Catch a Liar with the This/That Trap [Lying]

People fumble around with their words a lot when they're lying. In fact, a liar often adds words so they can truthfully answer questions by obscuring the meaning. Psychology Today points to a method to catch a liar where you can react to words called tag qualifiers. These include: "this," "that," "these," "those," and "though."

Tag qualifiers work because one can't exist without the other. If someone says "that," then there must be a this. So, if someone says, "I didn't do that," they have to know what "that" means, or you could follow up with the question, "If you didn't do that, what did you do?" The reasoning is pretty simple, using these words, a liar can actually tell the truth, but not the whole truth. Psychology Today offers this example:

TIMMY'S MOTHER: Your teacher called and said that during recess you ran up to Vickie and pulled her hair causing her to fall down and hurt her head.

TIMMY: She's lying. I didn't do that.

Timmy used the Tag Qualifier "that" to give the illusion of truth. Timmy did pull Vickie's hair causing her to fall down and hurt her head, but he did not run up to Vickie and pull her hair, he walked up to Vickie and pulled her hair. Since his mother's description of the event was not exact, Timmy could use the Tag Qualifier "that" to maintain the illusion of truth. However, Timmy cannot use the word "that" without having considered at least one alternate action.

Essentially, if you think someone is lying to you, listen for "this," "that," "these," "those," and "though." If the words aren't attached to anything, you can gently probe a bit more to get to the bottom of a lie. Head over to Psychology Today for a few more example conversations.

Catch Liars Using the This/That Trap | Psychology Today

Image remixed from Steven Isaacson.

via Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5940560/catch-a-liar-with-the-thisthat-trap

Use Gmail and Google Docs to Easily and Quickly Track Anything [Quantified Self]

Google Docs and Gmail can be used together to create a simple yet flexible way of tracking just about anything. For example, you can easily track your expenses, create a workout log, or set up a food diary. Here's how.

The Power Tips for Google blog offers this awesome tip for setting up a form in Google Docs and then quickly accessing it in Gmail. The system is really easy to set up:

1. Basically, create a spreadsheet in Google Docs and then go to Tools > Create form in the menu.


2. Edit the form to add the items you want to record (e.g., date, amount, payment method, description, categories, etc.)


3. Click on the "Email this form" button to email it to yourself.


4. Whenever you want to add log something and have it entered into your spreadsheet, you can quickly submit the form from within that email.

That's it!

Well, one more thing. For easy access to the form, enable the "Quick Links" lab feature (under Settings > Labs in Gmail) and you can add a permanent link to the form to your menu.

There are lots of ways you can use this. Our one-minute personal inventory form would be great to set up with this system. You can even share the form with other people, for simple group tracking.

Track Your Expenses Using Gmail and Google Docs | Power Tips for Google Docs

via Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5939539/use-gmail-and-google-docs-to-track-anything

Perp Pics Posted to Pinterest Lead to an Uptick in Arrests

Last year there was a minor controversy when the Portland Police Department began posting photos of arrested Occupy protestors to Facebook. It may or may not have been inspired by the PPD, but Pottstown, Pennsylvania newspaper The Pottstown Mercury has begun sharing photographs of wanted individuals through the popular photo sharing service Pinterest.



The nearly 800 citizen Pinners currently follow the board are invited to provide the newspaper and police departments with information on where the individuals are:

Steve Buttry caught up with Brandie Kessler of the Mercury to find out how the project started. She replied,

When Mandy Jenkins stopped by The Mercury a few months ago and told us a bit about various new social media, myself and reporter Evan Brandt thought Pinterest, because of its photo-focus, would be perfect for a wanted by police list.

[...] I decided to create a list on Pinterest. It’s great because it’s easy to update, easy to view on a smartphone and you don’t even need a Pinterest account to view it. Plus, it’s simple to post the link on Facebook and Twitter, and our readers love it.

Using photo sharing channels to increase the number of eyeballs seeing the photos is apparently working: the Pottstown police department reports that there has been a 58% uptick in arrests since the Mercury began sharing photos of perps through social media.

Wanted by Police [Pinterest via Poynter via Boing Boing]

via PetaPixel http://www.petapixel.com/2012/09/28/perp-pics-posted-to-pinterest-lead-to-an-uptick-in-arrests/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PetaPixel+%28PetaPixel%29

Childhood Inactivity Will Cost Your Kids 5 Years of Life, Says New Nike Research

A new report and spot from Nike Foundation reveals that inactive kids will live five fewer years than their parents. Thankfully, there’s a solution: Get your kids moving… now!

via Fast Company http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681678/childhood-inactivity-will-cost-your-kids-5-years-of-life-says-new-nike-research?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29

Doorbell to Internet bridge also useful for other home automation

This wireless doorbell hack can send a text message when someone rings. Adding the hardware to the chime unit turned out to be quite simple. It shows potential for a slew of other applications.

[Martin] started the project with a breakout board he had designed for an RFM12B wireless transceiver board. This board is popular because of its low-cost, small size, and ease of operation. [Martin's] breakout is barely larger than the RFM module itself, and merely adds an ATtiny84 to the mix. In the case of this doorbell project he uses a pin interrupt to detect when the doorbell’s LED is illuminated. This wakes the chip from sleep and sends a message back to the receiver that something has happened.

