BLOGS

The Broken heart

2009-10-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Even today when i listen to those songs
it brings in old memories along
Those meetings those calls
were they false or had any meaning at all?

Still i try to find out why i said "yes'?
but the answer to this i never get
But 1 thing is sure
that there is something more

There are various questions which are unanswered
there are various feeling which are still unexpressed
There is deep sorrow which cant be addressred

Was it real or a prank?
Thinking this my heart sank
but as the time passes by
my hurt heart wants to fly

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The day You Come Back

2009-10-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

I visualise the day you will come back
i see it in my dreams when the dawn cracks
will that day really come?
is the question in my heart that runs

What would u say?
From where would u start?
would u really pay for the pain u dart?

with all my emotions packed
i would like you to do the main act
you tell me that day why did u do this to me?
my feelings are not a thing that comes for free

start from the begining to the end
give me the reasons so that later i dont repent
why did u leave me in the midway?
I still respected your decision and said" as u say"

I thought if the love is true it would come back
but would this really happen was a thought stored in my minds rack

Now that the day has come
I feel uneasy n brunt

I am nt able to decide is it real or a game
to give me some more pain

As u come back and apologise
i sing it to the world to my surprise

the possible reason to this could be
that someone gave u the same pain u gave me
is this reason i dont let my soul free?

Did i really wanted u to say
or is it the ego that comes to play

but as my instinct say
how can u be with sumone with whom u were always in fray

still dont know whats in his mind?
is he really nice and kind?

I stopped him before he could say anything more

should he be given one more chance?
or would that be a decision taken in trance

but when i look into his eyes
guilty is the feeling that doesnt subside

should it be the strong reason to giv it one more shot
I hope its nt his new planned plot

Unable to figure out his and my feelings
I look up the ceiling and try too long to breathe in

leaving it to God
if genuine Would again come back against all odds

Large Hardon Collider

2008-09-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator complex, intended to collide opposing beams of protons (one of several types of hadrons) with very high kinetic energy. Each of the two beams contains just a billionth of a gram of matter. But the material is moving so fast that one billionth of a gram has the momentum of a freight train going 120 MPH, squeezed into two 17 mile-long circular streams each thinner than a human hair.
The LHC will explore the validity and limitations of the Standard Model, the current theoretical picture for particle physics. It is theorized that the collider will confirm the existence of the Higgs boson. This would supply a crucial missing link in the Standard Model and explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass. It is also expected that experiments at the LHC could establish supersymmetry and establish the existence of a large family of hypothesized supersymmetric partners of the known particles, or reveal the presence of the higher dimensions (beyond three of space and one of time) suggested by string theory.
The LHC was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and lies underneath the Franco-Swiss border between the Jura Mountains and the Alps near Geneva, Switzerland. It is funded by and built in collaboration with over eight thousand physicists from over eighty-five countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. The LHC circulated its first particle beams on 10 September 2008, but a few days later had to suspend operations due to equipment failure, when a faulty connection between two magnets triggered a shutdown which will delay its operation for two months.[1] Owing to the already planned winter shutdown, the collider will not be operational again until the spring of 2009.[2][3]
Although concerns have been raised in the media and through the courts regarding the Safety of particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, the consensus in the scientific community is that there is no conceivable threat from the LHC collisions.
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Scientists Identify the Brain’s Activity Hub

2008-07-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

The brain is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. In mammals, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, equilibrioception, sense of taste, and olfaction. The outer layer of the brain, the reasoning, planning and self-aware region known as the cerebral cortex, has a central clearinghouse of activity below the crown of the head that is widely connected to more-specialized regions in a large network similar to a subway map, scientists reported.

The new report, published in the free-access online journal PLOS Biology, provides the most complete rough draft to date of the cortex’s electrical architecture, the cluster of interconnected nodes and hubs that help guide thinking and behavior.

The paper also provides a striking demonstration of how new imaging techniques focused on the brain’s white matter — the connections between cells, rather than the neurons themselves — are filling in a dimension of human brain function that has been all but dark.
In previous studies, scientists have used magnetic resonance imaging to identify peaks and valleys of neural activity when people are doing various things, like making decisions, reacting to frightening images or reliving painful memories.

But these studies, while provocative, revealed virtually nothing about the underlying neural networks involved — about which brain regions speak to one another and when. Previous estimates of network structure, based on such imaging, have been sketchy. The new findings, while not conclusive, give scientists what is essentially a wiring diagram that they can test and refine.

“This is just about the coolest paper I’ve seen in a long time, and forward-looking in terms of where the science is going,” said Dr. Marcus E. Raichle, a professor of neurology and radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, who was not involved in the research. He added, “They’ve found in the brain what looks like a hub map of the airline system for the United States.”

Dr. Sporns said continued research should help produce a complete and detailed neural wiring diagram, what he called the “connectome” of the brain. “We hope we can get to a place where we have, in effect, a brain simulator, in the same way we have computer models that can simulate the climate,” he said, “so we can simulate activation patterns we see in clinical cases,” like psychiatric problems and brain injuries.

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Women take more sick leave than men

2008-02-05T16:11:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: If the number of sick leave they take is any indication, then it seems that the fairer sex is more prone to falling ill, for a new study has found that female workers take almost 50 per cent more short-term sick leave than their male counterparts.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland showed that women were 46 per cent more likely to be off work for between one to three days, which does not require a sick note.

However, the researchers also showed that female employees don't take more long-term sick leave. For the study, the team assessed periods of sick leave among almost 7,000 municipal workers in Helsinki, Finland, between 2002 and 2005. Morning sickness, also called nausea, vomiting of pregnancy (emesis gravidarum or NVP), or pregnancy sickness, affects between 50 and 95 percent of all pregnant women as well as some women who use hormonal contraception or hormone replacement therapy. The nausea can be mild or induce actual vomiting. In extreme cases, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, hospitalization may be required to treat the resulting dehydration.

The employees, who were all aged between 40 and 60, were also quizzed about their working lives and general health. The findings showed that physical health problems, physical work demands, and work fatigue were more commonly reported by women.

And they were 46 per cent more likely than men to call in sick for short periods of a few days. They were also a third more likely to take short-term sick leave, certified by a doctor, the researchers found. But diagnosed illness explained only about a third of the difference in spells of self-certified sick leave and about half of that certified by a doctor.

The authors suggest that women may be better at recognising problems and going to the doctor for treatment. Researchers said that the reasons for the difference could include women finding their work more physically demanding. Alternatively, they might simply be more organised about seeing a doctor and getting signed off work when ill. The findings are published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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Study finds high levels of chemicals in infants using baby cosmetics

2008-02-05T16:10:00.000-08:00

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance or protect the appearance or odor of the human skin. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toenail polishes, eye and facial makeup, permanent aves, hair colors, hair sprays and gels, deodorants, baby products, bath oils, bubble baths, bath salts, butters and many other types of products. Their use is widespread, especially among women in Western countries. A subset of cosmetics is called "make-up," which refers primarily to colored products intended to alter the user’s appearance. Many manufacturers distinguish between decorative cosmetics and care cosmetics.

The manufacture of cosmetics is currently dominated by a small number of multinational corporations that originated in the early 20th century, but the distribution and sale of cosmetics is spread among a wide range of different businesses. The U.S. FDA which regulates cosmetics in the United States. Defines cosmetics as "intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the body's structure or functions." This broad definition includes, as well, any material intended for use as a component of a cosmetic product. The FDA specifically excludes soap from this category.

Babies exposed to lotion, shampoo and powder had more than four times the level of phthalates in their urine as those whose parents had not used the products. Previous research found that the substances altered the children’s hormones. Infants and toddlers exposed to baby lotions, shampoos and powders carry high concentrations of hormone-altering chemicals in their bodies that might have reproductive effects, according to a new scientific study of babies born in Los Angeles and two other U.S. cities.

The research, to be published today in the medical journal Pediatrics, found that as the use of baby care products rose, so did the concentration of phthalates, which are used in many fragrances. Manufacturers do not list phthalates as ingredients on labels, so it is unknown which products contain them. The researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Rochester stressed that the potential effects on babies were uncertain.

But previous animal and human research suggests that early exposure to some phthalates could reduce testosterone and alter reproductive organs, particularly in males. The three phthalate compounds found in the highest concentrations in babies in the study were linked to reduced testosterone in a 2006 study of newborns in Denmark. Some scientists theorize such changes in hormones could lead to fertility problems and male reproductive disorders.

Representatives of the fragrance and cosmetics industries said they were surprised by the findings and questioned their validity. They said only one phthalate compound is used in baby products, and it is found in such low levels that they doubt it could explain high concentrations found in the babies

"Phthalate exposure is widespread and variable in infants. We found that mothers' reported use of infant lotion, infant powder and shampoo was significantly associated with urinary concentrations," the scientists wrote in the new study.In the study, babies exposed to baby lotion, shampoo and powder had more than four times the level of phthalates in their urine than babies whose parents had not used the products. The highest levels were reported in babies under 8 months old, and those exposed to lotions.

Previous studies have focused on a different route of exposure for children: sucking on soft, vinyl toys. Phthalates, in addition to helping cosmetics retain fragrance and color, are used as plasticizers in some vinylIn their report, the scientists advised parents who want to reduce their baby's exposure to stop using lotions and powders unless their doctors recommend them for medical reasons. They also suggested limiting use of shampoos and other products. Many adult lotions and other personal care products also contain phthalates. But DEP is used at "very low levels, in the part-per-million range, below what could possibly account for the levels they are finding" in the babies' .The highest concentrations in the babies were for a phthalate known as MEP, which comes from DEP, the compound used in fragrances. One baby had an extremely high level of MEP -- 4.4 parts per million.

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Soon You can communicate with dog

2008-02-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

Dog communication refers to body movements and sounds dogs use to send signals to other dogs, and other animals (usually humans). Dog communication comes in a variety of forms. Dogs use certain movements of their bodies and body parts and different vocalizations to send signals. There are a number of basic ways a dog can communicate. These are movements of the ears, eyes and eyebrows, mouth, head, tail, and entire body, as well as barks, growls, whines and whimpers, and howls. It is important to note that while many gestures and actions have common, stereotypical meanings, researchers regularly seem to find that animal communication is often more complex and subtle than previously believed, and that the same gesture may have multiple distinct meanings depending on context and other behaviors. So, generalizations such as "X means Y" are often, but not always accurate. For example, even a simple tail wag may (depending on context) convey many meanings including.

BUDAPEST: Hungarian scientists are working on computer software analysing dog barks that could allow people to better recognise dogs' basic emotions, Hungarian ethologist Csaba Molnar said. Molnar and his colleagues at Budapest's ELTE University have tested software which distinguishes the emotional reaction of 14 dogs of the Hungarian Mudi herding breed to six situations: When the dog is alone, when it sees a ball, it fights, it plays, it encounters a stranger or it goes for a walk.

"A possible commercial application could be a device for dog-human communication," the scientist told. The computer correctly recognized the emotional reaction of the dogs based on their barks and yelps in 43 percent of the cases.

People had judged correctly in 40 percent of cases. Scientists said the software could be improved. Molnar said the Hungarian scientists' research provided further proof that different types of dog barks convey messages humans can understand even if they had no experience with dogs.

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Oracle to buy BEA

2008-02-04T15:08:00.002-08:00

BEA Systems, Inc. is one of the major companies developing enterprise infrastructure software. BEA makes middleware, products that help software run on top of databases. Founded in 1995, BEA has specialized in the enterprise infrastructure software market throughout its 12 year history, and currently has 78 offices in 37 countries. BEA is headquartered in San Jose, California. On January 16, 2008, Oracle Corporation announced it was purchasing BEA Systems.

The company's name is an acronym based on the first names of the company's three founders: Bill Coleman, Ed Scott and Alfred Chuang. Alfred Chuang is still with the company, acting as the chairman and CEO. At the time, BEA's largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, expressed his outrage over BEA's rejection of Oracle's offer and threatened to launch a proxy fight. BEA later reached an agreement to show Icahn its financials under a nondisclosure agreement, in an effort to show it was worth holding out for more than $17 a share.

Chuang, a BEA co-founder, had long been viewed in the industry and by Wall Street as staunchly opposed to any sale, as rumors over the years surfaced that BEA was in play for an acquisition. Over the years, BEA has faced growing competition from such rivals as Microsoft, Oracle, and various open-source companies.

Oracle, meanwhile, has developed Fusion Middleware, in which it will use BEA's technology to enhance its offerings. BEA's WebLogic Java Server will be coupled with the various components of Oracle's Fusion software suite. "BEA has been a pioneer in middleware," Larry Ellison, Oracle founder and chief executive, said during a tightly scripted press conference. "Alfred is credited with a lot of those successes."

Ellison also noted that the acquisition would accelerate the adoption among the combined companies' customers of Java-based middleware technologies and service-oriented architectures (SOA). It will also increase the Oracle's footprint in key regions such as Greater China and in industries such as telecommunications. Oracle plans to retain and support BEA's product lines, similar to its work following the major acquisitions of PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel Systems.

"There are a number of fundamental synergies between Oracle and BEA," Pat Walravens, an analyst with JMP Securities, noted in a research note. "The BEA acquisition would make Oracle the No. 1 player in the middleware space, pushing Oracle ahead of IBM. Over 50 percent of BEA's revenue is maintenance. Many of the PeopleSoft applications run on BEA's middle tier. In addition, many BEA shops run the Oracle database."

BEA also offers a high-end messaging product to supplement Oracle's offering and can dish out stronger enterprise-service-business technology via its AquaLogic product, which allows customers to use SOA technology to access information, Gilpin noted. Oracle in March acquired Tangosol, a transaction-processing specialist whose products should complement those of BEA as Oracle brings those assets under one roof, Gilpin said.

The merger will also give Oracle a greater presence in virtualization, a market it is just entering but one in which BEA's JRockit Java Virtual Machine has had a presence for several years. "This transaction is an excellent example of the great results that can be achieved for all constituencies when the shareholder activist is able to work cooperatively with management," Icahn said in a statement. Icahn, who holds a 13 percent stake in BEA, said he plans to vote in favor of the merger.

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Many laptops are lighter than MacBook Air

2008-02-04T15:08:00.001-08:00

The MacBook Air is a lightweight Macintosh notebook computer by Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs revealed the laptop by removing it from a manila envelope at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. Apple claims it to be the "world's thinnest notebook"at 0.76 inches thick at its thickest point and 0.16 inches (0.41 cm) at its thinnest. Apple's new MacBook Air may be the thinnest laptop on the market, but it isn't the lightest.

But Toshiba, Lenovo, Fujitsu and Sony are just some of the companies already making laptops that weigh less than the 3-pound Air. Toshiba's Portege R500 starts at 1.72 pounds, while Lenovo's ThinkPad X61 is 2.7 pounds. The Air "is really similar to a product that we came out with four years ago," says Sony Senior Vice President Mike Abary.

But many people aren't familiar with these pint-size PCs, and the market for them is relatively small, says tech analyst Stephen Baker at researcher NPD. Of the 110.3 million laptops sold worldwide in 2007, only 7.5 million had a screen size of 12 inches or less, researcher IDC says. (The Air's screen is larger than that, but screen size is the way analysts typically identify light, ultra-portable PCs.)

That's because ultra-portables are a niche market and a tough sell, Baker says. Reasons include:

Price. The smaller an internal computer component, the more it typically costs. Since a normal laptop weighs 5 or 6 pounds, it takes a lot of expensive specialty parts to build an ultra-portable. One of Sony's least expensive ultra-portable is $2,100, and its priciest model sells for $3,700. Toshiba's tiny machines start at around $2,150. In comparison, full-size Dell laptops start at $499.

Feature compromises. To save space, computer makers cut features. The MacBook Air doesn't have a CD/DVD drive or an easily swappable battery. Some models of Fujitsu's Lifebook P1620 come with a battery half as powerful as is standard. The Sony Vaio TZ has an 11.1-inch screen, compared with 15.4 inches on larger Sony models.
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Why Abortions Are Down in America

2008-02-04T15:07:00.001-08:00

An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. This can occur spontaneously or accidentally as with a miscarriage, or be induced by medical, surgical or other means at any point during human pregnancy for therapeutic or elective reasons. Approximately 46 million abortions are performed worldwide every year.

Throughout recorded history, abortion has been induced by various traditional medicine methods, including botanical abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools, and abdominal pressure. The moral and legal aspects of abortion are subject to intense social debate in many parts of the world. Aspects of this debate can include the public health impact of unsafe or illegal abortion as well as legal abortion's effect upon crime rates, and the ramifications of sex-selective practices. Other debates may include suggested but unproven effects of abortion including the Abortion-breast cancer hypothesis, Post-abortion syndrome, and fetal pain.

The abortion rate in the USA fell to its lowest point in more than 30 years, and the actual number of abortions also continues a steady decline, according to the first new comprehensive data in five years. The report, by the New York City-based Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit that has been tracking abortion since 1974, shows that medical abortions using the drug RU-486 are increasing as a percentage of all abortions. Guttmacher's periodic reports are based on surveys of abortion providers.

This report uses statistics from 2005, the most recent year available. It is being released just before Tuesday's 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. The conclusion of a sweeping new nationwide study released today that included interviews with every known abortion provider in the country is unambiguous. Abortions are decreasing.

Anti-Abortion Group Backs Fired Pregnant Teacher The study, conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, which researches issues related to reproductive health and sexuality, found that in 2005, the U.S. abortion rate fell to 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 to 44, the lowest level since 1974. The total number of abortions also declined, to a total of 1.2 million in 2005, well below the all-time high of 1.6 million abortions in 1990.

"Eighty-seven percent of counties in the United States don't have an abortion provider," Rachel Jones of the Guttmacher Institute said. "Thirty-five percent of women live in those counties.” Romney Muddles Abortion Stance Opponents say more women are coming to grips with the horror of abortion, in part because of the increasing numbers of so-called crisis pregnancy centers, which set up near abortion clinics and offer services like ultrasounds to convince women to keep their babies.

"This is a very powerful tool," anti-abortion activist Chris Slattery said of ultrasounds. "Now it's much harder for them to actually think of destroying a child." Pomona College political science professor John Seery, who studies the politics of abortion, has his own theory, which he calls the "Juno" effect after the current movie in which a young woman decides to keep her baby for personal not political reasons. He said the movie reflects a cultural shift in the country.

The political and policy debate over abortion is as divisive and deadlocked as ever, even 35 years after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. But the study released today indicates that on a personal level, women are choosing to have fewer abortions.

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Virus Is Linked to a Powerful Skin Cancer

2008-02-04T15:06:00.002-08:00

Skin cancer is a malignant growth on the skin which can have many causes. Skin cancer generally develops in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin), so a tumor is usually clearly visible. This makes most skin cancers detectable in the early stages. Scientists have discovered a previously unknown virus and strongly linked it with the most aggressive form of skin cancer, they reported in a scientific journal on Thursday.

The cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma, tends to occur most often on the sun-exposed areas of the body like the face, the head and the neck. Although it is rare, its incidence tripled from 1986 to 2001, and it now accounts for an estimated 1,200 cases in this country each year, the National Cancer Institute says.

The virus was discovered by a University of Pittsburgh team that includes Dr. Patrick S. Moore and his wife, Dr. Yuan Chang. In 1994, when they were at Columbia University, Dr. Moore and Dr. Chang discovered human herpes virus 8, which causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, the most common malignancy in AIDS patients. Until the advent of transplant surgery and AIDS, Kaposi’s sarcoma and Merkel cell carcinoma typically affected people older than 65.

Now those people have been joined as the most frequent Kaposi’s and Merkel cell sufferers by those whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs.The newly discovered virus belongs to the polyoma family, which scientists have studied for more than 50 years because other members of the family have been found to produce cancers in animals. Although polyoma viruses have been suspected of causing human cancers, conclusive proof has been lacking.

The Pittsburgh scientists call the new virus Merkel cell polyoma virus. In a report published online by the journal Science, they said that while they suspected that it caused Merkel cell skin cancer, more work was needed to prove it.

