Yep, it’s another edition of News From You, an eclection of news, the weird, the arcane and the downright useless of interest to F-I infovores. I welcome noncommercial submissions from anyone be they useful, quirky, weird and offbeat. Commercial notices are encouraged from community members (guidelines). I credit all sources, include your web address for link love. While I’m thinking of it, how come most of you still haven’t added your url to your sig file? Lastly, if you want to remain anonymous, you’ll have to mention that. Send your submissions to News From You.
————-
Our friend Erin McKean (Dress a Day) was invited to speak at the most recent TED conference. Scroll down for her presentation (#9) on Redefining the Dictionary. If that link doesn’t work for you (didn’t for me), Erin provides a link on Youtube. When I grow up, I want to be just like Erin.
————
From Harvard Business school is an article entitled, Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator. In working with DEs, this has often been an issue. The paper confirms much of my suspicions and explains why my business focus changed to education. Now I want a paper that explains why people ignore me…

What do you do when the people with whom you are negotiating act in ways that can best be called counterproductive? Before throwing up your hands, take a deep breath and ask yourself 3 questions. Do these people lack good information? Are they operating with constraints you don’t know about? Are they holding onto hidden interests?

————-
Gossip more powerful than truth. Researchers find that people make assessments based on rumors and gossip, even acting upon it, even when supplied with irrefutable evidence the gossip is wrong.
————
Hope impedes adaption (nothing can kill drive and inspiration like a long wait) from the WSJ.

Research shows that waiting for uncertain outcomes can be more uncomfortable than adjusting to the worst of them, which explains why impending mergers and reorganizations drive people mad. In a paper to be presented later this month, George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, studied people who underwent colostomies, or intestinal bypasses. Half of them had the possibility of having it reversed; for the others it was permanent.

Measuring their life satisfaction, the researchers found that those with permanent colostomies very rapidly improved whereas those who could ultimately reverse them stayed relatively unsatisfied. “Hope impedes adaptation,” says Prof. Loewenstein.