I'm surprised no one's mentioned the pick up community, AKA gaming (as in "The Game"). It's a good way for hetero guys to meet other hetero guys. A lot of people who stick with it are the type who want to better themselves in some way, which is quite inspiring. Plus, you'll learn skills to meet loads of girls as well, and it's up to you whether you choose to put in the time to have them as friends.
I know a lot of people who it's helped, and I've made some good friends through it as well. The social skills can also be translated to business/events so even if you're not interested in a stream of conquests, it can be valuable. It's the one thing I wish I'd found when I was at university.
One of the guys I met in a bar at a language exchange (good places to meet other hetero guys btw) even joked about this when one of my other friends came over ("Hey we just met each other but both agree she's really hot (pointing to a girl) so we're going to hang out, and go find girls."). It was cool because we ended up with a group of decent guys to hit the town with.
Someone else mentions homophobia. It's not homophobia, just making sure you're on the same page.
Actually, I've got to say, while there are guys to steer clear of, I made a few decent male friends gaming (as in "the game"). It's worth checking out (if you're prepared to work on yourself if you need to) since you'll meet a lot of guys working on themselves or with decent attitudes (just avoid the ones you don't like).
I can recommend the book Anatomy of Friendship [1] by Reisman. It's an old book but dispels the myth that things are more difficult now than in days gone by, since he quotes ancient Greeks/Romans lamenting the difficulties of friendship.
It really made me understand friendship, how to make friends, and how friendship varies throughout our lives. Definitely worth digging up a copy. It's a shame it's no longer in print.
It's not a tech issue, it's a business issue. Why give people bigger raises than they may otherwise ask for? That's just wasting money. It's the same logic for why you only get a good deal when you threaten to leave your mobile phone provider. They don't want to proactively reduce your rate or make it too easy to get a discount otherwise they might be doing it unnecessarily.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
With work, it's also about an employee's best alternative, and also the psychology of "well, you used to work for x, so we'll only pay you a small increase since that's obviously what you'll work for". It's as much the psychological aspect as anything else since it's difficult to decide the "price" of something without any reference (i.e. a new employee).
Constant growth rate gives rise to a quantity that is an exponential function of time [not to be confused with a constant rate of increase, which gives rise to a linear function of time].
As that Wikipedia article says, the continuous-time equation for exponential growth, x(t) = x(0) e^(kt), arises as the solution to the ODE x'(t) = kx, where k is the constant growth rate.
Similarly, in discrete-time, exponential growth follows the equation x_t = x_0 (1+r)^t, where r is the constant growth rate.
The formula for constant growth over time, for example, a 2% increase every year, would be starting salary * 1.02 ^ t where t is the number of years. So there is an exponent present, and constant growth is an exponential process.
I know a lot of people who it's helped, and I've made some good friends through it as well. The social skills can also be translated to business/events so even if you're not interested in a stream of conquests, it can be valuable. It's the one thing I wish I'd found when I was at university.