Swine flu jabs advertised in in Los Angeles
The CDC says the supply of flu vaccine in the US is increasing
Swine flu has killed nearly 4,000 people in the US, including 540 children, officials said after devising a new counting method.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new system is based on more precise figures provided by 10 states.
The previous estimated death toll from the H1N1 virus in the US was 672.
Latest figures show about 22 million Americans contracted the virus in six months with some 98,000 hospitalised.
"This is just the first six months and I am expecting all of these numbers, unfortunately, to continue to rise," said Dr Anne Schuchat of the CDC.
She said that, although still imprecise, the new statistics provide "a bigger picture of what has been going on in the first six months of the pandemic".
The CDC now estimates that 3,900 people in the US have died from the virus in the past six months.
Four times higher
Dr Schuchat said that in children under 18, an estimated eight million have had swine flu, with 36,000 hospitalised and 540 deaths.
The new estimated death toll for children is four times higher than the previous estimate.
"We will be updating the toll that the pandemic has taken... about every three to four weeks," she said.
Dr Schuchat added that 41.6 million more doses of swine flu vaccine had been made available on Thursday for distribution around the country.
However, delivery remained far below initial estimates and expectations, she said.
The global death toll from the flu pandemic passed the 6,000 mark last week according to figures from the World Health Organization.
The virus emerged in Mexico in April and was declared a global flu pandemic on 11 June.
Cases are currently surging in the northern hemisphere with the onset of colder weather.
The world's largest retailer has introduced online sales of caskets, expanding a merchandise selection that spans engagement rings and baby gear to a new major milestone in its shoppers' lives.
Shoppers can choose from the Lady de Guadalupe steel casket for $895 or a sienna bronze casket for $2,899.00.
Walmart.com spokesman Ravi Jariwala said it is selling the products as a "limited beta test" that launched within the last few weeks.
Wal-Mart has been revamping its merchandise selection in stores and online to expand into categories it believes have high potential for growth.
The funeral service industry generates $11 billion in revenue a year, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. In 2007, the association said the U.S. death rate was 8.0 people per thousand, and that is expected to rise to 9.3 people per thousand by the year 2020.
The caskets do not qualify for Walmart.com's free site-to-store shipping program, where shoppers can buy an item online and have it shipped to a local store for free.
Instead, the website says the caskets require freight delivery to the shopper's preferred address. The estimated shipping cost for the sienna bronze casket is $99.
Competitor Costco Wholesale Corp already sells caskets online.
President Barack Obama returns a salute as he steps off Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn of the the wiith house.
The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.
Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the strain of flu known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius now has authority to bypass federal rules when opening alternative care sites, such as offsite hospital centers at schools or community centers if hospitals seek permission.
Some hospitals have opened drive-thrus and drive-up tent clinics to screen and treat swine flu patients. The idea is to keep infectious people out of regular emergency rooms and away from other sick patients.
Hospitals could modify patient rules — for example, requiring them to give less information during a hectic time — to quicken access to treatment, with government approval, under the declaration.
It also addresses a financial question for hospitals — reimbursement for treating people at sites not typically approved. For instance, federal rules do not allow hospitals to put up treatment tents more than 250 yards away from the doors; if the tents are 300 yards or more away, typically federal dollars won't go to pay for treatment.
Administration officials said those rules might not make sense while fighting the swine flu, especially if the best piece of pavement is in the middle of a parking lot and some medical centers already are putting in place parts of their emergency plans.
"I think the term emergency declaration sounds more dramatic than it really is," said Dr. Peter Hotez, a research professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University. "It's largely an administrative move that's more preemptive ..." He said such a step would give emergency rooms and hospitals the flexibility they need.
The national emergency declaration was the second of two steps needed to give Sebelius extraordinary powers during a crisis.
On April 26, the administration declared swine flu a public health emergency, allowing the shipment of roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually needed them. At the time, there were 20 confirmed cases in the U.S. of people recovering easily. There was no vaccine against swine flu, but the CDC had taken the initial step necessary for producing one.
"As a nation, we have prepared at all levels of government, and as individuals and communities, taking unprecedented steps to counter the emerging pandemic," Obama wrote in Saturday's declaration.
He said the pandemic keeps evolving, the rates of illness are rising rapidly in many areas and there's a potential "to overburden health care resources."
The government now hopes to have about 50 million doses of swine flu vaccine out by mid-November and 150 million in December. The flu virus has to be grown in chicken eggs, and the yield hasn't been as high as was initially hoped, officials have said.
"Many millions" of Americans have had swine flu so far, according to an estimate that CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden gave Friday. The government doesn't test everyone to confirm swine flu so it doesn't have an exact count. He also said there have been more than 20,000 hospitalizations.
October 25, 2009
Rushed into production? Not really.
Full of substances that do harm? Hardly, and especially not compared with the dangers of the H1N1 flu virus.
These are the retorts of researchers, scientists, federal health authorities and others familiar with how the swine flu vaccine is being made as they listen to the debate unfolding around kitchen tables and over the Internet.
"We've been baking this bread for 60 years, and we're pretty good at it," said Kenneth Alexander, an infectious disease expert at the University of Chicago, expressing the frustration that decades of experience in making flu vaccines hasn't resulted in more public confidence.
Jesse Goodman, the Food and Drug Administration's acting deputy commissioner for public health, said the swine flu vaccine was "the absolute best protection" available, and perfectly safe.
"We think it is important," Goodman said, "to have the actual facts laid out and let people make their own decisions."
When the H1N1 virus first appeared in April in Mexico and California, federal health officials sent samples to pharmaceutical companies so they could formulate their vaccine versions for field testing.
Mass production geared up in August, and the first 2 million doses were delivered to doctors and clinics two weeks ago. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently acknowledged slower production than they had hoped, but predicted "widespread availability" by the beginning of November.
That turnaround from discovery to delivery was fast enough that many Americans who told pollsters they don’t plan to vaccinate their children said they were worried the vaccine had been rushed into production before being tested adequately for potential side effects.
Nonsense, Alexander said.
"This H1N1 vaccine is made just like all the flu vaccines we have been making for 60 years, which have an extraordinary record for safety," he said. "The only difference between this one and the seasonal flu shots is the virus it is made from, so we have no reason to believe this one will be any less safe."
Although pharmaceutical researchers worldwide are trying to find newer and speedier ways to make flu vaccines, in the U.S., the only FDA-approved method is from the 1940s: injecting the virus into chicken eggs to be grown into larger quantities.
For the arm-shot vaccine, the virus eventually is harvested from the eggs, killed and chopped into segments. When injected into the recipient, it activates the body's immune system to produce antibodies that kill the actual flu virus if the recipient is exposed.
The alternative, nasal-spray vaccine is made using a live virus. It too is grown in eggs, but at lower temperatures, weakening or "attenuating" it so that it can survive only in the nose, not at greater body heats in the lungs.
"The nasal vaccine infects the mucosal cells [in the nose], which are closely monitored by our immune system," said Patrick Wilson, a University of Chicago immunologist. Once that system detects the vaccine, Wilson said, it produces permanent immunity to the targeted flu virus.
The first testing of both vaccines was performed on 3,000 volunteers in eight laboratories at Baylor University in Texas, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Emory University in Georgia, Seattle Group Health Cooperative, St. Louis University, University of Iowa, University of Maryland and Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
It also is being tested on volunteers by the five companies licensed to make as many as 250 million doses of the vaccine by next spring for the U.S. market -- CSL Ltd., Novartis Vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline and MedImmune.
