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The number of Facebook friends you have is correlated to the size of your amygdala, the center used to process the memory of your emotional reactions in your brain, according to a new study published in Nature Neuroscience.

The volume of your amydala has been connected to the size of the circle of those you come in contact with even with nonhuman primate species before, so Kevin Bickart and his coauthors took the idea and tested it out on people who interact with people on Facebook.

Using 58 adults with varying sizes of Facebook friends, the scientists figured out how many people each individual involved in the study regularly interacted with.

Then, they determined how many different groups of Facebook friends the person was in contacted with. Those two data points were compared to the volume of the amygdala and hippocampus, the later of which should not change in size depending on the size of the social network.

The results showed that the size of a person’s amygdala increased with more friends and more complex social networks.

So much for saying that people you interact with on Facebook aren’t really your friends. And, even if we might not know them personally, our brains are definitely making an emotional connection.

Read People’s Reactions Over At Time.

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Fastest-rising searches 2010

1. chatroulette
2. formspring
3. ABC3
4. world cup 2010
5. tumblr
6. ancestry.com.au
7. event cinemas
8. omegle
9. wikileaks
10. jetstar

Most popular searches 2010

1. facebook
2. YouTube
3. google
4. ebay
5. hotmail
6. yahoo
7. real estate
8. maps
9. commonwealth
10. white pages

Fastest-rising news stories 2010

1. chile earthquake
2. haiti
3. ipad
4. iphone 4
5. vancouver 2010
6. melbourne storm
7. android
8. volcano
9. oil spill
10. world cup

Fastest-rising election stories 2010

1. australia election
2. bob katter
3. julia gillard
4. election results
5. voting
6. abc election
7. nla newspapers
8. greens party
9. labor party
10. poll bludger

Fastest-rising people 2010

1. Cody Simpson
2. Andy Irons
3. Justin Bieber
4. Julia Gillard
5. Lara Bingle
6. Katy Perry
7. Kim Kardashian
8. Jessica Watson
9. Andrew Bolt
10. Kevin Rudd

Fastest-rising celebrities 2010

1. casey johnson
2. bruce jenner
3. christina hendricks
4. heidi montag
5. joseph gordon-levitt
6. kendra wilkinson
7. jared leto
8. kim kardashian
9. sandra bullock
10. jake gyllenhaal

Fastest-rising retailers 2010

1. woolworths online shopping
2. urban outfitters
3. shopbop
4. saks fifth avenue
5. dfo south wharf
6. nordstrom
7. rubi shoes
8. graysonline
9. zara
10. walmart

Most popular scandals 2010

1. vanessa hudgens scandal
2. nrl scandal
3. masterchef scandal
4. lara bingle scandal
5. hey dad scandal
6. indian scandal
7. st kilda scandal
8. miley cyrus scandal
9. watergate scandal
10. tiger woods scandal

Most popular celebrity deaths 2010

1. andy irons dead
2. carl williams dead
3. justin bieber dead
4. gary coleman dead
5. tiesto dead
6. taylor lautner dead
7. johnny depp dead
8. lil wayne dead
9. lady gaga dead
10. slipknot bassist dead

Most popular celebrity weddings 2010

1. anna paquin wedding
2. chelsea clinton wedding
3. hilary duff wedding
4. kate ritchie wedding
5. katy perry wedding
6. miranda kerr wedding
7. robbie williams wedding
8. royal wedding
9. megan fox wedding
10. kyle sandilands wedding

Most popular celebrity splits 2010

1. tiger woods divorce
2. benny hinn divorce
3. heidi and spencer divorce
4. bam margera divorce
5. bill rancic divorce
6. eva longoria divorce
7. giuliana rancic divorce
8. sandra bullock divorce
9. justine henin divorce
10. natalie gruzlewski divorce

Most popular movies 2010

1. the crazies
2. resident evil afterlife
3. ben hur
4. percy jackson
5. iron man 2
6. mary poppins
7. the avengers
8. transformers 3
9. breaking dawn
10. jesse james

Most popular Do-It-Yourself searches 2010

1. diy bunnings
2. diy kitchens
3. diy fencing
4. diy wedding invites
5. diy super
6. diy projects
7. diy painting
8. diy wardrobes
9. diy tiles
10. diy renovations

