Running Barefoot Probably Doesn't Help Much in Races [Running]

A team of researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder measured the metabolic burn of a dozen experienced barefoot/barely-shod runners and found that, contrary to current trends in running, running with lightweight shoes actually burned four percent less energy than running barefoot. The obvious caveats are that the study didn't look at injuries or strains due to wearing shoes, and that the shoes were super lightweight Nike Mayfly models, not your average pair. But it's worth considering if you're working to shave every last second off your race times, or to get a bit farther on your exercise runs. Photo by Making the Case for Running Shoes | NYTimes.com

Haven't Changed The Way You Drive in Years? Then You're Probably Driving All Wrong [Driving]

It turns out that many of the driving guidelines that we were taught in drivers' ed class have changed, including the old standby of keeping our hands on the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions on a clock.

The new take: AAA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and driving instructors teach that you should keep your hands lower, at 9 and 3 o'clock, or even lower, at 8 and 4. MSNBC says this change is partly to protect our hands and head, because if airbags go off, they're more likely to injure your hands that are higher up on the steering wheel and then slam your hands into your head. So apparently it's a "stop hitting yourself" adjustment.

You may also have more control or improved stability in that "parallel position", another term for the 9 and 3 steering wheel position, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety's guidelines for new drivers (PDF).

Finally, that "hand over hand" turning maneuver you were taught? Also out. Now:

Instead, you're supposed to "push-pull" — that is, push the wheel up with one hand and pull it down with the other, without crossing over.

This, too, is for safety reasons to avoid the perils of a deploying airbag. So there you have it. News to us. How about you?

Get with the times: You're driving all wrong | MSNBC via NextDraft

Photo remixed by Christopher Elwell(Shutterstock)

The More Facebook Friends You Have, the More Unhappy You Probably Are [Facebook]

A new study has discovered a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and how much of a "socially disruptive narcissist" you are—giving us one more reason to tone down our Facebook addictions.

Researchers at Western Illinois studied 294 college students and found that those with more friends on Facebook tended to score higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire. They tended to respond more aggressively to comments, change their profile pictures more often, and updated their news feeds more regularly than others.

This may not be all that surprising, but it does provide a bit of motivation to re-evaluate what Facebook does for you, if you fit into one of these categories (and if not, at least you can stop feeling bad about not having very many Facebook friends—it's probably a good thing). None of this is to say Facebook is inherently bad, of course. It's still a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, especially after you've fixed all of its annoyances—you might just want to dial back on all the photo tagging. While you're at it, you can also move some of those friends to your Acquaintances list using Facebook's new tool, which will hide them from your news feed more often. Hit the link to read more.

Facebook's 'Dark Side': Study Finds Link to Socially Aggressive Narcissism | The Guardian

You Should Probably Change Your PIN Now; Here’s How to Remember Your New, Secure PIN [Security]

If a new study by the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory is correct, most of your ATM or debit card PINs are either "1111" or "1234." You may think it's okay because someone would need physical access to your card to use the PIN, right? Wrong. Here's why you should change your PIN right away, and some hacks to help you can remember your new one.

Mashable reports (and the study confirms) that the issue of simple, repetitive, and easy-to-guess PINs is so widespread that if a thief managed to steal enough cards they would be able to walk up to an ATM or go to a store and use every 18th card like cash with the correct PIN. Sure, if you lose your wallet you can just call the bank to have your card canceled and a new one issued to you, but in an age of card skimming, where the thief doesn't need your physical card to make a copy of it for themselves, you may not notice that your account has been compromised until it's too late and your money's been withdrawn. Photo by Cory Doctorow.

The Cambridge University study affirms that most of us are terrible at picking passwords and PINs, especially when they're things we know we'll have to remember, and when they're in the confines of a narrow system like "four digits only." The study also pointed out that we're not terribly private about our PINs either, and close to 50% of the people who participated admitted to sharing their PINs with others freely, and a third of the participants used the same PIN for all of their cards—which is about as bad as using the same password for all of the web sites you log in to. Others thought they were more secure because they used their birthdate as their PIN, forgetting that if their wallet is lost, there's likely some document also in the wallet with their birthdate printed on it.