"It is tested to see if it produces the level of antibody production in the blood that reaches the FDA standard," said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt. "It is also tested for safety in the volunteers, something I know a little bit about since I was one of the volunteers for this vaccine."
On its website, the FDA has posted the contents of the vaccines produced by the five companies. Schaffner said that, like many foods and medicines, they contain a number of vital chemical substances that could be toxic in large volume but are in such tiny amounts that they are harmless.
The most questioned ingredient is thimerosal, a preservative added in trace amounts to keep vaccine in two-shot doses from deteriorating if stored while awaiting application.
Thimerasol contains ethyl mercury, and critics allege it can cause autism and other neurological disorders. But researchers say there is so little thimerasol in the vaccine that it poses no harm. Nevertheless, they have produced thimerosal-free single-shot doses that can be ordered, and they say there is no thimerosal in the nasal spray.
"I continue to be amazed that people bring this issue up," said Paul Offit, a pediatrician and University of Pennsylvania vaccine researcher. "There have been six exhaustive studies [of a possible link between thimerosal and autism]. . . . They each came back with a definitive answer: No. Three other studies were done to see if thimerasol caused any signs of mercury poisoning. All three answered: No."
Thimerosal is no longer used in most childhood vaccines, however, because of potential health concerns.
Others have raised concerns about "adjuvants" -- compounds sometimes added to vaccines to stimulate the immune response in recipients. It is added in several European nations, but not in the U.S.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's director of immunization and respiratory diseases, said the U.S. sees no need to add them unless the virus mutates into a far deadlier form.
"Since April, this flu has caused tens of thousands of hospitalizations and more than a thousand deaths," Offit said. "This is only October, and influenza is a winter disease, so no telling what we are about to see.
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Also against the phishing explanation, argued Landesman, is the fact that the second list -- approximately 20,000 passwords -- contained usernames from not just Hotmail, but also Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Comcast, EarthLink and others. "That makes [the purported phishing campaign] a much broader attack across multiple services."
Her first thought when she read about the compromised Hotmail accounts was of the cache of credentials she'd found two months before. "Those public lists reminded me of the lists I found," she said. "It was definitely not a complete list, but seemed to be an advertisement for what this [hacker] had to offer."
The hacker was either inexperienced, or not too bright: The data was not password-protected, which is the norm for credential caches.
Landesman's theory is not just an academic exercise, she maintained.
"Everyone who suspects that their account has been compromised should change their password," she said, repeating advice by Microsoft, Google and other security experts. "But if, after changing their password, they have another reoccurrence where they see their account being used to e-mail spam, or they again can't access their account, then they need to suspect that there's a local infection on their PC.
Federal officials say they are trying to improve their outreach to African-Americans to ensure they get vaccinated for both the seasonal and the H1N1 flu viruses.
“About 100 million people, or one in three, get vaccinated,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “We see lower rates among African-Americans. In adults under the age of 65, there is a 12 percentage point difference.”
Among black adults at high-risk for exposure to the flu, only one in four are getting vaccinated.
Schuchat and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius briefed reporters in a conference call Wednesday about their outreach efforts, particularly in the black community, and explained how the vaccination program would be rolled out.
Currently, Americans are being urged to get vaccinated for the seasonal flu. Late this month, Sebelius said, the program for H1N1 – formerly known as swine flu – will begin.
Sebelius said pregnant women, children ages six months to 24 years of age and those ages 25-64 who have chronic health conditions, health care workers and emergency responders should be among the first to get vaccinated and that “others should strongly consider” getting the H1N1 flu shot.
State and local officials will determine where the vaccine will be made available by partnering through public health departments, community centers, schools, churches and faith-based programs. Sebelius and Schuchat said the vaccine would be available at no-cost through the partner programs, although some providers may bill health insurers for administrative costs.
Officials have set up a Web site, flu.gov, and posted information on Facebook and Twitter to get the word out.
Those who have colds or mild illnesses can still get vaccine shots or the nasal spray, Schuchat said. Those with moderate to severe illness should consult their doctors before taking the shots. Anyone who is allergic to eggs should avoid the vaccines for the seasonal and H1N1 viruses because both are egg-based. Officials recommend that those who cannot take the flu vaccine, as well as people in high-risk categories, should get the pneumococcal vaccine to prevent pneumonia because it can complicate the effects of the flu.
The feds did take some heat from reporters Wednesday about the way they are reaching out – or not – to black radio, historically black colleges and universities and other venues to get the word out to African-Americans, particularly those who may not have regular Internet access.
“We’re working on PSAs (public service announcements) that are available for use on radio,” Schuchat said. “We’ve got posters and bus ads and other things for people who are not using the Internet for their primary source of information,” she added, but later acknowledged that outreach could be improved and that “we’ll go back and work on that.”
Later in the day, it was announced that flu.gov now features a self-evaluation guide that will give individuals information about what they can do to take care of themselves, prevent the spread of the flu to other members of their families and identify the warning signs of more serious flu symptoms - symptoms that require the attention of a medical professional.
Swine Flu Vaccine Given Today to U.S. Health Workers
Email fredlaw47@yahoo.com
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The first doses of swine flu vaccine are being administered in the U.S. today, initially targeted at health-care workers as the country’s biggest influenza prevention program seeks to slow the pandemic.
Doctors and hospital workers in Marion County, Indiana, and Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, are among the first to receive AstraZeneca Plc’s nasal spray vaccine today. About 600,000 tubes will be shipped by tomorrow, with shots coming later this week totaling 6 million to 7 million doses, said Bill Hall, spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department, in an Oct. 2 interview.
Swine flu, or H1N1, is spreading widely in most U.S. states. The first vaccines will be aimed at health-care workers, children, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions that put them at risk for complications. While the U.S. has ordered doses to cover all Americans, only half of U.S. adults plan to get the vaccine, according to a Harvard University poll.
“This is uncharted territory for an influenza season; we’ve already had many millions of cases, and we will have many millions of cases more,” Thomas Frieden, head of the Atlanta- based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told members of Congress on Sept. 29. “Over the next several weeks, there will be some vaccine in the system, but there will also be some roughness as it gets distributed.”
Most adults, including the elderly, should wait until abundant supplies of vaccine arrive, according to CDC recommendations. About 40 to 50 million vaccines will be ready to ship next week, Hall said.
Same Procedure
The vaccines are made with the same ingredients, dose and manufacturing process as the seasonal influenza vaccine given to 100 million Americans each year, Frieden said at the hearing in Washington. The H1N1 vaccine is more effective than some seasonal shots because the virus hasn’t mutated and matches the vaccine, he said.
Individual states will decide how initial vaccine doses are distributed, said Anne Schuchat, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. Many areas will focus on inoculating health- care workers in the initial days when supply is most limited, she said.
Sixty children have died from H1N1 since April in the U.S.. That’s more than die in an entire season in some years, Schuchat said in an interview Oct. 2.
“We went as fast as we could without taking shortcuts,” with vaccine testing and production, said Bruce Gellin, director of the National Vaccine Program Office at the HHS Department. “I have an 11-year-old son, and I would like to have him protected.”
Surging Cases
Hospitals in the Northern Hemisphere are bracing for a surge of cases in coming weeks, spurred by colder weather that promotes spread of the flu. While a majority of people infected with H1N1 have similar symptoms as the seasonal flu -- cough, fever, sore throat, aches and fatigue -- a small number of otherwise healthy people develop life- threatening disease.
