Women should marry a woman, says Facebook’s Sandberg

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

(Credit:
Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

When he looks for lovers, my great engineer friend George relies on data. They need to have blue eyes, blond hair, an appreciation for fine dining and an IQ (and height) just two points below his.

Oh, and the lover must be a woman. Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, however, has declared that women should not marry George, except in exceptional circumstances.

For she is adamant that women should marry women. The reason is very simple: the data says so.

In an interview for the PBS/AOL “Makers” series, Sandberg didn’t quote the source of her data but was sure of its truth.

“The most important thing — and I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it a hundred times — if you marry a man, marry the right one. If you can marry a woman, that’s better because the split between two women in the home is pretty even, the data shows,” she said.

As I understand it, in real life, Sandberg went against the data. She married a man — but presumably the right one, David Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey.

On the other hand, perhaps it was SurveyMonkey that actually provided her with the data, when it was all too late. For, on the company’s fine Web site, I noticed this recommendation: “SurveyMonkey makes it easy to conduct, manage and analyze research that drives our business forward.”

This recommendation came from Sheila Normile, a market researcher at, well, Facebook.

I am imagining, therefore, that one day a debate ensued in the Sandberg household as to whether it was better for a woman to marry a man or a woman. The publicly available information strewn all over Facebook was then corralled to see whether women married to a woman were happier than those married to a man.

A number was put to every emotion. A number was put to every nuance in every status update, wall post, and tagged image. The conclusion was that women were happier being married to a woman.

During the interview, Sandberg says that the more successful a man gets, the more he inspires “likes,” whereas it is the reverse for women. Which suggests that any data that led to her conclusions might be imperfect.

What we surely need to see is data that suggests that the more successful a man or woman, the more (or less) they contribute to their marriages.

Perhaps less successful men contribute more because they think less of themselves and therefore need to prove themselves at least competent at home. Perhaps more successful men (and women) don’t feel the need to contribute, especially if the they are married to someone less successful.

Data, like the most beautiful of marriages, surely has no end.

So, for my friend George — and, indeed, for all of us searching for the perfect spouse — we need to discover more details of the true inclinations of both men and women to contribute to the household lot.

Surely Facebook, the repository of all human feelings, is the perfect company to provide it.

Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57411016-71/women-should-marry-a-woman-says-facebooks-sandberg/

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If your account is subpoenaed, Facebook sends police, well, everything

(Credit:
Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

We all live in the hope that we will never enjoy the prying eyes of the law.

But what happens if someone in authority decides they want to discover a little more about you? What if, despite your fine privacy settings on Facebook, the police or a prosecutor decides they’d like to bypass all of that?

As part of its investigation of Philip Markoff, the so-called Craigslist Killer, the Boston Phoenix got hold of the documents that Facebook sent the authorities after a subpoena had been issued.

These documents were part of the Boston Police Department’s case file. They reveal that, in essence, Facebook is able to reveal everything you have posted to the site. At least, that is how it seems.

(Credit:
Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

In this instance, the company offered up wall posts, a list of friends (complete with Facebook IDs), detailed data of logins and IP addresses, as well as all the photos Markoff posted or was tagged in.

The causal eye might imagine that Facebook — the folks who brought you the historic Timeline — keeps everything for a rainy day.

One fascination is that when you are subpoenaed, the process is confidential. Indeed, the letter from Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to Facebook reads: “Because this is a criminal investigation, we are requesting that neither you, nor your office disclose the fact or the existence of our request, the investigation and/or any compliance or action made with respect thereto.”

The joy of Facebook — for those who find it joyous — is that it provides a vehicle for the sheer spontaneity of communication. You want people to make contact with your life, your friends, your happenings, your feelings, even. You want them to do it as soon as possible.

However, it’s not like normal human spontaneity, which can dissipate and become a memory. It’s recorded.

