UK Conservatism - No room for Honest men

Are people avoiding you - Maybe it's something your doing

The Conical Decline of Everything promote their Edinburgh Fringe act on the Royal Mile

People get more like their Avatars

A member of staff wearing a mask displays three-dimensional paper masks of manga characters during Japan Anime-Collaboration Market 2009 in Tokyo

Picture: AP

iPhone Alerts for Epidemics in People and Pets

Oh my Dog! (OMD) Are you concerned about what Epidemics are raging around you and your pets. Well, don't worry because your iPhone can help you.

Science Daily reports a new iPhone application, created by researchers at Children's Hospital in Boston in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, enables users to track and report outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as H1N1 (swine flu), rabies, distemper, canine flu and West Nile disease, in real time.

This is the latest of several apps that would be of special interest to neurotics and pet owners, alike.

The application, Outbreaks Near Me, builds upon the asset of HealthMap, an online resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates information about emerging infectious diseases, and provides a view of a user's specific location – pinpointing outbreaks that have been reported in the vicinity of the user and offering the opportunity to search for additional outbreak information by location or disease.

Outbreaks Near Me also alerts a user on their device or by e-mail when new outbreaks are reported in their proximity, or if a user enters a new area of threat and activity.

Flirting Can be Fun

So you’ve mastered the complex game of making good eye-contact and you can attract a cute prospect with a just few coy glances…, men. Do you really know all there is to know about the fine art of the magnetic come-hither?

1. Flirting is good fun and it's good for your health. Recent studies show that people who flirt have higher white blood-cell counts, which boost their immunity systems and keep them more healthy.

2. If you think it ends with a little eye batting, then think again. The 'flirting' scientists say that there are at least 52 “signals” used by humans, to show their intentions. Of these, the hair flip is the most common and most easily recognised. Sorry, you guys with the hair loss and high foreheads can sit out of this one.

3. In some places, flirting is so dangerous that it's illegal. In Little Rock in the US an antiquated law is still on the books warning perps that engaging in playful banter may result in a 30-day jail term.

In New York City, another outdated law mandates that men may be fined $25 for gazing lasciviously at a female (best leave your credit card at the desk); a second conviction stipulates the offender wear a pair of blinders whenever he goes out for a walk (have you seen the new Christian Dior shades?). Luckily in the UK there are no such laws, yet.

4. Why wait for the alcohol to kick in during the Happy Hour? Lots of people get their flirt on during their morning commute, assuming they are on public transport. A full 62 percent of drivers have flirted with someone in a different vehicle while on the go, and 31 percent of those flirtations, it turns out, resulted in a date (and they say texting is dangerous).

5. Flirting need not occur face to face but it is more difficult. According to Phew! Research, 40 percent of people who looked for love online say that they can easily flirt with someone via email or IM. I think it's called 'nerd' or 'geek' flirting.

6. In Victorian times (not from personal knowledge), hand held ornate fans were the ultimate playful accesory that could communicate all sorts of messages.

• A fan placed near the heart meant, You have won my love.
  
• A half-opened fan pressed to the lips suggested, You may kiss me.
  
• Hiding the eyes behind an open fan meant, I love you,
  
• Opening and closing the fan several times warned, You are cruel.
  

Given how much a fan can say, it’s a shame they ever went out of fashion. Perhaps we could use our iPhones in a similar manner. Flapping them in front of our faces for best effect or just text the freak a message!

7. These days, mobile phones (iPhones are best) do the flirting. In one survey, half of all mobile phone users have texted suggestive messages to keep things interesting while away from their amour or their partners, or both.

8. Watch out, in case you overdo it. According to the Social Issues Centre (SIC!), the most common mistake people make when flirting is maintaining too much eye contact. Sometimes called staring or gawping. It can also appear to be a prelude to stalking.

9. Beware sometimes, flirty gestures aren’t what they seem. So use them carefully. Research has shown that men tend to routinely mistake friendly behaviour for flirting. Some people would get on better using semaphor or Morse code. Less able to be mis-understood.

10. Flirting is apparently universal, but not more than that. A woman living in London and one in rural Cambodia may not appear to have much in common, but when it comes to attracting a little attention, they both employ the very same moves: smiling, arching their eyebrows, then averting their gaze and giggling.

Animals also flirt (kinda): Birds, reptiles, and even fish have their own way of strutting their stuff. Moral of the story: If the simple sea bass can act cute to enhance a romantic agenda, you can, too, so give it a go but not lie a sea bass, please!

China's one-dog-fits-all law; Owners and Hoarders howling

... but angry pet lovers, hoarders and other crazies are choosing to ignore the policy or find ways around it.

A young Chinese man walks his dog on the streets of Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province, the home of Bird Flu and SARS.

Guangzhou's one-dog policy has made many pet owners angry because for decades, most Chinese residents of the southern city of Guangzhou have resigned themselves to the country's strict one-child policy.

But now, a similar restriction on the number of dogs people can have, has got them howling mad.

Raising dogs as pets was banned under the rule of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a decadent bourgeois pastime, but with China's growing affluence and pursuit of everything Western, greater numbers of middle-income families have become avid pet owners.

Pampered pedigree poodles and chows are a regular sight on the streets of major cities like Guangzhou and Beijing, but the boom has apparently led to a greatly increased number of stray dogs or abandoned pets.

The number of public spaces getting soiled by dog crap, has also increased, as have the complaints from neighbours who are less partial to being up close and personal with canines.

Tensions normally run high in the closely confined spaces and cramped conditions of China's crowded districts and tenement blocks but this issue is just making matters worse.

I really like the reasoned argument one woman puts up though, saying "What's the difference between one dog and two dogs?" Pretty convincing stuff. Unfortunately, she refused to expand further on this. She also refused to be named and shamed due to the extreme 'sensitivity' of the matter. She left quickly with her dogs, Barking! all of them!

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