Centives

Leo Mirani took a look at AdBlock – the software that prevents ads from websites being displayed on browsers:

• AdBlock has initiated a crowdfunding campaign to get the funds to run online ads advertising…itself…
• In general around 25% of people on the internet use AdBlock – and that is growing 43% a year.
• The users of tech-savvy websites are far more likely to use AdBlock (about a third do).
• Only about 5% of the users of travel websites use AdBlock – likely because they either don’t know about, or aren’t comfortable installing, the software.
• Users of Mozilla’s Firefox browser are most likely to use AdBlock – 35% do.
• Websites can lose around $500,000 a year due to the use of AdBlock

Read more about what websites should do, the AdBlock Times Square billboard and more over here.

Source: Quartz

These days bike shops are more like a Starbucks than a garage writes Jen Wieczner:

• 12% of all bike shops now have coffee bars; 11% offer spinning classes; 5% serve beer; and quite a few have full service restaurants and massage services.
• They have increasingly taken on the role of community centers with some also having periodic art exhibitions.
• Bicycle shops have had to transform because while bicycling is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, Americans are buying fewer bikes.
• Bike shops can’t even hope to make money from bicycle rentals since cities are increasingly instituting bike sharing programs.
• For the most part the barristas that make coffee don’t also fix bikes since “finding a mechanic who can make a good espresso” is difficult. Not to mention hygiene concerns.

Read about the couple who decided to have their wedding in a bicycle shop, where you can find them, and some projections for the future over here.

Source: MarketWatch

In an article about “things your spouse won’t tell you” Catey Hill provided some fascinating insights into marriage:

• 15% of married Americans admit to having had an extramarital affair. Husbands spend twice as much on holiday gifts for their mistresses than their wives.
• Half of all men and the majority of women would marry somebody for their money – which is defined as having more than $1.5 million. This becomes even more likely as men hit their 40s and women hit their 30s.
• A quarter of young couples lie about how much money they make – so that they have some extra cash for secret hobbies and activities.
• Which is a pity since almost a quarter of Americans say that honesty about money is more important than honesty about having had an affair.

Read the entire list of ten points of dishonesty over here.

Source: MarketWatch

Marsha Mercer looked at the market for child actors:

• Unlike those who work in the fast food and other industries, child actors aren’t given any special protections by federal law and thus are not entitled to minimum wage or overtime.
• Instead regulations are left to the states – and 18 of them have no laws protecting child actors.
• This has led to a lot of variability. In Pennsylvania children under the age of seven can appear in movies but not on television. In Kansas babies younger than 15 days cannot act.
• Some require that parents divert 15% of the child’s income into a trust account, after one case where a family spent all of a child’s earnings before they had reached adulthood.
• Overall though one expert notes that “we’re protecting animals in movies far better than the children” – after all, movies carry disclaimers stating that no animals were hurt during the production of a film. The same is not said for children.

Read more about how the rise of reality television is transforming the morality of child actors, efforts that are being taken by states to better ensure the safety of children, and some of the harsh realities that child actors have to deal with over here.

Source: Stateline

At theme parks waiting in line has become an increasingly entertaining experience writes Hugo Martín:

• Visitors used to wait hours in line with nothing to do before they were able to enjoy their ride.
• Now however theme parks are making an effort to make the line-waiting experience an enjoyable one.
• In air-conditioned areas playgrounds and interactive games ensure that parents and children don’t get overly bored in line.
• If a line becomes too long then a juggler or a magician might be dispatched to entertain the crowd.
• Some parks are even turning the queue into a part of the overall ride experience. In Universal Studios’ Transformers ride, visitors are told about the plot of the action movie ride they’re about to experience.
• Others are allowing patrons to integrate their personal devices in the experience. At Six Flags guests can use their phones as a remote in a Whack-A-Mole distraction as they wait for the real ride.

