Want to advance your career? Saying “no” may be the key.

“It’s wonderful to be the go-to person to a point — until you find you’re totally overwhelmed, exhausted, resentful and in a time crunch,” said Susan Newman, author of “The Book of No: 250 Ways to Say It — And Mean It and Stop People-Pleasing Forever.” “Setting workplace boundaries means you will be doing better work and not spreading yourself all over the lot.”

Here’s how to get there:

1. Track your yeses.

You can’t set a boundary you don’t know you have, so watch yourself for a week, Newman said. Where do you say “yes”?

Do you agree to lunch with that coworker on the day of a major presentation?
Do you accept another project on top of the eight you already have?
Do you volunteer to change the printer’s ink cartridge for a harried coworker?
Do you work on the Saturday of your daughter’s recital?
2. Figure out your priorities.

“Every time you say yes, you’re giving up something,” said Newman. So get your priorities straight:

Do you need to be everyone’s best friend or be the last person to leave work each day? Or is it more important to choose projects that will advance your career and give yourself time to do them?

“You should always ask yourself, ‘Are these things moving me forward and gaining me respect, or is it just one more piece of busy work?’” she said.

3. Share them with your boss and coworkers.

Now that you know, let everyone you work with know in a clear, friendly way, said Debra Mandel, author of “Your Boss is Not Your Mother: Eight Steps to Eliminating Office Drama and Creating Positive Relationships At Work.”

“It’s valuable to inform people that you’re changing your approach to work,” she said. “You can simply say, ‘I know I’ve been overworking myself and so I’m going to start taking a little more time.’”

Scared to say it? You’re not alone. Some changes may be easier than others. Declining lunch with a coworker may be less frightening than declining a project from your boss.

So invite your boss into the decision-making: Of the 10 projects on your plate, which are highest priority? Can you work late during the week in return for having your weekends to yourself? Keep reminding your boss that you’re doing this to improve your work performance.

4. Keep doing it.

Now that you’ve set your boundary, your work is done. Right?

Wrong.

Expect your boss and coworkers to test you. Can’t you come out for drinks after work just this once? Can’t you take 10 minutes — OK, maybe 30 — to talk your coworker down from her latest crisis — even though you have work to do? Can’t you take on this one extra project? It’s a one-time thing, your boss swears.

“Keep setting boundaries,” Mandel said. “Usually people want to have healthier relationships, and they’ll adapt.”

My husband and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, and we have a recurring goofy argument that’s endured for as long as our union: I want him to brown-bag his lunch to work, and he steadfastly refuses.

Brown-bag Brouhaha

He implies that there’s something undignified about carrying a brown paper bag to Manhattan on the train. I offer to buy him a cool lunchbox, emblazoned with the action figure of his choice. He argues that lunch is an important opportunity to meet clients. I suggest that if a client meeting comes up, he can store my hearty array of delectable deli delights in his office refrigerator.

He argues that our income is adequate enough for him to afford a sandwich at his favorite midtown Italian deli, where he can talk with Joe, the owner, about football’s New York Giants. I suggest he could stop in and get a $1 cup of coffee after his brown-bag lunch and still banter with Joe about which Manning brother is a superior quarterback.

Why this marital standoff over an $8 daily ritual? Because I’m convinced that for the average person who wants to build wealth, pennies count.

Penny-Pinchers Made Good

People disdain pennies. They pass them on the sidewalk. There was even talk a few years ago of the Treasury abolishing the lowly penny. Instead of saving pennies, pundits urge you to get rich quick by investing in exotic commodities, or (a few years ago) buying a heap of real estate with no money down and flipping it for a quick profit.

The latest gambit is to start a business and milk it for big bucks. A “Financial Freedom” invitation that arrived in the mail this week instructed me to attend a seminar at a Newark airport hotel so I could start my own all-cash, home-based vending business. It read: “Laura, you CAN have it all … more money than you’ve ever dreamed of, and the time and freedom to enjoy it!”

Pennies aren’t sexy. (Frankly, home-based vending doesn’t sound that sexy to me, either.) But pennies have a funny way of snowballing into dollars, and then hundreds, and then thousands, especially if you use them to buy the stocks of well-managed companies. Consider the story of a parking attendant who earns $20,000 a year but has amassed a $500,000 equity portfolio. Or the one about a group of New Yorkers who managed to save for a down payment on a (very expensive, very tiny) piece of the Big Apple. Or the clan of seven dubbed “America’s cheapest family,” who paid off their mortgage in nine years on a salary of $35,000 a year.

