Survey reveals infidelity best kept off the mobile

By Pauline Askin
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Having an affair? It pays to keep it low-tech, with a new Australian survey finding that a quarter of mobile phone users had discovered their partner, or heard that someone else's, was cheating because of text messages.
The poll, conducted by dominant phone company Telstra Corp, also showed that one in five had sent a text message meant for their partner or lover to somebody else by mistake.
The "State of the Nation Report," which surveyed more than 1,200 mobile phone users in May, revealed that Australians were addicted Australians texting, with 30 percent saying SMSes were their preferred method of communication.
"Texting has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives," Glenice Maclellan, Telstra consumer executive director, said in a statement that added that the trend of prolific texting seems to be causing trouble when it comes to romance.
"This is an interesting reflection of Australia's wider lifestyle trends," added social researcher Mark McCrindle in the statement accompanying the report.
"The fact that one in three prefer texting to other communication forms signals the natural fit of this technology to our increasingly time poor, busy lifestyles."
The survey showed that four in 10 mobile users send up to seven texts a day, with the bulk going to family and friends. Women, in particular, valued mobile phones because they enabled them to stay in touch with loved ones.
And Australians are not shy to text about anything, anywhere and at any time, with one in four using SMSes to announce a birth and nearly a fifth using it broadcast a job promotion.
Fifteen percent admitted they would text at a funeral, a wedding or a christening ceremony while 14 percent said they texted in church.
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: Reuters

Asians worry about money, but still indulge

By Miral Fahmy
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Times are tough these days and money is a worry, but many Asians believe the best way to weather the global economic crisis is to indulge in little luxuries, according to a new regional survey.
The economic downturn started a long way away from Asia, but it has caused 86 percent of people in the world's most populous region to worry about their finances, and spurred 80 percent to save for the future, according to the annual "Eye on Asia" survey, by global marketing communications firm Grey Group.
But 82 percent of respondents also believe that indulgence was the best way to beat the stress of modern life, and that spending time with family, short holidays, spa sessions and small luxury items were among their favorite ways to relax.
Nearly 70 percent of respondents said life should contain as many luxuries as possible.
"There's no more taking a month off and spending it at a luxury resort," Charu Harish, regional communications planning director for Grey Group Asia Pacific, told Reuters.
"People are looking for as many little luxuries as possible to beat the stress, and that involves more short breaks, most likely with the family, and a bigger focus on luxury."
The survey is one of the largest snapshots of opinions and trends in Asia, polling more than 33,000 people from 16 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
While the poll found that an overall 76 percent of Asians were optimistic about the future and some 40 percent believe their household finances will improve in the next year, the regional averages did not reflect discrepancies between developed and developing countries -- or nations that have been hit badly, and not so badly, by the credit crisis.
While nearly 40 percent of Asians polled said they were less content than a year ago, Harish said people from India, China and Vietnam were the most likely to shrug off the downturn, while respondents from the more developed Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan were the least positive about the future.
"But what this shows is that Asia, overall, remains a huge opportunity for marketers," she explained.
"People here are not as skeptical as in the West, nor as negative. Asians are keen for more fun," she said, adding the survey showed 90 percent wished their life had more fun.
The survey, which also looked at shopping habits in the downturn, divided the Asians polled into five retail "tribes." Nearly a quarter said they sought value-for-money products now, while just over a fifth, especially in China and India, want new brands, variety and a distinctive retail experience.
The least number -- 16 percent -- put function first.
Not surprisingly, 90 percent of the new-brand seekers regard shopping as therapy, closely followed by status-seekers who want their goods to reflect their wealth and social standing.
"People overall are being more choosy on what they spend on, as they are saving for the future," Harish said. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Zurich tops Copenhagen as most livable city: index

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Switzerland's financial capital, Zurich, has beaten Copenhagen to take top place in an annual index of the world's top 25 most livable cities.
In its third annual quality of life index, London-based global affairs magazine Monocle found that the Swiss city was the number one urban location to call home, pushing last year's winner Copenhagen into second place.
Tokyo came in third place while Munich -- which topped the first index in 2007 -- fell to fourth position, followed by Helsinki.
Rounding out the top 10 were Stockholm, Vienna, Paris, Melbourne and Berlin.
Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brule said it was a tight race, and admitted Zurich did not jump ahead for its nightlife.
"I think people need to remember that this is a quality of life survey. This is not a survey about the sexiest city or the best business hub in the world, or the world's cultural centers. This is about true livability," he told Reuters Television.
He said the index was based on a number of measures, including investment in public transport, public safety, health, education, and the number of cinema screens in a city.
"We also look at the relationship a city has with its small and medium-size enterprises and Zurich scores incredibly high across all of those areas," he said.
Brule said it was forward-looking investment in Zurich's transportation infrastructure that ultimately pushed it to the top of the 2009 index -- and a relative scarcity of chain stores was also a mark in its favor.
In a 2009 survey of the cities with the best quality of life conducted by management consultancy Mercer, Zurich came second in the list, behind Vienna and ahead of Geneva, Vancouver and Auckland.
However in a list of "most livable cities" by the Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit, Vancouver takes top slot with Zurich coming in ninth.
(Reporting by Matt Cowan, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Source: Reuters

