe. Ban Ki Moon is secretary general of the UN. IHT

Dr Mahathir's 'racist remarks' draw flak

Educated but irrational, narrow-minded & dumb, this person? Read on... He claimed Malaysia was the only nation in the world where the main ethnic group had admitted other races and endowed them with rights. The Malays have every reason to fight for their rights, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as non-Bumiputera groups again lamented over the former prime minister's apparently racist line.He claimed Malaysia was the only nation in the world where the main ethnic group had admitted other races and endowed them with rights."We (the Malays) are not the type to protest and have accepted those who came to the country."We even accorded them rights unlike other countries," he said at a talk titled "The Future of Malaysian Malays" organised by Warisan Pekembar, a non-governmental organisation, in Teluk Intan on Saturday.Some 2,000 people attended the hour-long event.In an immediate response, Gerakan secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said national unity was crucial to meeting the challenges of the present day."It's time we thought like Malaysians and as Bangsa Malaysia to work together to forge a united country and face future challenges as one."Global challenges like the fuel and food crisis are best tackled and handled together. In light of these challenges, it is inappropriate to start questioning each other's contributions and rights."It is more important to treat everyone as Malaysians, regardless of race, in order to contribute effectively to the country's development."Dr Mahathir expressed sadness at being termed a racist each time he spoke on the rights of the Malays."When they speak of their rights, people say it is all right as we live in a multiracial country."I am extremely sad but we have every right to speak in defence of the Malays," he said.Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Datuk Kenneth Eswaran said the special rights of the Malays had never been questioned, at least in Barisan Nasional."There is no basis whatsoever to Dr Mahathir's claims. The Indian community, at least those in BN, has never questioned the economic rights of the Malays."Dr Mahathir should know this better as he was part of the system at one time," he said.The former prime minister also demolished the notion of a Bangsa Malaysia, which he had proposed."We have failed to create a Malaysian race and must accept the fact that we are made up of different races and religions."Malaysia is not like other countries. We have come up with policies to help the Malays without sidelining the interests of other races."The New Economic Policy was designed not to deny others of their rights but to improve the economic status of the Malays."He said peace and harmony in the country could only be achieved when the economic divide between the races was narrowed."If the gap is too big, it might lead to dissatisfaction by certain groups and to untoward incidents like the May 13 riots in 1969."MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said: "Now is not the time to distinguish between Malays and non-Malays."We are first and foremost Malaysians and we (MCA) articulate our views as Malaysians."As MCA leaders, we are responsible for everyone and are constantly aware of the sensitivities of Malaysians and the multiracial context we live in," he said. Asiaone