Cases spiked when students returned to classes in September, and U.S. flu rates are currently higher than the February peaks of two of the last three seasons, according to CDC surveillance data. The illness swept through college campuses, with more than 27,000 potential cases reported out of 3.2 million students tracked by the American College Health Association. Last week, 6,527 new cases were reported at colleges, down 19 percent from the previous week.
Swine flu is responsible for more than 600 U.S. deaths since the virus was identified in April, Schuchat said. Cases of severe illness occurred during spring and summer months when flu typically doesn’t spread in the U.S.
Pregnant Women
Pregnant women are especially at risk. More than 100 pregnant women have been hospitalized in intensive care units, and 28 have died, Schuchat said. The H1N1 shot is recommended for pregnant women, though the nasal spray isn’t, she said.
Each year, influenza kills about 36,000 people. The majority of deaths are in people older than age 80, according to the CDC. In contrast, swine flu attacks children hardest, while older people have some immunity, probably from exposure early in life to a virus that was genetically similar to the new H1N1, according to the National Institutes of Health, which conducted the vaccine tests.
The U.S. government took the unusual step of buying all of the H1N1 vaccines and is funneling them through San Francisco- based McKesson Corp., the biggest U.S. distributor of drugs and medical supplies. States, health departments and large cities can order the vaccine through a CDC website, and the U.S. plans to distribute them directly to 90,000 doctors’ offices, pharmacies and school- based vaccination programs.
Poll Results
About 53 percent of adults said they plan to get vaccinated, with 41 percent saying they won’t and 6 percent saying they’re not sure, according to a telephone poll of 1,042 people conducted by Harvard University School of Public Health from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20. About 70 percent of parents said they will get the vaccine for their children.
New York became the first state this year to require health-care workers to get the vaccine. Health-care workers are at high risk for getting the flu and passing it to their patients and families, said the CDC’s Frieden, who was formerly New York City health commissioner. Frieden told Congress the CDC may consider a federal mandate for future flu seasons.
“I object to the government telling me what shots I’ve got to take,” said Gail Sloan, a registered nurse in the emergency room at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta, New York. “The vaccine has been pushed by drug companies and I don’t think it has been fully tested.”
Sloan was one of more than 200 demonstrators Sept. 29 outside the capitol building in Albany carrying signs such as “NYS Health Workers Are Not Lab Rats.”
Dead Virus
Flu shots are made from dead virus samples that trigger the body into producing protective antibodies to fight off future infections. They’re approved for everyone older than 6 months, and enough doses of the swine flu vaccine will be available in the coming months for anyone who wants one, according to the CDC. Possible side effects include soreness where the shot was given, low-grade fever and aches.
The nasal vaccine is made from a genetically weakened form of the virus and is approved for people ages 2 to 49, excluding pregnant women and people with breathing difficulties such as asthma. Side effects are similar and may also include runny nose, wheezing, cough or headache. It’s impossible to contract the flu from either vaccine, the CDC’s Frieden said.
For the seasonal and swine flu vaccines, children under age 10 require two doses to prime and boost their immune systems.
The vaccines are free, though doctors and pharmacies may charge a fee to administer them. Some health departments are setting up free centers to administer the vaccine, and New York is offering shots free to children with consenting parents.
Seasonal Flu Shot
A separate vaccine against the seasonal flu is now available in the U.S., though Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA reported delays that are causing shortages in some U.S. areas. Sanofi is “a few weeks” behind schedule, and has distributed more than half of its allocated 50.5 million doses to the U.S., spokeswoman Donna Cary said in an e-mail last week.
About 70 million doses have been shipped across the U.S., more than is typical for this time of year, and any shortages should be temporary, the CDC’s Schuchat said. The seasonal flu shot doesn’t help against swine flu, she said.
Vaccine suppliers Sanofi, London-based AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline Plc; Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG and CSL Ltd. of Australia are making 114 million seasonal flu doses, and 251 million swine flu doses for the U.S., according to HHS. About 10 percent of the H1N1 supply will be donated to poor countries, according to the department.
The new H1N1 influenza strain has killed at least 3,917 people worldwide and spread to 191 countries and territories.
Rwanda forges ahead with IT goals
Internet bus
Soon there will be six internet buses making visits to remote villages
Back in 2005, Click visited Rwanda, to see how the tiny African country was trying to emerge from the ravages of war and lead the region into the information age. Four years on, Dan Simmons returns to Kigali to see if the dream is coming true.
Something new has arrived in a tiny Rwandan village, in Kamonyi district. A grand government plan to give everyone access to computers and the web is reaching areas where some have not even seen a PC before. It is causing quite a stir.
The excitement is all about a bus carrying 20 laptop computers, which is currently travelling the country offering internet services to students and local business people.
As the internet bus is connected up and brought to life children outside wait patiently to start their digital lives.
The laptops inside the bus share a connection that is not even half the average broadband speed in developed countries but it is a start, and it is free - for now, anyway.
This bus has been on the road for just a few weeks. Soon there will be six of these making regular visits to remote villages across the country. The idea is to introduce as many ordinary Rwandans to computers and the net as possible.
Mixed progress
It is a steep learning curve. It is clear the children are not familiar with the basics, like choosing a name for their email account, passwords, or Captcha tests.
Even though tutors were on hand, I wondered just how vulnerable they would be to internet scams or web nasties like malware.
The project has funding from the World Bank till 2011 after which users may be asked to pay for access in areas that do not even have electricity.
Typist in Kigali
A rise in computer ownership means there are less typists on Kigali's streets
In 2005, I came here to find a country in a hurry. Laying high-speed fibre optic cables, it promised web access for schools, cable TV to homes, and cheaper, faster internet. Coming back it seems some of those goals have been missed.
Just a third of schools promised web access were connected. Technical difficulties and spiralling costs were blamed. Some cities are still not on the network.
The project has been taken on by another company aiming to finish the job by next year.
There are mixed signs of progress in the capital too. Four years ago 30 or so men would sit in the streets and type letters for people. This time around I had to search to find a lone typist, one of just a handful left. He blames a rise in computer ownership.
Rwanda does not tax IT goods - great news for the few who can afford them. But because of the growing number of PCs here some think connection speeds are actually slower now.
"Sometimes because of the high demand in the market, and the supply being very low they are not providing a proper service,'' says Devendra Kumar Sindhi, a foreign exchange owner.
Leaping ahead
But Rwanda's dream of becoming a high-tech country is about to take-off again. By next month the land-locked country will cease to rely on expensive and slow satellite connections to the rest of the world.
The fibre-optic data pipeline linking Kenya to Europe and India will soon arrive in Kigali, cutting wholesale internet costs by up to 90%.
The city's own fibre optic network will then offer some of the fastest connections in Africa.
Patrick Nyirishema
We know what it's like to be a country that is in ashes and now we're able to spring back with a reason and determination to... make this work
Slideshow: Connecting Rwanda
Schools are advancing too. From next year compulsory state education will teach to age 14 rather than 11.
Rwanda has joined the global one laptop per child program. Around 100,000 children have access to low-cost computers, and the government wants to extend that to more than one million children over the next few years.
Advances at the top of the class too - last time I visited, the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology was running short IT courses - in a desperate bid to fill the country's skills gap.
This time around the institute's rector had some good news. New computer labs were opened this year. The four-month courses have been replaced with four-year degrees.
Pass rates are up 20%. And so are potential earnings. Students can expect to earn $500 - $2,000 (£313 - £1,250) a month when they leave, which is a massive pay day in this part of the world.
