Bad Jokes Really Really Make People Mad

I knew that bad jokes were a conversation killer, but I had no idea that they could be a conversationalist killer. A new study reported by the AP shows that making bad jokes in conversations can make people the focus of astounding amounts of hostility. A linguist sent her students out to tell a particular bad joke, and when the students got the joke into conversation:

“An astonishing 44 percent of the reactions were classified as ‘impolite,’ intended to deeply embarrass the joke teller. The toughest responses came from people who knew the joke teller well, she found.”

Yikes. Just imagine if they’d made a bad pun.

This research reminds me a of a chapter in The Marvelous Land of Oz. In the chapter, Old Mombi Engages in Witchcraft, The Woggle-Bug, Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow, Saw-Horse, Jack the Pumpkinhead, and Tip are traveling together. The Woggle-Bug, who is Highly Educated, starts making puns. After a brief conversation on the suitability of such things, the Woggle-Bug makes a very bad pun and is warned by the Tin Woodsman:

“‘We are not very particular,’ added the Tin Woodman; ‘and we are exceedingly kind hearted. But if your superior culture gets leaky again — ‘ He did not complete the sentence, but he twirled his gleaming axe so carelessly that the Woggle-Bug looked frightened, and shrank away to a safe distance.”

Make a bad pun, get threatened with an axe!

A Look at Borders’ New Concept Store

Canada.com has an article about Borders new concept stores. The new stores have a “digital center”, where customers can download both ebooks and music. That’s not surprising, but the concept stores also have a travel section where shoppers “can buy maps, portable DVD players and GPS navigation systems. And there is an interactive computer kiosk where customers can research, plan, and even book a trip in the store.”

Borders wants to go through a Christmas season before they make any determinations about how profitable the new stores are. But something like this has to happen sometime…

New Webisodes from … the USPS?

The US Postal Service has announced “Mark of the Eagle” four “webisodes” – four episodes of a Web video, okay? Anyway, there’s an extremely fancy Flash-based Web site, but it’s just showcasing stuff that’s posted on YouTube. You can go straight to the YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/markoftheeagle .

There’s a marketing message at the end, of course, but the first episode gets into what happens when machines attack and a postal carrier becomes The Hero That Will Save Mankind.

It’s interesting to see the Postal Service — delivering bits of paper, that’s a really offline job — trying with the online marketing. And the video was created in-house by postal service employees. And the guy who gets his tie shredded looks like Stephen Baldwin when he was in New Eden.

The New PSP Is Hitting the Market in October

Sony put out a press release on August 20 covering the new PSP.
The new PSP will have a screen with anti-reflection technology, built-in microphone (Skype on your PSP!) and a couple new colors. You can get Sony’s press release at Marketwatch, and a little more data at Gizmodo.

BRAC Bringing Massive Growth to Cumberland County

Why am I reading a growth in Cumberland County in the Daily Tar Heel? Oh well, I’m not picky. The article covers the changes expected by the BRAC (Base Closure and Realignment Commission) and notes “Eleven counties and 73 municipalities surrounding Fort Bragg formed the BRAC Regional Task Force, which encourages economic development and addresses the challenges presented by the growth.” This region is supposed to expand by almost 41,000 people by 2013, and will include active-duty military, Army civilians, and all their families.

The Regional Task Force already has a Web site at http://www.bracrtf.com/. There’s an extensive amount of information here — unfortunately mostly in PDF format — and a PACKED community activities calendar.

Sample a Cheese Puff and You Suddenly Want a Spa?

Interesting press release from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, covering a series of four studies performed by Professor Baba Shiv and doctoral candidate Monica Wadhwa along with Stephen Nowlis of Arizona State University. It seems that samples can trigger desire for more goods beyond the sample itself.

One group of students was given small samples of a sweet drink or chocolate, and another group was given nothing, before being taken into a room to watch a film. The room contained readily-available food and drink items. The group which had a sample before the film ate and drank more during the film than those who hadn’t.

Furthermore, those who had a sweet drink sample indicated after the film a stronger desire for consumer goods and experiences — like vacations and chocolate cake. There was even a similar response for groups exposed to pleasant smells as opposed to eating a sample (though smell might be riskier to try — your lovely floral perfume is someone else’s horrible asthma attack.) You can get more details on the study at http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/shiv_sample.html.

John Cleese on Twitter

I had no idea John Cleese was on Twitter. And he’s making video podcasts. How great is that? Now I wonder if Terry Jones also Twitters…

In-Depth Look at Video Game Console Sales

If you’re a video game quant nerd (come on, admit it) you’ll love the article at Edge-Online.com.The article takes a long look (with graphs and everything) at different video game console sales, year-over-year comparisons, third-party sales, and even a look at why Madden 09 has Wii to thank for a bump.

It’s nicely written but delivered with no smartalecky remarks at all. If you want smartalecky remarks with your console analysis, check out Dubious Quality.

97 Different Languages In North Carolina?

I like The Rhino Times, but I’ll confess that this quote from a recent article gave me pause:

“There are about 97 different languages being spoken in North Carolina according to estimates from the state.”

Apparently the Guilford County Sheriff’s department is okay with English and Spanish, but after that doesn’t have much in the line of resources. A grant is going to let the department experiment with handheld translators that will broadcast phrases officers need to speak — but the translators only cover 40 languages. Are we still 57 languages short?

“Sharon Harrison-Pope, grants manager for the Sheriff’s Department, said about 36,000 Guilford County residents – roughly 8 percent of the population – speak a language other than English as their primary language.”

Spanish, right? Not necessarily…

“… some of the more popular recent additions to the county’s language menagerie were Vietnamese, Laotian, Korean and Farsi.”

Barnes & Noble Keeps Going With the Web Programming

Barnes & Noble has announced two new series available on its Web site at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bn-studio/ . I wasn’t aware of it but apparently B&N has a lot of original online programming.

Anyway, the two new series are Moving Paragraphs and Why I Read. Moving Paragraphs features writers narrating parts of their favorite books with original animation. (These features are free, but I would pay serious buckos to for an episode of Atlas Shrugged, narrated by Terry Pratchett, with animation from the people who do Aqua Teen Hunger Force.) The first episode features Richard Russo and Huckleberry Finn.

Why I Read is described as a “Man on the Street” program that asks folks in Los Angeles book-related questions. The first episode asks folks why they read and what books they love. The second episode will ask people in the street what literary character they most identify with (Jack Pumpkinhead!) and so on.