Men partially base their preferences on physical attractiveness. But that’s not the whole story.

Malcolm Gladwell gives a great example in his book, blink:

John has an idea about what he wants in a woman, and that idea isn’t wrong. It’s just incomplete. The description he starts with is his conscious ideal: what he believes he wants when he sits down and thinks about it. But what he cannot be as certain about are the criteria he uses to form his preferences in that first instant of meeting someone face-to-face. That information is behind the locked door.

First point: what people say they want is part of the calculation, but not the entire calculation for making a decision.

Second point: In our society, men are discouraged from indicating that attractiveness is important. The fact is that the physical attractiveness is one of the building blocks for a strong relationship. As well, it’s always going to be the first thing you notice when you meet someone. So attractiveness is important, but no one’s going to say that on paper.

Is it any surprise that the importance of attractiveness differs between what men say and what men actually do? Nope. What’s important to note, though, is that it’s not the only factor.

After 7 years, the ergometer (a.k.a. rowing machine) is still, by far, the best workout I’ve ever had at a gym.

I used to be on the crew team in high school and one of the most common on-land exercises was to do agility and endurance tests using the erg. What I love about the erg is that it works so many parts of your body at once (arms, shoulders, legs, abs, etc.). Additionally, it can really help improve your rowing form.

If you need to burn calories, this is definitely one avenue you need to consider.

In case you’re not a big seafood person like me, think about buying food created with omega-3 fatty acids.

Research has shown that there are certain health benefits that come with a moderate consumption of omega-3 each week. Normally this is something we get naturally in our diets when we eat seafood, such as salmon. However, over the last 5 years, we’ve seen new products created with omega-3, including bread and eggs.

So the next time you go shopping, look for the orange packaging! It might save your life one day.

The oven can be a great tool when you need a little help

In 2006, I dropped my cell phone into a pool (don’t ask). While I usually would have immediately turned it on (destroying it), per the advice of my dad I opened it up, turned on the oven and baked my cell phone. Why? Well, the dry heat will dry every tiny corner of the phone that you couldn’t reach otherwise. It saved my phone for a while until I could get a new one.

In another chance opportunity, earlier this year I threw the clear plastic part of my smoothie maker into the dishwasher. Unfortunately, the heat caused the top of the plastic to morph into a non-circular shape. The oven, of course, came to the rescue again. Be careful if you try this. I turned on the oven, threw in the plastic, and waited for it to become soft so that I could re-morph the top into a circle.

It turns out there’s a MacGyver in all of us

Studying in high school and college was hard. There is so much information to know and the teacher might ask anything. Here’s a technique I used throughout my entire academic career.

Taking a page from Blink (a really great book), thin slicing refers to “our ability to gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience”. So, if my test covered 5 chapters, I spent a few hours reading them, noting any important information and typed it in a “study guide”. This would compact 200 pages into maybe 10 pages of important information. I would then only study those 10 pages, a thin slice of the whole.

“Thin slicing” let me focus on what’s important and ignore the rest. I think it worked well and you may even find it useful in other parts of your daily tasks.

I never thought I’d see the day when I started listening to radio again. But a few months ago, just that happened.

I’ve been an XM user for almost 2 years now. However, when I moved to Boston, I found a radio station that trumped both every radio station I had ever listened to and satellite radio. What’s so different about 93.7 Mike FM? Well, as their motto goes, they “play everything”.

I’ve always gotten bored of radio stations because they play the same kind of music (and even the same music) repeatedly throughout the day. With Mike FM, they play almost every type of music and you’ll only hear the same song twice in one day if you listen to it all day and night. For the time being, I can deal with the commercials because I love the music. Now I’m just waiting for XM to get a clue and come up with something similar.

Update: I was asked why I can’t just switch the XM station. The difference is that with Mike FM, I don’t have to keep changing the station. To get the same effect on XM, I’d have to change the station after every song.

If kids are going to be interested in engineering concepts for energy and the environment, then we need to make it fun.

My senior project in college was to build a fun website for kids, ages 10-14, that teaches them engineering concepts about energy and the environment. The reason behind this project, called TEAK Education, is that student interest in engineering has declined around the U.S. How can we reverse that trend?

I think making it fun either through games or “Bill Nye“-type experiments is definitely a step towards addressing the issue. Too often, engineering is seen as boring and complex. We need to show kids how it can be used to figure out real-world problems.

Note: This has been a response to blog action day.

The classic 4/5-year college program needs a reform and I’ll tell you why. My last year of college in a 5-year program (includes 1 year of internships) was useless. I was either taking classes for things I already knew or random classes, like food and wine, just to “fill up” credit requirements.

Colleges need a reform.

I’m going to offer a crazy alternative to the strict credit-driven college major. Consider a new form of graduation called rolling graduations. Criminals can periodically address a committee and present their case for being released when they are up for parole. Using the same idea, college students would go through the typical 4/5-year program, but periodically be given the opportunity to “test” their way into graduation, provided this test can prove they have gained the knowledge needed for their major and are ready for the real world.

I feel that the year I lost I could have been providing value to society rather than being held back by staying in college. Not to say I didn’t enjoy my last year, but I probably would have graduated earlier if I had the chance to.

Trust me, guys. It’s easy and fun.

I don’t consider myself a good dancer at all. I used to feel really uncomfortable and stiff on the dance floor. A few swing dancing lessons later and I’m a changed man! Dancing is a great way to not only have fun and get exercise, but to meet new people as well. If you’ve ever been to a swing dance event, the great thing is that you can walk up to anyone and ask them to dance. No questions asked!

Really, no matter what you think, nobody cares how silly you look. We all look silly So get up, get out, and go dance!

Isn’t it funny how we use abbreviations in everyday language and sometimes never actually know what it stands for?

A few months back, I was asked to “RSVP as soon as possible” to an event I had been invited to. We all know that means I need to get back to the host as to whether or not I’ll be attending. But do we know what RSVP stands for? Probably not, since it’s an abbreviation for a French phrase: Répondez s’il-vous-plaît.

How about this one? “Johnny’s gone AWOL.” Still another one so common that many of us forget what it’s an abbreviation for (Absent Without Official Leave). Next time you use an abbreviation, see if you actually know what it stands for!