Splitting the Difference

My husband and I amassed a very old-fashioned 20 percent down payment on our house over a dozen years by watching pennies. We lived with roommates before we married; took the subway instead of cabs; and refused to buy a car (even after the Manhattan Budget Rent-a-Car failed to honor our Christmas-day reservation, and we had to schlep on the bus to south Jersey laden with boxes, bags, and a 19-month-old).

Yet despite our success in saving, my husband doesn’t think you can penny-pinch your way to prosperity. He says we should focus less on $8 lunches and more on increasing our income — something we have the potential to do, since we’re both self-employed.

I do agree that you sometimes have to spend money to make money. For instance, I hired a sitter this fall to pick up the kids from school and drive them to their after-school activities — since, as I discovered, driving kids to their after-school activities with a laptop in tow is a surefire way to lose both your productivity and your mind. (And expose your children to an unseemly amount of traffic-induced cursing.) It also tends to push your workload into the nights and weekends, which is a surefire way to lose touch with your family and known forms of human leisure.

But wealth accumulation results from a mix of figuring out when to invest in hired help, business lunches, or technology to boost your earnings, and when to save pennies.

A Gift from the Fed

I’ve been thinking about pennies because of the Federal Reserve’s surprise half-point cut in short-term interest rates on Sept. 18. Interest rates on consumer debt — such as credit cards, auto loans, and home equity loans — are expected to fall over the next few months. A half-point decline in interest rates would put an extra $30 a year into the pocket of someone with $7,000 in credit card debt, according to CardTrak.com.

That $30 is $2.50 a month — more than eight pennies a day. But if you’re in debt, those are pennies from heaven. At a minimum, keep the amount of your payment constant, so the $30 discount you receive from the lower interest rate goes to reducing your principal.

Better yet, take the opportunity to find some extra pennies to shovel a little more money at your loans. Although I don’t have debt except for a low-interest, 30-year mortgage, I periodically review my spending to see if I’m getting good value for my money. I recently canceled my Netflix subscription, at $13.99 a month, because the DVDs were coming in and sitting on the mail pile. I didn’t have the time to watch them, especially with school, homework, and extracurriculars back in full swing.

I also stopped buying cases of small plastic water bottles at Costco for the kids’ lunches, and replaced them with washable containers (mainly for environmental reasons, but the savings is about $20 a month). And I nixed cases of diet soda, which, while cheap and sweet, are unhealthy and unnecessary (and, ironically, believed to contribute to obesity). For more easy savings ideas, click here.

Let the Pinching Begin

Clearly, the overlooked penny deserves a little more respect in a culture where saving is out of fashion. According to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans have been spending more than they earn since mid-2005. That’s a relatively new development; as recently as the early 1980s, U.S. consumers saved more than 10 percent of their after-tax earnings on average.

Pennies count, so spend them wisely. At the New American Dream organization web site, you can download a free “Wallet Buddy” — a small paper folder for your credit or debit card, imprinted with 13 questions to consider before you swipe. For more tips for smart savers, see my blog.

My 15th-anniversary gift to my husband is to stop nagging him about brown-bagging. Because we both have better things to do with our time — for instance, discuss how much he spends on tailgating at Giants games.

MIAMI (AP) — The topic was finding ways to keep transgender children safe, and someone asked for volunteers to share an idea.

Tim Hardaway was the first to raise his hand.
 
“He was so genuine,” said Martha Fugate, the director of the YES Institute, a children’s advocacy group based in South Miami which hosted that discussion. “He gave the perfect answer.”

Seven months ago, that simply wouldn’t have happened.

Hardaway would have made a joke or said something hurtful, like his infamous “I hate gay people” answer when a radio host asked him how he’d respond to having a gay teammate. That led to the former star point guard’s banishment from NBA All-Star weekend and dealt his reputation an embarrassing blow.

Yet there he was, in a classroom with about 40 people, mostly strangers and some of them gay, talking about the importance of education and awareness — pointing to himself as the perfect example of how attitudes can be reshaped with a little bit of knowledge.

“I just wanted to go in and get educated, that’s all. Get educated on what I said and why I said those things,” Hardaway said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m working on understanding it now. I’m not really trying to make amends. I’ve been there trying to get help.”

Hardaway has declined many interview requests in recent months, saying he didn’t want to make his work with advocacy groups seem like a publicity stunt or a quick-fix to an image problem.

“I had no idea how much I hurt people,” said Hardaway, who spent most of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, and still makes his home in South Florida. “A lot of people.”