The polyoma virus is the seventh virus linked to human cancers, Dr. Moore and Dr. Fauci said. The others, in addition to the Kaposi’s sarcoma virus, are hepatitis B and C viruses, linked to liver cancer; papilloma virus, to cervical cancer; Epstein-Barr virus, to cancer of the nose and pharynx and to Burkitt’s lymphoma; and HTLV-1, or human T-cell leukemia virus 1.

While Dr. Moore and Dr. Chang were at Columbia they began developing a technique called digital transcriptome subtraction, which they continued to use after moving to Pittsburgh in 2002 to seek new or known viruses in immune-related cancers.

The findings raise new scientific challenges. One is to determine any links between the virus and other diseases. Among this team’s next steps is an effort to determine whether a virus is related to Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Dr. Moore said.

The technique used to identify the Merkel cell polyoma virus eliminates known human molecular sequences from a sample of tissue, leaving unknown or nonhuman sequences that the scientists explore in seeking a possible infectious agent. Dr. Moore said he hoped the technique would be useful in screening tissues from patients with diseases of unknown cause to find a new agent or to reduce the likelihood that they are related to one.

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Proper diet boosts recovery

2008-02-04T15:06:00.001-08:00

Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol. Although many human cultures sought food items through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use farming, ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other methods of a local nature included but playing a minor role. Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified their foods by means of preparation, cooking methods and manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade which helps the cultures to economically survive by-way-of food, not just by consumption.

Many cultures study the dietary analysis of food habits. While humans are omnivores, religion and social constructs such as morality often affect which foods they will consume. Food safety is also a concern with foodborne illness claiming many lives each year. In many languages, food is often used metaphorically or figuratively, as in "food for thought.

LONDON: Proper diet and a favourable lifestyle can effectively boost a person’s ability to respond favourably to certain drugs, including some cancer therapies. University of Manchester researchers, using baker’s yeast, a model organism studied by biologists to reveal molecular processes in higher organism effectively exhibited that the nutrients in the environment played a critical role in the fitness of cells that carry genetic mutations caused by diseases.

They removed one of the two copies of all yeast genes, similar to removing one parent’s set of genes in a human and scrutinised the resulting fitness under different dietary restrictions. "If the gene targeted is quantitatively important, you would normally expect the yeast to show a reduction in fitness,” Nature Genetics quoted Dr Daniela Delneri, lead researcher in the University’s Faculty of Life Sciences, as saying. "But what we found was that in certain environmental conditions, removing one copy of certain genes actually produced the opposite effect and surprisingly the yeast cells grew more quickly and were healthier," she added. They also found that effect mainly transpired in genes involved in the proteasome, a quality-control system within the cell that degrades unwanted proteins.

"The proteasome is important as it maintains the equilibrium of the cell. When this equilibrium is lost it can result in a number of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, Huntingdon’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Researchers recommended that a person’s diet and lifestyle should be taken into consideration while prescribing therapeutic drugs to assure a beneficial effect. "Our study shows that reduced proteasome activity could be either advantageous or damaging to the cell depending on the nutrients available to it in the surrounding environment," The study appears in Journal Nature Genetics.

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US company claims cloned humans, made stem cells

2008-02-04T15:05:00.001-08:00

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of something. In biology, it collectively refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human being, human cell, or human tissue. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning; human clones in the form of identical twins are commonplace, with their cloning occurring during the natural process of reproduction.

Although genes are recognized as influencing behavior and cognition, "genetically identical" does not mean altogether identical; identical twins, despite being natural human clones with near identical DNA, are separate people, with separate experiences and not altogether overlapping personalities. The relationship between an "original" and a clone is rather like that between identical triplets raised apart; they share nearly the entire same DNA, but little of the same environment. A lively scientific debate on this topic occurred in the journal Nature in 1997. Ultimately, the question of how similar an original and a clone would be boils down to how much of personality is determined by genetics, an area still under active scientific investigation.

If human cloning proceeds, one method scientists can use is somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is the same procedure that was used to create Dolly the sheep. Somatic cell nuclear transfer begins when doctors take the egg from a donor and remove the nucleus of the egg, creating an enucleated egg. A cell, which contains DNA, is then taken from the person who is being cloned. The enucleated egg is then fused together with the cloning subject's cell using electricity. This creates an embryo, which is implanted into a surrogate mother through in vitro fertilization. If the procedure is successful, then the surrogate mother will give birth to a baby that is a clone of the cloning subject at the end of a normal gestation period. Of course, the success rate is only about one or two out of 100 embryos. It took 277 attempts to create Dolly.

A California company it used cloning technology to make five human embryos, with the eventual hope of making matched stem cells for patients. Other experts were skeptical about the claims, published in the journal Stem Cells. If verified, the team would be the first to prove they have cloned human beings as a source of stem cells, the master cells of the body. There are several types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, made from days-old embryos, are considered the most powerful because they can give rise to all the cell types in the body.

"Since a significant percentage of couples undergoing fertility treatments appear willing to participate in this type of research, we believe the method described to obtain donated oocytes is a viable and ethically acceptable strategy," the researchers wrote.” This is the most successful description so far of the use of the cloning techniques with purely human material. However, it is still a long way from achieving the goal of obtaining embryonic stem cells”.

South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk made headlines when he was found to have faked key parts of a report that his team had used cloning technology to make human embryos in 2004. "We need to be ultra-cautious after the Hwang scandal and not make the same mistake all over again," said Dr. Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology, a Massachusetts company that is also trying to make human embryonic stem cells. "I'd really like to believe it, but I'm not sold yet”.

Other teams have made stem cells they believe are similar to embryonic cells using a variety of techniques, including reprogramming a human egg cell alone, reprogramming ordinary skin cells into what are called induced pluripotent stem cells, or by taking one cell from a human embryo without harming the embryo. But most stem cell experts agree it is important to continue trying to make stem cells from embryos too.

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The Most Depressing Day of the Year

2008-02-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the most depressing day of the year, and not just for those federal election candidates who will be losers by day's end. The subprime mortgage crisis, stormy, unpredictable weather, rising gas prices, presidential primary free-for-alls. So, it would be easy to believe the theory set forth by Dr. Cliff Arnall, a researcher from Cardiff University, that the third Monday of the month (Jan. 21, this year) — a day he calls Blue Monday — will be our most depressing day of the year.
Arnall bases his yearly prediction on a formula he developed, which factors in the weather, consumer debt from holiday spending and failed New Year's resolutions and arrives at that conclusion that we'll hit rock bottom on Monday the 21st.
Aside from the fact that Arnall's theory has been discounted by many in the academic community, I've got a better way of finding the true nadir of depression: Look to our search behavior. In the digital age we're likely to turn to search engines just as often as we would confide in friends and medical professionals to gauge our psychological state. If we think we're suffering from a real bout of the blues or a mental crisis, we're likely to Google the symptoms or find a chat group in the hopes of performing a self-diagnosis. In fact, online searches for "depression" are among the most popular searches sending traffic to the 5,900 sites that we track in the Hitwise Health and Medical category — but the peak is not in January.
According to our Internet behavior, our depression spikes reliably in mid-November every year, right in time for Thanksgiving, the launch of the holiday season. To confirm this timing I took a look from a different perspective. If we're depressed, we're probably also seeking pharmacological help. By aggregating the traffic to the websites of the top antidepressants and charting visits to those sites over the last three years, a very interesting pattern emerges.
The spike in traffic to the official websites for drugs like Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil and Cymbalta occurs in late October and early November, two weeks ahead of the height in searches on "depression." It's almost as if people anticipate their holiday depression and start shopping early for their drug of choice. Another surprise lies in the demographics of visitors to antidepressant websites — they're not who you would expect.
If visitors to Lexapro.com, for example, are at all representative of the typical depressed individual, depression during November is an affliction primarily of the young and the old, but not of the middle-aged. The two age groups that account for the largest portion of site visitors are 18 to 24 (26.2%) and over 55 (27.6%). Visitors to Lexapro's site also tend to have average to above-average incomes: 51% of visitors come from households earning between $60,000 and $150,000 per year, while 20% come from households that earn over $150,000 — a sample, perhaps, not of the depressed in general, but of those who can afford to seek treatment.For more details The Most Depressing Day of the Year visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk For more information on books visit www.Lookbookstores.com

Feeling lonely Treat pets as human

2008-02-04T15:03:00.002-08:00

Loneliness is an emotional state in which a person experiences a powerful feeling of emptiness and isolation. Loneliness is more than the feeling of wanting company or wanting to do something with another person. Loneliness is a feeling of being cut off, disconnected and alienated from other people. The lonely person may find it difficult or even impossible to have any form of meaningful human contact. Lonely people often experience a subjective sense of inner emptiness or hollowness, with feelings of separation or isolation from the world. One of the first recorded uses of the word "lonely" was in William Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

NEW YORK: Researchers in the United States have found that if people feel lonely, they can create a surrounding to keep them company by describing or seeing a pet as having human-like mental traits. According to lead researcher Prof Nicholas Epley of University of Chicago, "biological reproduction is not a very efficient way to alleviate one's loneliness, but you can make up people when you're motivated to do so.

"When people lack a sense of connection with other people, they are more likely to see their pets, gadgets or gods as human-like." In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after conducting three experiments to test their expectations that lonely people are more likely to make up for their lack of social connection by creating human-like connections with pets or gadgets, or to increase their belief in the supernatural.

In one experiment, the team found a correlation between how lonely people felt and their tendency to describe a gadget in terms of human-like mental states.

In another experiment, the team made people feel lonely in the laboratory by asking them to write about a time when they felt lonely or isolated. Under those circumstances, they were more likely to believe in the supernatural, whether it be God, angels or miracles.

"If we made them feel lonely, they were also more likely to describe a pet, even if it wasn't their own pet, as having human-like mental states that were related to social connection, like being more thoughtful, considerate and compassionate," the 'ScienceDaily' quoted Prof Epley. The study further revealed that not just any negative emotional state produces this effect. "It's something special about loneliness. Fear, for example, doesn't increase reported belief in God, or how people describe their pets," he said.

"Loneliness is painful to experience and potentially deadly. It's actually a greater risk for morbidity or mortality than smoking. Being lonely is a bad thing for you.

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Using Music to Lift Depression’s Veil

2008-02-04T15:03:00.001-08:00

Music is a form of art that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. It is normally expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm, and the quality of sound. Music may also involve complex generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. The definition of what constitutes music varies according to culture and social context.

Many people find that music lifts their spirits. Now new research shows that music therapy — either listening to or creating music with a specially trained therapist — can be a useful treatment for depression. The finding that music therapy offers a real clinical benefit to depression sufferers comes from a review by the Cochrane Collaboration, a not-for-profit group that reviews health care issues.

Although there aren’t many credible studies of music therapy for depression, the reviewers found five randomized trials that studied the effects of music therapy. Some studies looked at the effects of providing music therapy to patients who were receiving drug treatment for depression. Others compared music therapy to traditional talk therapy. In four out of five of the trials, music therapy worked better at easing depression symptoms than therapies that did not employ music, the researchers found.

“The current studies indicate that music therapy may be able to improve mood and has low drop-out rates,” said lead author Anna Maratos, an arts therapist for the National Health Service in London. “While the evidence came from a few small studies, it suggests that this is an area that is well worth further investigation….We need to find out which forms have greatest effect.” Ms. Maratos notes that music therapy might be particularly useful for adolescents who may reject a traditional form of counseling.

Some older patients also may not be comfortable talking about their feelings, “but do tend to express themselves through song,'’ she said. I think we can be reasonably confident that music therapy has an effect,'’ Ms. Maratos said. “Music therapy is often used where more conventional therapies are not as likely to be as accepted or tolerated.”

There are two main types of music therapy. Sometimes, a therapist will listen to music with a patient and talk about the feelings or memories that it evokes. In another form, the therapist is a skilled musician and will improvise music with the patient. If the patient doesn’t play an instrument, he or she might be given a simple percussion instrument and the therapist will play along.

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Office stress is bad for health

2008-02-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Workplace stress is the harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Stress-related disorders encompass a broad array of conditions, including psychological disorders (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder) and other types of emotional strain (dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension, etc.), maladaptive behaviors (aggression, substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (concentration and memory problems). In turn, these conditions may lead to poor work performance or even injury. Job stress is also associated with various biological reactions that may lead ultimately to compromised health, such as cardiovascular disease Problems at work are more strongly associated with health complaints than are any other life stressor-more so than even financial problems or family problems.

LONDON: Work really can kill you, according to a study on Wednesday providing the strongest evidence yet of how on-the-job stress raises the risk of heart disease by disrupting the body's internal systems.

The findings from a long-running study involving more than 10,000 British civil servants also suggest stress-induced biological changes may play a more direct role than previously thought, said Tarani Chandola, an epidemiologist at University College London.

"This is the first large-scale population study looking at the effects of stress measured from everyday working life on heart disease," said Chandola, who led the study. "One of the problems is people have been sceptical whether work stress really affects a person biologically." Heart disease is the world's leading cause of death. It is caused by fatty deposits that harden and block arteries, high blood pressure which damages blood vessels, and other factors. The researchers measured stress among the civil servants by asking questions about their job demands such as how much control they had at work, how often they took breaks, and how pressed for time they were during the day. The team conducted seven surveys over a 12-year period and found chronically stressed workers - people determined to be under severe pressure in the first two of the surveys - had a 68% higher risk of developing heart disease.

The link was strongest among people under 50, Chandola said. "This study adds to the evidence that the work stress-coronary heart disease association is causal in nature," the researchers wrote in the European Heart Journal. Behaviour and biological changes likely explain why stress at work causes heart disease, Chandola said. For one, stressed workers eat unhealthy food, smoke, drink and skip exercise - all behaviours linked to heart disease. In the study, stressed workers also had lowered heart rate variability - a sign of a poorly-functioning weak heart - and higher-than-normal levels of cortisol, a "stress" hormone that provides a burst of energy for a fight-or-flight response.
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Hollywood Remembers Heath Ledger

2008-02-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

2006 Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger has died in New York. He was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3:35 PM. Ledger was found dead Tuesday afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Some signs pointed to an accidental overdose or a suicide, although no note was found, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) was an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. After appearing in television roles during the 1990s, Ledger developed a Hollywood career. He starred in both critical and financial successes, including Ten Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight's Tale and Broke back Mountain, and completed the role of the Joker in the forthcoming The Dark Knight.

When a young, hunky 20 year old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of not much depth. He has spent the past five years trying desperately to sway this image away, but this has indeed been a double-edged sword. But that comes much later in his story.

Friends and admirers of Heath Ledger are mourning his loss and recalling his achievements in a film career cut short by his death Tuesday at age 28. Mike O'Sullivan looks back on his transition from teen actor to talented star. Fans left flowers in front of the New York apartment where the actor was found dead Tuesday, with prescription sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication nearby. The actor's family insists the death was accidental. The New York medical examiner says an autopsy was inconclusive, and a full investigation will take 10 days.

Colleagues in Hollywood expressed shock at Ledger's death, and admiration for his skill as an actor. Geoffrey Rush, who starred with Ledger in the films Ned Kelly and Candy, called him a sensitive and daring performer. Mel Gibson, who selected the young star for the film The Patriot, called the death tragic

Ledger was born in Perth in Western Australia in 1979. He discovered acting through a drama class in high school. After work in Australian films and television series, he moved to Los Angeles and starred in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. Then came a role in a big production, The Patriot, a tale of the American Revolution. In the film, Ledger tries to convince his reluctant father, played by Mel Gibson, to join the fight again the British.

In 2001, Ledger starred in a light-hearted action film called A Knight's Tale. He also gained notice for a role in Monster's Ball, a story about race relations in the American South. It was first of the intense, serious roles that he became known for. In 2003, he played the title role in Ned Kelly, about a legendary Australian outlaw. There were also lighter roles. He played opposite Matt Damon in the fantasy adventure The Brothers Grimm, and had a starring role in Lords of Dogtown, which looked at the world of California surfers.

Ledger played opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the critically acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, a 2005 film about two cowboys who fall in love. Both actors earned Oscar nominations for their roles as men tormented by their mutual attraction. In 2006, Ledger played a poet who was addicted to heroin in the Australian drama Candy. More recently, he was one of six performers who portrayed singer Bob Dylan at different stages of his career in I'm Not There.

In what some critics say may be Ledger's best and darkest role, he plays the fiendish Joker in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight. The picture is scheduled for release in July. Ledger adds an edge to the character made famous by Jack Nicholson, who challenges Batman and local officials in the fictional Gotham City. As coworkers and fans recalled Heath Ledger's talent, the actor's father, Kim, remembered his son as down-to-earth, generous and kindhearted.

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Sony Ericsson cuts deals with 10 music labels

2008-02-04T15:00:00.002-08:00

Sony Ericsson is a joint venture established in 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to make mobile phones. The stated reason for this venture is to combine Sony's consumer electronics expertise with Ericsson's technological leadership in the communications sector. Both companies have stopped making their own mobile phones.

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said it had signed deals with 10 music labels to add content to its PlayNow service, which lets users download music via their mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson, owned by Ericsson and Sony Corp., said the deals added 5 million new tracks to its catalogue.

The venture said in a statement late on Sunday it had signed deals with Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, The Orchard, IODA, The PocketGroup, Hungama, X5Music, Bonnier Amigo and VidZone.

Sony Ericsson, which made the announcement at a trade show in Cannes, France, said it was negotiating further deals with regional labels.

The company introduced PlayNow in February 2004 as a way to listen to and then purchase ringtones for mobile phones. Since then, it as expanded the service, allowing full music tracks and games to be downloaded and other features. It said PlayNow was available in 32 countries.

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Satellite unlikely to pose danger to humans

2008-02-04T15:00:00.001-08:00

A spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The first generation type (i.e. Corona and Zenit) took photographs then ejected canisters of photographic film, which would descend to earth. Corona capsules were retrieved in mid-air as they floated down on parachutes. Later spacecraft had digital imaging systems and downloaded the images via radio links.

In the United States, most information available is on programs that existed up to 1972. Some information about programs prior to that time are still classified, and a small trickle of information is available on subsequent missions. A few up-to-date reconnaissance satellite images have been declassified on occasion, or leaked, as in the case of KH-11 photographs which were sent to Jane's Defence Weekly in 1985.

A disabled U.S. spy satellite is likely to break into small pieces when it falls to Earth within weeks, posing little danger to humans, U.S. government officials and space experts .Most, if any, debris that survives the intense heat of re-entry would likely fall into the oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth. But he said the U.S. government was monitoring the satellite's descent from orbit and examining different options to "mitigate any damage."

The U.S. military could potentially use a missile to destroy the minivan-sized satellite in space, but one senior U.S. defense official said that was unlikely for several reasons, including concern about creating space debris as China did when it shot down one of its satellites last year.

"Given that 75 percent of the Earth is covered in water and much of the land is uninhabited, the likely percentage of this satellite or any debris falling into a populated area is very small. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said more than 17,000 man-made objects re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the past 50 years without major incident. The satellite is a classified National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 2006, according to four senior U.S. officials, who asked not to be named.

The satellite, known as L-21, has been out of touch since shortly after reaching its low-Earth orbit. Built by Lockheed Martin Corp at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, the satellite has fallen more than 70 km (43 miles) to an orbit at around 280 km (174 miles) above the Earth. U.S. and European astronomers estimate it is dropping at an accelerating rate of some 8 km (5 miles) a day.

Because the satellite never became operational, it has toxic rocket fuel on board that would have been used to maneuver the satellite in space. It could pose a danger if the fuel tank does not explode upon re-entry. Thousands of space objects fall to Earth each year, but they generally scatter over a huge area and there have never been any reported injuries.

