Psychological Tricks in Scams:

A UK study was done to find out why people fall for scams. Most scams worked by using a mixture of emotions and logic. There are several common features in many scams- creating a feeling of trust and authority; appeals to strong basic emotions like greed, competition, feelings of inferiority, and lack of status; generating scarcity (e.g. offer ends tonight); asking for an initial small step of commitment (e.g. responding); and providing a very large potential reward/prize for the level of commitment involved. The most surprising finding was that people scammed were often those with some experience in the area being scammed (e.g. people who buy lottery tickets), and that most people who get scammed did some checking of the scam. Probably most people not caught in a scam don’t even bother to look at it after a quick initial look.  Read more... (1189 words, 2 images, estimated 4:45 mins reading time)

Thank you: CBC
Meet some of Canada’s accomplished people under 30.

They’re under 30, and each one of them is already making a mark.

On Wednesday, June 30, The National introduces some of Canada’s interesting, influential, innovative, and entrepreneurial young people.

But we know there are more. Tell us about your under-30 Game Changer and her or his accomplishments by posting a comment to CBC’s webpage.

Meet our Game Changers

Aaron Coret’s invention may change the way snowboarders do their thing. A snowboarding fanatic himself, Coret was left a quadriplegic after a terrible accident on the slopes. He put his engineer’s mind to work, designing the Landing Pad, an inflatable safety device which he hopes will allow snowboarders to train with much less risk of injury.

Aaron’s Game Changer video

Matthew Corrin is changing how people view fast food. Instead of serving burgers and fries, his chain of fast food restaurants, freshii, boasts fresh, healthy meals. He currently has 21 locations across Canada and the U.S. Thanks to savvy partnerships, that number stands to hit 100 worldwide by the end of 2011.

Matthew’s Game Changer video

Shad is a rapper who’s changing the music world, one verse at a time. In a genre maligned for its materialism and sexism, Shad brings his own brand of rhymes that are clever and respectful. When he isn’t rapping, Shad is working on his master’s degree in Liberal Studies at Simon Fraser University.

Shad’s Game Changer video

Jessica Yee is relentless, fearless and when it comes to getting other young people politically active, she is an inspiration. The self-described “multi-racial Indigenous feminist hip-hop reproductive rights freedom fighter” is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Network. In 2009, Jessica was named Young Woman of Distinction by the Y.W.C.A.

Jessica’s Game Changer video

More notable gamechangers:

Hossam Abdelgawad

27 years old, Toronto

Hossam is the recipient of the 2010 Young Researcher of the Year Award for his PhD study, which offers a novel approach to the mass evacuation of major cities in case of catastrophe. His approach has been used successfully during a simulated evacuation of the City of Toronto using rapid transit, buses, and automobiles.

Anand Agarawala

28 years old, California / Toronto

A U of T graduate from Nigeria, Agarawala invented and patented a new type of touch screen technology. His invention allows users to interact with their files using a 3-D interface, much the same way they do in real life, without using a keyboard or a mouse. Agarawala said he took inspiration from his own desk to create a program that allowed him to push and pull items around his desktop with his fingers, instead of pointing and clicking. His idea was such a hit that Google bought it for an undisclosed amount.

Xavier Dolan

21 years old, Quebec

He’s 21, but don’t expect Xavier Dolan to be making films about frat-boy exploits anytime soon. After starring in a number of popular Quebec productions for children and teens, he exploded on the international scene with a film he wrote, directed and acted in, J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother). The film won over the judges at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2009, winning an astonishing three awards at the prestigious event.

Emma Graham

16 years old, Ottawa

Emma’s interest in organic chemistry sparked after being exposed to the problem of pollution while living in China. Through her research, Emma discovered that adding Indian dill oil to pesticides made them less toxic. She was one of the youngest participants at the Intel International Science and Environmental Fair, beating out over 1,500 students from around the world to win fourth place for her dill oil discovery.

Sophia Gran-Ruaz

17 years old, Mississauga

At age eleven, Sophia founded Snug as a Bug, Kids Helping Kids. Her organization puts together care packages of puzzles, games and toiletries for children who are staying in shelters in the Greater Toronto Area. She recently won the Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist award, sponsored by Mackenzie Investments.

Cheryl Perera

24 years old, Richmond Hill

In her teens, Cheryl was made aware of the sexual tourism industry and its sexual exploitation of children while doing research for a school project. Soon after, she traveled to Sri Lanka, where she took part in a sting operation, playing an undercover decoy in order to nab a pedophile. On her return to Canada, Cheryl started OneChild, an organization created and run by young people, dedicated to ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children around the world.

Thank you: CBC The National

Rex Murphy is a colourful Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters.
Murphy is known for his polysyllabic, vitriolic and sarcastic diatribes.

I like his style – outspoken, controversial and Rhodes scholar brainy.
Here Rex is bang on with his recent diatribe on the anarchists trying to blacken the image of the recent G20 summit in Toronto.
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No decent, civilized city – and Toronto is both – should be held hostage by the actions of a set of ferociously insolent thugs and vandals.
Rex Murphy Point of View

June 27, 2010

No decent, civilized city – and Toronto is both – should be held hostage by the actions of a set of ferociously insolent thugs and vandals.  Read more... (596 words, 1 image, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)