The receiver can do anything it wants with that data. In this case it uses an email-to-SMS service to send [Martin] a text message. But the home automation applications are vast for this simple hardware. We have a water heater that is not near a floor drain so we use a simple leak detector to sound an alarm if there is ever a problem (the water heater sits in a shallow tray). That works if we’re home at the time. Using [Martin's] solution could extend that alarm’s reach worldwide.

[via Hacked Gadgets]

Filed under: home hacks, wireless hacks

via Hack a Day http://hackaday.com/2012/09/28/doorbell-to-internet-bridge-also-useful-for-other-home-automation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackaday%2FLgoM+%28Hack+a+Day%29

September 28, 2012

Oh man! We just started shipping softcovers of the new book! Once all the stuff from that is shipped, we'll be offering them for general sale :)

via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (updated daily) http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2748&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smbc-comics%2FPvLb+%28Saturday+Morning+Breakfast+Cereal+%28updated+daily%29%29

September 27, 2012

Of course, if you were cool, you'd join our facebook club.

via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (updated daily) http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2747&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smbc-comics%2FPvLb+%28Saturday+Morning+Breakfast+Cereal+%28updated+daily%29%29

How one of the all time great magicians thinks about experiences

I was fascinated by this article in Esquire about Teller, half of the magic duo Penn and Teller, because of its description of how Teller thinks about his craft. I especially liked this story:

When Teller was in high school, [a teacher] read a short story to those few students before him, including an enraptured Teller: "Enoch Soames," by Max Beerbohm, written in 1916.

In the story, Beerbohm relates the tragic tale of Soames, a dim, hopeless writer with delusions of future grandeur. In the 1890s, Beerbohm recounts, Soames made a deal with the devil: In exchange for his soul, Soames would be magically transported one hundred years into the future — to precisely 2:10 P.M. on June 3, 1997 — into the Round Reading Room at the British Museum. There, he could look at the shelves and through the catalogs and marvel at his inevitable success. When Soames makes his trip, however, he learns that time has almost erased him before the devil has had the chance. He is listed only as a fictional character in a short story by Max Beerbohm.

Thirty-four-and-a-half years after that snowy reading by his satanic-looking teacher... Teller flew to England ahead of June 3, 1997.

As it turned out, there were about a dozen people in the Round Reading Room that afternoon... And at ten past two, they gasped when they saw a man appear mysteriously out of the stacks, looking confused as he scanned empty catalogs and asked unhelpful librarians about his absence from the files. The man looked just like the Soames of Teller's teenage imagination, "a stooping, shambling person, rather tall, very pale, with longish and brownish hair," and he was dressed in precise costume, a soft black hat and a gray waterproof cape. The man did everything Enoch Soames did in Max Beerbohm's short story, floating around the pin-drop-quiet room before he once again disappeared into the shelves.

And all the while, Teller watched with a small smile on his face. He didn't tell anyone that he might have looked through hundreds of pages in casting books before he had found the perfect actor. He didn't tell anyone that he might have visited Angels & Bermans, where he had found just the right soft black hat and gone through countless gray waterproof capes. He didn't tell anyone that he might have had an inside friend who helped him stash the actor and his costume behind a hidden door in the stacks. Even when Teller later wrote about that magical afternoon for The Atlantic, he didn't confess his role. He never has.

"Taking credit for it that day would be a terrible thing — a terrible, terrible thing," Teller says. "That's answering the question that you must not answer."

Now, again, his voice leaves him. That afternoon took something close to actual sorcery, following years of anticipation and planning. But more than anything, it required a man whose love for magic is so deep he can turn deception into something beautiful.

Years of preparation for something only twelve people would see. Read Teller's account of the day in 1997, or the full profile of Teller in Esquire

via Kevin Burke http://kev.inburke.com/kevin/teller-profile/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kburke+%28Kevin+Burke%29

Watch: The Most Epic Lego Contraption Of All Time

Why are you wasting time reading this tease? Just watch the video already!

via Fast Company http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670847/watch-the-most-epic-lego-contraption-of-all-time?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29

A Platform To Crowdfund The Truth

Have a controversial view? How much money are you willing to risk on it? A new site called TruthMarket lets people bet money on the veracity of their public statements: If they can prove it, there is cash to be earned.

via Fast Company http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680544/a-platform-to-crowdfund-the-truth?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29

Click and Drag

via xkcd.com http://xkcd.com/1110/

September 20, 2012

Wooh! Some cool announcements to make soon!

via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (updated daily) http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2740&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smbc-comics%2FPvLb+%28Saturday+Morning+Breakfast+Cereal+%28updated+daily%29%29

Helmet-mountable ICEdot Crash Sensor calls for help if you can’t

A helmet might provide protection to the head in the event of an accident, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the wearer won’t be knocked unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. The ICEdot Crash Sensor pairs to a smartphone to automatically send a call for help, complete with GPS coordinates, when an accident is detected. The system also provides first responders with the accident victim’s medical information... Continue Reading Helmet-mountable ICEdot Crash Sensor calls for help if you can’t



Section: Sports



Tags: Crash, Emergency, Identification, Impact, Medical, Sensor



Related Articles:

• Rear access helmet designed for easy, safe removal


• Emergency response crews learning how to deal with EV wrecks


• Continental evSAT sensor detects accidents and shuts off high-voltage batteries


• SmartAid Bandage to provide next generation wound care


• GM’s OnStar predicts injury severity using real-time crash data


• App could reduce freeway pile-ups by allowing cars to warn one another

via Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine http://www.gizmag.com/icedot-crash-sensor/24160/