Occasionally, bigger objects survive, including a 563-pound (255-kg) stainless steel fuel tank from a Delta II rocket that landed 50 yards from a farmer's home in Texas in 1997. This L-21 satellite is much smaller, and more likely to burn up as it enters the atmosphere. The U.S. military has no weapon designed to shoot down a satellite, but it demonstrated the ability to do that in the mid-1980s, and could cobble together a plan to do so again fairly quickly, said the senior defense official.

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Exercise makes you younger by 9 yrs

2008-02-04T14:59:00.002-08:00

Physical exercise is manual activity that develops or maintains physical fitness and overall health. It is often practiced to strengthen muscles and the cardiovascular system, and to hone athletic skills. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent diseases of affluence such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health and helps prevent depression. Physical exercise is important for maintaining physical fitness and can contribute positively to maintaining a healthy weight; building and maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility; promoting physiological well-being; reducing surgical risks; and strengthening the immune system.

Frequent and regular aerobic exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat serious and life-threatening chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, insomnia, and depression. Strength training appears to have continuous energy-burning effects that persist for about 24 hours after the training, though they do not offer the same cardiovascular benefits of aerobic exercises. Exercise can also increase energy and raise one's threshold for pain

LONDON: Exercise may hold the key to youth, according to a study published on Monday, which showed people who keep fit are up to nine years biologically younger than those who do not.

The study of 2,401 twins found that a sedentary lifestyle raises the risk of a range of problems from heart disease to cancer and appears to play a key role in the ageing process. It all boils down to the length of structures called telomeres — which protect the DNA on the chromosomes, the researchers from King's College London wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Many studies have shown telomeres get shorter over time, suggesting the cells are ageing or dying. The study, which extracted a DNA sample from their volunteers, found people who exercised more each week had longer telomeres. Exercise lowers the risk of a range of problems such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, the researchers said.
"It is not just walking around the block. It is really working up a sweat," said Tim Spector, a genetic epidemiologist who led the study, in a telephone interview.

The study found people who exercised vigorously 3 hours each week had longer telomeres and were biologically 9 years younger than people who did under 15 minutes. Spector's team, who also adjusted for body weight, smoking, economic status and physical activity at work, also said moderate exercise for 1-1/2 hours each week provided a four-year advantage.

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MySpace to Launch Developers Platform

2008-02-04T14:59:00.001-08:00

MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California, USA. According to Alexa Internet, MySpace is currently the world's sixth most popular website and the third most popular website in the United States. MySpace is introducing tools for developing games, media-sharing features and other programs that better integrate with the Internet's leading social-networking site.

Wednesday's announcement follows a May decision by its smaller rival, Facebook, to open its platform to developers, a move that has proven to be a boon for music-sharing startup iLike, photo-sharing service Slide Inc. and countless other companies. Those applications, in turn, have helped make Facebook even more popular, although it still ranks as the second most trafficked social network behind News Corp.'s MySpace.

MySpace will formally launch the MySpace Developer Platform next Tuesday with a kickoff event and workshop at its new San Francisco office. Although developers will have all the tools they need to create and test programs, they won't be able to integrate them right away. MySpace has yet to announce a start date for that.

The company said the program should result in innovations in how friends connect and communicate. MySpace already has informally allowed developers to create interactive applications known as ''widgets.'' The photo-sharing service Photobucket became so popular that MySpace's parent company bought it for about $300 million.

By creating a formal developers program, MySpace plans to give programmers ''deeper access'' to the site and the ability to ''build richer applications as part of it,'' said Amit Kapur, 26, named Tuesday as MySpace's chief operating officer. Such access could include tapping MySpace's data on its users. Kapur said the company also would help developers earn advertising money through their applications. He refused to say whether MySpace would split the revenue, adding that more details would come next week.

MySpace officials also hinted at rules and procedures that could help the company avoid the kind of controversy Facebook has encountered with Scrabulous, an online version of the word game Scrabble and one of Facebook's most popular applications.

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Microsoft Under Antitrust Scrutiny Until 2009

2008-02-04T14:58:00.001-08:00

Microsoft Corporation or often just MS is an American multinational computer technology corporation with 79,000 employees in 102 countries and global annual revenue of US $51.12 billion as of 2007. It develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. These products have prominent positions in the desktop computer market; with market share estimates as high as 90% or more as of 2003 for Microsoft Office and 2006 for Microsoft Windows. One of Bill Gates' key visions is "to get a workstation running our software onto every desk and eventually in every home".

Microsoft will be under the eye of the federal government for at least two more years regarding its famous antitrust case settlement. The U.S. government will continue to watch over Microsoft's compliance with the terms of its famous antitrust case settlement for at least two more years. Court supervision of Microsoft's compliance with a U.S. antitrust settlement will continue until November 12, 2009, ruled federal district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Tuesday. This ruling came in response to a filing by 10 states, including California and New York, to extend oversight until 2012.

Such information makes it easier for other software manufacturers to create products that work well with Microsoft's operating systems. The court decree that settled the landmark U.S. antitrust case against Microsoft in 2002 covers Microsoft's ties to computer makers, how the company's software works with other types of software and enforcement to ensure that Microsoft does not repeat past practices.

"The Court's extension should not be viewed as a sanction against Microsoft; to the contrary, the Court commends Microsoft for its willingness to cooperate with the Plaintiffs in this action and in United States v. Microsoft in negotiating solutions to issues as they have arisen throughout the past five years,”. Nevertheless, after more than five years, communications protocols are still not available to licensees "in a certifiably complete, accurate, and useable form," she wrote. The ruling is intended to give Microsoft time to accomplish that task.

The federal judge overseeing the company's landmark settlement on Tuesday extended by two years the term of the consent decree, a multifaceted set of remedies meant to put competitors on equal footing with Microsoft and stop it from abusing its monopoly in computer operating systems.

Most of the provisions were to expire last November, five years after the settlement was reached among Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Justice and 17 states plus the District of Columbia. Had the judge let them end, it would have largely closed the book on a major era in the company's antitrust history, even as Microsoft faces greater scrutiny in Europe.

One key remedy of the consent decree required Microsoft to document and share with competitors so-called communications protocols technical information needed to help non-Windows servers work with Windows computers as well as Windows servers do.

By holding back that information, Microsoft was found to have illegally leveraged its Windows monopoly to gain power in an adjacent market. Early on, Microsoft dragged its feet in providing that documentation by not devoting enough resources to the effort. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, in a summary of her 78-page ruling Tuesday, wrote that the parties to the settlement also referred to as a consent decree anticipated that the documentation would be available by February 2003, at the latest.
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Google posts 17% profit gain, but shares slide lower

2008-02-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Google Inc. is an American public corporation, specializing in Internet search and online advertising. The company is based in Mountain View, California, and has 16,805 full-time employees. It is the largest American company (by market capitalization) that is not part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University and the company was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 7, 1998. Google's initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004, raising US$1.67 billion, making it worth US$23 billion. Through a series of new product developments, acquisitions and partnerships, the company has expanded its initial search and advertising business into other areas, including web-based e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, and video sharing, among others.

Shares of Google fell more than 7% in after-hours trading to $524.50, following the company's earnings report. Google (GOOG 564.30, +16.03, +2.9%) said net income for the period ended in December rose to $1.21 billion, or $3.79 a share, compared with $1.03 billion, or $3.29 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile revenue rose 51% to $4.83 billion. Excluding special items, Google said earnings for the period were $4.43 a share. Net revenue, or revenue minus payments made to other sites to acquire Internet traffic, came in at $3.39 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had estimated Google would post earnings excluding special items of $4.44 a share, and net revenue of $3.45 billion.

"We're very, very pleased with our year and also the quarter that's just ended," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said during a conference call with analysts, citing in particular "strong international growth." Revenue from international operations grew to $2.32 billion, or 48% of total revenue, compared to 44% in the period a year earlier, Google said. But co-founder Sergey Brin said Google's AdSense program, which distributes advertisements among partner sites separate from Google.com, saw some difficulty in the quarter, due to challenges in getting users to click on related ads and generate revenue.

Revenue from the AdSense program rose to $1.6 billion in the quarter, compared to $1.2 billion in the period a year earlier. However, Google must make payments to the program's partner sites, which helped increase related costs, the company said. Concerns have emerged recently about the fortunes of Google and other Internet companies amid a U.S. economic slowdown and potential cutbacks in spending on online advertising.

Unlike many other companies, Google does not issue financial outlooks. During the conference call, Schmidt steadfastly refused to detail the company's thinking about 2008. When an analyst mentioned a likely "economic slowdown" expected in the coming year, Schmidt quickly interjected that, "that's your view, not necessarily ours."
"We have not yet seen any negative impact from the rumors of future recessions.

One concern specific to Google in recent months has been the company's hiring pace. Google said Thursday it hired 889 new employees in the fourth quarter. In its fiscal third quarter ended in September Google said it hired a record 2,000 new employees, stirring some anxiety about mounting expenses. Concerns were also raised earlier this month when reports emerged showing an apparent slackening of Google's lead in the Internet search market December. Such a decline in Google's share is unusual, as it usually handily dominates rivals Yahoo Inc.

Google is currently participating in a Federal Communications Commission auction of wireless spectrum, which can be used to provide access to the mobile Internet. Bids for the block of spectrum Google is thought to be most interested in reached $4.7 billion Thursday, though all participants' identities will remain undisclosed until the auction ends.

Google agreed to pay $1.65 billion for online video sharing service YouTube in 2006, and has since experimented with different formats for delivering associated advertisements. "It should become very significant," Google co-founder Larry Page said of YouTube advertising revenue, "exactly when is difficult to predict." To bolster its presence in display, or graphical advertising, Google last year announced its intention to buy display advertising specialist DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, though the deal has not yet been approved by European antitrust regulators.

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Active computer games tackle obesity

2008-02-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

A personal computer game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine. Computer games have evolved from the simple graphics and gameplay of early titles like Spacewar!, to a wide range of more visually advanced titles.

PC games are created by one or more game developers, often in conjunction with other specialists (such as game artists) and either published independently or through a third party publisher. They may then be distributed on physical media such as DVDs and CDs, as Internet-downloadable shareware, or through online delivery services such as Direct2Drive and Steam. PC games often require specialized hardware in the user's computer in order to play, such as a specific generation of graphics processing unit or an Internet connection for online play, although these system requirements vary from game to game.

LONDON: The British government is set to encourage children to play "active computer games" to tackle the childhood obesity 'epidemic' in the country that costs the exchequer billions of pounds every year. With authorities desperately trying ever more imaginative ways to involve children in sports, schools are being encouraged to put the new generation of "active computer games" on the curriculum.

The latest attempt to tackle the problem stems from an initiative in which Nintendo Wii consoles were used to attract inactive pupils into "virtual PE". It was found that children were attracted to the machine for their chance on the Wii, which requires users to stand up and move their arms and legs to play games including tennis, baseball, bowling and golf.

A report in The British Medical Journal found that active console games "significantly increased participants' energy expenditure", compared with other systems. Britain is in the grip of an obesity 'epidemic'. Child obesity rates have trebled over the past 20 years; 10 per cent of six-year-olds and 17 per cent of 15-year-olds are now considered obese, The Independent daily of Britain reported earlier this week. Last year, a government report showed that this would rise to 26 per cent of children by 2050. Tackling the obesity problem is set to cost the government tens of billions of pounds a year by 2050. The government is in the final stages of a plan that envisages giving the overweight financial incentives to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

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Online Schooling Grows, Setting Off a Debate

2008-02-04T14:55:00.002-08:00

Weekday mornings, three of Tracie Weldie’s children eat breakfast, make beds and trudge off to public school in their case, downstairs to their basement in a suburb here, where their mother leads them through math and other lessons outlined by an Internet-based charter school. Half a million American children take classes online, with a significant group, like the Weldies, getting all their schooling from virtual public schools. The rapid growth of these schools has provoked debates in courtrooms and legislatures over money, as the schools compete with local districts for millions in public dollars, and over issues like whether online learning is appropriate for young children.

One of the sharpest debates has concerned the Weldies’ school in Wisconsin, where last week the backers of online education persuaded state lawmakers to keep it and 11 other virtual schools open despite a court ruling against them and the opposition of the teachers union. John Watson, a consultant in Colorado who does an annual survey of education that is based on the Internet, said events in Wisconsin followed the pattern in other states where online schools have proliferated fast.

Two models of online schooling predominate. In Florida, Illinois and half a dozen other states, growth has been driven by a state-led, state-financed virtual school that does not give a diploma but offers courses that supplement regular work at a traditional school. Generally, these schools enroll only middle and high school students. At the Florida Virtual School, the largest Internet public school in the country, more than 50,000 students are taking courses this year. School authorities in Traverse City, Mich., hope to use online courses provided by the Michigan Virtual School next fall to educate several hundred students in their homes, alleviating a classroom shortage.

The other model is a full-time online charter school like the Wisconsin Virtual Academy. About 90,000 children get their education from one of 185 such schools nationwide. They are publicly financed, mostly elementary and middle schools. Many parents attracted to online charters have previously home-schooled their children, including Mrs. Weldie. Her children Isabel, Harry and Eleanor, all in elementary school download assignments and communicate intermittently with their certified teachers over the Internet, but they also read story books, write in workbooks and do arithmetic at a table in their basement. Legally, they are considered public school students, not home-schoolers, because their online schools are taxpayer-financed and subject to federal testing requirements.

Despite enthusiastic support from parents, the schools have met with opposition from some educators, who say elementary students may be too young for Internet learning, and from teachers, unions and school boards, partly because they divert state payments from the online student’s home district. Other opposition has arisen because many online charters contract with for-profit companies to provide their courses. The Wisconsin academy, for example, is run by the tiny Northern Ozaukee School District, north of Milwaukee, in close partnership with K12 Inc., which works with similar schools in 17 states.

The district receives annual state payments of $6,050 for each of its 800 students, which it uses to pay teachers and buy its online curriculum from K12. Last year, the state auditor found that several online charters had received reimbursements from students’ home districts that surpassed actual education costs by more than $1 million. The state auditor in Kansas last year raised a different concern, finding that the superintendent of a tiny prairie district running an online school had in recent years given 130 students, and with them $106,000 in per-pupil payments, to neighboring districts that used the students’ names to pad enrollment counts. The auditor concluded that the superintendent had carried out the subterfuge to compensate the other districts for not opening their own online schools.

“Virtual education is a growing alternative to traditional schooling,” Barbara J. Hinton, the Kansas auditor, said in a report. Ms. Hinton found that virtual education had great potential because students did not have to be physically present in a classroom. “Students can go to school at any time and in any place,”.But, she added, “this also creates certain risks to both the quality of the student’s education and to the integrity of the public school system.”

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Microsoft bids $44.6 billion for Yahoo!

2008-02-04T14:55:00.001-08:00

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation. It develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Its best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. These products have prominent positions in the desktop computer market. Microsoft said Friday “it had made an unsolicited offer to buy Internet search engine operator Yahoo with a cash and stock bid worth $44.6 billion”.

The $31-a-share offer represents a 62 percent premium for shareholders above the closing price of Yahoo stock on Thursday, Microsoft said in a statement. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the move marked the "next major milestone for the Washington-based company.

The offer allows Yahoo shareholders to elect to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock with the total purchase consisting of half cash and half stock. Yahoo shares rose nearly 60 percent in pre-market trading on news of the approach, while Microsoft shares were down 2.6 percent.

The announcement comes with Microsoft and Yahoo seeking to compete with Google in the lucrative online advertising market, currently worth $40 billion and expected to grow to $80 billion within three years. "Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition," Microsoft said in its statement. "Together, Microsoft and Yahoo can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers."

Yahoo shares have lost around 30 percent of their value in the past year, while Google shares have gained, despite reporting a slowdown in fourth-quarter revenue growth.

"Microsoft's consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers," Microsoft CEO Ballmer said in a letter to Yahoo's board of directors.

The letter also disclosed that Microsoft had approached Yahoo about a possible acquisition deal in February 2007 only to be rebuffed by Yahoo's board. "A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved," the letter added.

Earlier this week, Yahoo announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees by mid-February, citing what CEO Jerry Yang described as "headwinds" facing the company. It also reported lower fourth-quarter earnings -- though still ahead of Wall Street's modest expectations for the firm.
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Coming soon wearable computers

2008-02-04T14:54:00.000-08:00

It might be not long before you start wearing a computer just as you put on your shoes, watch and jacket. "As general computing systems become smaller, we are reaching a point at which it becomes conceivable to don these devices easily," Andy Fagg of the computer science faculty at the University of Massachusetts has been quoted by online ScienceDaily as saying.

Fagg, who is developing a wearable computer, said such a device offers access to information and communication resources at any time during walking hours. "It isn't about being able to write a paper or send an e-mail while you are grocery store. It's about having digital assistance as you go about your life," he added. Fagg's aim, ScienceDaily said, is to teach the computer to "notice" a user's routines and offer information accordingly.

For instance, if the computer notices that he enters a conference room at a particular time, "it should figure out he is going to a meeting and pull out appropriate documents, including minutes of the last meeting, and notes from related discussions. Another example offered by him: "I could tell the system I'm going to be cooking a certain recipe for dinner. The system will know what I have in the kitchen cabinets at home.

If I drive near the grocery store, it wakes up and whispers, 'Don't forget to stop at the grocery store, and by the way, you need these three items for the dinner you want to cook tonight.'" One current challenge, Fagg said, is teaching the computer to interrupt him - politely. "The machine should present information at the appropriate time, and in the appropriate way. I don't care what I need at the grocery store if I'm sitting in my office," he pointed out. "Nor do I want it to convey information visually while I'm driving the car, although it's okay for it to occasionally whisper in my ear."

It is possible to make wearable computers because microprocessors are getting smaller every year, Fagg was quoted as saying. Commercial wearable systems are already available, he says, although they are aimed at very specific industrial markets.

"The systems are becoming more stable and more comfortable," Fagg said. "Ultimately, a lot of the bulk will be gone." ScienceDaily said while some might see a wearable computer as a bit of a pest, Fagg sees it differently: "The machine doesn't nag you after the fact, when you've gotten home and forgotten to buy a gallon of milk. It reminds you to pick up the milk when you're still in a position to solve the problem.

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Cellphones can cause insomnia

2008-02-04T14:53:00.001-08:00

The mobile phone or mobile, also called a cellular phone, cell phone, or cell, is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication that uses a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video. Most current mobile phones connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

WELLINGTON: Talking on mobile phone before bedtime can deprive you from a good night's sleep, say researchers. Scientists from Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in the US say that the radiation from mobile phones can cause insomnia, headaches and confusion.

Their findings are based on a study, wherein the researchers reviewed 35 men and 36 women, aged between 18 and 45. Some participants were exposed to the same levels of radiation emitted when using a cellphone, while others were given only "sham" exposure.

Those exposed to radiation took longer to enter the first of the deeper stages of sleep and spent less time in the deepest one, interfering with the body's ability to repair damage done during the day. Children and teenagers were particularly found to be vulnerable to such effects, as they were most likely to use phones late at night and needed sleep the most. The scientists suggested that people should use a landline if needed to make a call before bed and not to sleep with mobile phones on their bedside table.

Christchurch sleep specialist Dr Mike Hlavac said that it was an interesting study, but he would not be changing his advice to patients without further investigation. "It's interesting that you can potentially manipulate sleep using mobile-phone signals. It would go with earlier research suggesting radiation might have an impact on sleep.

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Big games may be hazardous to your health

2008-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

New England Journal of Medicine. They determined that soccer fans experienced more than double the number of heart attacks while watching televised matches of the 2006 World Cup soccer championships in Munich, Germany, compared to other times of the year. The World Cup is Europe's soccer equivalent of America's Super Bowl, the one sports event that builds fan momentum until the big game.

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). It and its ancillary festivities constitute Super Bowl Sunday, which over the years has become the most-watched U.S. television broadcast of the year, and has become likened to a de facto U.S. national holiday.