There’s another aspect which is faintly troubling. If you happen to be the Facebook friend of someone who’s subpoenaed, it appears that your details come along for the ride. So the authorities get far more of a view of you, even though you’re not the one subject to investigation.

Facebook has traditionally refused to say how many subpoena requests it has had or, indeed, any details about them. It could well be that every last element of your Facebook activity has already been examined by someone in authority.

Should that prove to be the case, would you even be surprised?

Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57411001-71/if-your-account-is-subpoenaed-facebook-sends-police-well-everything/

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Fear and loathing over Facebook apps

Maintaining a comfortable degree of privacy in the fast-moving digital age is an ongoing battle.

The debate over app privacy debate is heating up again, thanks in large part to a Wall Street Journal article frighteningly titled “Selling You on Facebook” (subscription required). After a history lesson on the evolution of the app, the article’s authors report that the developers of Facebook games, quizzes, and other sharing services are “gathering volumes of personal information” and may violate the social-networking giant’s policies:

A Wall Street Journal examination of 100 of the most popular Facebook apps found that some seek the email addresses, current location and sexual preference, among other details, not only of app users but also of their Facebook friends.

While the Journal’s report quickly highlighted some of the more outrageous or juvenile apps seeking personal information — a quiz that poses questions such as “Is your friend’s butt cute?” — it also waits 10 paragraphs to explain that the apps are not secretly stealing the data from users. Only after mentioning Facebook’s $100 billion IPO and that the company’s revenue is largely derived from “capitalizing on personal data” do readers learn that these apps only do what users let them do.

Before users can complete the app download process, a permissions page details the specific data that will be required for the app to function. Facebook policy already requires third-party app developers connecting to the social network to stipulate exactly what parts of a user profile it’ll be accessing: photos, friend list data, basic public information.

Josh Constine, a bit of a Facebook expert at TechCrunch, points out that the data is provided in exchange for providing personalized information that may appeal to app users, such as suggestions for nearby restaurants, upcoming concerts, or local deals.

“These kind of articles can make mainstream users so worried about the worst-case scenario of what could happen to their data, they don’t see the value they get in exchange for it,” Constine.

Perhaps the real concern should be for the amount of personal data we often unwittingly share with the public and the creepy apps such as Girls Around Me that take advantage of that publicly available data and don’t require users’ explicit permission to operate.

Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57411032-93/fear-and-loathing-over-facebook-apps/

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Politicians jump on Twitter wagon

by Pauline Wong and Radzi Razak
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