In the weeks that followed his Feb. 14 comments, stories circled that Hardaway’s home was in foreclosure (he denies it) and that a car wash he owned was unable to pay its bills (he denies that, too).

Neighbors even asked about rumors that his wife and children were leaving him, which never happened.

For Hardaway, it was all a few weeks of “hell.”

“I’ve always told my family, there’s going to be bumps in the road,” Hardaway said. “And I caused a huge bump, the biggest bump in my life. But I’m going to do whatever I can to correct it. That’s all I can do. So that’s where I am.”

That process began in earnest when he learned of the institute, which has classes and programs designed to raise awareness on issues facing “gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and all youth.”

The group, founded in 1996, seeks to prevent teen suicides while boosting the self-esteem of children and keeping them free of violence and discrimination.

“I was scared out of my … mind,” Hardaway said of his first visit. “I didn’t know how they were going to act toward me. But you know what? They welcomed me with open arms. That eased a lot of my nervousness.”

So he went back a second time, then a third, then a fourth.

And that early apprehension is now gone. His photo appears on the group’s Web site, smiling alongside some members of the institute’s staff.

“We were surprised how real our relationship with Tim got,” Fugate said.

He’s now considered a friend there, and his presence is so valued that Fugate released a letter earlier this month touting the work Hardaway has done.

“Thanks to his honest albeit misguided reaction, Tim did find his way to YES Institute and the education he got was not just about others, but about himself,” Fugate wrote. “Because he is a role model, perhaps other people will also learn — hopefully before bad consequences happen to them.”

NBA commissioner David Stern met with Hardaway about a week after asking him to leave the league’s All-Star festivities. He is aware of the changes Hardaway is trying to make.

“We appreciate Tim’s efforts at education and promoting understanding,” Stern said Thursday.

Hardaway wants to get back into the NBA some day as a coach or personnel director, yet readily acknowledges that he did those plans a major disservice with his comments.

Over time, he hopes that’ll change.

“I have taken steps and I’m happy that I did,” Hardaway said. “If I didn’t, I’d still be naive about it, ignorant about the whole thing. But I can talk about it now. I’m a polite person. That’s how I am.”

Your tax dollars at work: The US Navy will be spending about $600,000 to redesign or camouflage a 1960s barracks building in San Diego because of complaints that it looks like a swastika when viewed from the air. In the past this might have been a problem only for the occasional air traveler who happened over Coronado island, but with the advent of aerial mapping and visualization tools like Google Earth, everyone can see anything from the sky. In fact, many people have made a game out of finding oddities in satellite photos.

Now it’s one thing to see landmarks like this and snicker over a designer’s missteps 40 years ago (the Navy says it noticed the shape but that it didn’t think anyone would see it from above), but it’s another thing altogether to complain to the Navy about the shape of a building when viewed from space. But people really seem to have the time on their hands: The Navy says it’s been inundated with complaints; enough, I suppose, to justify spending that much money on new structures and extra bushes. It’s the first known case of its kind.

So what will the building look like when the job is done, I wonder? A set of four connected squares? A pinwheel formed from triangles? Post your ideas for what the Navy ought to do out of the wayward swastika here and we’ll see if we can’t pass them along to the powers that be.

As smash hit World of Warcraft approaches its third anniversary, we look forward at what may take its place.
By YVG Staff
 
Characterized by vast online worlds, player-driven economies, and life-demolishing addictiveness, the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) went from geeky fringe pursuit to the most popular PC game genre with the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft in 2004. But players of World of Warcraft, who currently number some two million in North America alone, are sure to be looking for their next fix at some point. Find out which upcoming games are vying for a chunk of Warcraft’s action.

Gods & Heroes
Thanks to the recent rash of historic movie epics, ancient cultures are big news right now. What better time to release an MMOG focusing on the antics of the Romans? Gods & Heroes combines historically accurate elements of Roman life with classic period mythology. So not only will players have to contend with rampaging Gauls, Visigoths, and Carthaginians, they’ll also have to handle Gorgons, Minotaurs, and Furies — and the ever-changing will of the gods.

Gods & Heroes sports a unique “minion” system, giving players a team of additional characters they can take with them into battle. Minions can perform useful tasks like casting spells, healing, and attacking — and you’ll gather your own army as your character progresses, although you’ll only be able to take four with you at any time. Does that remind anyone else of Nintendo’s smash hit Pokemon series? Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and with around 130 minions to gather, the system should add plenty of variety to Gods & Heroes’ combat.

