I wrapp’d myself in grandeur then, And donn’d a visionary crown

As much as we check in, we are checking out of our own lives and becoming voyeuristic, peering gape-mouthed into the sordid details of other people's lives in order to feel connected or entertained.

In a classic study imprisoned muggers were asked to rate the muggability of people by simply watching them walk down the street. The study concluded that the most attractive targets were people whose gait was perceived as nonsynchronous.

Ji Wenhua was sentenced to death on Monday by Lishui intermediate court in Zhejiang for illegally raising 5.5 billion yuan ($867 million) between 2003 and 2008, the South China Morning Post reported. He was also separately accused of fraud worth some 1.47 billion yuan ($231.6 million).