Most popular diets 2010

1. dukan diet
2. lemon detox diet
3. soup diet
4. atkins diet
5. mediterranean diet
6. csiro diet
7. blood type diet
8. gluten free diet
9. vegetarian diet
10. low gi diet

Most popular recipes 2010

1. minestrone soup
2. macaroons
3. chicken parmigiana
4. beef stroganoff
5. anzac biscuits
6. pikelet
7. bruschetta
8. shepherds pie
9. banana bread
10. chicken soup

Most popular sports-related searches 2010

1. afl
2. club
3. football
4. world cup
5. nrl
6. cricket
7. soccer
8. rugby
9. tennis
10. world cup 2010

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Let’s face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games. And it’s driving their parents nuts. Sure, there are real dangers associated with all this screen time – everything from cyberbullying to couch-potato obesity. Not to mention driving while texting, shortened attention spans and Internet porn.

But many of today’s parents spent hours as kids sitting in front of screens too – only they were TV screens. Which raises an interesting question: Is Facebook really worse for teenagers’ brains than the mindless reruns of “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” that their parents consumed growing up?

According to the Washington Post, texting, Facebook and video games are not inherently bad. Nor are they inherently better or worse than watching TV, although they do pose different risks, such as cyberbullying, but the one thing research does highlight is that the more time kids spend in front of screens – whether it’s TV or instant-messaging – the worse their school performance.
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In their earnings call last week, Google announced a record 2010 third-quarter revenue of $USD7.29 billion (up 23% from last year).

The market rejoiced and Google shares shot past $USD615 giving the company a market cap of more than $USD195 billion.

This month, Google broke an equally impressive Internet traffic record — gaining more than 1% of all Internet traffic share since January, according to research by Arbor Networks.

If Google were an ISP, as of this month it would rank as the second largest carrier on the planet.

Google now represents an average 6.4% of all Internet traffic around the world. This number grows even larger (to as much as 8-12%) if estimates of traffic offloaded by the increasingly common Google Global Cache (GGC) deployments are included and error in Arbor’s data due to the extremely high degree of Google edge peering with consumer networks.

These numbers represent increased market share — Google is growing considerably faster than overall Internet volumes which are already increasing 40-45% each year.

Learn more at Arbor Networks.

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Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are seen as having the least corruption in the world, according to a just-published global survey.

Somalia is viewed as the most corrupt country.

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is published annually by Transparency International, a corruption monitoring organization based in Berlin, Germany.

Countries with the highest scores on the index are viewed as having the least corruption; countries with the lowest scores, the most.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore each scored 9.3 out of a possible 10.

Rounding out the 10 highest scores: Finland and Sweden, 9.2; Canada, 8.9; Netherlands, 8.8; Australia and Switzerland, 8.7; and Norway, 8.6.

Japan was 17th on the list with a score of 7.8; the United Kingdom 20th (7.6); and the United States 22nd (7.1).

At the bottom of the 178 countries Somalia scored 1.1, just below Afghanistan and Myanmar (1.4) and Iraq (1.5).

Among emerging economic powerhouses, Brazil was 69th on the list with a score of 3.7; China 78th (3.5); and India 87th (3.3).

Learn more at CNN.

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New US Research has found that 57% of firms do not have or are in early stages of a mobile strategy.

Despite the massive adoption by consumers of mobile phones, and more recently sophisticated phones that can access the Internet, only about one third of firms in a recent survey have had a mobile strategy in place for more than a year, a new study from Forrester Research Inc. finds.

57% of the 203 consumer product strategy, e-business and marketing professionals surveyed say their organizations either do not have or are just beginning to develop a mobile strategy. 10% have had a fully operational mobile strategy for less than a year, Forrester analyst, Thomas Husson writes in his report, “How Mature Is Your Mobile Strategy?”

The study also found that one-third of companies don’t have a single executive in charge of leading and developing their mobile consumer strategy, and 46% say one or fewer employees work full time for their company’s mobile efforts.
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Video campaigns that combine pre-roll and banner ads deliver the highest recall rates, according to research from Sky, the IAB and media research agency Decipher.

The UK study, conducted over 12 months, examined the branding effectiveness of five online video ad formats against short-form content.

Of the 6,000 respondents interviewed, nearly half (47%) recalled ads which used a combination of pre-roll and banners, although 44% said they remembered the ad when pre-roll alone was used.

