1. Provide Cover: If you are Twittering about events in Iran from outside Iran, you have the luxury of not worrying about that knock on the door. Not so for Iranians. There is a movement afoot to provide cover for Iranian cyber-dissent by changing your Twitter profile to match the time zone and location of the Iranians brave enough to tweet the updates and calls to action. To do this, simply open the settings page and select "GMT+03:30 Tehran" and change your location to Tehran, Iran.

2. Change Your Facebook Picture: We did! It's a small thing, but a show of support on Facebook is something Iranians can see, so long as the government doesn't shut down the internet completely.

3. Spread the Stories: Iran is a deeply misunderstood place. Stereotypes abound and are typified by the front page of today's New York Post, which featured a photo from the protests and the headline: TURBAN WARFARE. Powerful narratives are emerging from inside Iran. Put them in your Twitter feed, on your Facebook page, on your blog, or send them out via email. The best place to find these narratives is over at Andrew Sullivan's Atlantic blog The Daily Dish or through a Twitter search for tweets about Iran.

Image by  Hamed Saber , licensed under  Creative Commons .

The Iranian presidential election is Friday. It's a fascinating contest and if you've neglected it, you're in luck: here's your primer. See you in the booth! Wait.

1. A profile of one of more than 40 women who applied for a presidential run but were determined unfit to run by Iran's Guardian Council:

2. A brief profile of reform candidate and abstract painter Mir Hossein Mousavi:

3. A look at how new media is confounding the Iranian government and boosting Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign:

Sources:  Al Jazeera ,  UPI  

Not long ago, I learned that George Bush was the first presidential candidate in the era of television to win against a taller candidate. (Kerry was 6’4”, Bush is 6’1”.)

Now I read this from the New Scientist: “To predict who will win next year's race for the White House, or any other election for that matter, you need look no further than the candidates' physical attributes.”

Researchers from Princeton University showed people photos of candidates in a number of major elections. After just .1 seconds, the people were able to pick the winner of the race with 70 percent accuracy.

It all reminds me of this recent video from the Onion News Network:

—Bennett Gordon

UPDATE: ScienCentral News has more information on the study, including a short video interview with one of the researchers.