While history suggests European soccer fans can get a bit more worked up than the average American football fan, doctors think there are some valid warnings to be shared. "I know a little bit about the Super Bowl," study author Dr. Gerhard Steinbeck of Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich said in a telephone interview. "It's reasonable to think that something quite similar might happen."

He and his colleagues present their results in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. They blamed emotional stress for the heart problems, but they note that lack of sleep, overeating, wolfing down junk food, boozing and smoking might have played a role too. Previous studies suggest that events like earthquakes and war can boost the risk of heart problems.

Findings for soccer have been inconsistent. The new work "confirms something people have been highly skeptical about ... that soccer (would) produce that kind of emotional investment that might trigger a heart attack," said psychologist Douglas Carroll of the University of Birmingham in England. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how your excitement over your team might be dangerous. "People who are not interested in sport find it very difficult to comprehend this," said Carroll, who in 2002 reported a link between World Cup soccer and heart attacks in England.

The new paper included heart attacks, cardiac arrests, episodes of irregular heartbeat and activations of automatic implanted defibrillators. The researchers noted the number of cases reported in the greater Munich area during World Cup competition in Germany in the summer of 2006. They compared that with the totals for similar periods in 2003 and 2005, and for several weeks before and after the tournament.

The effect was strongest in people with known heart disease. So on Super Bowl Sunday, such people and others with known risks for heart disease -- such as high blood pressure or diabetes -- should take extra care of themselves, said Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

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Hannah Montana tops US box office

2008-02-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

Teen pop star Hannah Montana has topped the North American box office with the new 3D film of her recent tour. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds shows actress Cyrus, 15, as herself backstage and onstage as her Disney pop star alter-ego Montana. The film took $29m (£14.7m) beating newly-released horror film The Eye - $13m (£6.6m) - into second place.

Romantic comedy 27 Dresses was third with $8.4m (£4.3m). Pregnancy comedy Juno was fourth with $7.5m (£3.8m).Last week's number one, Meet the Spartans a spoof film parodying Greek warrior epic 300 - dropped to number five, taking $7.1m (£3.6m) compared with the $18.7m (£9.4m) it took last week. The new Rambo film, meanwhile, dropped from its opening week second place to sixth with $7m (£3.5m).

The Hannah Montana movie was helped to the top spot by higher admission prices charged by cinemas because of the 3D format. The film was shown in just 683 cinemas compared with the 2,436 cinemas showing second-placed The Eye. Walt Disney's 3-D movie "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" topped movie box offices, raking in $29 million for the biggest opening over a normally slow Super Bowl weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

With professional football's championship game dominating the entertainment landscape, the 3-D movie of Cyrus' (aka Hannah Montana) 2007 singing tour brought teenage girls streaming into theaters with their parents, said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group.

"We're looking at this and realizing we made a little piece of movie history," Zoradi said. "This has been a family movie, and we've had lots of parents exiting theaters saying, 'thank you because we couldn't get into any of her concerts."'

Supernatural thriller "The Eye," starring Jessica Alba, took the No. 2 slot at U.S. and Canadian box offices with a $13 million weekend. The No. 3 movie was romantic comedy "27 Dresses" with $8.4 million, according to industry tracker Media By Numbers.

Rounding out the top five were teen pregnancy comedy "Juno" at No. 4 with a weekend haul of $7.5 million, bringing its total ticket sales to $110 million. In the No. 5 position was last week's champ, action adventure "Meet the Spartans," with $7.1 million for the weekend and $28 million overall. Last week's number one, Meet the Spartans - a spoof film parodying Greek warrior epic 300 - dropped to number five, taking $7.1m (£3.6m) compared with the $18.7m (£9.4m) it took last week.

The new Rambo film, meanwhile, dropped from its opening week second place to sixth with $7m (£3.5m). The Hannah Montana movie was helped to the top spot by higher admission prices charged by cinemas because of the 3D format. The film was shown in just 683 cinemas compared with the 2,436 cinemas showing second-placed The Eye.

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Study Finds Possible Targets for H.I.V. Drugs

2008-01-12T17:10:00.001-08:00

H.I.V (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a retrovirus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells.

Using a new type of genetic screen, researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified 273 proteins that the AIDS virus needs to survive in human cells, opening up new potential targets for drugs. Their work, published online on Thursday by Science magazine, used RNA interference to screen thousands of protein-making genes; previously, scientists had identified only 36 human proteins that the virus uses to break into cells, hijack their machinery and start reproducing.

“This is just terrific work,” said Dr. Robert C. Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland and a co-discoverer of the virus. “I think it’s destined to be one of the top papers in this field for the decade.” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the government’s top AIDS expert, called the Harvard team’s work “elegant science,” but added a caution. “It remains to be seen if any of these proteins they identified are useful clinically,”

Dr. Fauci said. “This is hypothesis-generating, not hypothesis-solving. It creates a lot of work — someone has to go down each of these pathways.” The lead author on the paper, Dr. Stephen J. Elledge, is a geneticist, and this is his first work on the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. His previous work has been on cancer,

Dr. Elledge said, trying to figure out how cells sense when their chromosomes are broken, and this paper was a collaborative effort. “I can’t even grow H.I.V. in my lab,” Dr. Elledge said, so he had to use virus grown by Dr. Judy Lieberman, director of the medical school’s AIDS division and one of the co-authors. Dr. Elledge’s team used a library of tens of thousands of different short interfering RNAs, bits of genetic code — each of which, when introduced into a cell, knocks out the cell’s ability to make a single protein.

Next, about 21,000 samples of cells, each crippled in its ability to produce one protein, were placed in separate wells on laboratory plates and dosed with the virus. If the virus could not reproduce normally in a given well, it suggested that the missing protein was one of those it needed. Of the 273 human proteins identified, only 36 had been previously found by other methods.

The virus, which is itself only a short string of genetic material inside a protective capsule, can make only 15 proteins, so it has to adopt human proteins to its own use. Many of the proteins identified by the screen are already known to be important to cells in the immune system, which is the port of entry for H.I.V.

Dr. Abraham L. Brass, a co-author, said the screening method undoubtedly missed other proteins the virus needs, “but the majority of the ones we found are highly likely to play a role in H.I.V. propagation.”
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Nicole Richie delivers baby girl

2008-01-12T17:09:00.003-08:00

Nicole Camille Richie (born September 21, 1981) is an American socialite, actress, television personality, author, model, and singer. The daughter of Lionel Richie, she is known for her role in the reality show The Simple Life and her turbulent personal life.

Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo in Berkeley, California. She is reportedly the biological daughter of Mexican/African-American percussionist Peter Escovedo III and a white woman identified only as a backstage assistant on Lionel Richie's 1980 world tour; Escovedo was a member of Richie's band. Reportedly, Nicole's mother was never a factor in her life, and Escovedo raised her alone. Escovedo took Nicole to Richie's shows and recording sessions, and she became something of a mascot for the band

In addition to figure skating, Richie studied the guitar, cello, violin, and piano. In 1986, she started kindergarten at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California where she met Paris Hilton. Richie graduated from Montclair College Preparatory School in 2000. After high school, she studied Arts and Media for two years at the University of Arizona.

Richie has guest starred in television series including Eve and American Dreams. In American Dreams, Richie portrayed Brenda Reid, the lead singer of the girl group The Exciters, and sang the group's hit song "Tell Him".

Harlow Winter Kate Madden was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, People said, quoting a spokesman for Richie's manager. It is the first child for Richie, 26, and Joel Madden, 28, the lead singer of pop-punk band Good Charlotte. Richie, the adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie, has become a tabloid staple in recent years on account of her party-hopping lifestyle, stick-thin figure, and fractured friendship with Paris Hilton, her co-star in the reality TV series "The Simple Life."

Acting and singing, Richie has also modeled and has appeared in ads for Bongo Jeans and Jimmy Choo. In April 2007, Richie announced plans to start jewelry, accessories, and sunglasses line along with a perfume and style book.

Richie was a member of the rock band Darling in 2004. Since 2005, Richie has been working on her debut album. A release date has not yet been announced.In 2005, Richie wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds, which was released by Bharell Jackson Publishing. The novel is loosely based on her life, but is mostly fictional. It chronicles Chloe Parker, the adopted daughter of a singer who makes her way through all of the hottest nightclubs and parties in Hollywood and battles a drug addiction. It was rumored that a character in the book, Simone Westlake, was based on Paris Hilton.

A pregnant Richie spent an hour in a Los Angeles jail in August after being sentenced to four days for driving the wrong way on a Los Angeles freeway while under the influence of drugs. Prison overcrowding in Los Angeles County means nonviolent offenders often spend only a fraction of their sentences behind bars.

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Why being choosy is good

2008-01-12T17:09:00.001-08:00

When it comes to picking a partner, being choosy is rewarded by cooperativeness, says a new study. The study, led by John McNamara, a professor at the University of Bristol, stated that the level of cooperation and the degree of choosiness increase together over time. “The problem is that the process of natural selection tends to produce individuals that do the best for themselves. So why has a behaviour evolved that appears to benefit others at a cost to the individual concerned,” Nature quoted McNamara.

“In our model, an individual’s level of choosiness determines the level of cooperation demanded of its partner. If the current partner is not cooperative enough the individual stops interacting with this partner and seeks a better partner, even though finding a new partner incurs costs”.

Therefore, when the time arrives to leave the current partner and seek a more cooperative one, two components are needed for this happening. Firstly, there must be better partners in the crowd and secondly, there must be time to exploit the relationship with the new partner, which will be true for long-lived animals like humans.

If these conditions are achieved, natural selection will lead to a certain degree of choosiness evolving. And once this happens, an individual that is not cooperative will be discarded by its partner and must pay the cost of finding another partner. Thus, cooperation can evolve from an initially uncooperative population.

In the study, the researchers considered a large population where, in each of a discrete series of time steps, pairs of individuals engage in a ‘game’ in which each individual does best by being uncooperative and letting its partner put in the hard work.

Every volunteer was characterised by two traits: a cooperativeness trait, which specifies the effort that the individual made in generating benefits available to its co-player, and a choosiness trait, which specifies the minimum degree of cooperativeness that the individual is prepared to accept from its co-player. The traits are not adjusted in response to the co-player’s behaviour and do not change over an individual’s life.

Professor Nigel Brown, Director of Science and Technology at BBSRC, said: “This is one of a number of fields where modelling studies are advancing biological science more rapidly than experiment alone can achieve.” The study is published in Nature.

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Brush your teeth for a healthy heart

2008-01-12T17:08:00.003-08:00

Brushing your teeth regularly helps avoid cavity and gum-related diseases. Gum disease is an infection of the tissues and bone that support the teeth. Untreated gum disease can become very serious, causing teeth to become loose or fall out. Gum disease is usually caused by a buildup of plaque, an invisible sticky layer of germs that forms naturally on the teeth and gums. Plaque contains bacteria, which produce toxins that irritate and damage the gums.

The Journal of Periodontology suggests that periodontal patients whose bodies show evidence of a reaction to the bacteria associated with periodontitis may have an increased risk of developing a cardiovascular disease.

"Although there have been many studies associating gum disease with heart disease, what we have not known is exactly why this happens and under what circumstances," said Kenneth Kornman, the journal's editor.

"The findings of this new analysis of previously published studies suggest that the long-term effect of chronic periodontitis, such as extended bacterial exposure, may be what ultimately leads to cardiovascular disease."

Howard University researchers revisited 11 studies that had previously examined clinically diagnosed periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease.

The team analysed the participants' level of systemic bacterial exposure, specifically looking for the presence of the bacteria associated with periodontal disease, as well as measuring various biological indicators of bacterial exposure.

They found that individuals with periodontal disease whose biomarkers showed increased bacterial exposure were more likely to develop coronary heart disease.

"While more research is needed to better understand the connection between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease, this study suggests the importance of caring for your teeth and gums and how that can help you take care of your heart," said Susan Karabin of the American Academy of Periodontology.

Eat a healthy diet. Avoid snacks and junk foods packed with sugar that plaque-causing bacteria love to feed on. Don't smoke! Cigarettes and chewing tobacco cause mouth irritation and are very unhealthy for gums and teeth. Regular dental care is extremely important in helping to keep your mouth healthy. Brushing your teeth regularly helps you healthy heart.

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Brush your teeth for a healthy heart

2008-01-12T17:08:00.001-08:00

Jeff Raikes to Retire From Microsoft

2008-01-12T17:07:00.002-08:00

Jeff Raikes, the president of Microsoft's Business Division, plans to retire. As president of the Microsoft Business Division; Jeff Raikes oversees the Information Worker, Server & Tools Business and Microsoft Business Solutions Groups. This division delivers software, servers and software-based services that maximize the impact that an organization's key assets, their people, have on both structured and unstructured business activities, thereby amplifying business success. Its products include the Microsoft Office system of programs, servers and software-based services, Microsoft Dynamics, business applications for small and midsize businesses, large organizations and divisions of global enterprises and Microsoft’s Server & Tools Business, products that provide the foundation for IT operations, security, application development and integration.

Raikes' association with Microsoft dates back to 1981 and was involved in the development of the company's applications marketing strategy and graphical applications for the Apple Macintosh and the Windows operating system. He became vice president of Office Systems in 1990 and became group vice president of the Worldwide Sales and Support Group. Later in 2000, Raikes returned to the business groups to enhance the company's productivity applications and to include unified communications, business intelligence, business applications and services in the company's core business.

"There is no overstating the incredible impact Jeff has had during his amazing career at Microsoft,”. Raikes will be replaced by Stephen Elop, formerly the chief operating officer at Juniper Networks. Elop also did a stint as president of worldwide field operations at Adobe Systems following its acquisition of Macromedia, where he served as president and CEO.

Software giant Microsoft Corp. Thursday revealed that Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division or MBD would retire from the company, effective September 2008. During the nine-month period, Raikes will ensure a flawless transition of responsibilities and management of the division. Raikes will be replaced by Stephen Elop, former chief operating officer of Juniper Networks Inc. Raikes will remain as a member of the company's senior leadership team until his departure.

Commenting on Raikes retirement, chief executive officer of Microsoft Steve Ballmer said, "There is no overstating the incredible impact Jeff has had during his amazing career at Microsoft. Leading our business division, Jeff and his team have delivered terrific results while reshaping and expanding the portfolio of our business-related products and services to ensure a very healthy future for our customers, partners and Microsoft."

Elop is slated to join by January end and will be responsible for the Information Worker, Microsoft Business Solutions and Unified Communications businesses. In Juniper Networks, a valued Microsoft partner, Elop had been managing the company's product groups, corporate development, global sales and service and marketing and manufacturing organizations. Elop joined Juniper from Adobe Systems Inc., where he was president of worldwide field operations responsible for the company's global sales organization and all customer-facing functions. Elop's association with Adobe started in 2005 when the company acquired Macromedia Inc.

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Flexitime leads to good health

2008-01-12T17:07:00.001-08:00

You have one more reason to ask for workplace flexibility from your boss. It has now been proved scientifically that if companies provide workplace flexibility and if employees perceive that flexibility as real, then healthier lifestyle habits are put into action by those employees.

"People who believe they have flexibility in their work lives have healthier lifestyles. Individuals who perceive an increase in their flexibility are more likely to start some positive lifestyle behaviours," says Joseph G Grzywacz, author of the study on effects of workplace flexibility on health behaviours.Flexibility programmes that are situated within a broader organisational commitment to employee health may be useful for promoting positive lifestyle habits, avers study. Data for the study came from Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) completed by employees of a large multinational pharmaceutical company.

This company is consistently recognised by Working Mother magazine as among the most family-friendly employers in the United States, in large part, because if its commitment to flexibility such as compressed workweeks, flextime, job sharing, and remote or telework. Employees with a wide variety of jobs and responsibilities completed the HRA, including executives, administrative support staff, and warehouse and production workers. The data was analysed to determine if lifestyle behaviours differ between employees with different levels of perceived flexibility and to identify if changes in flexibility over a one-year time period predicted changes in health behavior.

"These weren't all office workers that's an important point," Grzywacz of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said. "This isn't just about high-level office workers these people perform a wide variety of tasks within the company." The study focused on frequency of physical activity, engagement in stress management programmes, participation in health education activities, healthful sleep habits, and self-appraised overall lifestyle.

"Overall, the results showed that nearly all the health behaviours examined in this study were associated with perceived flexibility. "Although further research is needed, these results suggest that flexibility programmes that are situated within a broader organisational commitment to employee health may be useful for promoting positive lifestyle habits." The author said the study is important because it reinforces the idea that workplace flexibility is important to workplace health and there had been little systemic research till now in support of this belief.

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Millions of young abusing cough medicine

2008-01-12T17:06:00.002-08:00

WASHINGTON - A cough medicine is a medicinal drug used to treat coughing and related conditions. Dry coughs are treated with cough suppressants (antitussives) that suppress the bodies urge to cough, while productive coughs (coughs that produce phlegm) are treated with expectorants that loosen mucus from the respiratory tract. These medicines are widely available in the form of cough syrup, also known as linctus.
About 3.1 million people between the ages of 12-25 have used cough and cold medicine to get high, the government reported Wednesday.

The number of young people who abused over-the-counter cold medicines is comparable to use of LSD and much greater than that for methamphetamine among the age group, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The agency's 2006 survey on drug abuse and health found that more than 5 percent of teenagers and young adults had misused cough and cold medicines and indicated that these people also had experimented frequently with illicit drugs.

Nearly 82 percent also had used marijuana. Slightly less than half also used inhalants or hallucinogens, such as LSD or Ecstasy, the agency said.

The cough suppressant DXM is found in more than 140 cough and cold medications available without a prescription. When taken in large amounts, DXM can cause disorientation, blurred vision, slurred speech and vomiting.

Among all persons aged 12 to 25, the rate of past year misuse among whites was 2.1 percent, which was three times higher than the level for blacks, 0.6 percent, and also significantly higher than the level for Hispanics, 1.4 percent.

"While increasing attention has been paid to the public health risk of prescription drug abuse, we also need to be aware of the growing dangers of misuse of over-the-counter cough and cold medications, especially among young people," said Terry Cline, the agency's administrator.

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Bank of England May Keep Rate Unchanged After Cut

2008-01-12T17:06:00.001-08:00

The Governor and Company of the Bank of England is a state owned institution acting as the central bank of the United Kingdom which convenes the Monetary Policy Committee that is responsible for managing the monetary policy of the country. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK Government. The Bank's building is located in the City of London, in Thread needle Street and hence it is sometimes known as The Old Lady of Thread needle Street or the Old Lady

The Bank of England will probably resist calls for another interest-rate cut today as policy makers gauge the effects of last month's reduction on the economy, a survey of economist’s shows. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mervyn King, will keep the bank rate at 5.5 percent. The rest forecast a quarter-point cut. The bank will announce the decision at noon in London.

Economists predict officials will wait until next month before lowering rates again as banks pare lending, cooling economic growth and deepening a slowdown in the housing market. The bank is weighing those risks against the threat of inflation after oil costs rose to a record $100 a barrel last week.

The pound has fallen on expectations of further rate cuts. Against the euro, the currency shared by 15 European countries that buy about half of British exports, it's dropped 11 percent since the start of July. The pound has fallen 6 percent against the dollar since reaching a 26-year high of $2.1162. Investors are betting on a cut today, derivatives trading shows. A Credit Suisse index of probability derived from overnight indexed swap rates showed the odds on a quarter-point reduction to 5.25 percent were 61 percent yesterday, compared with 50 percent the day before.

The Bank of England's benchmark rate is the highest among the Group of Seven industrialized nations. The U.S. Federal Reserve has trimmed its rate three times to 4.25 percent. The European Central Bank will keep its benchmark at 4 percent today. The U.K. central bank trimmed its rate by a quarter points in December in the first unanimous vote for a reduction since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ``Financial market turmoil, and the consequent tightening of credit conditions, had increased the downside risks to activity,'' policy makers said in the minutes of the decision.

Banks became reluctant to lend to each other because of concern about losses on U.S. sub prime mortgage investments. U.K. banks plan to make fewer loans to consumers and companies in the first quarter, the central bank's quarterly survey on credit conditions showed on Jan. 3.