“IF a pirate fights a ninja, who do you think would win?”
“Well, it depends on the location. If it’s on land, it will be the ninjas. If it’s at sea, the pirates will win.”
This exchange was not between two friends at a mamak stall, but rather, between a Malaysian citizen and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on micro-blogging site Twitter.
In 140 characters, Malaysians can reach out to familiar strangers – politicians, members of parliament, even the prime minister.
This friendly banter would have been unimaginable years ago, when people like the premier would have maintained their distance.
Then four years ago, the social media grabbed Malaysians by the nose and opened up methods of communication.
The best part is, it is free of charge.
Twitter has gained an avid following from both politicians and celebrities as it is more private than Facebook.
It is also a fast and engaging way to reach out to fans and the masses.
The first generation of political bloggers was from the Opposition, with the likes of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Selangor executive councillor Elizabeth Wong being the first to adopt Twitter as a tool to reach out to more people.
Others are DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and a slew of opposition MPs whose “blackout” in mainstream newspapers led them to the internet to reach voters.
They all now have their own Twitter accounts with more than 500,000 followers between them, mostly youths.
When Barisan Nasional lost its traditional two thirds-majority in the 2008 general election, its politicians realised it was high time they too get their smart phones and learn to flex their thumbs tweeting.
Soon enough, Najib himself created a Twitter account, his own website, and two Facebook pages.
His account (@najibrazak), was launched on Sept 28, 2008 and gained 496,323 followers.
Umno new media unit head Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz said the party realised the importance of a presence in social media.
“Before this, the opposition bloggers had a tight grip on social media, and we adopted it to create a level playing field,” he said.
Tun Faisal, who tweets at @tunfaisal, said Twitter allows him to respond to any allegation and broadcast the party’s aspirations and principles.
There are people who think as Twitter as the great leveller and equaliser.
One of them is Zain HD, a prominent social media activist in Twitterjaya (what Malaysians call themselves collectively on Twitter).
“We used to think that the politicians are different and maybe it is because we exclude them,” he said.
He and his peers have organised #budibicaraTJ, a virtual space that seeks a healthy exchange of ideas from both sides of the divide.
“Twitter provides an avenue for everyone to join in and discuss things as it should be,” he added.
Technoprenuer and amanz.my chief executive officer Ikhwan Nazri said with Twitter, bureaucracy was no longer a barrier to reach politicians and people in positions of power.
“We can air our views on things or policies which we do not agree with and get our voices heard,” he said.
The print media too play a big role in Twitterjaya by tweeting breaking news with links to its websites, simultaneously allowing politicians to react or respond to the latest news.
Deputy Higher Learning Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah @saifuddinabd said Twitter has provided him the means to connect with people.
“It is so easy to communicate and respond. If they want to know my views or ask me something, they can tweet me.
“It has even changed the way ministers communicate. It brings more accountability and honesty as people can see what you have tweeted and how you behave.
“A tweeter is much more personal. It gives you accountability as the public can see and judge you by your tweets,” he said.
Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahalan, who has almost 8,000 followers, predicted that Twitter will be used in the next general election.
“Political parties, activists and everyone would want to air their views . The coming general election will not only be fought with ceramah, but also tweets,” he said.

Article source: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/343486

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Twitter remembers Mike Wallace: 60 Minutes legend dies at 93

Examiner.com is the inside source for everything local. We are powered by Examiners, the largest pool of passionate contributors in the world.

Examiners provide unique and original content to enhance life in your local city wherever that may be. Examiners come from all walks of life and contribute original content to entertain, inform, and inspire.

Article source: http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-social-media-in-national/twitter-remembers-mike-wallace-60-minutes-legend-dies-at-93

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Grassley, Axelrod resort to name-calling on Twitter over Obama court comments

U.S. Senate – POLITICS

Published April 08, 2012

| FoxNews.com

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  Shown here are President Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod, left, and Sen. Chuck Grassley.

The scholarly legal dispute over the Supreme Court’s review of the federal health care overhaul took a turn into the Twitter gutter Saturday, as one senator called President Obama “stupid” and a top adviser fired back by effectively calling the lawmaker a 6-year-old. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, took the first shot on Saturday, when he tweeted about the weeklong flap over Obama’s Supreme Court comments. The president had said Monday that it would be “unprecedented” for the justices to overturn his health care law, prompting a cascade of criticism from conservatives and requiring the Justice Department to clarify that the administration respects the ability of the courts to overturn laws. 

On Twitter, Grassley wrote: “Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law.” 

David Axelrod, a former White House adviser now working on the Obama reelection campaign, quickly retorted. 

“Heads up, Sen. Grassley. I think a 6-year-old hijacked your account and is sending out foolish Tweets just to embarrass you!” he wrote on his Twitter page. 

Axelrod was likely referring not just to Grassley’s taunt, but his sentence structure. Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is known for his typo-happy tweets. This one was no exception. 

But in a recent interview with Legal Times on that very topic, Grassley explained that he sometimes lets his thumbs get ahead of himself — hence, the typos. 

“I think there are a couple of factors involved. I suppose a lot has to do with the automatic correcting done by my iPhone. Second, I love Tweeting, but I don’t like to type. So, I probably type and hit send a little too quickly,” he said.

