Faking your way to power

Most of us have heard of the "effects of embodiment," that is, the theory that holds that we can fake our way to an emotion. You know, how smiling—even when you feel like throttling another person—makes you feel, well, happier. Somehow, the way you arrange the muscles in your face releases the right neurochemicals. (In at least one study, the subjects were not even smiling, they were just biting a pencil!)

So, interestingly enough, researchers in Columbia and Harvard decided to study the effects of power posturing, you know, the body language of that obnoxious fratboy of a bossman character in your work place. It's the body language that takes up a lot of space: the obnoxious coach in Glee establishes her authority over everyone by planting both hands on the table and looming forwards; various pictures of presidents show them with their feet on the table and elbows behind their heads (that's not Obama relaxing, that's him establishing power over his staff); countless bouncers with their hands on their hips, elbows pointing out to their sides, and legs rooted in a power base. Yeah, you know those postures. (If you are reading this blog, you must be that nerd on the receiving end of the power postures.)

So what did they find out? Same deal as the smile study. People assuming power postures felt more in power. AND testosterone levels of subjects—regardless of gender—went up while cortisol levels (the stress-related hormone) went down within moments of assuming the power postures. Incidentally, people in power have lower level of cortisol (probably because they're busy raising everyone else's).

On the flip side of the coin, taking submissive postures, which entails making yourself seem smaller (slouching, slumping shoulders, looking vulnerable, hugging self and crossing ankles), resulted in lower testosterone and higher cortisol levels.  

So the lesson is, act like a bully. You'll feel good about it later. It's also a great way to build up your confidence right before a tough meeting, an interview, or your next mime performance before a large audience.   

Holiday tipping

Not sure how much to tip people whose services you enjoy? The rule of thumb is to tip the value of a service.

• Personal trainers get a session's worth in cash or gift. 
• House cleaners get the cost of one service, though most people tip $35. 
• Lawn people get $20-$50 each. 
• Building staff get $25 to $50, with most people tipping $25.
• Hairdressers get the value of a service, with most folks tipping $20.
• Teachers get gifts with a value of around $20-$30 
• Newspaper carriers typically get around $10-$30, with most folks tipping at $15
• Mail carriers may not accept gift above $20 in value or get cash or cash equivalents, such as gift cards
• Dog walkers get a week's pay. 
• Babysitters of hellions should definitely get tips. A night's service. 

Source: USA Today and Consumer Reports.

Worst time to go to the hospital

If you live in the US, the worst time to go to the hospital for treatment and surgery is July, especially the first week. That's when hospitals get new residents and experienced ones get promoted. Lots of confusion around this time. As a result, medical errors go up.

Try to stay healthy until September at least ;).

Fashion tips for fat or short people

So, if you are rotund or short, your goal is to project a more elongated figure. Here are a few general principles:

• Don't break lines, like contrasting belt in the middle of your torso or distressed jeans with patches and holes (those things break up the straight line and shortens you).
• Wear clothes that are not tight but skims the body. Don't wear baggy clothes.
• Don't wear clothes that are square in shape (think muumuus).
• Accentuate your assets (for example a V-cut to highlight your neckline or gentle horizontal lines or creases right under the bust to balance a big butt). 
• Create a sense of proportion. Don't wear baggy tops with tight pants like leggings.
• Wear dark (black or deep blue) straight-cut pants. Don't wear pants that have patterns or designs that will break up the lines.  
• Don't wear pastel colors. Wear dark pants and rich (for example, deep red) tops.

Art blogs worth following

Too tired to walk into a modern art museum? Have a fun weeknight or weekend being a nerd and surfing beautiful works of art on the net instead.  We'll be updating this article as we discover more cool sites.

List of sites I would recommend:

• Behance - portfolio of professional artists and designers
• Colossal - blog of wonderful art covering illustration, photography, graphic design, product design, video editing, and architecture. Talented curator. 
• Designer Daily - Graphic and product design with articles and resources.
• Society6 - store for beautiful prints.

List of artists to watch

• Abby Diamond - pen and ink with watercolor.
• Annant Nanvare (India) - portraits from paper rolls and other works
• Chan Hwee Chong (Singapore) - pen and ink (spiral drawing for Faber Castell) and graphic design 

Getting rid of the old-socks smell in your car AC

Some cars have AC that smells like wet old socks. To prevent that from happening, shut off the AC about a mile from your destination and just let it evaporate so the condensation in the system doesn't collect on the evaporator assembly and foster mold growth.

If you get mold anyway, you can bring it to your dealer. For the Prius, search for  "T-SB-0261-09." It's a technical service bulletin (T-SB) relating to the evaporator assembly. (see http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2129911/mold-in-2008-prius)

If your car is no longer under warranty, you'll have to pay out of pocket to get it fixed. It's about a couple of hundred dollars to get it fixed because they apparently have to take the whole thing apart. But you can skip all that. 

Several mechanics that a coworker consulted gave him details on the fix for his Prius:

1. Get a jumbo can of Lysol disinfectant. 
2. Run the air conditioner.
3. Spray a lot of  Lysol down in the passenger compartment vents near the bottom of the windshield when you open up the hood. The disinfectant kills the mold that's collecting on the evaporator assembly. 
4. Do the same thing with the passenger air filter compartment (beneath the glove compartment).

Techniques to trap liars

R. Edward Geiselman, a UCLA professor and the guy who wrote the book on cognitive interviewing (employed by trained law officers) suggests these techniques to ferret out liars:

• Make them tell their story backwards, starting at the end and systematically working their way back. 
• Tell them to be as comprehensive and detailed as they can. This cognitive interview technique increases the cognitive load to push them over the edge. They're busy making up stuff, masking their lying behaviors, and monitoring you. Even professional liars will break under the cognitive load. 
• Ask open-ended questions to get them to provide as much details as possible. For example, ask:   Tell me more about...?", "Tell me exactly...?" "Give me the complete details. 
• Start with general questions, and then get more specific.
• Don't interrupt, be silent, and let them talk. 

For more details on what behaviors are signs of deception, see also the article on Spotting Liars.