Details neglected
And that is the main reason for Rwanda's move from an agricultural nation to a knowledge-based one.
Having emerged from the worst period of its history, the genocide of 1994, Rwanda has placed its faith in IT with some big promises - mobile phone use should double from just 20% to up to 40% by next year. The government is giving away 35,000 handsets to help that happen.
It wants a PC in every home within 10 years. And one of the most advanced plans to date can be found at Kigali's national stadium.
If any further evidence was needed that Rwanda is in a hurry to become Africa's ICT hub, then this is surely it, the South Koreans are here installing 4G Network called WiBro (Wireless Broadband) which will bring unparalleled connectivity across the city of Kigali.
Korea Telecom's base stations will be switched on in a few weeks time. Linked into the city's new fibre optic network, WiBro promises to deliver broadband mobile data speeds far in excess of most western 3G services.
It is becoming a typically Rwandan approach - aim big and sort the details out as you go, such as the fact that there are virtually no compatible WiBro handsets here.
The government says it may subsidise cheap WiBro imports as it is doing now for mobile phones.
Need for energy
"As a country we are in a hurry. We can't wait to fix water agriculture and roads and then get to ICT, so we've got to do everything in parallel because we've lost so much time in the last decades," says Patrick Nyirishema, director of Rwanda's Information Technology Authority.
"We've been to the bottom. We know what it's like to be a country that is in ashes and now we're able to spring back with a reason and determination to say, 'we're going to make this work, we're going to succeed,'" he adds.
To make the leap Rwanda also needs energy. High above Kigali is one of Africa's largest solar fields.
Methane gas discoveries, wind turbines, and new hydroelectricity stations could also power the dream. But progress in these areas has been slow. Fewer than one in ten here are on the electricity grid.
In its race to catch up, Rwanda still faces tough obstacles. But it has chosen not to think twice about trying to jump them, and not to fear should it fail.
This one actually has a picture of the person so please pass this to everyone on your list. Police Warning to Online Members
it out to all the people online that you know. Something like this is nothing
to be taken casually; this is something you DO want to pay attention to.
If a person with the screen-name of DreamWeaverGrey contacts you, do not
reply. DO not talk to this person; do not answer any of whispers or requests
for private chat in Pogo. Whoever this person may be, he/she is a suspect for
murder in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted through the Internet.
Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and ask them to pass this
on, as well. This screen-name has also been seen on Yahoo, AOL, AIM, and
Excite so far.
This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...just in case! Send to
everyone you know! Ladies, this is serious.
Jennifer S. Faulkner Education/Information Specialist
Roanoke Fire-EMS
541 Luck Avenue, Suite 120 Roanoke, VA 24016
540) 853-2257 (phone) 540) 853-1172 (fax)
IF WE CAN PASS ON JOKES, SURELY WE CAN PASS ON A WARNING THAT MAY SAVE A LIFE!!!
Trojan Hides Its Brain in Google Groups
Virus writers keep getting sneakier. In an effort to evade detection, they've begun hiding their command and control instructions in legitimate Web 2.0 sites such as Google Groups and Twitter.
Recently, security vendor Symantec spotted a Trojan horse program that's been programmed to visit a private Google Groups newsgroup, called escape2sun, where it can download encrypted instructions or even software updates.
These "command and control" instructions are used by criminals to keep in touch with hacked PCs and update their malicious software. Researchers have also seen criminals hide their messages in RSS feeds that are set up to broadcast Twitter messages, said Gerry Egan, a director with Symantec Security Response. "We're seeing a trend toward using more mainstream social media-type interactions to hide command and control," he said.
The Google Groups system appears to be a prototype, but Egan expects the bad guys to increasingly use social media sites for this purpose, as security software becomes more effective at rooting out traditional command and control mechanisms. "Malware authors are saying now that they're on to [our] techniques, let's try something different," Egan said.
Today most criminals communicate with the machines they've hacked via IRC (Internet Relay Chat) servers, or by placing commands on obscure, hard-to-find Web sites. As system administrators are getting better at spotting and blocking these communications, the bad guys are "trying to hide these command and control messages inside legitimate traffic, so the presence of the traffic in and of itself doesn't raise a red flag," Egan said.
A system administrator can block access to IRC pretty easily, but blocking Twitter or Google is another matter altogether.
I have am important message for you: A LAWSUIT HAS BEEN PARTIALLY AWARDED THROUGH FEMA FROM THE CORE OF ENGINEERS. A $20 MILLION DOLLAR SETTLEMENT IS SET ASIDE. I HAVE A NUMBER TO GIVE OUT, BUT ONLY TO KATRINA/RITA SURVIVORS. TOO MUCH FRAUD HAS HAPPENED THUS FAR, SO I AM BEING CAUTIOUS HERE. IF YOU ARE A HURRICANE KATRINA-RITA SURVIVOR, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR EMAIL AND I WILL FORWARD YOU THE DETAILS ON HOW YOU BECOME PART OF THIS "CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT PAYOUT".
You can reach me by through the following information:
Charles Evans, Ph.D.
(615) 424-9679
email: evans3229@gamail.com
I will give you details on the website and contact numbers.
Please pass this information to anyone you know that was affected by this Storm, is a re-plant from the South or just may not know of this very important information. Thanks so much, and be Blessed!
Critical Patch Tuesday Misses Serious Hole in FTP
Before the dust even settled on Patch Tuesday, Microsoft confirmed a bug in several versions of its Windows operating system that could leave the door open to malicious hackers. Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and the release candidates of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are vulnerable.
"An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system," Microsoft's advisory said. "Most attempts to exploit this vulnerability will cause an affected system to stop responding and restart."
Microsoft confirmed that hackers are actively using exploits of the FTP bug to attack Web servers. Until a patch is available, Microsoft recommends users disable SMB 2 by editing the Windows Registry or blocking TCP ports 139 and 445 at the firewall. However, this workaround disables the browser and several other applications.
Patch Tuesday Review
Beyond the unexpected Patch Tuesday drama, Microsoft released five critical advisories to address eight vulnerabilities. The focus is on the Windows operating system family, and all versions are affected except Windows 7. There are critical vulnerabilities in the JavaScript engine, the wireless LAN autoconfig service, Windows Media, Windows TCP/IP, and the editing component of DHTML Active X.
Of the five critical patches, two will require mandatory restarts, causing some level of disruption within the enterprise, according to Paul Henry, Lumension security and forensic analyst. Leading the pack this month, however, is Microsoft Vista with four critical vulnerabilities.
"This brings up an interesting situation, as Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 were released to manufacturing (RTM) early last month, which means many Microsoft partners and corporate customers will have started using and evaluating these two new platforms," Henry said. "These early adopters are covered this month as Microsoft has identified these new platforms as non-affected for all five September updates."
Shaking Consumer Confidence
Microsoft hasn't seen a serious bug in its TCP/IP stack in a long time, so it's pretty likely this is the exploit most people will focus on, according to Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle. Because it follows on the heels of the new zero-day vulnerability, he said, it will shake consumer confidence in the integrity of Microsoft's networking stack.
"The bugs to focus on this month are the three critical Internet Explorer flaws," Storms said. "All three are critical and two of the three carry a exploit index of one -- indicating reliable exploit code is probable within 30 days. All of these bugs are especially dangerous because they lend themselves to drive-by exploits where an unsuspecting user only has to visit a Web site to be infected."
