Monday, May 14, 2007

MAY 14, 2007

First, I am so sad Yau Man did not win Survivor. "Crushed" is maybe a more appropriate word. Now, here are the highlights from this morning's show.

NOT THE LAST BOOK?
J.K. ROWLING is now considering an EIGHTH "Harry Potter" book. But it won't be a continuation of the story she's supposedly CONCLUDING with the upcoming, seventh book.

She says, quote, "I might do an eighth book for charity, a kind of encyclopedia of the world so I could use all the extra material that's not in the books."

MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES
On Friday, the Social Security Administration released the list of the most popular baby names for 2006.

For the 10th straight year, Emily was the most popular name for baby girls. . . and for the seventh straight year, Jacob was the most popular name for boys.

The rest of the top 10 for girls: Emma, Madison, Isabella, Ava, Abigail, Olivia, Hannah, Sophia and Samantha. Sophia is the only one on there that didn't make the 2005 list; it replaced Ashley, which dropped to 12th last year.

The rest of the top 10 for boys: Michael, Joshua, Ethan, Matthew, Daniel, Christopher, Andrew, Anthony and William. William was 11th in 2005; it replaced Joseph, which was 10th last year, but 11th this year.

The SSA releases the top 1,000 most popular names for both genders.

For girls, numbers 991 through 1,000 are: Iyanna, Rayne, Ericka, Janice, Mina, Neveah, Nicolette, Izabelle, Joana and, finally, Flor.

*The 43rd most popular girl name is Nevaeh, which is "heaven" backwards. Neveah, number 996, is apparently the result of parents who MISSPELLED "heaven" backwards.

For boys, numbers 991 through 1,000 are: Cristobal, Dandre, Earl, Hugh, Jax, Rayan, Ronin, Thaddeus, Brogan and, finally, Jarvis.

In case you were wondering, Brent is the #451 name for boys, and Gracie is the #103 name for girls.

How does your name rank? Click here.

GOT A NEW JOB?
Here's how NOT to leave your old one...

1) DON'T TELL OFF YOUR BOSS OR COWORKERS. It's going to be really hard, because you probably have a million things you want to get off your chest. . . but just let it be. You'll come off looking like the bigger person.

2) DON'T DAMAGE COMPANY PROPERTY OR STEAL. This pretty much goes without saying, but if you decide to do this. . . you could end up in jail.

3) DON'T FORGET TO ASK FOR A REFERENCE. If you're leaving your job on BAD terms, you probably don't want to do this. But if your leaving is amicable, and you want to use the job on your resume, ask for a reference.

4) DON'T BADMOUTH THE COMPANY. Especially in job interviews, this makes you look really bad. . . because if you leave your new job someday, they might think you'll do the same thing to them.

5) DON'T SEND SOBBING FAREWELL E-MAILS. Don't play the whole "poor me" card when you leave. If you want to let your coworkers know that you're going. . . send them an e-mail with your new contact information.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO READING?
When I was a kid, I wanted a TV in my room. . . but I didn't get one until I was in college, and turns out, I probably didn't need one.

But more and more people are putting TVs in their kids' rooms. . . a lot of the time, before the kid can even SPELL "TV". A new survey by the University of Texas at Austin finds that 20% of American kids AGE THREE AND UNDER have a television in their bedroom. Another 43% of three- to four-year-olds have one. That means about two-thirds of kids four and under now have a TV in their room.

Older studies have found that bedroom TVs are linked with childhood obesity, inactivity. . . and low scores on reading and math tests. Too much TV watching before age three has also been linked to attention problems as the child grows up.

The main reason parents gave for putting TVs in their kids' rooms? They wanted to free up the living room TV so they could watch THEIR shows.