House prices fell in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, the first drop in seven years, according to HBOS Plc. Energy and food prices should keep inflation above target in the short-term, but slowing demand growth should reduce the pressure on supply capacity, bringing inflation back to target. Inflation stayed above the central bank's 2 percent target for a second month in November. U.K. gasoline prices rose to a record this week after the cost of crude oil reached $100.09 a barrel, and RWE AG's Npower business, Britain's fourth-biggest energy retailer, raised gas prices by an average 17 percent and electricity prices by 13 percent this month.

Economists predict the Bank of England will move in February, when it publishes new forecasts for economic growth and inflation. ``There's no urgency to continue cutting now,'' said ABN Amro's White. ``The fall in sterling, pay settlements and rising power prices all suggest that we could see another hump in inflation. It's a very difficult situation for the bank.''

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Tata's Rs 1 lakh Car ($2500) Nano! See it to believe it

2008-01-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

Ratan Tata drove in the Nano, the much awaited Rs 100,000 ($2,500) "people's car", into the podium in Tata Motor's pavilion at the Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi, heralding the launch of the world's cheapest car. The Nano is here. Ratan Tata seems to have achieved the feat of showcasing to the world a one-lakh rupee car that meets the specs of an international affordable peoples' car. The small beauty claims to meet all the current safety requirements of a modern day car and has pollution levels that are even less than those of a two-wheeler.

But Nano will have to shake off the ‘one-lakh rupee’ tag as the on-road prices will also include VAT, transportation, insurance and road tax component. So, the on-road price may actually go much beyond one lakh. The 33-horsepower, 624-cc Nano will come at a dealer price of Rs 100,000 ($2500). This, despite rise in the price of inputs such as steel since the project was started four years ago, Tata said at the launch. "A promise is a promise”. Tata also said that Nano fully meets safety and emission standards. The car has passed the full frontal crash test and meets Euro-IV emission norms, he added.

Tata said, alluding to the environmental activists' concerns on the car's adverse impact on the environment. "The vehicle can accommodate four-five people,". Absolute chaos marked the launch of the car, with at least 1,000 members of the media corps struggling to gain entry into Tata Motor's pavilion. Nano, which at Rs 100,000 will cost less than a branded DVD player of a BMW or a Mercedes, will be available to customers later in the year.

The car will be manufactured at the company's Singur facility in West Bengal. The launch is a part of the group's plans to showcase as many as 17 models of cars, utility vehicles, trucks and busses, Tata officials said. Meanwhile, a Tata Motors press release said that the People's Car has been designed with a family in mind. It has a length of 3.1 metres, a width of 1.5 metres and a height of 1.6 metres. When launched, the car will be available in both standard and deluxe versions.

The statement also added that the car has a rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33 PS, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine. "This is the first time that a two-cylinder gasoline engine is being used in a car with single balancer shaft," it said. "The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight, which helps maximise performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency. Performance is controlled by a specially designed electronic engine management system." The car reportedly gives a mileage of 23 km per litre of petrol.

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Panasonic Debuts 150-Inch Plasma TV

2008-01-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Under this brand Matsushita sells plasma and LCD display panels, DVD recorders and players, Blu-ray Disc players, telephones, microwave ovens, projectors, digital cameras, batteries, laptop, computers, portable CD and analog tape decks and home stereo equipment.

A 150-inch high-definition plasma TV unveiled by Panasonic is the world's largest to date, the Japanese consumer electronics company claimed Monday at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

The plasma panel features an 8.84 million pixel image resolution. Its screen is the equivalent of nine 50-inch sets, with an effective viewing area of 11 feet by 6.25 feet, the company said. It's a step up from Panasonic's 103-inch version, which cost $70,000 when it launched. The company did not say in a news release how much the 150-inch panel will cost.

Panasonic's other prototypes introduced at CES include a 42-inch panel that uses half the energy but stays as bright as its predecessor, and an ultra-thin 50-inch panel that is less an inch thick, the company said “Both plasma and LCD TVs have been selling well in the U.S. as consumers are switching out their old tube sets so they can watch high-definition TV and movies”.

Panasonic also said it plans to bring videos from Google Inc.'s YouTube directly to its line of Internet-enabled high-definition plasma TV sets. The new Viera HDTVs also provide access to Google's photo sharing site, Picasa.

Sharp and JVC, which showed off similar slim LCDs at Ceatec, will likely bring them to CES for a U.S. debut as well. Expect other slim TVs too. And, as usual, Sony will be there with a host of products and execs.

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Library Documents in Boston Go on Web

2008-01-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Boston University is one of the leading private research and teaching institutions in the world today, with two primary campuses in the heart of Boston and programs around the world. The historical record of the United States government will soon be more accessible. A digital library partnership, including two nonprofit organizations and the Boston Public Library, is preparing to begin making digital copies of the library’s paper-based government documents collection, which will then be made available on the Internet.

The project, which will take two years and require the hand scanning of millions of pages of government hearings and related publications, will cost an estimated $6 million, according to the project’s sponsors.

Boston Public Library librarians said they planned to begin by digitizing the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings from the 1950s, which is regularly sought after by its patrons.

The project is being undertaken by Public.Resource.Org, a nonprofit group seeking to open public access to government records, and the Internet Archive, a San Francisco-based digital library.

The project is the brainchild of founders of the two organizations, Carl Malamud and Brewster Kahle, and it is initially being financed by a $250,000 grant from a foundation established by Mr. Kahle and his wife, Mary Austin, and a matching grant from the Omidyar Network, a support organization created by Pierre Omidyar.

Mr. Malamud said his goal is to digitize the entire United States government documents collection, which has been estimated to include up to 100 million pages of publications ranging from the Congressional Record to the Federal Register. The Government Printing Office has been making its published materials available online since 1994, said Gary G. Somerset, a spokesman for the agency.

The Boston Public Library has recently obtained a substantial collection of Congressional hearing documents from Harvard, said Gail Fithian, the library’s government documents curator, and those would serve as the initial material for the scanning project.

The Boston Public Library is also interested in scanning local Boston and Massachusetts documents and is in the process of creating its own digital archive.

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Eddie Murphy Rings in 2008

2008-01-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Edward "Eddie" Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and comedian. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He has also enjoyed a minor singing career.

Murphy has received Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a comedy or musical for his performances in Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of fictitious soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dream girls, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.

Eddie Murphy has made quick work of one New Year's resolution. Funnyman Eddie Murphy kick started 2008 by marrying his producer fiancée Tracey Edmonds on New Year's Day. Walking down the aisle to Gladys Knight's Making of You, Edmonds wore a gown by Sugia Nazel and Jill Baracci, while Murphy looked suave in a cream suit. The Shrek star, 46, and Edmonds, 40, wed in front of 25 friends and family members during a sunset beach ceremony on a private island off Bora Bora in French

Edmonds was sheathed in a custom number by the tandem of Sugia Nazel and Jill Baracci, described in a statement as "off-white with a beaded French lace and silk tafetta ruffled train." The bride marched down the aisle to the strains of Gladys Knight's "Makings of You," per People magazine, which also reported the wedding party included R&B singer Johnny Gill, who served as Murphy's best man, and actress Nicole Avant, the maid of honor.

The couple had been busy making final preparations in recent days. E! Online senior editor Marc Malkin reported guests arrived in nearby Tahiti shortly after Christmas. Bora Bora is about 140 miles northwest of the main French Polynesian outpost.

The 40-year-old Edmonds, a film producer whose recent credits include Who's Your Caddy? And Good Luck Chuck was previously hitched to Grammy-winning singer-producer Kenneth "Baby face" Edmonds. They divorced in June 2006 after 13 years and two children.

Murphy, 46, was previously married to Nicole Mitchell, with whom he has five children. They divorced in April 2006. In the months that followed, Murphy began seeing Spice Girl Melanie Brown. He started dating Edmonds while Brown was pregnant with his child.

Brown gave birth to Angel Iris Murphy Brown. In a bit of karmic coincidence, the infant was born Apr. 3, sharing a birthday with her reluctant father. Murphy and Edmonds announced their engagement in July, after about 10 months of couple hood.

Tracey E. Edmonds (born Tracey McQuarn, February 18, 1967 in Los Angeles, California) is President and CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group, Inc. As President and CEO, Edmonds oversees the Yab Yum Music publishing and record label, as well as Edmonds Management, whose client roster includes Kirk Franklin, actress Loretta Devine and actor Mekhi Phifer. She also runs Edmonds Production Company with her former husband; productions include Soul Food and Josie and the Pussycats.

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Diana never wanted to marry Dodi: friend

2008-01-09T10:19:00.002-08:00

Princess Diana denied any intention of marrying Dodi Fayed in a conversation just a few days before the couple died, a friend testified Monday.
Lady Annabel Goldsmith, testifying at the British inquest into the couple's deaths, said Diana had remarked that she needed another marriage "like a rash on my face."
Goldsmith, 73, said she would never forget those words because they were the last she had heard from Diana.

Fayed's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, has claimed the couple was the target of a plot directed by Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip partly motivated, he alleges, by a desire to prevent Diana from marrying a Muslim. Al Fayed says Diana and his son were on the brink of announcing their engagement when they died on Aug. 31, 1997.

French and British police blamed the accident on their driver, Henri Paul, based on evidence that he was over the legal alcohol limit and was speeding through a tunnel at more than 60 mph when the car slammed into a concrete pillar. Paul also died in the crash. Goldsmith said Monday that Diana clearly was having a "wonderful" time with Fayed, reporting that she had "never been so spoiled." Reflecting on Diana's comment about a rash, Goldsmith testified:

"I took it to mean that she was not serious about marriage to Dodi. She might have been having a wonderful time with him, I'm sure, but I thought her remark that she needed marriage like a rash meant that she was not serious about it." Other witnesses have questioned whether the romance had developed to the stage of an intention to marry.

Diana's friend Rosa Monckton last week testified that it was "difficult to judge" the intensity of Diana's romance with Fayed, but Monckton said "it was clear to me that she was really missing Hasnat" Khan, a heart surgeon with whom she had had an affair.
Monckton testified that Diana said nothing of an engagement during a telephone conversation on Aug. 27. "She would have called me if she was going to do that," Monckton said.
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Christmas Flourishes

2008-01-09T10:19:00.001-08:00

A kind of populist yuletide ritual is flourishing far from front yards, transforming the graves of loved ones into festive tableaux. Like memorial walls and the spontaneous shrines that appeared in Union Square in Manhattan after 9/11, displays in scores of cemeteries are at once intimate and public, their sheer exuberance often posing challenges for cemetery officials who find themselves issuing decorating regulations and occasionally enacting crackdowns on “nonconforming” grave décor.

At the three cemeteries run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, Christmas decorating is now officially limited to flowers placed in a maximum of two urns and potted evergreens no more than 12 inches high, with weekly sweeps on offending Santa Claus blankets, Styrofoam candy canes and the like.

“Decorations can be an impediment to backhoes, and there are liability issues in tripping over candy canes,” said Kathy Atkinson, the director of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. “People understand this with their head,” she added. “But with their heart they need to do something.”

Though the tradition of decorating ancestors’ graves is an ancient one, most commonly associated in the United States with El Dia de los Muertos, or the Mexican and Latin American Catholic folk tradition of The Day of the Dead, the ritual is gaining a broader embrace.

From the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago, where many people of Czech descent are buried, to San Fernando Cemetery II in San Antonio, and Asian cemeteries of Orange County, the decorations are so elaborate that they are being studied by folklorists

In Culver City from Dec. 14 through Jan. 9, the official window for holiday decorating, the normally staid landscape of Holy Cross, one of 11 Catholic cemeteries run by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, becomes a glittering tribute to family creativity and loss. Many of the displays offer a collective act of devotion born from the unpredictability of life itself car crashes, freak accidents, illnesses, murders, the incomprehensible sudden death of a child.

Milly Rodriguez spent four days decorating the grave of her daughter Vanessa, who died of cystic fibrosis last October at age 10, after a year in and out of Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Mrs. Rodriguez festooned her holiday tribute with Disney princess lights and a Cinderella doll as the star. During visits, she uses the cigarette lighter in her car as a power source to light up the tree. The display is proof to her daughter “that life is still out there,” she said.

Although lights are officially prohibited by the archdiocese along with trees taller than two feet, battery and electrically operated equipment, anchoring spikes, easily breakable ornaments and standing Santa Clauses, Nutcracker figures, snowmen the urge to create has snowballed, making enforcement difficult. As when suburbanites bicker over property lines, tension among families occasionally occurs when displays spill over to neighboring headstones.

Around the country, this is the season when cemeteries become homes for many families’ second Christmas tree, where devotion meets tinsel, “Let It Snow” garden ornaments and the occasional Santa swizzle stick.

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China gets high-speed bullet train

2008-01-09T10:18:00.001-08:00

Railways were the first form of mass transportation, and until the development of the motorcar in the early 20th century had an effective monopoly on land transport. Railway companies in Europe and the United States used streamlined trains since 1933 for high speed services with an average speed of up to 130 km/h and top speed of more than 160 km/h. With this service they were able to compete with the upcoming airplanes. World War II stopped these services. In 1957, the Odakyu Electric Railway in Greater Tokyo launched its Romancecar 3000 SSE. This set a world record for narrow gauge trains at 145 km/h, giving Japanese designers confidence they could safely build even faster trains at standard gauge. Desperate for transport solutions due to overloaded trains between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, the idea of high speed rail was born. The world's first "high-speed train" was Japan's Tōkaidō Shinkansen, officially opened in October 1964, with construction commencing in 1959. The 0 Series Shinkansen, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, achieved speeds of 200 km/h (125 mph) on the Tokyo–Nagoya–Kyoto–Osaka route.

BEIJING: China's first domestically developed high-speed bullet train, capable of reaching 300 kilometres per hour, rolled off the production line on Saturday.

"China has joined an elite world club after Japan, France and Germany, to become the fourth country capable of turning out such high speed trains," told Wang Yongping, ministry of railways spokesman.

The streamlined train body, made of aluminium alloy, is the lightest of its kind in the world, Wang said. The eight-carriage train can seat about 600 passengers and will start running the 115-kilometre-long Beijing-Tianjin route before the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, the report said.

It will cut travel time between the two cities to about 30 minutes from the current 80 minutes. The manufacturer, Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co Ltd, said the first batch of 10 such trains, with a speed equivalent to the Japanese bullet train, will be delivered in the first half of 2008.

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Bhutto killing impact cannot be underestimated

2008-01-09T10:17:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON: Asserting that the "tragic impact" of former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto's killing cannot be underestimated for both the region and war on terror, a top US lawmaker has argued that the fashion in which her assassination was carried out bore the hallmarks of the Taliban.

you cannot underestimate the tragic impact that this is going to have both on the region and on the war on terrorism.," New York's Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman said. Ackerman, the Chair of a House Sub Committee dealing with South Asia said, "this attack was absolutely, although we cannot come to any conclusions, very Taliban-esque in its execution."

"I think it causes us to completely rethink, especially based on the Iraq formulation, as to whether or not it's wise, at this moment in time, as these countries are evolving or not, as to whether or not to push the democratic and democracy buttons that we've been doing over the years, or to allow for a more authoritarian type leadership in some of these evolving countries”.

The more of these people that blow themselves up in these 'jihadi-type' fanatic attacks, the more recruitment power they seem to have. This is something that is completely intolerable from a Western point of view," Ackerman said.

"And Bhutto, you know, when you think about it, was unique in the fact that she became the first female, the first woman leader of government in any Muslim country, and that she was trying to make a comeback really sets back the movement of democracy on many, many fronts”.

Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination earlier on Thursday was a "tragedy" carried out by people with "no interest in democracy".

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A world of differences in one American school

2008-01-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

More than half the 380 students at this unusual school outside Atlanta are refugees from some 40 countries, many torn by war. The other students come from low-income families in Decatur, and from middle and upper-middle-class families in the area who want to expose their children to other cultures. Together they form an eclectic community of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims, well-off and poor, of established local families and new arrivals who collectively speak about 50 languages.

The International Community School, which goes from kindergarten through sixth grade, began five years ago to address a pressing local problem: how to educate a flood of young refugees. It has evolved into a laboratory for the art of getting along, a place that embraces the idea that people from different cultures and classes can benefit one other, even as administrators, teachers and parents acknowledge the many practical difficulties.

For example, the school’s weekly newsletter is published in six languages; yet it still is not intelligible to many parents. Some refugee children arrive at the school having never seen a book. Refugees began arriving in Decatur in the 1990s, when aid agencies pegged the area as perfect for newcomers because of its low rents and proximity to jobs in downtown Atlanta, just 10 miles to the west. In the late ‘90s, nearly 20,000 refugees arrived in Georgia, most to this area. The school must still satisfy exacting American parents.

Nearly a year ago, New York made plans to ban the use of electric shocks as a punishment for bad behavior, a therapy used at a Massachusetts school where New York State had long sent some of its most challenging special education students.

But state officials trying to limit New York’s association with the school, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Centre in Canton, southwest of Boston, and its “aversive therapy” practices have found a large obstacle in their paths: parents of students who are given shocks. “I understand people who don’t know about it think it is cruel,” said Susan Handon of Jamaica, Queens, whose 20-year-old daughter, Crystal, has been at Rotenberg for four years. “But she is not permanently scarred and she has really learned that certain behaviors like running up and hitting people in the face, are not acceptable.”

Indeed, Rotenberg is full of children who will run up and hit strangers in the face, or worse. Many have severe types of dysfunction, including self-mutilation, head banging, and eye gouging and biting. Parents tend to be referred there by desperate education officials, after other institutions have decided they cannot keep the child.

Refugee children there receive daily classes in English as a second language, and additional individual instruction based on their needs. There is after-school each weekday, along with art and music classes, and French and Spanish for all students. Classes are relatively small, 18 students on average, and each has an assistant to the teacher. Students wear uniforms light blue or white collared shirts, and dark blue pants or skirts so that clothing does not become a distracting status symbol.

Many on the staff understand the refugee experience first-hand. One survived the Rwandan genocide. The lunchroom lady is from Srebrenica, driven from the town during Serb soldiers' massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian men and boys.

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SanDisk Flash Drive to Offer Automatic Web Storage

2008-01-08T17:18:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES - SanDisk introduced a new flash storage drive that also automatically backs up data to the Internet.

When consumers store documents, photos and music onto SanDisk's new Cruzer Titanium Plus USB flash drive, it will back up that digital information to a Web service offered by a start-up company called BeInSync, which stores data onto Halfvalue.com's computers.

The new storage drive, which SanDisk believes is the first of its kind, is the latest in a wave of devices that link up with the Internet to offer new features to products that were previously considered stand-alone, or offline, devices.

For example, Halfvalue's new electronic book reader, Kindle, comes with wireless access, allowing users to directly download books, newspapers and blogs. Sony Corp's competing reader does not have a wireless connection and requires users to link to a computer to upload books onto the device.

The Cruzer, which retails for $59.99 and goes on sale in March, will come with four gigabytes of storage and provide six months of free online backup, After that period, a user pays $29.99 a year to continue the online storage service.

After an initial registration, when the user is online and the drive is plugged in, the information will sync automatically with an online storage account.

BeInSync uses Halfvalue's S3 storage service, which charges companies and developers a fee to store data on the online retailer's computers. It is part of a set of pay-as-you-go services offered by Halfvalue to allow companies to build and run Web applications without buying expensive computer equipment.

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Ford falls from 2nd place in U.S. sales

2008-01-08T17:17:00.001-08:00

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales. In 2006, Ford was the second-ranked automaker in the US with a 17.5% market share, behind General Motors (24.6%) but ahead of Toyota (15.4%) and Daimler AG (14.4%). Ford was also the seventh-ranked American-based company in the 2007 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues of $160.1 billion. In 2006, Ford produced about 6.6 million automobiles, and employed about 283,000 employees at about 100 plants and facilities worldwide. In 2007, Ford had more quality awards from J.D Power than any other automaker.