Again this month there is a mix of client-side attacks, including a couple of drive-by attacks, noted Tyler Reguly, a senior security engineer at nCircle, and these will most likely be used as ammo in the "IE6 Must Die" campaign.
"IE8 appears to include several mitigations that older versions of IE don't have, so it would be recommended that anyone who hasn't yet moved to it upgrade as soon as possible," Reguly said. "Companies with many road warriors using corporate laptops should review their policies to ensure proper security and encryption is in place on files stored on the laptops. MS09-049 is going to introduce serious risk for these road warriors, especially if they are away for extended periods of time without regular patching."
Microsoft announced Thursday that it had placed a $250,000 bounty on the heads of the developers and distributors of a nasty computer virus that's been worming its way worldwide for months.
"As part of Microsoft's ongoing security efforts, we constantly look for ways to use a diverse set of tools and develop methodologies to protect our customers," said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of the Trustworthy Computing Group at Microsoft in a press release.
Known as the Conficker (a pun on "configure" and a four-letter German swear word) or Downadup worm, the virus has infected at least 10 million Windows-based computers since it first appeared in October. It's forced the British and French navies to take some systems offline.
Most worrisome is the fact that it doesn't do much — yet. Experts fear it's just waiting for a command to turn all infected machines into a superpowerful "botnet" of zombie PCs that could be used to take down commercial, military or governmental Web sites.
Joining Microsoft in the effort to stop the spread of the Conficker worm are AOL, the Internet governing body ICANN, the domain register Verisign and a host of security companies, including Symantec and F-Secure.
"The best way to defeat potential botnets like Conficker/Downadup is by the security and Domain Name System communities working together," Greg Rattray, chief Internet security advisor at ICANN, said in the press release.
However, it's not clear whether the reward will do much good to defeat Conficker.
Many hackers operate far from the jurisdiction of Western law enforcement, such as in the former Soviet Union, where they seem to be protected by organized crime and/or governmental authorities, or in China, where they're thought to be clandestinely funded by the Chinese military.
PCs running non-Windows operating systems are not affected by Conficker. You get instructions on how to protect a Windows machine here.
Videos
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Salvation Part 4
Added by Mick Alexander
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Salvation Part 3
Added by Mick Alexander
North Korea May Be Behind Wave of Cyber Attacks
Wednesday, August 30, 2009
By Marvin Fredlaw
July 8: An employee of Korea Internet Security Center works at a monitoring room in Seoul, South Korea.
July 8: An employee of Korea Internet Security Center works at a monitoring room in Seoul, South Korea.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces committed cyber attacks that paralyzed major South Korean and U.S. government Web sites, aides to two lawmakers said Wednesday.
The sites of 11 South Korean organizations, including the presidential Blue House and the Defense Ministry, went down or had access problems since late Tuesday, according to the state-run Korea Information Security Agency. Agency spokeswoman Ahn Jeong-eun said 11 U.S. sites suffered similar problems.
She said the agency is investigating the case with police and prosecutors.
In the U.S., the Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the July 4 holiday weekend and into this week, according to American officials inside and outside the government.
Others familiar with the U.S. outage, which is called a denial of service attack, said that the fact that the government Web sites were still being affected three days after it began signaled an unusually lengthy and sophisticated attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
The Korea Information Security Agency also attributed the attacks to denial of service.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, said he doubts whether the impoverished North has the capability to knock down the Web sites.
But Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank, said the attack could have been done by either North Korea or China, saying he "heard North Korea has been working hard to hack into" South Korean networks.
On Wednesday, the National Intelligence Service told a group of South Korean lawmakers it believes that North Korea or North Korean sympathizers "were behind" the attacks, according to an aide to one of lawmakers who was briefed on the information.
An aide to another lawmaker who was briefed also said the NIS suspects North Korea or its followers were responsible.
The aides spoke on condition of anonymity and refused to allow the names of the lawmakers they work for to be published, citing the classified nature of the information.
Both aides said the information was delivered in writing to lawmakers who serve on the National Assembly's intelligence committee.
The National Intelligence Service — South Korea's main spy agency — declined to confirm the information.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said military intelligence officers were looking at the possibility that the attack may have been committed by North Korean hackers and pro-North Korea forces in South Korea. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report.
Earlier Wednesday, the NIS said in a statement that 12,000 computers in South Korea and 8,000 computers overseas had been infected and used for the cyber attack.
The agency said it believed the attack was "thoroughly" prepared and committed by hackers "at the level of a certain organization or state." It said it was cooperating with the American investigators to examine the case.
South Korean media reported in May that North Korea was running a cyber warfare unit that tries to hack into U.S. and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service.
An initial investigation in South Korea found that many personal computers were infected with a virus program ordering them to visit major official Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. at the same time, Korean information agency official Shin Hwa-su said. There has been no immediate reports of similar cyber attack in other Asian countries.
Yonhap said that prosecutors have found some of the cyber attacks on the South Korean sites were accessed from overseas. Yonhap, citing an unnamed prosecution official, said the cyber attack used a method common to Chinese hackers.
Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.
Shin, the Information Security Agency official, said the initial probe had not yet uncovered evidence about where the cyber outages originated. Police also said they had not discovered where the outages originated. Police officer Jeong Seok-hwa said that could take several days.
Some of the South Korean sites remained unstable or inaccessible Wednesday. The site of the presidential Blue House could be accessed, but those for the Defense Ministry, the ruling Grand National Party and the National Assembly could not.
Ahn said there were no immediate reports of financial damage or leaking of confidential national information. The alleged attacks appeared aimed only at paralyzing Web sites, she said.
South Korea's Defense Ministry and Blue House said that there has been no leak of any documents.
Contractor Seeks 'Cyber Warriors' to Help Defend U.S.
By Marvin Fredlaw
Want to be a "cyber warrior" defending your country? If so, there are plenty of well-paid jobs available.
Leading defense contractor Raytheon is looking for a few good men and women — a couple of hundred of them, in fact — to patrol the front lines of America's cybersecurity.
"We're aggressively recruiting," Raytheon Vice President of Information Security Solutions Steve Hawkins told FOXNews.com.
Applicants need to be a bit aggressive as well, according to the solicitation Raytheon put online seeking applicants for more than 30 different job descriptions.
"Our Raytheon cyber warriors play offense and defense, and know how the adversary thinks and can adopt their perspective," says the Web page, which lists positions ranging from "network and security engineers" to "data modeling engineers" to "media sanitation specialists."
Asked what that last job entails, Hawkins laughed.
"That's where you erase or destroy devices that would have sensitive data on them," he explained. "You try to find individuals who've been trained in doing that. But I'm afraid those positions have mostly been filled."
Nevertheless, Hawkins says the company's made about 50 to 60 hires so far this year, and wants to take on 150 more new cyber warriors by December.
National cybersecurity is a hugely growing field, with the crude but effective shutdown of U.S. and South Korean government Web sites over July 4 weekend coming as the latest example of our weaknesses.
A report released just this past Wednesday found that the federal government is woefully behind in cybersecurity, with the lack of trained personnel the biggest proble
For the Raytheon jobs, all you need are very strong computer skills — a college degree in computer science, math or engineering is preferred, but not necessary — strong ethical standards, and, for most positions, the ability to pass government security clearances, which entails U.S. citizenship.
And while some security companies hire ex-hackers, Hawkins said such formerly shady characters need not apply in this case.
"We certainly love ex-hackers' skills, but you have to get ethical people," he said. "There are very extensive background investigations, and you don't usually find criminals making it through that process."