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Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/08/grassley-axelrod-resort-to-name-calling-on-twitter-over-obama-court-comments/

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Facebook, Google and other internet giants could be forced to hand over data

By
Robert Verkaik, Mail On Sunday Security Editor

PUBLISHED:

17:09 EST, 7 April 2012

|

UPDATED:

05:31 EST, 8 April 2012

Local authorities will soon be able to spy on anyone they suspect of infringing council rules

Local authorities will be able to use the Government’s controversial ‘snoopers’ charter’ to spy on anyone they suspect of infringing minor council rules.

Facebook, Google and other internet companies will be forced to store all emails, social messaging and website visits made in Britain under plans being drawn up by Ministers.

But civil liberty groups warn that councils will try to take advantage of the law to trawl the new databases to snoop on residents and workers for trivial reasons.

Ministers say the issue has been driven by the security services and police to combat terrorism and serious crime. However, critics say that 800 councils and other public bodies will also have access to personal material.

They warn that councils that wish to spy on a resident can authorise searches under the powerful Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

Local authorities have already been criticised for overreaching their powers by accessing CCTV material to snoop on people suspected of putting bins out early, littering and breaking school catchment area rules.

In several cases, innocent  people were targeted under the Act, including a family who were spied on for two weeks by Poole Borough Council in Dorset.

Plans: Internet giants Facebook and Google will be forced to store all emails, website visits and social messaging

It wrongly suspected them of cheating to get their daughter into a particular school.

Civil rights group Privacy International warned: ‘The RIPA regulatory regime is remarkably weak.

This proposal will require that Google, Facebook and other providers grant Government agencies, including councils, access to data.’

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the plans would be subject to a public consultation

A council chief could order Facebook or Google to hand over messages or web searches that they suspect will help prove an employee is pretending to be off work sick.

Under existing UK law, internet service providers and telecoms  companies have a duty to  comply with requests for information from Government agencies, including local authorities.

Once the databases have been created, councils will be able to ask Google and Facebook to hand over private information.

In two years, 8,575 surveillance operations were conducted by 372 local councils in England, Scotland and Wales.

But the Home Office insists there will be only limited access by local authorities and that no agencies will be able to see the content of the emails, texts and internet visits.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the plans would be subject to a public consultation.

Internet giants including Google are expected to pocket the lion’s share of the £2 billion of taxpayers cash to fund the controversial plan.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said the proposals would include plans to ensure councils sought permission from a magistrate before they could access the databases.

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A great future awaits for breeders of racing pigeons, designers of unbreakable codes and teachers of obscure languages.

- Geoff, Chichester; UK, 08/4/2012 12:35

Report abuse

This is abhorrant and MUST be resisted at ALL cost – even by forceful means!!!

Any and all information WILL be misused by Councils to persecute innocent taxpayers to raise funds for badly-run Council

The Govt will also keep tabs on people’s political leanings and these people WILL be arrested and detained on flimsly excuses to prevent the Govt from being embarresed

We will be no better than Syria, Bahrain or China who use EXACTLY these measures to keep their people in line!!!

Accept these measure and loose your liberty!!!

- Toppers, London, 08/4/2012 12:33

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And people still laugh at david Icke. What he’s been talking about for the last 20 years or so is all coming true.

- Richie, port talbot, 08/4/2012 12:32

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Why should I trust the authorities with my data?
The powers that be have repeatedly lied to the public about how they use that data plus they have often lost secret/personal data through lazziness and incompetence..
In short, the Government and Local Councils cannot be trusted.

- Patricia,, Minster, Kent, 08/4/2012 12:29

Report abuse

With Pay as you go mobiles and mobile internet dongles that can provide untraceable communication how will the authorities trace criminals intent on avoiding detection.
The government have lost the plot on modern communication, and there’s always the old fashioned snail mail letter. Or are they now going to open every letter and parcel in transit.
These proposals are just a snoopers charter on the general public!