Ford Motor had been in second place in the American car market since the Great Depression. But it lost its grip last year. How the Industry Fared Toyota beat Ford in 2007 in United States auto sales, putting it behind General Motors, industry statistics showed Thursday. Ford had held the No. 2 spot since 1931, according to the company’s historian.

Ford sales fell 12 percent last year, compared with 2006, while Toyota’s sales rose 2.7 percent. Its three brands Toyota, Lexus and Scion beat Ford’s three American brands by nearly 234,000 vehicles, according to figures from Auto data, Toyota’s victory was not a surprise, since Ford’s own projections at the start of the year conceded that Toyota would probably pass it. But Ford’s displacement was another psychological blow to the 104-year-old car company. It is struggling to keep its North American turnaround on track amid a housing slump, high gas prices and weak consumer confidence.

Moreover, the move is another milestone for Toyota, which surged past Chrysler into third place in 2006 and has reported record sales for 12 consecutive years. Whose sales fell 6 percent in 2007, remained ahead of Toyota by more than 1.1 million vehicles in the United States, but the two companies were locked in a close battle for No. 1 worldwide.

Chrysler reported a 3 percent decline for the full year, ending up in fourth place. But these days, executives in Detroit insist that they are no longer caught up in sales races, mostly because their companies’ future depends on bringing back profits.” The most important thing that we’re driving to is to return our business to profitability in 2009”.

First, though, the carmakers must get through 2008, which by most forecasts will be the industry’s worst year since at least 1998. Over all, light-vehicle sales are expected to fall well below 16 million. In 2007, sales declined 2.5 percent, to 16.15 million from 16.56 million. Detroit’s automakers accounted for just 51.1 percent of the total, the lowest share ever, according to Auto data.

Ford had the greatest decline. Its market share fell to 14.8 percent in 2007 from 16.4 a year earlier. Despite its recent push to sell more cars, they accounted for most of Ford’s decline. Some of that was intentional, as the company discontinued the old Taurus sedan and sold 142,000 fewer vehicles to rental-car companies in an effort to raise profit margins. It has since revived the Taurus name.

The United States market fell to 23.5 percent, from 24.3 percent in 2006. G.M. also cut sales to rental companies to the lowest level in nine years, the company said. Chrysler, whose share was flat at 12.9 percent, said it plans to make a big reduction in fleet sales this year, though it was not more specific.

All three Detroit companies managed to pare down their inventory of unsold vehicles significantly in 2007, by cutting production of slow-selling models and offering year-end deals. G.M. and Chrysler both said their year-end inventory was the lowest since 1994.

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Star tells about birth of planets

2008-01-08T17:16:00.001-08:00

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Astronomers of early civilizations performed methodical observations of the night sky, and astronomical artifacts have been found from much earlier periods. Since the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring and analyzing data, mainly using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.

PARIS: Astronomers poring over a young star 180 light years from Earth have found evidence that stellar birth can lead to the formation of a planet only millions of years later, a mere blink on the cosmic timescale.

The mainstream theory is that planets are forged from a disc of gas and dusty debris that is left over from the creation of a star. How long this process takes is a matter of debate, though. Earth is believed to be about 4.5 billion years old, and the Sun around 100 million years older.

But observations of some exoplanets, planets in solar systems other than our own, suggest the timescale could be much shorter, especially when it comes to the formation of gas giants rather than rocky planets like Earth. A team led by Johny Setiawan, an Indonesia-born astronomer at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany, found a massive gas giant, between 5.5 and 13.1 times the size of Jupiter, orbiting within the dust disc of a well-studied star called TW Hydrae.

It takes a mere three and a half Earth days to zip around the star, at a distance of just 600,000 kilometres Light from the star suggests that it is between only eight and 10 million years old, which implies that planets can form even before the disc has been dissipated by stellar particles and radiation. Exoplanets were first spotted in 1995. So far, 270 of them have been spotted, according to the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia.

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Airline to test anti-missile system

2008-01-08T17:13:00.002-08:00

Up to three passenger-carrying American Airlines jets will be outfitted this spring with laser technology being developed to protect planes from missiles fired by terrorists.

Officials said Friday the anti-missile systems will not be tested on passenger flights. But the tests, which could involve more than 1,000 flights, will determine how well the technology holds up under the rigors of flight, they said. The first Boeing 767-200 will be equipped in April or later, American spokesman Tim Wagner said. American operates that Boeing model mostly between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles.

American said it is "not in favor" of putting anti-missile systems on commercial planes but agreed to take part in the tests to understand technologies that might be available in the future. The anti-missile technology was developed for military planes, and U.K.-based BAE Systems PLC said Friday it won a $29 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security to test it on passenger planes.

The technology is intended to stop a missile attack by detecting heat from the rocket, then responding in a fraction of a second by firing a laser beam that jams the missile's guidance system.

The device on the belly of the Boeing 767-200 aircraft will be operational but won't be tested on regular flights, Wagner said. The use of a signal to mimic a missile attack has already been tested in the air, Wagner said. Those tests also showed that the anti-missile systems didn't interfere with the jet's other controls, officials said. American, the nation's largest carrier, has been working with BAE on the project for a couple years. In 2006, BAE installed its hardware on a Boeing 767 that wasn't used to fly paying passengers.

About a year ago, BAE invited reporters to American's maintenance base in Fort Worth to see a jet outfitted with the laser-jamming device called Jeteye "We are now entering the next phase," Wagner said, which is "to see how the system holds up on an aircraft in real-time conditions — weather, continuous takeoffs and landings, etc. — and to test its maintenance reliability."

Burt Keirstead, director of BAE's commercial airline protection program, said BAE's contract requires it to prove that Jeteye will operate without failure for 3,000 hours of flight and sets a goal of 4,500 hours.

"If there is one aspect of performance that is hardest to satisfy, it's reliability," Keirstead said. "We predict we'll meet the (3,000-hour) threshold, and we hope to get to the (4,500-hour) goal."

BAE expects to test the device through 7,000 hours of flying in 2008 and early 2009, he said. With the latest contract, BAE has received more than $100 million in funding for aircraft-protection systems. Keirstead said BAE's technology will cost $500,000 to $1 million per plane to install.

Congress has approved funding for anti-missile research partly out of fear that terrorists armed with shoulder-fired weapons could hit jetliners as they take off and land.

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Perfume may lead to depresssion

2008-01-08T17:13:00.001-08:00

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell. The word perfume used today derives from the Latin "per fumum", meaning through smoke. Perfumery, or the art of making perfumes, began in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt but was developed and further refined by the Romans and Persians. Although perfume and perfumery also existed in East Asia, much of its fragrances are incense based. The world's first recorded chemist is considered to be a person named Tapputi, a perfume maker who was mentioned in a cuneiform tablet from the second millennium BC in Mesopotamia.

Recently, archaeologists have uncovered what is believed to be the world's oldest perfumes in Pyrgos, Cyprus. The perfumes date back more than 4,000 years. The perfumes were discovered in an ancient perfumery factory. At least 60 distilling stills, mixing bowls, funnels and perfume bottles were found in the 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m²) factory. In ancient times people used herbs and spices, like almond, coriander, myrtle, conifer resin, bergamot, but not flowers.

LONDON: ladies, beware! Too much of perfume may mean depression for you. Researchers have carried out a study and found that women who wear strong perfume are clinically depressed as they gradually become insensitive to smell, The Daily Telegraph reported here on Saturday. "Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume," lead researcher Prof Yehuda Shoenfeld of Tel Aviv University was quoted as saying.

According to the researchers, certain diseases cause the body to attack the olfactory system which in turn governs the ability to detect smells. "This means an impaired sense of smell could be a pointer to other serious conditions."

Prof Shoenfeld has suggested that depression could have a biological cause rather than a psychological disorder. "We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues."
In fact, the team looked at the links between depression and autoimmune conditions such as lupus, arthritis and rheumatism before coming to the conclusion.

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Time Is Of The Exercise Essence

2008-01-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Exercise is manual activity that develops or maintains physical fitness and overall health. It is often practiced to strengthen muscles and the cardiovascular system, and to hone athletic skills. A lack of time is one of the main excuses people give for not exercising, but experts say it's easy to sneak exercise into your life.

Melina Jampolis, an internist who works with overweight patients in the San Francisco area, advises clients to squeeze in activity whenever they can. She tells them to do five minutes of calisthenics, such as sit-ups or push-ups, in the morning, take a 10-minute walk at lunch, pace when talking on the phone and march in place while watching commercials on TV.

She also suggests broadening your definition of exercise beyond the traditional workout. Active volunteer work, for example, like coaching a Little League team, packing boxes at a food bank or cleaning up the neighborhood, will get you moving and use your muscles.

Jampolis, author of The No Time to Lose Diet, says one of her female patients started walking dogs at an animal shelter. The activity, along with a more healthful diet, helped the woman lose 15 pounds.

Many people don't do enough strength training, also called weight training, even though studies show it reduces the risk of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis.

Miriam Nelson, an exercise scientist at Tufts University in Boston and one of the authors of Strong Women, Strong Hearts, suggests keeping a set of dumbbells near the TV. While you are watching your favorite show or the news, do a set or two of different exercises, such as biceps curls, triceps extensions, seated overhead presses, forward fly exercises, side leg raises, ankle exercises, lunges and squats. Try to do strength training two to three times a week, she says.

Form is important, and you need to challenge yourself, she says. "Strengthening exercises need to be at an intensity where you feel them. They should be moderately hard to hard to get the most benefit." When traveling, it is best to do body-weight exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, lunges and squats, she says.

Timothy Church, who supervises exercise studies as director of preventive medicine research at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, is convinced a workout partner helps many people maintain a consistent routine.

"Your buddy doesn't have to be a friend. It doesn't even have to be a human. It can be a dog," he says. "With exercise, it's easy to talk yourself out of doing it and skip it, but it's very difficult to let someone else down."

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Yoga has multiple benefits

2008-01-08T17:09:00.001-08:00

Yoga induces a feeling of well-being in healthy people, and can reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated with metabolic syndrome, according to results of studies from Sweden and India. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and high blood sugar. Dr. R.P. Agrawal, of the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India, and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation in 101 adults with features of metabolic syndrome.

In the study, 55 adults received three months of regular yoga including standard postures and Raja Yoga, a form of transcendental meditation daily, while the remaining received standard care.

Waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides were significantly lower, and "good" HDL cholesterol levels were higher in the yoga group as compared to controls, Agrawal's team reports in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. In the second study, published online December 19 in BioMed Central Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dr. Anette Kjellgren from the University of Karlstad, Sweden and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga-like breathing exercises on healthy volunteers.

Fifty-five adults were advised to practice "Sudarshan Kriya," which involves cycles of slow normal and rapid breathing exercises. The exercises were practiced for an hour daily, six days a week for six weeks, while 48 controls were advised to relax in an armchair for 15 minutes daily. At the end of the study period, feelings of anxiety, stress and depression were significantly lower and levels of optimism significantly higher in the yoga group compared to the control group, Kjellgren and colleagues report.

Yoga induces a "relaxation response" associated with reduced nervous system activity and a feeling of well-being probably due to an increase in antioxidants and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, they suggest. Yoga not only helps in prevention of lifestyle diseases, but can also be "a powerful adjunct therapy when these diseases arise," co-investigator Dr. Faahri Saatiglou, from the University of Oslo, told Reuters Health. "We do not emphasise this point enough in our Western health care.”

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Yahoo Makes a New Play for Ads on Mobile Phones

2008-01-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! Inc is an American public corporation and global Internet services company. It provides a range of products and services including a web portal, a search engine, the Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, news, and posting. There may not be a Yahoo phone in the works, but the struggling Internet company is betting that a new mobile-phone strategy will help it better compete with the likes of Google, Microsoft and others for a share of the growing cellphone advertising business.

On Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Yahoo is planning to announce that it has opened up some of its key mobile software and services to outside publishers and programmers in an effort to make Yahoo’s own mobile offerings more useful to more people.

The strategy falls in line with the chief executive Jerry Yang’s plans to turn around Yahoo by making it the “starting point for the most consumers” on the Internet. To achieve that, he told investors last fall, Yahoo would have to develop platforms that are open to outside publishers and developers.

MySpace, eBay and MTV Networks have already created mobile services that are accessible via a new Yahoo home page tailored for mobile phones and through Yahoo Go, a cellphone software package that Yahoo introduced two years ago. The Yahoo mobile home page and Yahoo Go both give users easy access to e-mail, search, news, weather and other services provided by Yahoo.

Now users of Yahoo’s mobile offerings will also have easy access to applications from other companies. As more of them create useful programs that run on top of Yahoo’s mobile services, the company hopes that more users will choose its services over those of rivals.

Mr. Boerries said that developers, who often find it frustrating to have to rewrite their software for multiple mobile platforms, would be able to create programs on top of Yahoo’s services, which themselves run across a broad range of devices.

But wireless industry veterans say that Yahoo’s attempt to become a platform faces hurdles and competition. Other companies, including cellphone makers like Nokia and Apple, and mobile software providers, like Google and Microsoft, are trying to lure third-party publishers and programmers to create services for their mobile platforms.

Although Yahoo Go runs on about 250 mobile devices, and comes preloaded on some phones made by Motorola, LG, Samsung and Nokia, carriers in the United States strip the software from the phones. Currently, no American carrier offers phones with the Yahoo software installed, forcing American consumers who want to use Yahoo Go to download it themselves, a requirement that limits its distribution.

Mr. Boerries said that developers who write services to run on Yahoo’s mobile offerings could choose to have Yahoo deliver ads on those services.

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Gemma Arterton The New Bond Girl

2008-01-08T17:03:00.000-08:00

Gemma Arterton (born 1986, Gravesend, Kent), is an English actress. Arterton and her younger sister were raised by their father, a welder, and mother, a cleaner. After attending a grammar school in Gravesend, and attending a performance arts course, Arterton trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a full grant.

Arterton won her first professional role (in Stephen Poliakoff's Capturing Mary) while she was still at drama school. She made her stage debut as Rosaline in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre, London. She made her film debut in the 2007 St Trinian's movie St Trinian's as Head Girl Kelly, a role she gained in competition with Sienna Miller.

The 21-year-old actress will play a character called Fields in the movie, which has the working title of Bond 22. Arterton was most recently seen starring opposite Rupert Everett as an unruly pupil in a revival of the 1950s boarding school films.

She appears in a number of forthcoming film and television productions, and is set to work on the next James Bond, currently titled Bond 22.The film's production companies Arterton will play Fields in the Marc Forster-directed movie, which has the working title of "Bond 22" and stars Daniel Craig as Agent 007.

Talk of Arterton's casting has been swirling since mid-December but had been unconfirmed by the producers. On Friday, Eon Prods. In London and Santa Monica-based Danjaq Prods., as well as Arterton's agent, ICM in London, confirmed the casting. Details of her character were not available, but a Danjaq rep said "it's a nice-sized role."

The casting of Arterton, who has just a handful of movie roles under her belt, continues the tradition of Bond producers usually choosing less established actresses for the coveted part, including Ursula Andress ("Dr. No"), Jane Seymour ("Live and Let Die") and Eva Green (2006's "Casino Royale").

The latest Bond film will take up where "Casino Royale" left off. Paul Haggis teamed with Forster on a draft of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade's screenplay. The movie is set for release Nov. 7.Arterton's credits include the remake of the girls' school comedy "St. Trinian's," which was recently released in the U.K.

Her casting continues the tradition of Bond producers choosing less established actresses for the coveted part, including Ursula Andress in Dr No, Jane Seymour in Live and Let Die and Eva Green in Casino Royale. She joins Daniel Craig, who will be playing the role of 007 for a second time. It is thought the new film will take up where Casino Royale left off and will be loosely based on the Ian Fleming short story Risico, where Bond is dispatched to infiltrate a drug ring flooding Britain with heroin.

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How humans catch bird flu: Study

2008-01-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

PARIS: Scientists on Sunday said they had figured out how influenza viruses carried by birds latch on to humans, a discovery that may open the way to a vaccine against not just deadly avian flu but against all flu types. There are many strains of flu virus, but only a few have succeeded in crossing the species barrier from animals to humans.

Strains known as H1 and H3 are the most common, and are especially efficient in attacking cells in the upper reaches of the respiratory system. Variants of the H5 virus, by contrast, usually remain confined to wild or domesticated fowl. But when they do infect humans it is often with lethal results, as immune systems are unable to recognise and counter the novel pathogen. Of 348 confirmed cases of H5N1 avian flu in the last five years, 216 -- more than 60 percent -- have died as a result, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). What health officials fear most is the emergence of a new H5 strain that can easily "jump" from birds to humans, potentially unleashing a pandemic on the scale of the "Spanish flu" of 1918-19 that killed tens of millions of people.

Researchers have long known that whether an influenza strain infects humans depends on the ability of a protein on the surface of the virus, called hemagglutinin, to bind to a sugar receptor in the respiratory tract. In humans, these receptors are known as alpha 2-6, whereas their counterparts in birds are known as alpha 2-3. Up to now, scientists believed it was a genetic switch in the virus that allowed it to bind to human rather than bird receptors, thus making the much-feared "species jump" possible. But the study, led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Ram Sasisekharan, says that the big factor is the shape of the sugar receptors in human lung cells. The human alpha 2-6 receptors come in two shapes, one broadly resembling an umbrella, and the other a cone. To infect humans, flu viruses must bind to the umbrella-shaped receptors, the researchers found.

"This work enables researchers to look at flu viruses in an entirely new way," said Jeremy Berg, director of the National Institute for General Medical Sciences, which funded the research. At the very least, the new discovery will help scientists rapidly identify strains that may develop the capacity to attack human respiratory systems. "Now that we know what we are looking for, this could help us not only monitor the bird flu virus, but it can aid in the development of potentially improved therapeutic interventions for both avian and seasonal flu," Some 500,000 people around the world die every year from seasonal influenza, in which a strain mutates slightly from previous strains.
A virus that would cause a pandemic, though, would be genetically so new that immune systems and vaccines would not be primed to recognise it. The "Spanish flu" virus killed as many as 50 million people, although the toll is widely disputed.

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New year, old resolutions

2008-01-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, the party is over. Your groggy brain is making a hopeless effort of dragging you out of bed. The zest and hope and other happy things that you were brimming over with for the New Year, right until yesterday seem to have all gone kaput. Coffee? Yes, please. And those New Year resolutions for a fitter you? no please.

Difficult to stick to, aren't they? In a recent study conducted by Richard Wise man of the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, over 3,000 people were tracked while attempting to achieve a range of things including losing weight, quitting smoking or drinking less. At the start of the study, about 52 per cent were confident of success but only 12 per cent actually achieved their goals. Researchers also found that resolutions most likely to succeed were enjoy life more (which 32 per cent people managed to stick to); improve your fitness (29 per cent); lose weight (28 per cent); quit or cut down drinking (25 per cent) and quit or cut down smoking (24 per cent). But no sweat. Relax; nurse that mean hangover for now while we toss over some of those impossible-to-achieve New Year resolutions to the experts and have them tell us how to actually get down to accomplishing them. Quitting smoking is one resolution almost everyone makes but only a fraction steadfastly sticks to. And the most common roadblocks are often losing motivation or simply facing a lack of time1 Quit smoking. This one is the toughest of the lot. Even when you manage to kick the habit, there's no saying when it could creep right back into your routine.