Even former teenage hackers who haven't been convicted of any crime but are suspected of a few would not be considered.
"That would be a very negative thing," Hawkins says. "We would rather take engineers with basic skills and train them from scratch."
Hawkins wouldn't get specific about compensation but said that it's a "typical engineering pay scale, which varies widely based on level of experience."
A quick online survey shows that systems analysts generally make in the high five figures.
Hawkins added that for those applicants who pass the most stringent security clearances, "which limits the available talent," there's "premium compensation ... I'd say they make 10 to 15 percent more."
While the list of jobs looks pretty intimidating, Hawkins stressed that applicants would be better off if they weren't too specialized.
"We're looking for those individuals who understand the inner workings of computer systems and software, who understand the interaction between hardware and software down to the nitty-gritty," he said. "Not people who've specialized in high-level computer languages."
In other words, Raytheon doesn't need programmers trained in the most modern, efficient techniques, which automate many routine processes, but rather those who know how to get closer to what the computers are actually doing.
It's a bit like the difference between driving a car with automatic transmission and one with a stick shift, where you have more of a sense of what the engine's up to.
While many private computer firms favor younger applicants over older ones, Hawkins says that's not the case here.
"We're perfectly willing to take mid-career applicants, especially those who've had full military careers," he says. "It really comes down to the thought process they have, the skills they have."
New graduates fresh out of college are welcome, too, as well as recently laid-off Wall Street quantitative analysts.
"If they don't have the skills we need, then we'll sent them to our version of boot camp training," he adds.
In a difficult job market, with so many people looking for work, why does Raytheon need to advertise?
"In the past three to four years, the number of graduates in the fields we're looking at has really plateaued," said Hawkins. "The citizenship requirements mean there's a limited supply for a growing field."
"Kids these days tend to lose interest in math sometime in middle school," he added. "We've got a program for schoolkids called 'MathMovesU.' We've reached 700,000 kids and teachers this way in the past few years."
Locations for the jobs are in Garland, Texas (near Dallas), Melbourne, Fla., and as might be expected, two areas near Washington, D.C.: northern Virginia, home of the Pentagon and CIA, and Linthicum and Fort Meade, Md., where the National Security Agency is.
That doesn't mean people working in the latter two would be directly placed in the NSA or Pentagon, Hawkins explained.
"We do support all the major federal customers," he said. "We're not limited by proximity."
"Mona Lisa" comes to life in high-tech art exhibit
For centuries, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and her enigmatic smile have inspired as much speculation as admiration. Now she's ready to answer questions -- in Mandarin.
A digital, interactive version of the renowned 16th century painting is one of 61 high-tech replicas breathing life into classical and ancient art works in the "World Classic Interactive Arts Exhibition" which opened in Beijing last week.
These recreations of works by old masters and renowned modern painters were crafted by a South Korean gallery. Exhibition organizer Wang Hui said it took two years of preparation and a hefty investment to bring the works to China.
"What's special about this is that it's the first time the 3D technology, holographic technology, and voice recognition technology is fused together in one exhibit," Wang told Reuters.
As is the case with the original painting in the Louvre in Paris, the digital Mona Lisa is the star attraction. She talks and waves to visitors, who ask her age and about her life.
"Hello, I am the Mona Lisa. It's nice to meet you," she says in Mandarin.
"The Last Supper" is another da Vinci painting digitally brought to life, and in which Jesus talks to the apostles and moves across the plasma canvas.
The exhibit also includes a multimedia play by life-size replicas of ancient statues of Greek and Roman gods and goddess, who brag about their virtues and beauty while striking poses.
"I studied fine arts in college. In studios they're all stationary, but here they are alive and moving around. It's surprising and vivid," said exhibit visitor Zhao Yuanzhi.
As the exhibit tries to reveal art in a new light, it also attempts to answer one of the most enduring questions in the world -- what's behind the Mona Lisa's smile.
When asked, the digital portrait is programed to talk about how she became pregnant after the death of a child and about the sorrow and happiness in her life.
She also acknowledges that many people find her smile mysterious .Yahoo wins U.S. court ruling over webcasting fees
* By MARVIN fREDLAW- Fri Aug 23, 2009 10:42PM EDT
* Will antitrust probe keep Microsoft, Yahoo apart? (AP)
* Apple denies 'rejecting' Google Voice for iPhone (AP)
* Online radio service wins ruling over license fees (AP)
* Movie theaters cut print show times as Web gains (AP)
* Jordan Palmer helping players develop iPhone apps (AP)
* Panasonic leans on `Avatar' movie for 3-D PR blitz (AP)
* Outed blogger who trashed model is angry at Google (AP)
* Apple says Google Voice app alters iPhone (Reuters)
* Cell Phone Snap Shots Can Help Find Missing Children (Dear Abby)
* Sean Kingston album gets fans online with karaoke (Reuters)
* Blizzard Confirms World of Warcraft 'Cataclysm' Expansion (PC World)
* Smartphones drive language learning innovation (AFP)
* Apple tells FCC jury still out on Google Voice (AFP)
* IBD's Top 10 - Friday (Investor's Business Daily)
* Accused credit card hacker lived large in Miami (AP)
* Microsoft offers open source link for PHP, .Net (InfoWorld)
* AT&T Says it Didn't Block Google Voice (PC World)
NEW YORK (Reuters) -
A federal appeals court in New York ruled that a Yahoo Inc Internet radio service is not required to pay fees to copyright holders of songs it plays, a defeat for Sony Corp's BMG Music.
In a case closely watched by the recording industry, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2007 jury verdict that Launchcast, a webcasting service run by Yahoo's Launch Media Inc unit, did not give listeners enough control to be an "interactive service" that would require the fees.
The three-judge panel said the service is required only to pay licensing fees set by SoundExchange, a nonprofit that collects royalties on sound recordings. It was the first federal appeals court to decide the issue.
Friday's ruling is a setback for record producers that have struggled with slumping sales as customers increasingly obtain music online or through other means.
"It's an immediate loss for the recording industry," said Rey Sanchez, chairman of the department of music, media and industry at the University of Miami and a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
"If the service had been deemed interactive, Yahoo would have to negotiate fees with every record label to use their songs. Instead, it only has to pay licensing fees."
He added that the dispute "signals a shift in the culture of how people access music, and how to monetize that access."
A Sony representative declined to comment. A lawyer for the recording companies did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Yahoo spokeswoman Kim Rubey said the Sunnyvale, California-based company is pleased with the ruling and looks forward to providing "the best online music experiences" to customers.
Other recording companies involved in the case included Capitol Records Inc, Motown Records Co and Virgin Records America Inc, among others, court papers show.
NOT ENOUGH CONTROL
Launchcast lets users create individualized "radio stations" that play songs in a particular genre, or which are similar to their favorite artists or songs.
Sony, whose labels also include Arista, Bad Boy, and Zomba, sued Launch Media in a 2001 for copyright infringement, saying it failed to obtain licenses to play its songs.
The law at issue defines an interactive service as a service "that enables a member of the public to receive a transmission of a program specially created for the recipient, or on request, a transmission of a particular sound recording ... which is selected by or on behalf of the recipient."
In his 42-page opinion for the appeals court, Judge Richard Wesley said the U.S. Congress enacted the law because previous laws did not do enough to protect sound recording copyright holders from falling record sales.
Yet he found that Launchcast "does not provide sufficient control" to convince listeners to choose to listen to music on the Internet, instead of buying music.