Slated for release in early 2008, Gods & Heroes has the backing of EverQuest creators Sony Online Entertainment, but it’s actually in development at indie San Fran studio Perpetual Entertainment. With a setting as sexy as this — and plenty of distinctive features to set it apart from the MMOG pack — we’re positively salivating at the thought of taking our place in the mighty Roman Empire.

Game Page … Screenshots … Videos

WATCH TRAILER
Age of Conan
Crush your enemies. Drive them before you. Hear the lamentations of their women. Dust off your best Arnie impressions, because classic ’80s action movie Conan the Barbarian is making its way onto the MMOG scene in March. Well, strictly speaking Age of Conan draws its inspiration more from the pulpy 1930s short stories on which the Arnie movie was based. Still, one look at the graphical style, fast paced combat, and blood-splattering violence should make fans of either source equally at home. In development at Anarchy Online studio Funcom, it’ll feature a combat system that has more in common with console fighting games than the Dungeons & Dragons-esque system on which most other MMOGs rely.

Game Page … Screenshots … Videos

WATCH TRAILER
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Another Sony Online Entertainment release, Pirates of the Burning Sea takes its players to the volatile world of the Caribbean, circa 1720. Pirates takes a reasonably realistic approach to its popular subject matter, including tactical ship-to-ship combat, skill-based mano-a-mano dueling, and a detailed economy that lets players harvest raw materials produce finished goods, and transport and ultimately sell them to other players.

No firm release date for Pirates of the Burning Sea has been announced, but last we heard it was expected sometime this year. It’s currently in closed beta, with a controlled and selected group of players testing the game — but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it slip into 2008.

WATCH TRAILER
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
But if all that sounds a little too serious, Pirates of the Caribbean just might be up your… er… ocean. Bringing all the excitement of your favorite theme park ride turned movie to your PC screen later this year, Pirates promises characters straight out of the films, easy-going nautical action, player-versus-player duels, and (presumably) numerous buckles just waiting for someone to give them a good swashing. Oh, and best of all, it’ll be free.

WATCH TRAILER
Tabula Rasa
In development for some six years, Tabula Rasa is the creation of Richard Garriott, the famed designer of PC classic RPG series Ultima. Perhaps surprisingly, Garriott isn’t following in the footsteps of most MMOGs by taking design inspiration from classic RPGs like his Ultima games. Instead, Tabula Rasa is a futuristic, action-heavy offering that shares more with first-person shooters like Halo than it does with his earlier works. Tabula Rasa also innovates with its character class system. While most MMOGs lock you into the choices you make as your character develops, Tabula Rasa allows you to change your mind. If you’re curious, you’ll be able to get your hands on it very soon indeed.

Game Page … Screenshots … Videos

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - If you are in Sudan it is a ‘missed call’. In Ethiopia it is a ‘miskin’ or a ‘pitiful’ call. In other parts of Africa it is a case of ‘flashing’, ‘beeping’ or in French-speaking areas ‘bipage’.
 
Wherever you are, it is one of the fastest-growing phenomena in the continent’s booming mobile telephone markets — and it’s a headache for mobile operators who are trying to figure out how to make some money out of it.

You beep someone when you call them up on their mobile phone — setting its display screen briefly flashing — then hang up half a second later, before they have had a chance to answer. Your friend — you hope — sees your name and number on their list of ‘Missed Calls’ and calls you back at his or her expense.

It is a tactic born out of ingenuity and necessity, say analysts who have tracked an explosion in miskin calls by cash-strapped cellphone users from Cape Town to Cairo.

“Its roots are as a strategy to save money,” said Jonathan Donner, an India-based researcher for Microsoft who is due to publish a paper on “The Rules of Beeping” in the high-brow online Journal of Computer Mediated Communication in October.

Donner first came across beeping in Rwanda, then tracked it across the continent and beyond, to south and southeast Asia. Studies quoted in his paper estimate between 20 to more than 30 percent of the calls made in Africa are just split-second flashes — empty appeals across the cellular network.

The beeping boom is being driven by a sharp rise in mobile phone use across the continent.

Africa had an estimated 192.5 million mobile phone users in 2006, up from just 25.3 million in 2001, according to figures from the U.N.’s International Telecommunication Union. Customers may have enough money for the one-off purchase of a handset, but very little ready cash to spend on phone cards for the prepaid accounts that dominate the market.

Africa’s mobile phone companies say the practice has become so widespread they have had to step in to prevent their circuits being swamped by second-long calls.