- Wanderer, Frimley UK, 08/4/2012 12:26

Report abuse

With Pay as you go mobiles and mobile internet dongles that can provide untraceable communication how will the authorities trace criminals intent on avoiding detection.
The government have lost the plot on modern communication, and there’s always the old fashioned snail mail letter. Or are they now going to open every letter and parcel in transit.
These proposals are just a snoopers charter on the general public!

- Wanderer, Frimley UK, 08/4/2012 12:26

Report abuse

They can only spy on you if you are dumb enough to let them. Use an encrypted web proxy for all internet access. It’s quite simple go to hidemyass.com as an example, but there are many others. If you do this they can’t snoop anything. – wibble, No taxation without representation!, 8/4/2012 10:36 __________________ All the information you send and receive will still be stored by your server all be it encrypted, so after they have got the encrypted information from your server they will contact your encrypted proxy server and ask for the encryption codes under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Proxy Servers are still servers and are covered under this act and don’t think you can use offshore servers as these l aws are being rolled out world wide. They have all bases covered and in years to come the word private will have no meaningful definition.

- Think you can hide, think again… , 08/4/2012 12:23

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It’s called democracy – if you don’t like it, stop voting for it! If you don’t lobby your MP on this issue, and challenge your councillors about it being used in your local authority, you have NO right t complain.

- Clive, Fife, 08/4/2012 12:22

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Cameron will give the snooping job to one of his mates Quango’s. Might as well give the Billions to your mates.He might need a favour of them when he leaves Downing St.

- philjudo, birmingham UK, 08/4/2012 12:20

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I was wondering how long it would be before the local councils got their noses in on this. We cant trust them not to abuse these powers particularly with anti-terrorism legislation being used to snoop on bins and school catchment area applications and so on.
We have to make our successive governments understand that the Internet and our private access to it is just as fundamental as our right to use NHS. If they mess with it it, it’s at their peril, not ours and we will punish them in every election they hope to stand in.

- Mark, Carmarthenshire, 08/4/2012 12:19

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The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126675/Facebook-Google-internet-giants-forced-hand-data.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Bilawal Bhutto’s Facebook fans discuss India trip

Article source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Bilawal-Bhuttos-Facebook-fans-discuss-India-trip/articleshow/12579245.cms

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Google chief executive Larry Page obsessed with Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO — Google co-founder Larry Page has a Facebook fixation.

When he replaced his mentor Eric Schmidt as Google’s chief executive last April, Page insisted that the company had to be more aggressive about countering the threat posed by Facebook’s ever-growing popularity.

Page responded with a social networking crusade that is still reshaping Google as he marks his first anniversary as chief executive.

The Facebook obsession has already led to Google’s creation of its own social network, Google Plus, and inspired changes in Google’s privacy practices and Internet search results. Those changes have raised questions about whether the Internet’s most-powerful company has forsaken its “Don’t Be Evil” motto in its zeal to protect its online advertising empire.

“Facebook awoke Google to its shortcomings in the social aspect of the Internet. It wasn’t something that could be ignored,” said Steven Levy, whose book “In The Plex” provided an inside look at Google’s origins and evolution over 14 years.

Fretting about Facebook may seem like overkill, given Google’s dominance of the Internet’s lucrative search and advertising market. Last year, Google’s sold $36.5 billion in advertising — 10 times more than Facebook’s $3.2 billion.

But Page realized Facebook has been carving out a competitive advantage that could be leveraged to topple Google.

Facebook flush with data

Since its 2004 inception, Facebook has been stockpiling valuable information about people’s social circles and interests. The volume of insightful data pouring into Facebook has mushroomed along with its service’s popularity. That has provided Facebook with the means to target ads more precisely and deliver content tied to a user’s hobbies and tastes.

Google couldn’t use most of that data to refine its search engine and other products, which is why it developed its own social network.

Since its debut nine months ago, Google Plus has attracted more than 100 million users. Although it lags Facebook’s 845 million, the number is far greater than Facebook’s tally at that stage in its history.