"The user has control over the genre of songs to be played for 5,000 songs," the judge wrote, "but this degree of control is no different from a traditional radio listener expressing a preference for a country music station over a classic rock station."
Sanchez, the professor, explained: "The record labels argued that the ability of listeners to skip songs they don't like made the service interactive. The court disagreed."
Mac or a Netbook? Students Chose the Latter
Retrevo says Macs are at the bottom of student wish lists this year. While 49 percent of students will buy full-sized Windows laptops, 34 percent will purchase netbooks. Bringing up the rear is Mac with only 17 percent of students saying they intend to buy one, the study shows.
The most affordable new Apple laptop I could find sells for $949 (white MacBook). Compare that to the 18 percent of survey participants who say they won't spend a dime over $1000 for a laptop and Apple doesn't look to be the big man on campus this year. A majority of penny-pinching students, 58 percent of them, said they plan on spending less than $750 on their back-to-school laptop.
Apple has been targeting the education market this year with a special promotion offering a free iPod Touch with every MacBook sold. Judging from Retrevo's study the lure is not that effective. Apple's promotion ends on September 8.
Cheap netbooks, some even under $200, may just be good enough for students tight on cash and already saddled with credit card and tuition debt. With long battery life, a variety of designs, these affordable mini-laptops give students more for their tight budgets.
While netbook sales are strong, Apple has been reluctant to enter the cheap ultraportable computer war. Speculation about such a device has been floating around for over a year now, but Apple execs blasted the idea of an Apple netbook back in March.
But Apple could have something else in mind for the education market. The Cupertino company is rumored to launch a tablet-sized device either this year or in early 2010, which could have broad applications for the education sector as well.
We might want to take the Retrevo study with a grain of salt considering it only polled 300 site visitors. And, personally, I'm not terribly surprised by its findings. Since when has Apple ever been the big man on campus when it comes to computer operating systems? If 17 percent of college-bound students actually do what they told Retrevo and buy a Mac, that's actually pretty good news for Apple. Market research firm Gartner points out the Mac market share here in the United States is a paltry 8.7 percent. Plus, according to market research from NPD, Apple has its own bragging rights. It owns 90 percent of the over-$1000 PC market.
Hey, maybe Microsoft's laptop hunter ad campaign is working? Next we'll find out college students prefer Bing to Google. Can we hide from assimilation?
Whether you are part of the Borg or not, you still might want to check the latest Top 10 Netbooks and get some shopping tips on how to buy a netbook.
Users should be aware that Windows 7, including the "upgrade" versions, cannot be installed over an existing Windows Vista system. "A complete new installation of the operating system is required," says Niels Held from Germany's Chip magazine. Microsoft requires that step to meet the legal requirements placed upon it to ship Windows 7 packages without Internet Explorer pre-installed. Users are advised to back up their data before installation.
Held sees no good reason to wait to make the switch. "The operating system has been subjected to long and extensive testing," he says. Windows 7 also offers firm benefits over its predecessor. The system runs significantly quicker than Windows Vista. It is also much better equipped with features and security functions.
Windows 7 is also less demanding in terms of hardware than its predecessor. "The new Windows runs without problems on devices a year or two old, faster than Windows Vista no less," Held says.
Microsoft is offering owners of older systems an affordable update program, as well: starting on July 15 and running through mid August, the Windows 7 Home Premium E operating system can be ordered for about 49 dollars - as long as supplies last. Those supplies were indeed run through quickly for many online dealers.
Consumers unable to reel in a copy from online dealers can still try to find a reduced price copy of Windows 7 at a bricks-and-mortar dealer.
Microsoft has indicated that it will be offering discounted versions of its new operating system even after the promotion ends. Between October 22 and December 31, the full product will be offered at the price normally associated with upgrades.
Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at nearly 120 dollars, while the Professional version can be had from 285 dollars. The Ultimate edition costs 299 dollars. Just how much the operating system will cost after January 2010 is not yet clear.
Internet: http://www.microsoft.com/germany/windows/buy/offers/upgrade.aspx.
Copyright, respective author or news agency
Attack unravels the social Web
By Marvin Fredlaw
Posted: Friday, Aug. 10, 2009
Protect privacy on Facebook
Somebody blasted Twitter out of its tree Thursday morning.
The furious “tweeting” of the social media site, which has grown louder and louder this year, was suddenly silenced for more than two hours due to an Internet spam attack. Service remained spotty with problems continuing late Thursday.
A similar cyber attack also hit Facebook, hobbling the larger social media site, and causing perhaps the biggest social media meltdown since the two sites have surged in popularity. What on earth would millions of social media users do?
“I got some laundry done,” joked Charlottean Addie Rising, who uses both sites for work.
Twitter, where snippet-snapping users send messages of up to 140 characters, has 45 million users.
The number of unique visitors to the micro-blogging site has more than tripled since January. And the site has perched atop pop culture, as actor Ashton Kutcher has famously amassed 3 million followers, and everyone from Shaquille O'Neal and Oprah Winfrey to the president have joined in the craze. Twitter also played a large role in the protest over corruption in the Iranian elections, giving protesters a way to voice dissent.
Facebook is four times the size of Twitter and has more than doubled in the past year. It now boasts a quarter of a billion users. About 450,000 on Facebook identify themselves as living within 50 miles of Charlotte. Twitter does not keep geographic statistics.
A pioneer of social networking said Thursday that the shutdown – while hardly a serious calamity – revealed to many how reliant upon social media we have become.
“It's when your lights go out that you realize how dependent you are on the electrical grid. Now that we've experienced the lights going out at Twitter and Facebook, many people are beginning to face our dependency on online social network services,” said Howard Rheingold, who helped invent social media in the mid-'80s and teaches social networking for both Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Some users in Charlotte were inconvenienced by the shutdown.
“It killed us,” said Charlotte's Michael Hernandez, whose business, weskill.com, uses both sites daily. An online sales training site, Hernandez' firm was unable to begin a teaching program with a new client because he could not send messages on the two sites.
The brief loss of the sites made many feel disconnected.
“It just felt sort of weird to not be able to send out a tweet,” said Chad Bordeaux, a Lake Wylie CPA. “I was going to contact people about a poker game.”
The “denial of service” attacks, which did not threaten private information, overwhelmed servers with spam, shutting out real users.
“Now and then there's this kind of technological attack,” Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, told the Observer.
Mashable, a social-media blog, reported Thursday night the attacks were deliberate and simultaneous.
One expert told The New York Times that he believed – and this points out the weird world of the Internet – that they were linked to the Russia-Georgia conflict. Bill Woodcock, of the Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit technical organization that tracks Internet traffic, told the Times he thought “one side put up propaganda, the other side figured this out and is attacking them.” Woodcock also said LiveJournal, a blogging site, and YouTube were affected.
Other experts speculated the attacks could be linked to viruses that have hit Facebook before.
A Facebook spokeswoman told the Observer that the two companies were working together to investigate the attack, and also seeking help from Google. Assistance from the Web's traffic giant indicates leaders are taking the attack seriously.
Twitter, which remains a small company despite its popularity, with fewer than 100 employees, was an unreliable site in its early days. It has regularly been temporarily overwhelmed by users.
A social media meltdown was meaningless to some, welcomed by others. “Twitter was down? Who cares?” someone posted on charlotteobserver.com.
Another poster wrote: “I went for a walk, got some writing done, baked a cake, and had a rather nice time.”
Jeff Elder writes about how we connect online. Contact him on Twitter @jeffelder. You can find his blog at http://atcharlotte.blogspot.com.