“We have about 355 million calls across the whole network every day,” said Faisal Ijaz Khan, chief marketing officer for the Sudanese arm of Kuwaiti mobile phone operator Zain (formerly MTC). “And then there are another 130 million missed calls every day. There are a lot of missed calls in Africa.”

‘CALL ME BACK’

Zain is responding to the demand by drawing up plans for a “Call-me-back” service in Sudan, letting customers send open requests in the form of a very basic signal to friends for a phone call.

The main advantage for the company is that the requests will be diverted from the main network and pushed through using a much cheaper technology (USSD or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data).

A handful of similar schemes are springing up across Africa, says Informa principal analyst Devine Kofiloto. “It is widespread. It is a concern for operators in African countries, whose networks become congested depending on the time of day with calls they cannot bill for.

“They try to discourage the practice by introducing services where customers can send a limited number of ‘call-back’ request either free of charge or for a minimum fee.”

There are plenty of other reasons why mobile operators are keen to cut down on the practice. One is it annoys customers, pestered by repeated missed calls.

A second is that ‘flashes’ eat into one of mobile phone companies’ favorite performance indicators — ARPU or average revenue per user. Miscalls earn very little in themselves - and don’t always persuade the target to ring back.

Orange Senegal, Kofiloto said, lets customers send a ‘Rappelle moi’ (’Call me back’) when their phone credit drops below $0.10. With Safaricom Kenya, it is a “Flashback 130″ (limited to five a day — and with the admonishment ‘Stop Flashing! Ask Nicely’). Vodacom DR Congo’s ‘Rappelez moi SVP’ service costs $0.01 a message.

MORE THAN MONEY

But beeping is not only about money. Donner’s ‘Rules of Beeping’ suggests a social protocol for the practice.

“The richer guy pays,” he writes. It is acceptable to beep someone if you are short of cash and they are flush with credit. Never beep someone poorer than you.

Never beep someone you are tapping for a favor. You don’t want to risk annoying the person you are trying to win over. Never flash your girlfriend, unless you want to look cheap.

“Most beeps are requests to the mobile owner to call back immediately, but can also send a pre-negotiated instrumental message such as pick me up now,’ or send a relational sign, such as I’m thinking of you,’” the paper says.

It can go even further than that.

Cameroonian researchers Victor W.A. Mbarika and Irene Mbarika identified a different kind of beeping-powered relational call in a study for the technology association the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

“Lovers often communicate with text messages or beeping’,” said the study. “One party dials another’s number and then hangs up. One ring could mean, I am here,’ two rings, Call me now.’”

And the name they gave this new entry in the beeping lexicon? Borrowing a street slang term for an appeal for sex, they christened it “the booty call.”

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar’s government appeared to have cut public Internet access and troops occupied key Buddhist monasteries on Friday, witnesses and diplomats said, in an effort to end demonstrations against the ruling junta.
 
The moves raised concerns that the military government may be preparing to intensify a crackdown on civilians that has killed at least 10 people in the past two days. The Internet in particular has played a crucial role in getting news and images of the pro-democracy protests to the outside world.

Police also sealed off a Yangon neighborhood after hundreds of protesters defied the government’s orders and the violence of previous days to take to the streets. They were quickly dispersed without bloodshed. Elsewhere, witnesses said the streets were mainly quiet.

Southeast Asian envoys were told by Myanmar authorities that a no-go zone had been declared around five key Buddhist monasteries, one diplomat said, raising fears of a repeat of a democratic uprising in 1988, when troops gunned down thousands of peaceful demonstrators and imprisoned the survivors.

Gates were locked and key intersections near monasteries in Yangon and Mandalay were sealed off with barbed wire. There was no sign of monks.

“We were told security forces had the monks under control” and will now turn their attention to civilian protesters, the Asian diplomat said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. Getting the monks out of the way raised concerns that the government would now feel emboldened to take tougher measures against remaining protesters, the diplomat said.

Myanmar’s neighbor’s showed their disdain at the violent turn the situation has taken. Demonstrations against Myanmar’s junta were seen across Asia in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and elsewhere. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed “revulsion” and told the junta “to exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution,” with pro-democracy demonstrations held or planned in several cities across the region.

At least 10 people have been killed in two days of violence in the country’s largest cities, including a Japanese cameraman who was shot when soldiers with automatic rifles fired into crowds demanding an end to military rule. Exile groups say the death toll could be much higher.

Daily demonstrations by tens of thousands have grown into the stiffest challenge to the ruling military junta in two decades, a crisis that began Aug. 19 with rallies against a fuel price hike, then escalated dramatically when monks began joining the protests.

