"Doesn’t Anyone Read the News?"

"If analysts at Microsoft Research are correct, a startling number of American Web users are no longer paying attention to the news as it is traditionally defined. In a recent study of “filter bubbles,” Sharad Goel, Seth Flaxman, and Justin Rao asked how many Web users actually read the news online. Out of a sample of 1.2 million American users, just over fifty thousand, or four per cent, were “active news customers” of “front section” news. The other ninety-six per cent found other things to read."

Various influences shaped the study. The data was collected only from Internet Explorer users (who, the authors say, tend to be slightly older), and it represents only those who agreed to make their Web-browsing history available. Additionally, just because people don’t surf news Web sites doesn’t mean that they don’t get news from other sources, like physical newspapers, talk radio, Twitter, “The Colbert Report,” or the evening news.

That said, the sample size, 1.2 million, is impressive—far greater than that of a typical survey. And the number of people whom the study shows to be paying attention to the news online is consistent with the low ratings of cable news during the same period. Also, as opposed to relying on what people said they did, the Microsoft researchers drew on a record of what they actually did, which is significantly different...

Assuming that Microsoft’s numbers show a real phenomenon, though, they do introduce some perspective. Journalists and political junkies often presume that everyone cares about politics all of the time. But the fourteen-per-cent number makes it seem more like a hobby or a subculture, something like the N.H.L. or Nascar—a deep obsession for some of members of the population but of limited interest to anyone else, unless something extreme happens.

The New Yorker Magazine

"Opt-Out Obamacare Penalty Can't Be Enforced -- Unless You Get a Tax Refund"

RUSH: For those of us who take as long as we can to pay our taxes, October 15th was the extension filing date for 2012, and I dutifully was in there. My accountant, who is almost afraid to be my accountant because he thinks he's gonna get targeted, too, just 'cause his name's on my return, he said, "Look, you may not know this, but you keep talking about these Obamacare fines if you don't buy a policy...

... [H]e said to me that, according to the law, the only way that the government can collect the fine or penalty for you not buying insurance is if you are owed a tax refund. If you do not owe a tax refund, they cannot go into your bank account or anywhere else and get that money. Now, the sad thing is that most people file their taxes to get a refund 'cause they think they're screwing the government, and they're not. You're giving the government all that money all that year...

Therefore, the only way that they can collect the penalty or the fine is by taking money from your refund. If you are not owed a refund, they cannot get money from you. They can't issue a lien. They can't garnish your wages. They can't use any of the normal procedures available to them if you owe them money, even though the Supreme Court has said it's a tax...

... [I]f you structure your taxes so that you do not get a refund, you do not have to buy insurance and you do not have to pay a fine 'cause they can't collect it from you if you don't have a refund due. And that is just another nail in the coffin of Obamacare imploding on itself.

Rush Limbaugh via Drudge Tweet

'Men To Pay For Dates App'

"There’s only one method of manipulation that has stood the test of time: bribery.

Give a woman a present, and she’ll..."
That's the opening line of a press release for Carrot Dating, a new matchmaking app that lets men "bribe their way to a date."

The app enables users to "accept gifts/activities for a first date, with men and women being tempted with offers such as plastic surgery or a tank of gas for a “yes”. What doesn’t work: messaging and hoping."

By the way, he got the idea from his mother.

Business Insider

"How to ward off a giant hornet attack"

Thumb-sized giant hornets, which have a sting that’s been likened to a hot nail going through your skin, continue to plague the Chinese province of Shaanxi. More than 40 people have been killed by hornet attacks, and there are nearly 1,700 reported injuries.

Since they’re seemingly here to stay, doctors and insect specialists in China offered up these tips to prevent an attack, courtesy of China Daily:

Stay away from their nests. Giant Asian hornets, Vespa Mocsaryana and Vespa Mandarinia, do not generally sting without provocation, but anyone touching their nests is vulnerable to a group attack.

Don’t run. If you do accidentally disturb a hornet or its nest, keep in mind they can fly faster than you can run. Instead, crouch low to the ground, stop moving and try to cover your head.

Wear brown or black. Giant hornets are excited by bright colors.

Skip the aftershave. They are drawn to perfume and cologne.

Don’t be drunk: They’re also agitated by the smell of alcohol.

 

Quartz