So whether it's using the same PIN, using your birthdate, writing the PIN down and keeping it in your wallet, or giving out your PIN to other people, you can see why it's time to change it. Even if you know how to keep physical control over your wallet and your ATM and credit cards, it's still more likely that your wallet will be lost or stolen than it is someone breaks into your computer and takes all of your passwords.

When you're ready to change your PIN, come up with four new numbers, and steer clear of numbers that can easily be mapped to information that's readily available about you—or worse, may be in your wallet if it's stolen. Try to avoid pet names mapped out on the keypad, or picking numbers that line up on the keypad and are easily guessed, like "1472" or "3692." Try to avoid the last four digits of your social security number, or your phone number, as well. Once you have a sufficiently random series of digits, here are some tips to help you remember.

Spell out a word with your PIN. Use a site like Phone Spell to find out what words your PIN spells on a phone or ATM keypad. Alternatively, if you're still trying to come up with a PIN, type in a word that's easy for you to remember, and the site will give you a PIN from the numbers each letter corresponds to on a numpad. Make a sentence from your PIN. Mind Your Decisions suggests you pick a random series of numbers, and then take the first letters of each word for each number, and then build a mnemonic around those letters. For example, if my PIN is 5642, the words are "Five, Six, Four, Two." I take the FSFT first letters, and come up with a sentence to help me remember, like "First Standing, First Toppled" to lead me back to the PIN. That way any random series of numbers is suddenly easy to remmeber."Encrypt" your PIN in your phone, or on paper. Most banks will tell you never to write your PIN down, and especially not to keep your PIN somewhere it could be lost with your ATM or credit card. Mind Your Decisions also notes that you can "encrypt" your PIN by injecting useless numbers and then writing it down. For example, if my PIN is 5642, I could jot down 05060402 on an index card and keep it in my wallet. That's easy to guess, so to make it more difficult, I could use the numbers next to the ones in my PIN, like 56674523, or another four digits, where only I know that every other digit is meaningless. Take it a step further and add your PIN as a contact in your mobile phone, complete with this "encryption," and you'll never forget your PIN again. It's not bulletproof, but if you're the type who needs to write down your PIN anyway, it's better than no obscurity.Pick a number that means something to you but nothing to anyone else. If you have a private, personal series of numbers that you can remember and cannot be easily tied to some other readily available information about you then go for it. You're still stuck with four digits, so if they're four digits you'll remember but no one will guess, you're all set. If it's something like your dog's birthday, the last four digits of your best friend's call phone number, or any other series of digits highly unlikely to be in your wallet and equally unlikely information to be easily available to a thief, it's fair game.Use math to conceal your PIN. Another, more advanced suggestion is to use Modular Arithmetic to secure your PIN. Here's how it works: you know how difficult it is to fool yourself into getting up earlier because you set your clock back 5 minutes? You'll always look at the clock and know to subtract 5 minutes to get the real time, right? The same principle applies to your PIN. Take a random PIN, like 5642, and then add 5 (mod 10) to each digit: 101197. Then, drop the excess numbers, and your result is 0197. (Thanks for the correction, area_educator!) It's a simple code, but it works, and the key is in your head.Get the bank to reset your PIN. If doesn't preclude any of the tips above, but one way to make sure your PIN is a random series of digits is to make the bank reset it, mail you the new PIN, and then force yourself to use whatever they assign you. You can use the mnemonic trick to make it easier to remember, or you can just brute force the number into memory and call it a day. Painful, but it works.

In the end, the method you use to remember your PIN is best decided by how likely you are to embrace the technique and eventually remember the numbers without having to write them down or fall back on something that's easily guessed or otherwise obtained. Regardless of what you choose, if your PIN is "1111" or "1234" or even some variation on the theme, pick a new PIN, for your bank account's sake.

How do you remember your ATM PIN? Do you use a technique like the ones above, or just pick a special number that only you know? Do you give out your PIN to family members or friends? Share your thoughts—and security suggestions—in the comments below.

Title image by redspotted.

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