Hundreds of people have been arrested, carted away in trucks at night or pummeled with batons, witnesses and diplomats said, with the junta ignoring international appeals for restraint.

The United States imposed new sanctions on a dozen senior Myanmar officials, including the junta’s two top generals, and again urged China as Myanmar’s main economic and political ally to use its influence to prevent further bloodshed.

But by Myanmar standards, the crackdown has so far been muted, in part because the regime knows that killing monks, who are highly revered in the deeply Buddhist nation, could trigger a maelstrom of fury.

Thursday was the most violent day in more than a month of protests — which at their height have brought an estimated 70,000 demonstrators to the streets. Bloody sandals lay scattered on some streets as protesters fled shouting “Give us freedom, give us freedom!”

Truckloads of troops in riot gear also raided Buddhist monasteries on the outskirts of Yangon, beating and arresting dozens of monks, witnesses and Western diplomats said.

“I really hate the government. They arrest the monks while they are sleeping,” said a 30-year-old service worker who witnessed some of the confrontations from his workplace. “These monks haven’t done anything except meditating and praying and helping people.”

Images of bloodied protesters and fleeing crowds have riveted world attention on the escalating crisis, prompting many governments to urge the junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to end the violence.

The United Nations’ special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, was heading to the country to promote a political solution and could arrive as early as Saturday, one Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Though some analysts said negotiations were unlikely, the diplomat said the decision to let Gambari in “means they may see a role for him and the United Nation in mediating dialogue with the opposition and its leaders.”

The protesters won support from countrymen abroad as more than 2,000 Myanmar immigrants rallied peacefully in Malaysia, chanting slogans of support for Buddhist monks and other pro-democracy demonstrators. Riot police backed by trucks mounted with water cannons stood watch in Kuala Lumpur’s diplomatic enclave as the demonstrators shouted “We want democracy!” and held banners that read “Stop killing monks and people.”

Smaller rallies took place in Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.

China, Myanmar’s largest trading partner, for months quietly counseled the regime to speed up its long-stalled political reforms. Some analysts say Beijing would hate to be viewed as party to a bloodbath as it prepares to court the world at the 2008 Olympic Games.

“China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing Thursday.

But every other time the regime has been challenged, it has responded with force.

“Judging from the nature and habit of the Myanmar military, they will not allow the monks or activists to topple them,” said Chaiyachoke Julsiriwong, a Myanmar scholar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

New Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said the death of the journalist Nagai was “extremely unfortunate.”

“We hope the Myanmar government will give us a full explanation,” Fukuda said.

He said, however, that Japan needs to take the whole situation into account before considering the possibility of sanctions.

On Friday, Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao, speaking in a 15-minute telephone call, agreed to work together in the international effort to find a solution to the crisis. Fukuda did not say how the countries would cooperate.

On what started as a normal Saturday night one week ago, residents of a small, remote Peruvian town saw a bright light streak across the sky, heard a resounding bang and suddenly found themselves at the center of a media frenzy.

Initial suspicions of an airplane crash quickly spiraled into widespread reports that a meteorite had plummeted to Earth and left a smoking, boiling crater whose supposedly noxious fumes were reported to have sickened curious locals who went to peer at the hole.

Despite doubts expressed by geologists that the crater was actually caused by a meteorite and firm explanations that a meteorite would not even emit fumes and that the “sickness” was likely a case of mass hysteria, numerous onlookers far and wide were fascinated by the idea that this event could be some real-life “Andromeda Strain” (the 1969 novel by Michael Crichton), where a mysterious rock falling to Earth from outerspace made anyone who went near it ill.

So what is it about things falling from the sky that fills us with such fear that we can make ourselves sick with panic?

Mass hysteria

Media reports of the number of locals afflicted by a “mysterious disease”–with symptoms such as nausea, headaches and sore throats–after visiting the crater figured in every news article about the Aug. 15 event, with some reporting that as many as 600 people had fallen ill.

But doctors who visited the site told the Associated Press they found no evidence that the crater had actually sickened such a large number of people.

If noxious fumes did emanate from the crater, they were most likely the result of a hydrothermal explosion that could have actually formed the crater, or were released from the ground when the meteorite struck, if in fact one did, according to many geologists.

Arsenic is found in the subsoil in that area of Peru and often contaminates the drinking water there, according to Peruvian geologists quoted on Sept. 21 by National Geographic News. Arsenic fumes released from the crater could have sickened locals who went to look, said one geologist who examined the site.

