Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

My Newest Experiment – The Kindle Book

A few months ago, my friend Drawk Kwast released his first ebook on the Kindle store.   And he’s been having some great success (mostly because the book is awesome).  Shortly after, I got my first Kindle and was fascinated by all of the low-cost and interesting self-published books on there that I wouldn’t have found physical access to in the average book store.  It piqued my interest around the Kindle as a publishing platform.

But it wasn’t until I read this story on Slashdot that I really got fascinated.  From the story:

‘These days the buying public looks at a $9.95 eBook and pauses. It’s not an automatic sale,’ says Locke. ‘And the reason it’s not is because the buyer knows when an eBook is priced ten times higher than it has to be. And so the buyer pauses. And it is in this pause—this golden, sweet-scented pause—that we independent authors gain the advantage, because we offer incredible value.’

It was fascinating to me that we could be seeing a sea change in the world of books.

While I’ve been a great consumer of books on the Kindle, I hadn’t yet explored the seller’s side of this new world.

So, I took the ebook I wrote a few years ago (called “Forget the Parachute, Let Me Fly the Plane“) and re-formatted it for the Kindle.  In the process, I updated the content and added in some new material.

And it’s selling in the Kindle store for $2.99.  As of this writing, it’s in the Top 25 in the “Job Hunting” sales list.

My thought: would you trade a cup of coffee for some solid career advice?   I hope to find out.

Technorati Tags: career advice, forget the parachute, kindle


Are You Faking It?

Spring is finally here and that makes a lot of people happy.  The fresh breeze and warm sunshine makes many want to smile.

An article, “Smile Like you Mean It” suggests that positive thinking can create a more positive emotional state, which in turn will allow a person to smile more.  If you smile more, then you will generally be a happier person.  At least that is the consensus.

One study in positive psychology, performed by Harker and Keltner, posited that if a woman had a “Duchenne” smile in her yearbook photo (that is a true mouth and eye smile) then she was more likely to be happily married and less stressed 30 years later.

Dr. Matsumoto has also commented on the “Duchenne” smile, which utilizes the muscles called the orbicularis oculi that raises the cheek bones and forms crow’s feet around the eyes.  He states, “ Remember the Duchenne smile is the only smile that allows for the cheeks to be raised…and you see the eyes twinkling a little bit.”  This is how one can distinguish between a genuine smile and a fake smile.

Many contemporary scientists and ancient philosophers believe that putting on “a happy face” can actually alter a person’s mood.  The Happiness Project website, gives pointers on becoming friendlier and in turn a happier person.

Gretchen Ruben the author of The Happiness Project states that, “Research shows that although we think that we act because of the way we feel, in fact, we often feel because of the way we act.  That’s why one of my Twelve Commandments is to Act the way I want to feel .

How about you; how often do you smile?   Not a fake smile but a real “Duchenne” smile?

If you would like more tips on how to be happy then check these tools and techniques for a happier life.

In the video below Dr. Matsumoto comments  on the “Duchenne” Smile.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beautiful People are Happier

Recent research conducted by Daniel Hamermesh and Jason Abrevaya of The University of Texas at Austin suggest that “good-looking people are generally happier than their plain looking or unattractive counterparts”.  The research suggests that this is a result of larger salaries, other economic benefits, and better-looking spouses.

Indeed, research has already suggested that income levels have a direct correlation to overall happiness, but that this was only to a certain extent.

Hamermesh and Abrevaya’s paper entitled “Beauty is the Promise of Happiness” is being released to economists this week. The paper is also posted on the website of the German-based Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

According to a USA Today article, the economists analyzed data from five large surveys conducted between 1971 and 2009 in the USA, Canada, Germany and Britain. They found that beautiful people are generally happier than the plain Jane or or even ugly Joe.

Participants were asked about their own levels of happiness; their looks were rated by interviewers face-to-face or from photographs. Those in the top 15% of people ranked by looks are more than 10% happier than those ranked in the bottom 10%.

Interestingly, although the findings hold true for both men and women, the researchers say beauty affects women’s happiness more directly than men’s. But ladies, don’t go out rushing to get cosmetic surgery, buy new clothes or makeup.

“I know all the cosmetics folks and clothes folks say they can make you prettier, but the evidence for it just isn’t there,” Hamermesh says, citing a 2002 study he conducted that looked at the effect of buying better clothes, hair and cosmetics.

“It doesn’t help much. … Your beauty is determined to a tremendous extent by the shape of your face, by its symmetry and how everything hangs together.”

What do you think about these findings? Do you think there is some level of truth to them?

Read more about this study in this Time Magazine article