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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jul 17, 2012
July 17, 2012
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Trade Secrets:
Are you looking for a sweet gig that will give you plenty of dough and the ability to leave work at work? Yahoo.com is here to help with five high-paying, low-stress jobs.
1. Optometrist. You'll need to get a bachelor's degree and doctorate to diagnose vision problems, but at the end of your journey you can plan on making close to 100-thousand bucks-per-year. Even better? Experts believe there will be 24% job growth through 2018.
2. Materials Scientist. Are you a stud with subjects like analytical or polymer chemistry? Want to make diapers that never leak or nylons that never run? Get your PhD and you could be creating cool products and collecting 90-grand per-year!
3. Economist. Are you a natural number cruncher? This job is right up your alley! You'll have to produce lots of reports and analyses --most likely for Uncle Sam --but will probably take home around $85,600.
4. Aeronautical Engineer. Ever wanted to learn to fly? This is your shot! Most working in this field have at least a bachelor's or master's degree and the average salary rings in at $82,800.
5. User Experience Designer. Are you great at being human? This job is calling your name --it entails testing objects that people use all the time, like board games, ATMs and cars. Even better? The median salary is anything but average at $79,100. (Lee)Gossip Central:
BIANCA JAGGER really hates her ex-husband, MICK. A pic in this weeks Star magazine shows the mother of the bride with a smirk on her like Cruella de Ville while posing for a family photo at her daughter JADE's wedding. See the pic here.
Phone starter: Did you have to deal with an ex at your child's wedding? Did you pose for pics with them? (Myers)If running in heels is your idea of a sport, MANOLO BLAHNIK has created some Olympics-inspired stilettos in honor of the upcoming games. The Olympics start in London in less than two weeks. Blahnik is selling three different styles inspired by ancient Greek architecture and the winners' gold, silver and bronze medals. Women's Wear Daily says Jimmy Choo is also saluting its British heritage. They're draping a Union Jack flag design on its women's and men's slip-on shoes, clutch handbags, sunglasses and scarves. (Bartha)
Idiots or Insane:
A dairy farmer in England spray painted one of her cows with a giant barcode.
Orange.co.uk reports 46-year-old farmer JANE BARNES wants passersby to scan the cow's code with their smartphones. This will redirect users to a personal blog for the bovine, whose name is LADY SHAMROCK. Traffic to the cow's website has soared by 150 per cent since she was painted with the code. (Still)Health and Medical Briefs:
Changes in the way you walk could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers studied the walking patterns of volunteers twice, 15 months apart, and found that those with decreased cadence, velocity, and stride length also experienced more cognitive impairment.
A second study found that "slower and more variable" pace was associated with the progression of cognitive decline.
Sounds reasonable given that, as one researcher explained, "Walking and movements require a perfect and simultaneous integration of multiple areas of the brain," so when brain circuitry is affected, it impacts walking.
Walking changes anyway as one ages, but not much aging occurs over just 15 months. The findings are important because changes in the way people walk may happen before any cognitive trouble becomes apparent, which means assessing a person's walk could be cheaper and faster than diagnosing Alzheimer's via neurological exams. (Maiman)There's an app for that, dep't:
Dating in this fast-paced modern world can be brutal and it's getting even worse with the help of technology. EHarmony.com has created an escape route when things aren't going well with Mister or Miss Wrong in the form of a "Bad Date Rescue App." Apparently it allows users to fake incoming calls on their iPhone with a fictitious mother calling to say someone's in labor or a neighbor crying about a busted pipe! There's even a voice on the other end and an option to have the computer tell you how to react. (Lee)
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