Some health officials suggest that the symptoms described by the locals, the large number of people reporting symptoms, and the apparently rapid spread have all the hallmarks of a case of mass hysteria.

“Those who say they are affected are the product of a collective psychosis,” Jorge Lopez Tejada, health department chief in Puno, the nearest city, told the Los Angeles Times.

This psychosis could have begun as a result of fear of the meteorite and the mysterious “disease” on the part of the residents and spread as official and media reports seemed to confirm it and give it credence.

“The Peruvian event seems to be a rare case where we may be witnessing collective anxiety that is approaching near hysteria,” said Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist at John Moores University in England. “The major[ity] of the affected Peruvian town hinted that some of the mass anxiety is due to fear of imminent impacts and psychological stress which is not surprising given the premature speculation and media hype.”

Fear of outer space

Fear of a meteorite impact is nothing new–humans have long looked to the heavens with a wary eye.

“The fear of cosmic disaster, in particular cometary impacts, has existed in all cultures for millennia,” Peiser told SPACE.com

But the space age revealed just how many dangers, including comets, meteors, asteroids, and cosmic rays, await us in the final frontier.

“Only since the late 20th century, humankind has become aware of the risk posed by asteroids and comets,” Peiser said. “Unfortunately, this risk has been wildly exaggerated by popular culture.”

Our curiosity and fear of impact events has increased their coverage by the world media, Peiser says, which in turn has increased the number of meteorite impact reports, even when the evidence doesn’t point that way.

“In recent years, there have been numerous cases where alleged meteorite falls were linked to mysterious explosions on the ground–only to be proven wrong,” Peiser said. “One of the main reasons for the significant increase of such claims is almost certainly due to the growing media interest in the cosmic impact risk. It is part of human nature– and extremely tempting for the news media–to hype any event that initially looks mysterious.”

While this fear is normal and understandable, it’s been blown out of proportion so that the public thinks that impact risks are higher than they are, Peiser argues.

“Most people are simply not aware that we are making enormous progress in finding and identifying the population of Near Earth Objects and that the impact risk is thus diminishing year by year,” Peiser said.

And when meteorites have struck, they have never carried any hint of some mysterious space disease.

“I don’t know of any known record of a meteorite landing that emitted odors so noxious that people got sick from it,” said geologist Larry Grossman of the University of Chicago.

So much for the Andromeda Strain.

How frustrating is it when you reach out to a woman online and she doesn’t contact you back?

Here are the most common reasons why you didn’t hear from her, and ways to work around them so you can boost the number of email responses in your inbox.
1. She’s getting a lot of attention online. A key thing to remember is that women’s inboxes tend to get crowded with potential suitors. Make sure that you stand out from the competition by commenting about something specific she said in her profile, such as, “You mentioned you really like movies. What are some of your favorites?” Don’t send her the same email you sent to 20 other women. It doesn’t make her feel special.
2. You contacted her just because she looks hot. How many times have you skimmed a profile quickly and then contacted her right away because she is cute-looking in her photo? And then she doesn’t respond. If you go back and reread her profile in depth, there will be things you missed which give you the clues as to why she didn’t contact you. Maybe you missed that she has three dogs and your profile says you don’t like pets.
3. You posted the wrong photo.
“Guys, you need to start paying more attention to the photos you are choosing for your profiles.”
Guys, you need to start paying more attention to the photos you are choosing for your profiles. Don’t even think about posting a photo until you show it to a few women (a coworker, sister or friend you trust) and get their reactions. What you think is a fine-looking picture may look like a menacing mug shot to us. Also, a pet peeve for women is a photo where you’ve got your arm around some other woman who was obviously cut out of the picture. Last, but not least, choose pictures where you can see your face clearly.
4. She may think your email was too forward.
“Make sure you are not asking her for a lot of personal information”
Make sure you are not asking her for a lot of personal information the first time you contact her. You don’t want to make her shy away from you even though you are just trying to get to know her. Avoid asking things like her place of work, specifics about where she lives or details about her children. Also, don’t suggest meeting in person in the first email.
5. You focus on past breakups in your profile.
“When women read your profile, they want to learn about you, not your exes.”
When women read your profile, they want to learn about you, not your exes. If you are including too much detail about bad past relationships in your profile, you may end up sounding bitter and jaded, which is a turnoff. As you get to know a woman online over time, then you can get into both of your relationship histories. It’s not something for your profile.
6. You aren’t her type. Even though you think your profile and her profile could walk off into a romantic sunset together, she may feel that you are not her type. I know it’s hard to do, but gentlemen, try not to take this personally. The process of online dating is sorting through a variety of profiles to find the ones that are best suited to you. If she doesn’t think you will be a good fit, then you probably won’t be and she’s saving you a lot of time and effort.
7. She doesn’t get what a catch you are! You want someone who understands all the things you have to offer and is excited to respond to you. Instead of focusing on all the women who aren’t contacting you back, pay attention to the thousands of women with profiles online who are just waiting to hear from you!