But Google Plus hasn’t proved it can hold users’ attention. Visitors have been spending an average of just a few minutes per month on Google Plus compared with six to seven hours on Facebook, according to the research firm comScore Inc.

Nevertheless, Google Plus and other social-networking features introduced since Page took over allow the company to learn more about its users’ lives, just as Facebook has done for years on its online hangout. Now, Google can try to use some of that knowledge to sell more ads, the source of virtually all its revenue.

Facebook’s threat figures to become even greater after the company emerges from an initial public offering of stock, likely to be completed next month. The IPO is expected to raise $5 billion and generate free publicity that could attract even more traffic to Facebook. The IPO will likely eclipse Google’s 2004 stock market debut as the biggest for a U.S. Internet company.

Setting new priorities

Google said Page was too busy for interviews about his past year as CEO, a role he reclaimed after surrendering the helm to Schmidt in 2001. Page had been CEO during the company’s first three years, but early investors demanded a more experienced leader.

Schmidt, now Google’s executive chairman, last year described his failure to mount a more serious challenge to Facebook as one of his biggest blunders.

When he took over as CEO, Page quickly made his top priority clear by moving Google’s executive offices into the same building as the team working on Google Plus.

Page also tied a portion of employee bonuses to the success of Google Plus and eliminated what he considered to be unnecessary distractions by closing more than 20 of the company’s less- popular services, including an initiative to digitize health records.

“Larry is driven by his paranoia about Facebook. Clearly, these are two companies at war with each other,” said Ken Auletta, who got to know Page while writing his book about the company, “Googled: The End of the World As We Know It.”

Page already has plenty of other challenges to confront as he enters the second year of his reign.

Google is also grappling with broad regulatory investigations in the U.S. and Europe into its business and privacy practices. Its Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers is clashing with Apple Inc. in the increasingly important mobile- computing market. And it is close to completing its biggest acquisition ever — a $12.5 billion purchase of cellphone and tablet-computer maker Motorola Mobility Holdings, pending approval from the Chinese government after winning clearances elsewhere.

Page also is trying to win over Wall Street.

Although Google is more prosperous than ever, its stock price hasn’t kept pace with the rest of the technology sector. Some investors have been turned off by Google’s rising expenses under Page. Others were alarmed by a drop in the prices paid for Google’s search-driven ads late last year. The company’s stock price has climbed by 9 percent since Page became CEO, but that trailed a 12 percent gain in the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index. The broader SP 500 index, which includes Google, has increased by 6 percent over the same period.

Some of Google’s tactics to fend off Facebook have been interpreted as signs that Google is turning into a ruthless company willing to go to any length to protect its core business.

That’s something Page and co-founder Sergey Brin vowed would never happen when Google filed its plans to go public in 2004. In a letter to investors, Page expounded on the reasons Google adopted “Don’t Be Evil” as one its guiding principles. “We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served … by a company that does good things for the world even if we forego some short-term gains,” Page wrote.

The sincerity of those commitments is being questioned as Google digs deeper for personal data.

A recent change to Google’s privacy policy has triggered the loudest outcry. About a month ago, Google unified 60 different privacy policies so it could stitch together all the personal information it gathers while users are logged into most of its services. Google explained the change as a simpler approach that would benefit its users, but the company also acknowledged that it would let it draw a more meaningful profile for advertisers looking to connect with prospective customers.

Accusations of bias

Another privacy backlash grew out of research a Stanford graduate student published in February. It showed that the company had been bypassing the security settings in Apple’s Safari browser for iPhones and iPads to track Web surfers’ online activities. Google called the intrusion an inadvertent offshoot of an effort to enable Safari users to press Google Plus’s version of Facebook’s “Like” button. Google disabled the tracking after it was revealed.

