GeekSugar

Celebrity Teachers - Good Experience or Great PR?

Colleen Barrett — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:00:32 PDT

Talent and success in any field do not guarantee a good teacher, but famous people get gigs at top-notch schools all the time. Sometimes it makes sense, like Al Gore teaching current affairs at Columbia, but things get murkier when big-name stars become big-name professors. After talk about James Franco being a TA at Yale fizzled, he is going to the head of the class at New York University when he teaches film this Fall.

James is a curious mixture of experience, education, and ambition with no boundaries, but he's not teaching acting or the 168-hour work week; he's teaching directing. His IMDB page lists nine directing credits, which are mostly for short films. He's definitely qualified, but is he the most? Maybe - he certainly knows showbiz's current climate.

Not that NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where James will teach, needs to advertise - it's one of the most sought-after film schools in the country - but it's obviously good PR for the school. So when celebrities - political, film, or TV, - are hired to teach, would you say it's more for their experience or their name?

NYU to Start Offering Degrees in Video Games

GeekSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:02:10 PST

And your parents said all that video game playing would get you nowhere! If you really take your gaming seriously, you could take it to college - New York University is going to start offering degrees in video game design, research, and development.

Higher education has never seemed more appealing; gaming doesn't just have to be something you do in between classes.

Next Fall, NYU's course load will increase to add classes like The History of Donkey Kong and Feminist Theory: Princess Peach's Resistance. Just kidding about those course titles, but a girl can dream.

In the meantime, would you major in video games?

Source

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes Are Loved Up For an NYC Lunch

Allie Merriam — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:18:18 PDT

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes held hands after lunch in NYC yesterday. The couple are together in the US after Ryan spent a few months in Thailand earlier this year shooting Only God Forgives with his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn. This weekend, though, it's Eva's turn to focus on film. She has Girl in Progress finally hitting theaters. The Girl in Progress reviews are not universally positive, but The New York Times praised Eva's performance, writing that she "seems so confident, so comfortable in her beauty, that it can be easy to underestimate her emotional range and her comic instincts." Eva will have another movie debuting later this month at Cannes. Her Holy Rollers is among the many movies debuting at the French film festival.

Earning $50,000 Will Make You Happy

LearnVest — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:15:28 PDT

The magic number for happiness is apparently $50,000. LearnVest tells us more about it.

Good news! Apparently, happiness is on sale for the new, low price of $50,000.

Nope, we’re not talking about private trips to outer space, or even tuition for an Ivy League college. Apparently, all you need to be happy is $50,000 in yearly income.

That’s the finding of a recent poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which saw big differences in almost all facets of happiness between those who earn less than $50,000 and those who earn more.

Call it the happiness tipping point, if you will.

Respondents to the poll who made more than $50,000 were more satisfied with their lives concerning factors ranging from friends, to health, to how they spent their time. Unlike getting a raise from $35,000 to $40,000, or even $60,000 to $65,000, “$50,000 is the mark where you start to see significant differences,” researcher Susan McCulloch told LearnVest.

Happiness: Now 33% Off!

Depending on your own situation, $50,000 might sound like a lot. But this is actually a steep discount from what studies previously cited as the golden number: $75,000. A 2010 study from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School found that, up to $75,000, each boost in income increased participants’ happiness. But after that, bringing home more income ceased to matter in their overall life satisfaction.

Read on for more.

What We Know About Fifty Shades Author E.L. James

Annie Scudder — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:30:26 PDT

E.L. James, author of the erotic Fifty Shades of Grey series atop the New York Times best-seller list, isn't embarrassed about her material. The British mother of two kicked off a book tour in Miami last weekend, greeting more than 500 blushing and flushing fans at an early morning signing on Sunday. Later in the day, she spoke to a sold-out crowd. E.L. James has bagged a seven-figure movie deal, and The Vampire Diaries' Ian Somerhalder already threw out his name as a possible Christian Grey. If you're deep into the S&M fiction, or just curious about the pop culture phenomenon, here are a few things to know about the woman who started it all.