"I had resolved to give up cigarettes by the end of 2007 but haven't managed to. My job is hectic and stressful and I end up smoking, no matter what. I can't control the habit," says Kunal Gupte, a 28-year-old software engineer. Expert speak: "Gradually reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke per day may work better than just giving it all up on one day," says general practitioner Dr Anand Bhave. "Suddenly going from smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day to none will cause withdrawal symptoms such as feeling low or tremors in your body. Come down to five instead and try to phase out the habit. If that doesn't work, consult your doctor and even take treatment like wearing nicotine patches on your body to help kick the habit," he adds. This formula seems to be working for 24-year-old Pravin Gopal. "I used to smoke seven cigarettes a day until November. Now I can manage with just three. And I am doing fine so far. The key, for me, is to reduce the number of breaks I take in my workday. Earlier, I would end up smoking during every coffee break" .
2 Exercise regularly : One resolution almost everyone makes but only a fraction steadfastly sticks to. And the most common roadblocks are often losing motivation or simply facing a lack of time. Says Rinku Singh, a 32-year-old mother and software engineer, "I have a year old baby, a home to take care of, and a really busy job to juggle. I often have to put in extra hours at the office. My resolution last year was to exercise by taking a brisk walk everyday. But I just haven't been able to do it," she says."

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Online dating may bring frustration

2007-12-22T11:10:00.000-08:00

A Net dating service, also known as online dating or Internet dating, is an example of a dating system and allows individuals, couples and groups to meet online and possibly develop a romantic relationship. Net dating services provide un-moderated matchmaking through the use of personal computers, the Internet, or even cell phones.

Such services generally allow people to provide personal information, then search for other individuals using criteria such as age range, gender and location. Most sites allow members to upload photos of themselves and browse the photos of others. Sites may offer additional services, such as webcasts, online chat, and message boards. Sites sometimes allow people to register for free but may offer services which require a monthly fee.

Many sites are broad-based, with members from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired.
Online dating renews women's hope in love and sex, but can be just as disappointing as the real-life dating scene, according to new Canadian research.

Susan Frohlick, an anthropology professor at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, says the women she surveyed gained a sense of empowerment from their online dating experiences. But they still wanted the man to make the first move and expected him pick up the tab.Women are finding it as a useful tool to enter into the dating world, they find that it's safe, they find that they can be a little more bold than they would in face-to-face relationships. Women are finding it as a useful tool to enter into the dating world, they find that it's safe, they find that they can be a little more bold than they would in face-to-face relationships," Frohlick said of her survey, which looks at how women over 30 view online dating.

"But, at the same time, they are experiencing frustration because it does seem that the Internet in many ways is just the same old bar scene."

Complaints include a preponderance of men who are looking for much younger women, as well as men who misrepresent their looks, interests or marital status, or who show little interest in moving the relationship offline. "There's not much of a difference between the virtual world and the real world," said, 33, a Toronto professional who has used an online dating site on and off, three or four times for a few months each time. "It's sad and equally as frustrating”.

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Parents' Smoking Boosts Child's Allergy Risk

2007-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

HealthDay News - Exposure to secondhand smoke in early infancy can boost a child's risk of developing allergies, Swedish researchers say.

A team at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, analyzed questionnaires filled out by the parents of more than 4,000 families.

The parents filled out the questionnaires when their children were ages two months, 12 months, 2 years and 4 years. In addition, the researchers collected blood samples from more than 2,500 children at the age of 4 to check for the presence of immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is released by the immune system in response to allergens. High levels of IgE indicate sensitization to allergens.

About 8 percent of the mother smoked throughout their pregnancy, and about 12 percent smoked during part of their pregnancy, but the researchers found no evidence that smoking during pregnancy affected a child's risk of becoming sensitized to certain allergens.

About 20 percent of parents smoked after their baby was born, and about 4 percent of the children were exposed to secondhand smoke from both parents.

Overall, 25 percent of the children had high IgE levels by the time they were 4 years old, with 15 percent allergic to inhaled allergens, 16 percent allergic to food allergens, and 7 percent allergic to both types of allergens.

Compared to children of nonsmokers, children exposed to secondhand smoke during early infancy were almost twice as likely to be allergic to inhaled allergens, such as pet dander, and about 50 percent more likely to have food allergies.

If you're a smoker, the best advice is to quit smoking. If you can't do it for your own health, do it for your kids'. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at greater risk for developing respiratory problems, ear infections, and a host of other health problems.

If kicking the habit isn't possible, smoke as far away from your children as possible, in a wide-open outdoor space. Don't allow visitors to smoke in your home or around your children, and limit your children's exposure to smoke at other homes they visit.

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Scientists develop artificial skin

2007-12-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Imagine, doctors taking out a piece of artificial skin stored in the refrigerator and curing patients with skin damage. Well, this fantasy may soon be a reality, for Chinese scientists have come up with artificial skin that may be very beneficial for patients in need of a skin transplant.

Jin Yan, a professor at the Fourth Military Medical University, unveiled such a kind of artificial skin at an exhibition on Monday. The experts showed people the milky white adhesive film, with a diameter of 20 centimetres, contained within a cultivation dish.

Before this, the US was the only country to have the technology to produce artificial skin to assist burn victims. According to the China Daily, Professor Jin Yan told Xi'an Evening Post that the artificial skin has two layers, the epidermis and dermis, with active cells, which can grow quickly along with the original human skin without the immune system rejecting it. China's State Food and Drug Administration is said to have ratified certificates for the development of the new artificial skin.

Over 15 million people are afflicted with burnt skin and ulcers every year in China, with an estimated 3.5 million people already needing a skin transplant, Professor Jin Yan has revealed.

A self-repairing plastic "skin" has been developed and tested by scientists.
The smart type of plastic, which automatically knits together when cracked or broken, The material contains microcapsules filled with a special healing agent. Like human skin, it bleeds and heals itself, offering a potential breakthrough in vital materials used in surgical implants. It could also prove useful for making rocket and spacecraft components, which cannot be repaired once they are in use Plastics are normally susceptible to cracking caused by vibration, bending, and heat.

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Soon, Moon to have traffic jams

2007-12-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

LONDON: Standing long hours because of traffic light signals on ‘earth’ are now passé, because it might be time to consider traffic lights on the moon.

In the past week, Isle of Man’s governments, space agencies, and even a company have announced plans to land on the moon. On Dec 17, marking the 35th anniversary of the Apollo programme's last outing, NASA announced that its next crewed lunar mission was on track for 2020.

Meanwhile, China opened up its lunar programme planning a lander for 2012 and a crewed mission within 15 years. And Russia proclaimed that it would begin a series of uncrewed landings in 2012, after a 30-year break from exploring the moon, reports New Scientist . However, it just won't be the big players adding to the traffic jam.

Last week a private company called Odyssey Moon became the first entrant in the Google Lunar X prize. The contest, announced in September, offers 20 million dollars to the first privately funded mission to land a probe on the moon before 2012 and send back pictures.

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Three Internet Companies to settle gambling claims

2007-12-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

The three largest Internet Companies (Microsoft, Yahoo and Google) are all looking to start the year off right, with a clear conscious and no worries. At least when it comes to any woes these large companies were having in regards to Internet gambling. The three companies have agreed to pay a combined $31 million in order to settle claims that they promote illegal online gambling.

US Attorney Catherine Hanaway said on Wednesday “The investigation conducted by Hanaway's office, along with the IRS and the FBI, dates to 2000”, she said. Negotiations have been going on for 12 to 18 months, she said. "This is a very profitable business that had a lot of money to spend on marketing," Hanaway said of the online gambling firms advertising on the Web.

The investigation conducted by Hanaway's office, along with the IRS and the FBI, dates to 2000, she said. Negotiations have been going on for 12 to 18 months, she said. "This is a very profitable business that had a lot of money to spend on marketing," Hanaway said of the online gambling firms advertising on the Web.

All three Companies said they stopped taking the ads years ago. "I do think it will have a major impact, Hanaway said. Obviously these are three of the largest online organizations in the world."

Microsoft is paying the most, with a total of $21 million. $4.5 million of that will go to the government, with $7.5 million going to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Microsoft is giving up some of that money towards public service ads as well, to the tune of $9 million.

Google will be giving $3 million to settle the case, in which all three companies will neither admit nor contest the charges brought against them.

Yahoo, which has already faced some flack from Congress in regards to its privacy policies and cooperation with other governments, will be paying $7.5 million for this court settlement. Yahoo has already forfeited $3 million directly to the Treasury, and will also provide $4.5 million worth of online advertising over three years for a public service campaign, according to a report from MarketWatch.

As part of the settlements, none of the three companies admitted any wrongdoing or contested their culpability.

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Toshiba and Sharp Form LCD TV Pact

2007-12-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba said it will buy large liquid crystal displays from Sharp as part of an alliance likely to help spark a realignment of the flat panel TV industry. Under the pact, Toshiba will procure liquid crystal display (LCD) panels from a 380 billion yen ($3.4 billion) factory being built by Sharp in western Japan, and then use them in LCD TVs larger than 32 inches to be sold under its own brand.
Sharp, in turn, will buy semiconductors from Toshiba for use in its own LCD TVs. The deal underscores the scramble by electronics makers to position them selves to meet growing demand for large LCD TVs able to produce high-definition pictures at ever cheaper prices.

Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told a news conference that Toshiba may sell its 15 percent stake in IPS Alpha Technology, an LCD joint venture with Hitachi Ltd and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the world's top maker of plasma TVs.

That would pave the way for Matsushita to take control of the venture and invest aggressively in LCD production to address a weak point in its product line-up.

The deal will give Sharp a large customer for its factory, which is expected to be the world's largest LCD plant when it starts operation by March 2010, while offering Toshiba a steady source of demand for its image-processing chips.

Matsushita has invested most aggressively on plasma in the belief that it was the most cost competitive technology for big TVs above 40 inches, but plasma's dominance in that segment of the market has started to give way to bigger and cheaper LCD TVs.

Global LCD TV sales will likely grow 85 percent to $91 billion by 2010, while rival plasma TV demand is expected to shrink 15 percent to $15.8 billion over the same period, according to research firm Display Search.

Toshiba, which currently procures panels from IPS Alpha and LG. Philips, said it aimed to meet 40 percent of its demand for LCD modules in the business year starting April 2010 with supplies from Sharp. At the same time, Sharp hopes to satisfy 50 percent of its total demand for system LSI semiconductors from Toshiba.

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Youth more inspired by celebrities

2007-12-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

LONDON: Celebrities like actress Angelina Jolie (Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975) is an American film actor, a former fashion model, and a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She is often cited by popular media as one of the world's most attractive and beautiful women and her off-screen life is widely reported. She has received three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award.) football star David Beckham and singer Kylie Minogue, are more influential than historical figures, a latest research has revealed.

A researcher from the University of Leicester's Department of Media and Communication found that historical figures like Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare and Isaac Newton are less important for the youth than today's celebrities, reports contactmusic.com.

Charlotte de Backer's study revealed that the high level of publicity of famous celebrity couples makes them "teachers" of the youth.

"Humans seem to have the tendency to mimic the overall behavioural pattern of those who have a higher status or are more successful than others. This explains why celebrities act as role models for a broad range of behaviour they display - good or bad."

De Backer also found that older people are more interested in celebrities for purely social reasons and not because they really care about Lohan's rehab stint or Spears' confrontation with paparazzi. She added: "We did find in the interviews that older people do not gossip about celebrities as much because they want to learn from them or feel befriended with them, but they use celebrity gossip to bond with real-life friends and acquaintances.

"Living in scattered societies we often don't know who to talk about with the many people we know and celebrities can act as our mutual friends and acquaintances.

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NASA offers airline safety data

2007-12-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA on Monday released an intentionally scrambled, partly deleted version of the safety data it gathered from 24,000 interviews with airline pilots, making good on a promise to Congress to make public information that it said earlier this year would shake public confidence in the airlines and threaten their commercial interest.

But the agency released the data from the $11.5 million program in a format that made it difficult if not impossible for outsiders to analyze in search of trends, presenting the reports as documents rather than spreadsheets. And the NASA administrator, Michael Griffin, said his agency had no plans to do additional work with the material, which he sought to disown in a conference call with reporters.

“It’s hard for me to see any data here that the traveling public would care about or ought to care about,” he said. “But it’s also not for me to prescribe what others may care about. We were asked to release the data and I said that we would, and I’ve done that.”

As released, the survey data no longer linked pilot reports to the type of plane the pilot flew, the pilot’s experience level or other particulars. NASA said the reason was to maintain the anonymity of respondents.

In a sometimes testy exchange with reporters, Dr. Griffin said that it was never NASA’s intention to do anything more than test methods of data gathering. The project, called the National Aviation Operations Monitoring System, sought to uncover safety problems by surveying pilots, rather than waiting for them to make anonymous reports, or gathering information from “black boxes” or similar sources.

But Representative Bart Gordon, Democrat of Tennessee and chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, who extracted the promise from Dr. Griffin to release the information, said that the thousands of pages of “redacted” and “disaggregated” data put on the Internet on Monday was “a start but not a satisfactory start.”

Jon A. Krosnick, a professor at Stanford who helped with the survey design, said in a letter to the Science Committee on Dec. 17 that the project had been terminated before it could be expanded beyond pilots to other personnel important to safety.

NASA’s discomfort with the study it paid for appeared to arise partly from the differing approaches of engineers, who run NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration, and the social scientists who conducted the survey. The engineers tend toward gathering numbers from computers; the social scientists interview people. At the F.A.A., officials have said that the reports in the survey were not sufficiently detailed to be useful. Laura J. Brown, a spokeswoman, said Monday that the survey had gathered “hangar talk, perceptual data” that her agency would probably find hard to integrate with its other data sources. But, she said, “We do intend to see how it can fit with the rest of our data.”

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Music makes kids sharp

2007-12-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

HAMBURG: Not only does it soothe the savage beast, but music also makes unruly children calmer while at the same time honing their cognitive skills and physical coordination, according to a leading expert.

A mother's soft lullaby, granddad's whistling or granny's humming in the kitchen or the dulcet tones of father singing in the shower - all of these seemingly innocuous musical activities serve to help an infant not only in acquiring linguistic skills but also in learning how human beings interact on a social level. "Experiments have shown that unborn babies in the womb appear to relax in response to certain music and also that they seem to recognize this music after birth," says professor Michael Schulte-Markwort, head of child psychology at Hamburg's University Hospital in Germany.

"From the outset, music helps the language centres in the brain to develop so that children who have been exposed to music at an early age tend to learn to speak earlier than those who are born into non-musical homes," he says. "Music also helps in the development of motor skills while at the same time reducing tension," says Schulte-Markwort. "Learning the tunes and lyrics to songs also aids in developing memory skills for other tasks. Rhythm and dancing also skills young muscles in coordination so that children good in music and dance are healthier and better coordinated than children whose parents never teach them to sing and dance and play a simple drum or other instrument. "Children develop a feel for musical tones and associate certain tone patterns with certain rhythms," he points out.

"As soon as they learn to walk, they also begin to move rhythmically in time to musical stimuli and thus automatically begin to dance. Good and attentive parents naturally encourage their offspring to sing and dance rhythmically”. "That is why pre-schoolers should engage in games involving rhythmic movement and dancing, games that encourage children to clap in time with the beat or to beat out the rhythm on simple percussion instruments such as bells and chimes and little drums," says Schulte-Markwort.

Age five or six is ideal for teaching children to play a musical instrument because their minds are most receptive to learning the skills involved. "If they have already been exposed to music and to rudimentary instruments, then at about age five or six they will think of learning to play an instrument as a kind of game”. "We are not talking about the violin or bassoon, which involve very fine motor skills, and we are also not talking about tedious piano lessons which bore young minds. But instead we are talking about simple flutes and other instruments which produce a melodic sound easily and enjoyably”.
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Mobiles raise risk of mouth cancer

2007-12-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

LONDON: It's no news that mobile phone use raises the risk of brain cancer and impotency. Now, add mouth cancer to the list.

A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that too much use of cell phones increases the chance of developing malignant mouth tumour, British newspaper Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after analysing the effects of mobile phone use on a group of people in Israel. The team compared the lifestyles of 402 people with benign mouth tumours and 56 having malignant ones with a control group of 1,266 people. Those who used mobiles the most were more likely than normal to develop parotid gland tumours. Those who used mobiles the most were more likely than normal to develop parotid gland tumours. In fact, five years of frequent use increased the chances of developing a tumour by around 50 per cent compared with people who had never used one, the researchers found.

Long term users of mobiles tended to develop tumours on the same side of the head as the phone was normally held. People who used mobile phones in rural areas, where the phone has to work harder to make contact with the nearest base station, were found to be at greater risk.

Lead researcher Dr Siegal Sadetzki, from the Chaim Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Hashomer, Israel, was, however, cautious about coming to any conclusions.
"Until more evidence becomes available we believe that the precautionary approach currently adopted by most scientific committees and applied by many governments should continue”.
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Mobile Hard Drives Hit 500GB

2007-12-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

Hitachi’s announcement makes it the largest capacity mobile 2.5-inch hard drive. Previous high-water capacity marks for 2.5-inch drives included Fujitsu's 300GB drive and Toshiba's 320GB drive. Hitachi's jump to 500GB represents a whopping 36 percent increase in a single bound. In order to achieve this landmark capacity, Hitachi didn't so much advance a real density as it did rethink the drive's design. Hitachi moved to a three platter design, as opposed to the typical two-platter approach for a 2.5-inch hard drive. Notebook PC disk storage leaps into the stratosphere today, hitting the half-terabyte mark with Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' announcement of a 500GB 2.5-inch mobile hard drive.

According to Hitachi, although the drive itself will occupy a 2.5-inch chassis, the drive mechanism inside the drive enclosure will be a bit thicker than the usual height of a drive. Typically, drives are 9.5mm in thickness; the 500GB drive will be 12.5mm, due to the additional disk platter. The 5400rpm 500GB drive has 167GB per platter, the highest capacity per platter drive announced. Toshiba's 320GB drive packs in 160GB per platter.

Notably, the power consumption of this drive is practically the same as that of Hitachi's two-platter drive, the 5K250. "We did not want consumers to sacrifice battery power in exchange for the increased capacity. We spent a lot of time designing the motor, and designing the electronics that control the motor and represent a large portion of the power consumption of a hard disk drive

Hitachi's Rotational Vibration Safeguard (RVS) technology Explains Swezey: "On desktop drives and enterprise drives, when you put several drives together, a drive tends to pick up the rotational vibration produced by the motor of the drive or drives around it. That rotational vibration can cause disk read or write errors if the heads are unable to stay on track due to the vibrations. Drives with RVS add a sensor on the drive itself to detect such rotational vibration; RVS, in turn, controls the movement of the actuator--which moves the drive's heads back and forth--to compensate for the vibration."

The 500GB 2.5-inch mobile drive provides the grounds for a seismic shift in how notebooks--and other devices that rely on 2.5-inch drives--can be perceived. Current notebooks offer much of the power and capabilities of desktop PCs, but have been constrained by the hard disk drive's size. "I look at this as a new product category, "We thought this was a good evolution of the mobile drive to meet the changing needs of consumers who are buying notebooks."

Another benefit of such a high-capacity, 2.5-inch drive "We now offer a way for manufacturers to migrate from using 3.5-inch drives to 2.5-inch drives in consumer electronics devices and computers," says Swezey. Desktop manufacturers who want to go to a smaller form factor chassis or DVR manufacturers who want to integrate a drive can do so, "all while staying at the same capacity as with a 3.5-inch drive, but at a lower power draw."

In addition to aiming the 500GB drive squarely at notebook manufacturers, Hitachi is also pushing the drive for digital video recorder applications. The company is offering a second version of the drive, dubbed the Travelstar E5K500, where the "E" stands for Enhanced Availability (EA), a Hitachi approach to optimizing the drive for DVR applications.

Physically, the drive is the same. Hitachi makes some tweaks to the drive's firmware, so the drive can spin 24/7 for DVR and streaming applications, or for use in enterprise servers. The 500GB drive could hold up to 500 hours of video, depending upon the audio and video compression technologies used.

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Microsoft Buys Fast, Plays Catch-Up

2007-12-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

Can Microsoft close the gap with Google in the market for mainstream Web search is another matter. Microsoft's market share has been stagnant, with its sites accounting for 9.8% of U.S. Web searches in November 2008, compared with 58.6% for Google and 22.4% for Yahoo, according to COM Score.