Google also tweaked its search results in January to give users the option to highlight results from Google Plus. Among other things, the search engine began to include suggestions on people to follow on Google Plus while excluding recommendations for Facebook and Twitter’s messaging service, both of which are used more widely than Google Plus. Google says its search engine can’t pull enough information from Facebook and Twitter to provide the same recommendations as it does for Google Plus.

Critics, though, scoff at that explanation and point to the bias as another example of how Google is abusing its dominance of Internet search to steer more traffic toward its own services. Those complaints are a central part of the regulatory investigations under way in the U.S. and Europe.

Both Auletta and Levy view what’s been happening at Google as part of the inevitable maturation of the company and Page, who turned 39 last week.

“That idealistic flame still burns in Google,” Auletta said. “But what happens, as time goes on, and you are no longer a young company, you have to make the compromises of adulthood … Facebook eventually is going to have to face a lot of the same questions.”

Article source: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_20345730/google-chief-executive-larry-page-obsessed-facebook

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‘Too beautiful’? Claim puts spotlight on science of beauty

While the Internet is abuzz declaring “she’s hot” or “she’s not” regarding Samantha Brick, who claims that she is cursed because she’s “too beautiful,” scientists may have some hard-and-fast rules about true beauty.

Brick, a freelance writer from France, made her claim in an article in the Daily Mail titled “There Are Downsides to Looking This Pretty: Why Women Hate Me for Being Beautiful.” In the article, Brick claimed that pretty women, such as herself, get treated badly by other, less pretty women who often get jealous.

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Her comments set off a firestorm of hate mail, insulting comments and nasty Twitter messages directed at the author, mostly surrounding her claim of being beautiful. While a scientist is unlikely to come forward and rate Brick’s beauty, research into attractiveness suggests attraction boils down to how symmetrical one’s face is.

Related story: Samantha Brick says she’s ‘not overconfident’

Evolutionary biologist Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico has been studying symmetry for two decades by using scans to digitize faces and bodies. He’s found that both men and women rated members of the opposite sex with-symmetrical faces and bodies as more attractive and in better health than their less symmetrical counterparts. The differences can be measured by just a few percentage points — perceivable, though not necessarily noticeable.

Good symmetry shows that an individual has the genetic goods to survive development, is healthy, and is a good and fertile choice for mating, Thornhill told LiveScience in 2006: “It makes sense to use symmetry variation in mate choice,” he said. “If you choose a perfectly symmetrical partner and reproduce with them, your offspring will have a better chance of being symmetric,” because you both have good, symmetrical genes.

A study by Thornhill, published in 1995 in the journal Animal Behavior, even found that women have more orgasms during sex with men who had more symmetrical faces and bodies, regardless of their level of romantic attachment or the guys’ sexual experience.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have even created a “beauty machine” that can transform a face into the more attractive version of someone.

The machine not only shows the human ideal of a perfectly beautiful face, but it also can help plastic surgeons create that vision. Beauty “is not simply in the eye of the beholder,” researcher Daniel Cohen-Or told LiveScience in 2008. “Beauty can be quantified by mathematical measurements and ratios. It can be defined as average distances between features, which a majority of people agree are the most beautiful.”

To design the beauty machine, Cohen-Or had 68 Israeli and Germans rank the beauty of 93 different faces. The scores were correlated to measurements of facial features and used to create an algorithm of “desirable elements of attractiveness,” which manipulate an image and spit out a better, prettier version.

Related story: Woman gripes about being gorgeous, breaks Internet (almost)

Another study, published in the International Journal of Primatology in 2009, indicates that color can make all the difference in facial attractiveness. When it comes to facial skin color among Caucasians, a light, yellowish complexion looks the healthiest, they found. The skin color could indicate a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables, whose pigments are known to change the skin’s hue, researchers suggest.

Does Brick fit the bill? That you’ll have to judge for yourself.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter, on Google+or on Facebook. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitterand on Facebook.

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© 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46981181/ns/technology_and_science/

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