Ah, schools. Is there any place where forging ahead with a useless course of action in the presence of data to the contrary ever so embraced- such as with obesity and school lunches?

Michelle Obama has picked childhood obesity as her pet cause during her husband’s presidency- much to the consternation of Republicans that seem to think she wants socialist redistribution of all their cookies. Earlier this week, her initiative’s focus on school lunches and obesity drew attention as the First Lady (FLOTUS) sat down with a group of school kids to eat turkey tacos as part of a rejiggering of menus around the country.

The new anti-obesity lunches include more greens and fruits and less fat, replacing some deep-fried and cheese-coated items, and salt also went on the list of items to be reduced in school foods. In a statement, Mrs. Obama said:

“As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, limit how much junk food our kids eat and ensure that they have a reasonable balanced diet. And when we are putting in all that effort the last thing we want is for our hard work to be undone each day in the school cafeteria.”

The changes came just after the release of a report that indicates obesity and lunches at school are not very provably linked, however. The study came out of Penn State’s sociology and demographics departments and one of its lead authors said:

“We were really surprised by that result and, in fact, we held back from publishing our study for roughly two years because we kept looking for a connection that just wasn’t there… Schools only represent a small portion of children’s food environment. They can get food at home, they can get food in their neighborhoods and they can go across the street from the school to buy food.”

Do you think it’s worthwhile reforming school lunches to combat obesity?

Obesity: Lunches Aim to Limit Kids Exposure to Junk Despite Data Indicating School Food Doesn’t Matter is a post from: The Inquisitr

Anyone who has been on the Web for any length of time will know what the term cookie means but for those of you not familiar with the term here is an short explanation courtesy of Wikipedia:

A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is used for an origin website to send state information to a user’s browser and for the browser to return the state information to the origin site. The state information can be used for authentication, identification of a user session, user’s preferences, shopping cart contents, or anything else that can be accomplished through storing text data.

In other words it is a simple method for websites to be able to remember who you are and where you’ve been; and for the longest time they have been really simple text files that were for the most part fairly benign.

That is about to change if this news from Julia Angwin at the Wall Street Journal is any indication. It seems that major sites like Hulu and MSN are among the first to be using what is termed as a Supercookie and it is a lot more invasive that its predecessor. Also these new supercookies aren’t being stored in the same places on your machine that the older cookie files are kept which makes finding them a lot harder.

The powerful new — and legal — techniques can track people’s online activities without being detected by users, which makes it different from the more easily detectable average cookies, the Journal article said.

The files Hulu and MSN installed are also capable of re-creating users’ profiles after people deleted regular cookies.

MSN and Hulu said the tracking was inadvertent, and both companies promised to investigate.

via Washington Post

There are those that are calling these new cookies the next big privacy battle on the web.

Major websites getting trickier and sneakier: Introducing the SuperCookie is a post from: The Inquisitr

Also, congratulations, random redditor- you managed to somehow make chocolate chip cookies gross.

Heat Wave Peaks, This Is How Hot It Got is a post from: The Inquisitr

Online advertising is big bucks and those bucks get even bigger with the more information that advertisers know about you and your habits – both on-line and off-line. From things like income and credit scores to whether you have a fishing license to what kind of car you drive your data is being collected everyday. For the major players like Acxiom it doesn’t matter whether that data is your on-line surfing and buying habits or if it is your off-line shopping habits – it’s all data for them to collect.

On-line much of this data collection happens as a result of ‘cookies’ – those simple little text files that websites drop on your computer as you visit, and buy from them. In the past these cookies were fairly simple things that let you login to a site automatically or remembered you items you wanted to buy at sites. Since then though they have gotten a lot more complex and carry a lot more information which companies like Acxiom suck up every minute of the day.

Consumers can avoid cookie-based tracking by deleting cookies from their computers or setting their browsers not to accept cookies. But few do, and privacy advocates say it is easy for companies to add cookies without users noticing.

For decades, data companies like Experian and Acxiom have compiled reams of information on every American: Acxiom estimates it has 1,500 pieces of data on every American, based on information from warranty cards, bridal and birth registries, magazine subscriptions, public records and even dog registrations with the American Kennel Club.

Patrick Williams, the publisher of the personal finance magazine Worth, recently asked Acxiom to find the names and addresses of 10,000 Americans from each of 11 cities who had houses worth more than $1 million, net worth of over $2 million, lived within a few miles of other rich people and subscribed to business publications.

“They are the scariest data research company around — they know far too much,” said Mr. Williams, who said he was very happy with the amount of information it gave him.

Source : New York Times :: Ads Follow Web Users, and Get More Personal

Typically a Datran’s, a competitor to Acxiom, cookie can hold 50 to a 100 pieces of information and while these companies claim the data is all anonymous many privacy advocates are concerned by the amount being collected.

Paul M. Schwartz, a law professor and privacy expert at the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, said the unwitting participation by consumers makes online marketing different from offline.

“Interactive media really gets into this creepy Orwellian thing, where it’s a record of our thoughts on the way to decision-making,” he said. “We’re like the data-input clerks now for the industry.”

Source : New York Times :: Ads Follow Web Users, and Get More Personal

Advertisers: Don’t mind us as we follow you everywhere is a post from: The Inquisitr

National Chocolate Chip Day

Not much is known about National Chocolate Chip Day other than that it’s a celebration of all things chocolate chip. And, really, that’s probably more than enough information for revelers.

I can tell you that National Chocolate Chip Day evidently falls on May 15th of every year. And I can suggest an activity that might just be fit for the occasion:

Mars’ Real Chocolate Relief program is in full effect today. The so-called “Free Chocolate Friday” promotion means you can get a free full-sized candy bar just by signing up. It might not technically have chocolate chips…but hey, I say it’s close enough.

Celebrate: It’s National Chocolate Chip Day! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Two months ago a private equity firm that had bought up a cookie plant in Ashland had pretty well stripped the cupboard bare and locked the doors to the plant. In doing so they put some 300 hundred workers out of their jobs just before the Christmas holidays. Workers who had been promised that there would be plenty of work for all of them now had to tell their families that this Christmas wasn’t going to be like in the past.

This week thought saw the plant being purchased at auction by Lance Inc. who immediately called back 50 to 70 workers to work at the plant. Not only were they called back but they also will maintain their seniority and pay from before the plant was closed. Lance has also promised to hire back all the remaining workers as soon as they can.

As good as this might be as a heart warming Christmas story what Lance did next makes it even more so. On Tuesday Lance officials handed out $1,500 VISA gift cards to all the employees both as a way to show the employees that the company means what it says and to help their families have Christmas they might not have had.

A big thanks to Doug over at The Marketing Technology Blog for sharing this story]

This is the type of story you love to hear at Christmas is a post from: The Inquisitr

We want to believe, we really do, but a new photo published by the UK Tabloid The Sun and claimed to be “one of the most important ever pieces of evidence of alien life” shows a cream filled chocolate cookie flying over Dudley in the United Kingdom.

The photo is said to have been taken by a 57-year-old nanny on a day out last April, and handed over to a police detective who collects UFO sightings.

Mmmmm….Cookies……..

Flying cookie claimed by The Sun to be proof of Alien life is a post from: The Inquisitr