A few extra pounds can add years to your life: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carrying a little extra weight may actually be good for you, according to a Canadian study that showed a few pounds appear to protect people from an early death.
Researchers found that while underweight and extremely obese people die earlier than people of a normal weight, people who are slightly overweight actually live longer than those of a normal weight.
The findings of the new study were published online in the journal Obesity by researchers at Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.
"It's not surprising that extreme underweight and extreme obesity increase the risk of dying, but it is surprising that carrying a little extra weight may give people a longevity advantage," researcher David Feeny from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research said in a statement.
But fellow researcher Mark Kaplan, professor of Community Health at Portland State University, said while a few extra pounds may protect older people as their health declines, that did not mean people of normal weight should try to add bulk.
"Our study only looked at mortality, not at quality of life, and there are many negative health consequences associated with obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes," said Kaplan.
The study was based on examining the relationship between body mass index and death among 11,326 adults in Canada over a 12-year period using data from the National Population Health Survey.
During the study period, from 1994/1995 through 2006/2007, underweight people were 70 percent more likely than people of normal weight to die, and extremely obese people were 36 percent more likely to die.
But overweight individuals were 17 percent less likely to die. The relative risk for obese people was nearly the same as for people of normal weight.
The researchers said this was the first large Canadian study to show that people who are overweight may actually live longer than those of normal weight. An earlier study, conducted in the United States and published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed similar results.
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: Reuters

Relics of old Afghanistan reveal Jewish past

By Golnar Motevalli
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Behind a parade of old mud brick shops, through narrow winding alleys, a tiny door opens onto a sundrenched courtyard, where school children giggle and play alongside the ghosts of Afghanistan's Jewish past.
The Yu Aw is one of four synagogues in the old quarter of Herat city in west Afghanistan, which after decades of abandonment and neglect, has been restored to provide desperately-needed space for an infant school.
When Israel was founded in 1948, the estimated 280 Jewish families that lived in Herat began leaving. Today, there are no Jews left in the city and only one left in the entire country, the last remnant of a community that dates back some 2,500 years.
"Before this was a community center and school it was a synagogue for the Jewish families who lived in the area," said Fatemeh Nezary, a teacher and supervisor of the school.
"The children don't know, they are too young to understand right now," she said, pointing toward her small class of doe-eyed five-year old girls and boys.
The Herat synagogue, over a century old, is comprised of a modest stone courtyard framed by a series of small rooms including a main prayer room which still has a raised platform where the torah would have been read.
Parts of the prayer room's high ceilings are decorated in painted Persian-style floral patterns and motifs.
The "mikvah," an echoey underground chamber underneath the courtyard, has also been restored. Decades of rubbish was gutted from its cavity to reveal a natural pool of water which is thought to have been used for bathing rituals.
"Wherever possible we try and put back the elements. We can't put back what we don't find, some of the buildings have been stripped," said Jolyon Leslie, a South African architect who leads restoration projects in Herat's old city on behalf of the Agha Khan Trust for Culture.
"What we're trying to do is protect as many old historical monuments as possible. Whether it's a mosque whether it's an ex-synagogue like this or whether it's a hamam, to try and put them in public use," Leslie said.
"It's important that Heratis understand for future generations that this was a very rich society in the sense of its religious diversity and it's pluralism," he added.
Where Jewish prayers once rang out, now Afghan children chant nursery rhymes. The platform where the torah would have been read is left undisturbed to bask in warm sunshine which floods through wide, arched bay windows.
"There's a huge shortage of classes in this part of the city and some 60,000 people (here) and some 20,000 of those are children ... we really wanted to invest both in protecting the historic monument but also in having a new use," Leslie said.
"It's a mixture of conservation and social development."
Three other synagogues in the same neighborhood are being renovated. Two will also be used as schools for children living in the neighborhood. The third is now a mosque for the residents who live in a cluster of simple, centuries-old abodes. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Pop culture items fetch high prices at NY auction

By Chris Michaud
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Sgt. Pepper's souvenir poster signed by the four Beatles sold for $52,500 at a Christie's auction of pop culture memorabilia on Tuesday, along with an array of rock, punk and grunge-era items that fetched strong prices.
The sale of some 300 items, from handwritten Bob Dylan lyrics to actor Bob Crane's leather jacket from the 1960s television comedy "Hogan's Heroes" took in a total of $650,863, including the auction house's commission.
Some 70 percent of the offerings found buyers, Christie's said.
Items from grunge and early punk rock days did especially well, said Simeon Lipman, Christie's head of pop culture.
Kurt Cobain's Sears bass guitar sold for $43,750, while a classic black leather motorcycle jacket signed by members of Nirvana and Soundgarden fetched $12,500, more than half again its high pre-sale estimate.
A pair of AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott's handwritten lyric notebooks from the late 1970s was bid up to $35,000.
"With memorabilia, nostalgia really drives the prices. Even in an unstable economy you'll see peaks for certain pieces," said Lipman, who cited Crane's jacket, which sold for $40,000 or twice its high estimate, as an example.
Offbeat items also fetched high prices, like a five-pair set of handcuffs and keys owned by escape artist Harry Houdini which sold for $25,000.
The prop scissorhands used by actor Johnny Depp in the film "Edward Scissorhands" went for $16,250, while Marlon Brando's signed "Godfather" script fetched $10,625.
Handwritten lyrics by Bob Dylan from "With God on Our Side" sold for $25,000.
Despite the five-figure prices, there were bargains as well. A full outfit consisting of leather blazer, shirt, trousers, belt, shoes and glasses worn by actor Peter Dinklage in the 2007 film "Death at a Funeral" sold for just $25.

Source: Reuters