Whether MagnetU catches on to quite the same extent as social media sites such as Facebook remains to be seen, but for many people, the appeal of being alerted every time they are in the vicinity of someone who has the same “social desires” as themselves will undoubtedly be enormous.

MagnetU describes itself as the first real-world street network; essentially this little device acts as “a bridge between your online digital life and the real world” by broadcasting your social media profile to everyone around you.  Whether you are looking for the perfect love match, want to meet people with similar hobbies or are more interested in making business contacts, all you need to do is go to MagnetU.com, fill in your social desires, and then sign in to Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites to receive alerts each time a “compatible” individual passes nearby.  You can even change which particular social desire you wear at any given time so that you can look for your soul mate while you’re out socializing and a potential business partner when you’re at a business conference.

Although critics of MagnetU point out that machines are notoriously bad at people-matching and suggest that society already faces enough distractions from social media without this addition, it could just turn out to be another one of those technological necessities that we can’t do without, if only because everyone else is using it!

The game of golf is described by critics as “a long walk for no good reason,” but actually there are a number of reasons why taking up the sport could help keep you in tip-top condition.

First of all, of course golf does involve a good deal of walking, and walking is one of the best forms of exercise that we can get.  In fact, a round of golf will typically see you having to walk for around four miles – and that’s if you play well!  Keep sending the ball off in entirely the wrong direction and you could probably add an appreciable distance on top of that.  The great thing about it, though, is that if you’re engrossed in the game, you barely even notice how far you have traveled on foot.

Not only does golf give your legs a good workout, the arms and upper body get plenty of exercise with all those long (and hopefully accurate) drives down the fairway.  Like many sports, the focus and concentration also mean that it’s good mental exercise.

Many people take up golf when they are in their 40s and older, and in fact the older age groups derive tremendous benefit from the workout that they get from the sport by increasing muscle strength and bone density, two things that often dwindle naturally with age.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, an inventor, or a shoe salesman. There are times when you’re stuck, unable to move forward with a big project or something on your to-do list.

Here are four ways to get going:

1. Just start. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But you can’t get moving until you start to move. It doesn’t matter what you do; grab a pen, contribute a thought, start a conversation. The momentum will follow.
2. Get in touch. Sometimes, taking a deep breath and getting in touch with what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish can help you identify the one thing that might be getting in your way.
3. Ask for help. Sometimes you need to get out of your own way to see things clearly. Ask the people around you for some advice on what to do first. Allowing yourself to detach from your own thinking and consider someone else’s perspective may give you the shift you need.
4. Take a walk. Taking time away can open new ways of thinking. Go for a walk, outside if possible. Notice your surroundings, listen to nature, and recharge your brain.

Sometimes just one of these techniques will do the trick; other times it may take a combination. Whatever helps you get unstuck is fine. The point here is to take one step outside the space called “being stuck” and see what happens.

“Take two aspirin and call me in the morning” is a medical cliché, but that doesn’t mean that aspirin is something to ignore. Even Hippocrates, the father of medicine, prescribed an early form of aspirin for patients suffering from minor pains.

Aspirin, known by its technical name of acetylsalicylic acid, belongs to a group of drugs called salicylates. It’s commonly used for minor aches and pains, to reduce fever, and to relieve inflammation. Aspirin also inhibits the production of platelets in the blood, making it useful in preventing clots that may cause heart attacks and strokes. In addition, low doses of aspirin administered immediately after a heart attack can reduce the risk of a second attack or damage to cardiac tissue.

Hippocrates and other early physicians used extracts of willow bark or the plant spiraea (found in Europe and Asia) to treat head­aches, pain, and fevers.

In 1853, a French chemist named Charles Frederic Gerhardt was the first scientist to create acetylsalicylic acid, but it wasn’t until 1897 that chemists at Bayer AG first produced a version of salicin that was gentler on the stomach than pure salicylic acid. The new drug’s name, “aspirin,” was based on the word “spiraea.” By 1899 it was being sold by Bayer throughout the world.

Following World War I, “aspirin” became a generic term, although Aspirin with a capital A remains a registered trademark of Bayer in Germany, Canada, Mexico, and more than 80 other countries.

The richest U.S. citizen is Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, who, according to Forbes magazine, is worth $56 billion. But he’s far from the only billionaire in the world.

Here’s a look at some of the wealthiest people around the World:

• Mexico. Carlos Slim Helu (telecommunications), $74 billion
• Brazil. Eike Batista (mining), $30 billion
• China. Li Ka-Shing (shipping and cosmetics), $26 billion
• Canada. David Thompson (media), $23 billion
• Chile. Iris Fontbona (mining), $19.2 billion
• Colombia. Luis Carlos Sarmiento (construction, financial services), $10.5 billion
• Australia. Gina Rhineheart (resources), $10.31 billion
• Argentina. Carlos and Alejandro Bulgheroni (energy), $5.1 billion

Most employers aren’t just looking for technical skills, like the ability to translate foreign languages or fix the photocopy machine. A CareerBuilder survey found that 71 percent of HR managers place more importance on emotional intelligence—an employee’s ability to get along with people in the workplace.

Developing these interpersonal skills will make you a more valuable member of any organization you work for even if you’re the best programmer or marketing associate around:

• Emotional control. Stress is part of any job. If you can keep your temper and not fall apart when the heat is on, you’ll show that managers and co-workers can depend on you in any situation.
• Empathy. Don’t ignore other people’s feelings. Even when you disagree, or when a colleague rubs you the wrong way, do your best to understand other people’s perspectives so you can work together constructively.
• Listening skills. Keep your ears open and your mouth in check. Listening to other people shows you take them seriously and that you care about their opinions—which will help you earn a reputa­tion for thoughtfulness and professionalism.

Outsourcing might be a dirty word in some business circles, but particularly when it comes to the “easy stuff,” it can make a great deal of financial sense.

In today’s electronic age, surely one of the biggest drains on company time and resources is data entry.  As essential as it might be to modern businesses, paying direct employees to process huge amounts of data can be horribly expensive, and yet the work itself is typically very straightforward.  With very little training, outsourced providers often are able to come to grips with an organization’s data entry processes and can supply a service that costs a fraction of the amount that would be paid to internal staff.

Although some businesses have gone in for outsourcing in a big way, basically farming out everything that they can feasibly have done via external agencies, others have been far more reluctant to “lose control” of certain functions within their organizations, particularly those that might have considerably longer-term impacts, such as HR.  Where basic functions such as data processing are concerned, however, quality control checks are typically easy to put into place, and outsourcing can represent a much cheaper alternative than doing it in-house.