HANGZHOU, China (AP) — The streak is over, and so is the United States’ bid for a third Women’s World Cup championship.

Brazil and its star player Marta put on a dazzling performance against the Americans and cruised to a 4-0 victory in the semifinals Thursday, ending the U.S. unbeaten streak at 51 games and sending the Brazilians into their first title match, against Germany on Sunday.

Brazil went ahead on an own-goal in the 20th minute, and Marta made it 2-0 soon after. Cristiane and Marta added goals in the second half, with Marta becoming the tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals.

The U.S. played the final 45 minutes with 10 players after midfielder Shannon Boxx was sent off in first-half injury time for a contentious second yellow card.

Goalkeeper Briana Scurry, playing in her 164th game for the U.S., was surprisingly picked ahead of Hope Solo, who started the first four games. Solo gave up two goals in the first match but was unscored on for the following 300 minutes. Scurry, meanwhile, hadn’t played a full game in three months.

Though U.S. coach Greg Ryan didn’t blame the loss on Scurry, Solo questioned the decision and Scurry’s performance.

“It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that,” she said. “There’s no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it’s not 2004 anymore. … It’s 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can’t live by big names. You can’t live in the past. It doesn’t matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that’s what I think.”

The Americans play Norway in Sunday’s third-place game.

Bidding for another title to go with championships in 1991 and 1999, the U.S. team was outplayed and outhustled by the Brazilians in its worst defeat in any World Cup match. The semifinal loss was a repeat of the 2003 event, when the Americans were eliminated by Germany.

“We could have come out stronger I think but today was Brazil’s day,” American striker Abby Wambach said. “I’m heartbroken.

“The first goal was kind of a fluke goal, then Marta comes down on the second goal and then we go down on the red card. Things were not falling for us today.”

In the 20th minute, Formiga sent in a corner, which bounced just short of the goal. Attempting to head it behind, midfielder Leslie Osborne headed it into the net between Scurry and Lori Chalupny.

Marta, Brazil’s creative striker, struck seven minutes later. She evaded a half-dozen players and cracked a left-footed shot from 15 yards that hugged the ground and beat Scurry diving to her left. She got her left hand on the ball but couldn’t stop it.

Brazil may have also deserved a penalty in the fifth minute when American defender Cat Whitehill escaped despite bringing down Cristiane in the area.

Forced to push for the goal in the second half, the U.S. left itself exposed at the back with Maycon, Daniela and Cristiane narrowly missing in the opening minutes. Cristiane finally broke through in the 56th to make it 3-0, left-footing a shot home in a one-on-one contest with Scurry.

“Tonight we played as a team, and we have not always done that,” Brazil coach Jorge Barcellos said. “We have the individual talent and this game was a complete team effort.”

The Americans had only two shots on goal in the first half and top striker Abby Wambach was never a factor. Kristine Lilly, playing in a record fifth World Cup, had the best U.S. chance in the second half but her point-blank shot landed in Andreia’s hands in the 63rd.

After the third goal, Brazil slowed the play as the Americans kept pressing for a score.

Brazil’s last flurry came in the 79th when Marta showed off all her talent. Off the left wing, she faked around U.S. defender Tina Ellertson, raced into the box, dummied around another and beat Scurry with a shot that drew a huge ovation from a crowd of 48,000.

Scurry, the 36-year-old veteran who was coach Greg Ryan’s surprise goalkeeping choice against Brazil, had a nervous first half. In the seventh minute, she came out to catch a free kick, but it slipped through her fingers although Brazil missed the scoring chance.

Ryan said he picked Scurry because of her quick reflexes. She was in goal in a 2-0 win over Brazil in June in New York, and she also was the keeper in the Americans’ 2-1 victory over Brazil in the 2004 Olympic final. Badly outplayed in that match, Scurry was credited with bringing the Americans gold.

Brazil’s victory was only its second over the United States in 23 games.

Despite winning Group B, the Americans seldom looked threatening on offense in this tournament, and was unable to sustain the form of its 3-0 victory over England in the quarterfinals.