Her real name is Erika Leonard.
Before she landed on E.L. James, she went by the pen name "Snowqueens Icedragon." And her work was originally titled Master of the Universe.
The story began as Twilight fan fiction, and E.L. James says Stephenie Meyers inspired her to try writing a novel.
She wrote the story during what she calls a "midlife crisis" and says it contains all her fantasies in one place.
She's been married for 20 years, and has two teenage sons who have not read the books. Of that prospect, she says: "Good God. I would be mortified."
E.L. James was raised in London, studied history, and previously worked as a TV producer.
She was named one of Time's most influential people of 2012.

Click through for some photos from the book tour.

8 Ways to Make Your Own Career Luck

LearnVest — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:15:52 PDT

People often say that you make your own luck, but how do you make your own career luck and get the job of your dreams? LearnVest shares how you can do so.

You sit next to someone on an airplane who later helps you land your dream job.

Your dentist’s daughter is a book editor, and wouldn’t you know it, she’d just love to publish your memoir.

You have a role model in your industry, and your roommate’s fiancé just so happens to be her best friend.

OK, chance doesn’t always work out as we might wish . . . but a few travel apps, a weak economy, and plenty of gumption got us thinking.

Cajoling Lady Luck may be easier than ever, with new services like Planely, a Danish start-up, and Satisfly, a Hong Kong-based start-up. Both apps connect passengers before their flights, so they can see the Facebook profiles of fellow travelers and choose seats by people they’d like to meet. Airlines like Dutch carrier KLM and Malaysia Airlines are getting in on the act with similar services of their own. Sharing and viewing this social media info is, of course, optional all around.

Read on for more.

The Truth About 5 Confusing Foods

Prevention — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:26:43 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Even the most nutrition-savvy women can get lost in the headlines. Here's what you really need to know.

By Sharon Liao, Prevention

You heard that eggs can be high in cholesterol, so you dutifully switched to whole grains for breakfast. Next, you swapped out red meat for fish - only to later learn that fish can contain dangerous levels of mercury . . . and eggs may not harm your heart after all. "With all of the different reports and headlines, it’s no wonder that many people get confused," says Angela Ginn, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and owner of Real Talk Real Food in Baltimore, MD. To help you make sense of these and other health head-scratchers, we consulted our experts and sifted through the research. Here, the new bottom line on a few "health" foods.

1. Potatoes
This starchy veggie has a bad rap among dieters, but that’s because people tend to consume it in the form of greasy french fries, chips, and buttery mashed potatoes, says Melissa Joy Dobbins, RD, of NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL. "When prepared the right way, potatoes are a nutritious food," she says. One medium potato, for instance, delivers five grams of fiber and nearly 20 percent of your daily quota for heart-healthy potassium.

Bottom line: Skip the fried versions and opt for baked or boiled potatoes. For an even healthier option, choose vitamin A-rich sweet potatoes or purple potatoes, which can help lower blood pressure.

Ten Healthy Ways to Splurge

2. Cheese
Hold the cheese? There’s no need if you eat it in moderation. A one-ounce serving delivers 20 percent of all the bone-building calcium that you need in a day, as well as plenty of protein and phosphorus. "The problem is that many people eat much more than one serving in one sitting," explains Sharon Richter, RD, a dietitian in New York City. And at 100 to 125 calories per ounce, that can add up.

Learn how to keep cheese, eggs, and beer in your diet after the break.

Keeping Your Maiden Name Might Spell Judgment Depending Where You Live

Annie Scudder — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:05:45 PST

Living in a progressive city like New York or San Francisco might give you the impression that fewer women are giving up their maiden names after they say "I do." With a professional career built up, the hassle of paperwork, and emotional ties to your name, for many modern women the change might not be worth it. But in fact, the perception that more women keep their own name is false. Research shows that anywhere from 90 to 98 percent of American women take their husband's name after marriage. And in some places, if you don't, other people will think you are less committed to your marriage.

