The FREAKest Links: Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign? Edition

Via the U.K. Guardian: A team of Edinburgh University psychologists led by Christopher Bale and Peter Caryl conducted a survey of 266 women and 115 men on the use of pickup lines. They found that women respond positively to lines that indicate the suitor is a “nice guy,” while men are “consistently over-optimistic” about the success of sexually explicit come-ons.

Slate “Moneybox” columnist and Pop author Daniel Gross bursts the bubble on “Chow for Charity” lunch programs at New York law firms, in which overfed summer associates can elect to forego their $60 daily lunch allowance [sic] and have the money donated to nonprofit legal groups. He sums it up as follows: “Doing good isn’t a serious commitment or an end in itself. Rather, it’s an ornament, like a wall sconce, that makes consumers or employees feel good about themselves and the company … Chow for Charity is a perfect case, since it doesn’t cost the firm a dime.”