Microsoft bid $1.2 billion for a Norwegian search software company, in what analysts said was mainly an effort to add more tools to its lucrative Office products, but was also being done with an eye toward fending off Google. Its software helps teams of workers quickly search the corporate storehouse of information for answers about procurement, marketing, manufacturing and product design. Fast is not a competitor in consumer Web search and advertising, a market dominated by Google and one where Microsoft is investing heavily and struggling to make progress.

Ever lagging in the lucrative business of Internet search and related ads, Microsoft (MSFT) is dipping into its cash reserve to buy a Norwegian company it hopes will create a new flank in its bid to chip away at Google's market dominance. Microsoft is purchasing Fast Search & Transfer for $1.23 billion, paying a 42% premium for technology to compete in the expanding market for corporate search software.

Fast sells search engines that let companies comb through the gobs of digital information they generate these days, a capability where Microsoft's current search arsenal comes up short. Using Fast's software, employees can find operational data stored in the vast array of folders and databases on their corporate servers. The technology is also used to let consumers sift through online product catalogs more quickly; retailer Best Buy (BBY) used fast’s software to improve the search engine on its Web site.

Microsoft's business software division called corporate search technology an "indispensable tool" for companies dealing with an explosion of data about their products and performance. Corporate search "will be for workers tomorrow what Internet search is for consumers today,”. Fast's software may also help Microsoft improve its Web search.

Whether the deal pays off may turn on two questions: Can Microsoft use its direct sales force and network of resellers to ramp up Fast's sales quickly enough to move the needle on Raikes' $16.4 billion-a-year division, which produces the company's flagship Office software suite? And can Fast's stable of nearly 200 engineers adapt their expertise to consumer Web search and online software, key businesses for Microsoft.

There are some significant differences between Web search and so-called enterprise search technology. In consumer searches, the popularity of a Web page, for example, is an important factor in determining its relevance, while popularity tends to be less important in ranking corporate information sources.

Google does compete in the enterprise search market with specialized software packaged in a slender server computer, called the Google Search Appliance. And Microsoft sees enterprise search as a promising new market where it wants to get a leg up on Google and other rivals. With this acquisition, we are the clear leader in enterprise search.

Microsoft plans to combine Fast's technology with its SharePoint Server software, which a company can use to let its workers share documents over the Internet. Another possible opportunity for Microsoft would be to make Fast's software more customizable, something Google's corporate search-engine server doesn't allow.

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Loud music without disturbing others

2007-12-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: You may soon be able to listen to your favourite music over loudspeakers without annoying people standing nearby, for researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have invented a sound system, which focuses sound waves from several loudspeakers onto a listening zone.

The 'personal sound system' was devised by researcher Chan-Hui Lee and team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

"You may soon be able to enjoy audio without those uncomfortable earphones or headsets and not bother your neighbours,".

With the system, Lee and his colleagues envision that the sound waves would be much less audible outside the listening zone. The scientists devised a simple prototype involving half-inch speakers, nine of which were arranged in a row 13 inches long.

They found that there was a 20-decibel or more difference in sound intensity between the listening zone and outside it, the difference between, for instance, a normal conversation and a whisper. The researchers suggested that personal sound systems could find use with laptops and televisions. "But the ultimate goal are mobile phones and PDA systems," Lee said.

To fit personal sound systems on portable devices such as mobile phones, obviously smaller speakers are needed, he added. The findings have been presented at the Acoustical Society of America meeting in New Orleans.

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Less sleep increases obesity risk

2007-12-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: A recent study has revealed that short sleep times in patients with chronic medical diagnoses increases the risk of obesity. The researchers surveyed 200 patients attending internal medicine clinics about their sleep habits, lifestyle characteristics, and medical diagnoses.

The findings revealed people with a sleep time of less than seven hours had a notably increased possibility of obesity defined by a body mass index compared to the reference group of eight to nine hours. The researchers believe that there is a U-shaped relationship between obesity and sleep time in women suggesting that woman who had both short and long sleep times were more likely to be obese.

The patients included young age (18 to 49 years), not smoking, drinking alcohol, hypertension, diabetes, and sleep apnea. Kenneth Nugent, MD, of Texas Tech University and lead author of the study said short sleep times have an association with obesity in adults with chronic medical problems.

“Our study demonstrates that short sleep times have an association with obesity in adults with chronic medical problems and that chronic disease and attendant therapies and/or changes in physical activities do not obscure this relationship.

“This study suggests that adults should sleep eight to nine hours per night to maintain optimal weight, he added. The weight and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), makes the neck thicker thereby increasing the level of fat in the back of the throat and narrowing the airway. With more fat in the throat the airway is more likely to be blocked.

People with OSA are obese and have a neck size of more than 17 inches. Many people with OSA also have high blood pressure. It is believed that four percent of men and two percent of women have OSA. The study is published in the December 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (JCSM). .

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Jamie-Lynn Spears is Pregnant

2007-11-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

In schools and shopping malls and around the dining room table, the subject of teenage pregnancy suddenly and uncomfortably in the air as mothers and daughters and fathers, too, talked about or tried not to talk about the pregnancy of 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, who plays the perfect, well-liked and, it is understood, virginal teenage girl on “Zoey 101” on Nickelodeon.

Jamie Lynn Marie Spears (born April 4, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for starring in the Nickelodeon television series Zoey 101 and as the sister of Britney Spears. A spear, the youngest of the family, also has a brother; Bryan.

Spears appeared in 2001's Total Britney Live and in a Pepsi commercial in 2002. In the same year, she appeared briefly in the movie Crossroads, as the younger version of the main character, Lucy, who was played by her older sister. Spears attended school at Parklane Academy in McComb, Mississippi, where she was a cheerleader and was involved in other sports, and is continuing her education there by online correspondence.

High school girls here wondered aloud on Thursday why no one was talking about contraception. Parents across the country, on the other hand, commiserated over the Internet about how, thanks to Ms. Spears, they were facing a conversation with their 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds about sex.

High school girls who had already had their hearts broken by the all-too-public life of Ms. Spears’s older sister, Britney, known as a hard-partying mother of two, worried that their younger sisters would be devastated by the news or, worse, that their sisters might think it was “cool” to be 16 and pregnant.

“She’s the idealistic little girl,” Alicia Akusis, 17, said of the television character Zoey between classes at Concord-Carlisle High School here. “She does perfect in school. Boys like her because she’s pretty, but she doesn’t deal with boys. She’s really smart, she’s really cool, and she’s an empowering girl character.”

Perhaps the news of Ms. Spears’s pregnancy should not have been so surprising in what has seemed to be the year of the unwed mother in popular culture. First there was the movie “Knocked Up,” in which a 24-year-old entertainment journalist accidentally gets pregnant in a drunken evening. Now there’s “Juno,” about a 16-year-old who confronts an unplanned pregnancy and decides to have the baby.

“Nothing about the content, characters or the storytelling on our air has changed at all,” Mr. Martinsen said. He said that Nickelodeon was discussing a special on the issue with Linda Ellerbee, the television journalist who is the host of “Nick News.” “Whenever an issue becomes so prevalent that it’s inescapable,” Mr. Martinsen said, “her show is where we turn to help kids navigate and interpret and understand it.”

On December 18, 2007, it was announced in an article in OK! Magazine, released on December 19, 2007, that 16 year old Jamie-Lynn is 12 weeks pregnant. She and her mother spoke to the magazine in an exclusive interview. Nickelodeon, the network that carries Spears' series Zoey 101, issued the following statement shortly after the announcement.

“She loves ‘Zoey 101,’ ” Mr. Younginer said. “It’s usually Britney Spears who would do that stuff, not Jamie Lynn. She was supposed to be one of the good, clean actresses for girls to follow after. I think it just sends an awful message for the young girls.”

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Internet search may up health risk

2007-11-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

MELBOURNE: An Australian study has revealed that people searching the Internet for answers to their health questions absorb what they want to read, potentially placing their health at risk. The study, conducted at the University of New South Wales, showed that people are inclined to maintain their beliefs, even if they find contrary information.

"Our research shows that, even if search engines do find the 'right' information, people may still draw the wrong conclusions - in other words, their conclusions are biased,".au quoted Professor Enrico Coiera at UNSW..

It was also found that factors like, where the information appears in search results, and how much time a person spends looking at it, affects how people perceive it. "The first or the last document the user sees has a much greater impact on their decisions," Professor Coiera added. the findings are important as many people search for answers to their health questions on the Internet.

"We know that the web is increasingly being used by people to help them make healthcare decisions. There can be negative consequences if people find the wrong information, especially as people in some countries can now self-medicate by ordering drugs online. "Australians can order complementary medicines online and these can interfere with other medications. This means that providing people with the right information on its own may not be enough,"

In order to help people make sense of the information, which they are presented with, Professor Coiera along with Dr Annie Lau created a new search engine interface, which according to them breaks down cognitive biases.

"The new search engine interface we have designed could be a part of any search engine and allows people to organise the information they find, and as a result organise their thoughts better. Often by going through things in a slightly more organised way it becomes pretty obvious what the answer really should be. The results have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

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Intel increase chip market

2007-11-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

Intel, the world's top chipmaker, Intel Capital calls on some of its best and brightest to evaluate prospective investments, offer business and technology guidance to our portfolio companies, and provide unrivaled access to the latest developments in the industry. We are among the largest venture capital entities in the world with offices in established and emerging markets around the world.

It is set to increase its share of a growing global chip market this year to 12.2 percent, market researcher Gartner said Friday. Intel made the gains at Advanced Micro Devices' expense, Gartner said. The overall global market is expected to grow 2.9 percent from last year to $270.3 billion, the research company said.

Intel's revenue grew more than twice as fast as the market average, boosted by strong gains in laptop chip sales. Last year, Intel's global market share was 11.6 percent. Among top vendors, Toshiba's revenue was expected to surge 28 percent in U.S. dollars, surpassing Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, and Infineon. Of those three, only STM was able to slightly raise its revenue, Gartner said.

"Semiconductor vendors need to watch the performance of their end customers even closer as a major part of the industry becomes increasingly tied to consumer spending patterns," Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner, said in statement.

Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$6 billion in nearly 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. In that time, about 180 portfolio companies have been acquired by other companies and another 155 have gone public on various exchanges around the world. In 2006, Intel Capital invested about US$1.07 billion in 163 deals with approximately 60 percent of funds (excluding Clearwire) invested outside the United States.

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Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton Referendum

2007-11-25T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York, and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. She is married to Bill Clinton the 42nd President of the United States and was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001.

“When Hillary first announced she was running for president, she came right to the North Country, and I was so jealous,” Clinton said. “I want to thank you for arranging the snow today. It made me feel right at home. I took a nap in the car, and when I woke up I thought it was 1992.” The crowd laughed appreciatively. Many in the audience probably recalled that he had all but lived in these parts for a year before that campaign; after his election, he even gave some of the families he met along the way his special ZIP code at the White House, so they could keep in touch.

“You’re hurt in’ up here because of this mill closing,” he said. “But you should know just how close millions upon millions of your fellow Americans are to your experience.” He went on to quietly castigate the Bush administration for running up foreign debt and straining the military to its limits in Iraq, and he talked about Hillary’s plans to bring health-care coverage to all Americans, build a new jobs program around alternative energy and revamp the education system, beginning with early-childhood programs. “A lot of you already know this,” he said of his wife’s work on education issues in Arkansas, “because I talked about it when I was running.”

Winter’s first storm punished the White Mountains of New Hampshire on the Friday before Thanksgiving, rendering the terrain all but impassable. And yet in Gorham, a small town 50 miles from the Canadian border, hundreds of people shuddered patiently in the snow, in a line that snaked halfway around Gorham Middle-High School, while Secret Service dogs sniffed the gymnasium for bombs. “I’ve got a lot of people freezing out here,” a campaign aide barked into a phone, as if this might make the agents go any faster. When they finally allowed everyone in, a few of the 500 or so folding chairs remained unfilled, but the place was humming with excitement; a teacher near me was saying that this was the biggest thing to happen here since Dwight Eisenhower visited in the 1950s.

Even without the allusions to the old days, his speech seemed strangely reminiscent of that first campaign, and not necessarily in a good way. Listening to him talk, I found it hard not to wonder why so many of the challenges facing the next president were almost identical to those he vowed to address in 1992. Why, after Clinton’s two terms in office, were we still thinking about tomorrow? In some areas, most notably health care, Clinton tried gamely to leave behind lasting change, and he failed. In many more areas, though, the progress that was made under Clinton almost 23 million new jobs, reductions in poverty, lower crime and higher wages had been reversed or wiped away entirely in a remarkably short time. Clinton’s presidency seems now to have been oddly ephemeral; his record etched in chalk and left out in the rain.

Supporters of the Clintons see an obvious reason for this, of course that George W. Bush and his Republican Party have, for the past seven years, undertaken a ferocious and unbending assault on Clinton’s progressive legacy. As Clinton points out in his speeches, Bush and the Republicans abandoned balanced budgets to fight the war in Iraq, widened income inequality by cutting taxes on the wealthy and scaled back social programs. “We’ve had now seven years of a radical experiment in extremism in domestic policy,” Clinton said in New Hampshire.

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Google Double-Click deal gets approval

2007-11-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

The Federal Trade Commission is likely to approve the proposed $3.1 billion merger of Google and DoubleClick today or tomorrow, according to two sources familiar with the agency's review of the deal.

The merger of Google, which dominates online search ads, and DoubleClick, which is the leader in display ads, is expected to be approved over the objections of privacy groups and Google's rivals, chiefly Microsoft, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the vote had not yet been taken. Separate from the merger review, the FTC is also likely to request public comments on privacy principles that all online ad companies would have to follow.

Microsoft has said in congressional testimony and in comments to the FTC that the Google-DoubleClick deal would greatly reduce competition in the online-advertising market. Yahoo, AT&T and some privacy advocates also oppose the merger.

Microsoft and Google have butted heads and formed alliances several times in the past few months. Google filed an amicus brief in Microsoft's antitrust case last June. Then, in October, Microsoft purchased an equity stake in social networking site Facebook, in which Google had been hoping to invest. Microsoft is now the exclusive ad-serving partner for Facebook, while Google has a similar role with Facebook's rival, MySpace.

Yesterday, Microsoft landed another ad client in entertainment conglomerate Viacom, which agreed to a five-year, $500 million partnership for online advertising and content distribution. Viacom previously used DoubleClick.

As part of the deal announced yesterday, Microsoft's Atlas becomes the exclusive U.S. online advertising platform for Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and other entertainment businesses. If the Google-DoubleClick merger is approved, it could have presented a problem for Viacom, which is suing Google for $1 billion for copyright infringement on Google's video-sharing site.

"There's no question that Microsoft has, along with every [online-ad] company out there with one major exception, a healthy respect for intellectual property.

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Forgiveness can be good for health

2007-11-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

Forgiveness is the mental, and or spiritual process of ceasing to feel resentment, indignation or anger against another person for a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. This definition, however, is subject to much philosophical critique. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives, in terms of the person forgiven and or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In some contexts, it may be granted without any expectation of compensation, and without any response on the part of the offender (for example, one may forgive a person who is dead). In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, apology, and or restitution, or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe they are able to forgive.

WASHINGTON: If you are holding a grudge against someone, waste no time in pardoning him or her, for a study in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Women's Health Source has suggested that forgiveness might be good for your health.

Forgiveness means acknowledging hurt and then letting it go, along with the burden of anger and resentment. According to the journal, having bitterness for someone might affect your cardiovascular and nervous systems. In one study, it was found that who focused on a personal grudge had elevated blood pressure and heart rates, as well as increased muscle tension and feelings of being less in control.

When they were asked to imagine forgiving the person who had hurt them, the participants said that they felt more positive and relaxed, and thus the changes dissipated.

When it comes to learning how to forgive - talking with a friend, therapist or adviser might be helpful during the process, to sort through feelings and stay on track. The journal has covered four steps that will help you learn forgiveness. The first step is to acknowledge the pain and anger felt as a result of someone else's actions. For forgiveness to occur, the situation needs to be looked at honestly. In the second step, you should recognize that healing requires change, followed by the finding a new way to think about the person who caused the pain. Finally in the last step, you will begin to experience the emotional relief that comes with forgiveness. It might include increased compassion for others who have experienced similar hurt

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Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh

2007-11-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

A cyclone killed 242 people and left much of southern Bangladesh cut off from the rest of the country before heading inland and losing strength Friday, officials said. Tropical Sidr roared across the country's southwestern coast late Thursday with driving rain and high waves, spawning a 4-foot water surge that left low-lying areas and some offshore islands under water, according to Nahid Sultana, an official at a cyclone control room in the capital, Dhaka.

Packing winds of over 100 miles an hour, the furious cyclone that swept across the low-lying watery edges of southern Bangladesh late Thursday downed trees, sent mobile telephone towers crashing and swept away mud and thatch homes. By midday today local time, the death toll of Cyclone Sidr, as it was called, stood at roughly 240, said an official reached by telephone at the control room of the Disaster Management ministry of Bangladesh.

Long vulnerable to nature's fury, Bangladesh stands to suffer even more from extreme weather events like this as a result of human-induced climate change, scientists say. It was too early for government officials and independent relief workers to quantify the total scale of damage, though it was clear that by Bangladeshi standards, the impact would likely be relatively low.

In 1991, a tropical storm claimed roughly 140,000 lives. Bangladeshi relief agencies have since then developed early warning systems and storm shelters to help people evacuate before disaster strikes. The Associated Press reported that 650,000 people had moved out of their homes. The storm weakened by today. Still, it brought distress to some of the most vulnerable people on Earth. The Indian side of the Bay of Bengal delta was largely spared. Government officials there estimated that 100,000 people had left their homes in search of safety, and while some trees and roofs had been blown away on the deltaic islands known as the Sunderbans, no casualties were reported and people had already begun returning home.

The United Nations Development Program, in pressing world leaders to take immediate steps to address climate change, argues that the increased frequency of droughts, floods and storms stands to hit the world's poor hardest and exacerbate poverty in places like Bangladesh. The agency is due to come out with details in its annual Human Development Report later this month.

The cyclone flattened thousands of flimsy straw and mud huts, uprooted trees, electricity and telephone poles, and destroyed crops and fish farms in 15 coastal districts, local government officials and witnesses said.

The worst hit areas were communities in southern Bangladesh where most of the victims were killed by falling trees or debris from collapsing homes, while some drowned after falling off boats, Sultana said.

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First two years vital for kid's IQ

2007-11-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: A new study has found that the quality of care given to a child within the first two years of life directly affects brain development and IQ.

Led by researchers from Tulane University, a team of investigators followed abandoned young children in Romanian orphanages over time. The researchers found that children placed in foster care at younger ages had significantly higher IQ than those placed in foster care after the age of 2.

"Our findings suggest that there may be a sensitive period in the first two years of life in which experiences are especially important in shaping cognitive development. This work adds to a growing body of scientific evidence about the importance of early relationship experiences,” said principal investigator Charles Zeanah, professor and chief of child psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine.

During the study, the researchers tracked 136 kids between the ages of six months to 30 months who had been abandoned at birth or soon thereafter, and placed into institutions in Bucharest, Romania. They trained social workers and recruited Romanian families to provide foster care for half the children who were randomly selected.

It was found that kids placed in foster care within the first 18 months of life had the greatest gains in cognitive development, as compared to those placed in foster care later.

The researchers found that at the age of 42 months, those placed in foster care before 18 months old had an average IQ of 94 compared with scores of 89 for similarly aged children placed in foster care starting between 18 to 24 months.

The cognitive developments were less impressive for kids placed in foster families between the ages of 24 to 30 months. Such children had an average IQ of 80, while tots placed with foster families after 30 months had an average IQ of 79.7. A follow-up survey of the same children a year later showed IQs for the two groups placed in foster care after two years of age continued to significantly lag behind the group placed with families earlier in life.

The study has been reported in the journal Science.
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