Pennsylvania State University sociologists looked into how Midwestern attitudes about maiden names compare to those on the East Coast. In the Midwest, only 4.3 percent of women say they want to keep their maiden names, compared to 11.6 percent of women on the East Coast. And the judgment is rising. In 1990, 2.7 percent of students surveyed at Midwestern universities said a woman was less committed to her marriage if she kept her last name. Now that rate has jumped to 10.1 percent. Even so, the women themselves who want to keep their last names say it doesn't reflect their marital commitment.

What do you think about changing your last name after getting married? Do you think of it as a symbol of commitment, or just an inconvenient misogynistic tradition? Would you worry people would judge your decision either way?

The Secrets of the World's Healthiest Women

Health — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:45:10 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

From pouring on the olive oil like the Greeks to slashing stress like the Scandinavians, what we
can learn from the happiest, slimmest, longest-living cultures around the globe.

The secret to a long, healthy life in America? According to longevity researchers, it may be to act like you live somewhere else.

It seems like every year another country's lifestyle is touted as the new magic bullet to cure us of obesity, heart disease, and premature death: for an unclogged heart, herd goats and down olive oil like a Mediterranean. Avoid breast cancer and live to 100 by dining on tofu, Japanese-style. Stay as happy as Norwegians by hunting elk and foraging for cowberries.

Health.com: Weight-Loss Secrets From Around the World

The places we're usually told to emulate are known as Blue Zones or Cold Spots. Blue Zones were pinpointed by explorer Dan Buettner and a team of longevity researchers and are described in his book The Blue Zones: Lessons For Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest. They're areas in Italy, Japan, Greece, California, and Costa Rica where the people have traditionally stayed healthy and active to age 100 or older.

Keep on reading for more great tips from around the globe.

8 Small Ways to Lose Big Pounds in 2012

Prevention — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:06:22 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Quadruple your weight loss by making one easy tweak to your routine per week
By Alyssa Shaffer

If your goal is to lose weight and exercise more, forget the deprivation diet and marathon workouts. New research shows that taking baby steps - not giant leaps -is the best way to get lasting results. A study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that participants who made one small, potentially permanent change in their food choices and/or physical activity each week (such as drinking one fewer can of soda or walking five more minutes each day) lost more than twice as much belly fat, two and half more inches off their waistlines, and about four times more weight during a four-month program, compared with those who followed traditional calorie-restriction and physical-activity guidelines.

"When you focus on just a couple of small changes at a time, you begin to ingrain some healthy habits that last for a lifetime, rather than trying an all-or-nothing approach that more often than not fails because it's too hard to follow," says Lesley Lutes, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at East Carolina University. We've uncovered these simple steps (with proven results) to help you move more, eat less, and look and feel better than ever. Add just one or two a week to your regular routine and you can lose nearly three inches off your waistline and be about 10 pounds lighter come in a few months. Even better: Once these healthy habits become second nature, they'll benefit you for a lifetime.

1. Pick Up a Pen After Every Meal
Mindlessly munching on a bag of chips could result in easily polishing off the whole thing; write down how much you've eaten and you're more likely to practice portion control. Keeping a food log helps control extra calories in two ways: the combination of plain old reality check (I just ate 30 minutes ago!) and awareness that what you're putting in your mouth will soon be recorded for posterity. In a recent study, people who kept a food journal lost twice as much weight as those who didn't. When they combined it with a moderate diet and exercise plan, they lost an average of 13 pounds in 6 months. Journaling also gives you insight on your eating habits, says Lutes. Do you skip meals? Eat the same during the week as on the weekend? Binge when you're feeling stressed? "Knowing your routine helps you figure out what changes are right for you," she adds.

Avoid these 14 "health food" diet disasters.

2. Limit High-Fat Foods to One Per Week
Tag the high-fat/high-calorie foods that are typically your favorites (our top five: cookies, candy, ice cream, potato chips, and fries) and gradually downshift. "If you're eating six of these foods a week, try to go down to five," says Lutes. Each week, drop another until you're at no more than one or two; at the same time, add in a good-for-you choice like baby carrots, sautéed broccoli, oranges, and other fresh fruits and veggies.

Keep reading for more simple tip to help you lose big.