Read about the animatronic Mr. Potato Head, the Winnie the Pooh honey wall, and the musical Haunted Mansion over here.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Via: Slate

AMC Entertainment – a chain of theaters in the United States – will soon be listing shares on the stock market. Here are some highlights from the documents it released in preparation for the listing:

• The average AMC guest spends $9.04 on a ticket and $3.92 on food and drink.
• It is hoping further increase the amount of revenue it generates from concessions. Many theaters now have bars which serve alcohol. Others have full-service restaurants that deliver food to the moviegoers’ seat.
• Only 4% OF AMC’s revenue comes from the ads that are shown before the feature film.

Read more about how AMC is trying to speed up your love-life, the ability to book seats in advance, and the proportion of tickets that are bought ahead of time over here.

Source: Quartz

The tooth fairy appears to be dealing with runaway inflation writes Chris Taylor:

• According to one study the tooth fairy now gives out an average of $3.70 per tooth – up 23% from last year and 43% from two years ago.
• This comes out to $74 for a full set of baby teeth.
• 6% of children get more than $20 a tooth and 2% of children get $50 or more for one tooth.
• The fairy seems to leave the most money for children who have young parents between the ages of 18-24. Those children can expect almost $5.00 a tooth.
• Those who live in the North East of the United States can expect $4.10 a tooth.
• Some parents have gone as far as to buy their children special tooth fairy pillows and boxes in preparation for a visit by the fairy.
• Visa, the company that ran the survey, has come up with an app that shows how much money a child can expect taking into account the region, income, education, and age of the parents.

Read more about why the fairy might, perhaps, need some parenting lessons, how this might negatively affect children, and some potentially better alternatives over here.

Source: Reuters

Believe it or not your local supermarket is interested in ensuring that you eat healthy writes Michael Moss:

• In one experiment shopping carts were divided with a yellow line and shoppers were encouraged to put fruits and vegetables in the front half. Produce sales per customer more than doubled from $3.99 to $8.85.
• Large plastic mats with green arrows that point to the produce section successfully convinced around 90% of customers to follow the arrow.
• Another effective tactic was to place a mirror in the shopping cart so that shoppers could see themselves as they shopped.
• Placing placards inside baskets that tell customers how much produce customers were buying and what the most popular items were was successful by informing shoppers about social norms.
• Supermarkets are implementing such strategies because while overall sales stay the same, they shift towards produce which generally has a higher markup than other food items, leading to healthy customers and healthy profits.

Read some other fascinating insights about how customers shop in supermarkets, why too much encouragement can backfire, and more over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: The Incidental Economist

Bluefields, a part of Nicaragua that is arguably the poorest region in the Western Hemisphere, used to benefit immensely from the drug trade writes Ray Downs:

• Drug kingpins built their own intelligence network by paying local fisherman to report on the movements of the Nicaraguan Navy and the US Coast Guard.
• The drug business itself generated demand for more infrastructure such as a Hooters Hotel that created much-needed jobs.
• Successful drug overlords would buy lavish houses in the poorest areas. While this exacerbated inequality it also provided construction jobs in an area where there is little other ongoing construction.
• The parties held by the drug cartels were legendary affairs with free meats, rice, and beer available to all, and helped to periodically stimulate the local economy.
• The patronage networks set up by the cartels meant that those who knew the right people could cut through government bureaucracy and speedily obtain things such as fishing licenses.
• When the government started cracking down on the drug trade and arrested key leaders, there were protests on the streets.
• Since then the Nicaraguan government – with the aid of the United States and Russia – has successfully driven away the drug industry. Unfortunately the government has done nothing to replace the economic benefits it used to produce.

Read more about the trade, the key players involved, and the problem of racism over here.

Source: Vice

There’s a lot of talk going around about the possibility of intervention in Syria. Erica Chenoweth dug up a research study that looked at what effect that would have on civilian killings:

• According to one study when external actors intervene on the side of rebels during a conflict, government killings of civilians increases by 40%.
• This is in part because a foreign military intervention normally weakens the government, making non-violent efforts at suppression less effective. The government then resorts to more violent tactics.
• If despite this a humanitarian intervention is still deemed to be justifiable then interveners should alter their strategies to focus on explicitly protecting civilians.

Read more here.

Source: The Monkey Cage

Via: Marginal Revolution