The research tracked 24 campaigns from 11 brands in FMCG, finance, motoring, technology and travel sectors across Sky Sports and News, Sky 1, Sky Showbiz and non-branded sites Golf 365 and Planet Rugby.

Five video ad formats were examined. Of the 2,400 people who recalled a video ad, 6% claimed they then clicked through to make an immediate purchase, while over half (54%) said they either delayed purchase or wanted to investigate the brand further in their own time.

Dwell time is highest on branded video players, according to the research, which in turn deliver better direct response, with an average 1.23% click-though rate across all campaigns. Pre-rolls combined with companion banners generated a 0.89% click-through rate, followed by post-roll at 0.83% and pre-roll on its own at 0.77%. Overlays were the least effective, averaging a 0.16% click-through rate.

Quality content remains a key driver of ad performance, according to the study, with 10% of respondents more likely to remember the ad if they enjoyed it.

Viewers are least tolerant of ads around user-generated content, with 83% of those who recalled ads saying they found them inappropriate around content posted by others.

Almost half of those who recalled ads (47%) said they were appropriate around entertainment clips, and 46% around TV programmes.

Over two-fifth of respondents (44%) said they recalled ads at work, compared to 39% who recalled them at home. However, click-through rates were higher at home, with respondents saying they’re more willing to alter their online journey when at home relaxing.

Users’ journey to content was also found to affect brand recall, with over half (53%) recalling an ad when directed there from a specific link, while just under half (48%) remembered ads when looking specifically for certain content. Nearly a third of users (39%) recalled an ad when they were just browsing content.

Read more at UK Marketing Week.

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Thomas J. Stanley has been examining the truly rich for years. A former university professor, he’s the co-author of “The Millionaire Next Door.” It should have a permanent spot in your home library. Late last year, he released “Stop Acting Rich . . . and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire”.

Here are some highlights from the Washington Post…

• Eighty-six percent of all prestige or luxury makes of motor vehicles are driven by people who are not millionaires.
• Typically, millionaires pay about $16 (including tip) for a haircut.
• Nearly four in 10 millionaires buy wine that costs about $10.
• In the United States, there are nearly three times as many millionaires living in homes with a market value of less than $300,000 than there are living in homes valued at $1 million or more.
• Forget the Manolo Blahnik high-priced shoes. The No. 1 shoe brand worn by millionaire women is Nine West. Their favorite clothing store is Ann Taylor.

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Research in Britain indicates men could be well on track to being grumpy old men by the age of 52.

Scientists at the University of Glamorgan have shown that people laugh less as they get older, and by 52 men are not much different to Victor Meldrew, the grumpy pensioner in the British comedy, “One Foot in the Grave”.

Infants can laugh up to 300 times a day, but then life rapidly becomes far less fun, the researchers said. By their teens, people laughing just six times a day on average.

By the 20s, people are laughing just four times a day.

Interestingly, senses of humour improve in the 30s – mostly due to children, say respondents – lifting the average number of laughs to five a day.

However, it’s a slippery slope from there and, by 50, Britons are laughing just three times a day on average. The average 60-year-old is laughing just 2.5 times a day on average.

The research showed that men in their 60s are four times grumpier than women.

The study, commissioned for the British comedy television station, Dave, found older men complained more than their younger counterparts and worried more.

Joke-telling appears to be largely a thing of the past, too, with the survey of 2000 people indicating the average Briton knew just two gags apeice.

Moreover, 600 respondents couldn’t remember telling a joke in the last year.

Glamorgan University researcher Dr Lesley Harbidge noted: “It’s important to remember how good laughter is for you: it releases endorphins and a little laughter every day goes a long way to reducing stress.

Source: Horsetalk

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According to new research, young Australians are taking time out from busy online lives to read books, go to a dinner party, watch a movie or visit an art gallery.

When extrapolated out, the study finds that the 4 million Australians aged between 16 and 30 are trying to balance the demands on their lives by turning to more simple pleasures.

Lifelounge Group, working in tandem with Sweeney Research, found that Facebook remains the number one site among young people with almost half of them (47 percent) spending at least five hours each week online.

“Pressing pause is not about switching off,” Lifelounge chief executive Dion Appel told Australia Associated Press on Monday. ”It’s about temporarily alleviating the pressure. The youth market has become a generation of digital multi-taskers and they’re starting to experience digital overload.”

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