Western Digital is the first company out of the gate with a 2.5-inch hard drive featuring a full terabyte of capacity. The price: $250 as a naked laptop drive intended for internal use in a PC. If your storage needs are more modest, a 750GB version is available for $190.
External versions of both drives are also set to be available in the very near future -- $300 for the terabyte drive in a USB-connectable package and $200 for the 750GB drive.
Such a beast naturally invites criticism from those who feel a terabyte portable drive might be overkill. But I'd argue it's the perfect size for myriad applications. With a terabyte portable, you can ferry it to four computers, each with (relatively common) 250GB hard drives, and perform a complete backup on each one. A terabyte gives you room for over 150 DVD movies -- or about 40 high-definition titles -- not to mention the possibility to hold a couple hundred thousand MP3s. No need for a fancy media server if you just load up one of these drives and attach it directly to your receiver, many of which now feature USB connections.
Of course, the terabyte drive would also work well for general storage needs -- and chances are, some day you'll probably need all that space whether you believe it or not. It's a well-known law not just of computing but of life: Storage capacity, be it a hard drive or a closet, will eventually become filled no matter how large the available space is. If you don't believe me, go look in your own bedroom closet, or check out the free space on your hard drive right now. A little extra space always helps.
I want one!
People concerned about their careers should be extra careful about what they post on the Internet during a recession, career counselors say.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other venues present numerous opportunities to sabotage your hunt for a job or promotion at a time when employers can afford to be picky.
"With social media, you can be vapid, boring and annoying with alarming frequency," Patricia Vaccarino, owner of a Seattle public relations firm, warned clients in a newsletter.
Vaccarino said many of her Facebook friends have posted "in great detail about their colonoscopies, dead teeth pulled, dead dogs, flatulence, adult acne, marital breakups, battles with mental illnesses and drinking problems."
If this information can make friends cringe, she added, imagine the impression it would make on a potential employer.
Kurt Weyerhauser, an executive recruiter at Kensington Stone in Los Angeles, said one human resources department "found a picture online of a candidate smoking what appeared to be pot, and in another case a company found a few severely off-color jokes that a candidate had posted dealing with race and gender."
He said the blunders can be roadblocks to being hired, regardless of the candidate's ability to perform the basic functions of the job.
Hiring people with that kind of public record online may even put a company in legal jeopardy.
"If there is ever a problem with drug use or the harassment of coworkers the company could be liable," he told Reuters.
In some U.S. states, hiring or promoting people who have exhibited drug use or racist or sexist attitudes "could constitute negligent hiring or negligent retention," according to Weyerhauser.
Even innocuous postings can cause problems.
He cited the example of the single mother raising four children who posts about her day-to-day life, which might convince an employer that she is too tired and overburdened to be considered for a promotion that might require more time and energy.
Weyerhauser had one final tip. He urges job hunters to think about their email address.
"Nothing gives one more cause for pause than receiving a resume from an email address like 'BigGoofyRuthie@xxxxxx.com'," he said.
AT&T and Apple’s iPhone
AT&T and Apple’s iPhone Need an Open Marriage
This suggestion is nothing new, but the need for multiple iPhone carriers in the U.S. is taking on greater urgency as frustration with AT&T grows. The same day that AT&T announced MMS availability, a story appeared in The New York Times , which was basically one big complaint-fest from AT&T iPhone customers. Dropped calls, spotty service, and slow data connections made up the majority of the complaints in the Times story, and comments from iPhone customers on blogs and other sites around the Web echoed the Times report. Discussing the iPhone situation with the Times, AT&T’s chief technology officer, John Donovan said, “It’s been a challenging year for us.” Challenging? More like a “P.R. nightmare” as one analyst told the Times.
With a second -- or even third -- carrier, iPhone customers would be able to choose their own network, and the current load on AT&T’s infrastructure would be reduced. This could improve service for iPhone customers who stick with AT&T, as well as those who migrate to other networks. Multiple carriers would not be an ideal situation for AT&T, of course, since the company could lose a big chunk of revenue if there was a mass exodus of iPhone customers to other carriers. But with a reportedly questionable service record and a little over two years of iPhone exclusivity, perhaps AT&T has had long enough to prove its worthiness as the only iPhone carrier in the U.S?
The problems with AT&T and the iPhone were apparent earlier this year during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. There were howls of derision coming from the WWDC audience when it was revealed that many international carriers would support two new features in iPhone OS 3.0 -- MMS and tethering -- when the new operating system launched, but AT&T would not.
MMS will finally make an appearance later this month on AT&T, but the carrier is reportedly delaying support for the iPhone’s tethering feature even though other AT&T handsets have this capability already.
An Open Marriage Would Be Profitable…for Apple
Besides customer choice and potential service improvements, another incentive for Apple to go with multiple U.S. networks can be found in a recent research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, according to a Barron’s report. Munster says the iPhone enjoys a much higher market share in countries where the iPhone is available on multiple cellular networks. In other words, more carriers equal more iPhone owners. Since Apple knows exactly how many iPhones the company has sold throughout the world, Munster’s conclusion likely doesn’t come as a shock to Cupertino. But if that’s the case, my only question is, “What’s the holdup, Apple?”
AT&T has spent years raking in huge customer fees from the iPhone, and according to a wide variety of reports, U.S. iPhone owners aren’t happy with the service they get in return. Apple needs to open the field up for the iPhone before angry customers march on -- or send MMSes to -- Washington asking for a government-style intervention to bring about iPhone carrier plurality for all.
SAN FRANCISCO -
Facebook is buying a Web service called FriendFeed that gives users a view of what their friends are doing on all sorts of social media sites, including Facebook's rivals.
In an interview, FriendFeed co-founder Bret Taylor said the two services will eventually merge, though FriendFeed will operate separately for now. He said FriendFeed was drawn to Facebook's much larger base of 250 million users.
"Facebook has a really unique opportunity for our team to reach a significant percentage of the world, and that was an opportunity I think everyone on our team was extremely excited about," he said.
Facebook said all 12 employees of Mountain View, Calif.-based FriendFeed will work for Facebook, whose headquarters is nearby in Palo Alto. FriendFeed's four founders — Taylor, Paul Buchheit, Jim Norris and Sanjeev Singh — will take on senior positions on the engineering and product teams at Facebook.
It's unclear what exactly Facebook plans to do with FriendFeed, which centers around the idea of instantaneously aggregating information from online destinations like short-messaging site Twitter, review site Yelp and photo-sharing site Flickr.
Gartner Inc. analyst Ray Valdes said the FriendFeed acquisition should help Facebook open up its site and boost features that show users more information in real time.
"They needed to do something to meet the Twitter challenge," he said, referring to the messaging site that has shown the type of buzz Facebook once enjoyed.
Chris Cox, Facebook's vice president of products, said the companies had been talking about a combination for some time, as they're both working on solving the same problems: how to help people connect with one another over time, how to make these connections work on various devices and how to filter information through friends.
"I think both companies start with the premise that the most valuable information in the world is the one that comes from the people you care about," he said. "Building technologies that leverage those relationships everywhere you go is where we're both starting from."
Cox would not say if Facebook plans to incorporate FriendFeed's real-time search capability into its site. He said Facebook has already been testing real-time search and that FriendFeed has done a great job with its own search.
Tell me again how long we've been using Windows XP, now?
- It was the year that Apple introduced the first iPod.
- The West Wing was the hot show on television.
- The first Harry Potter movie was released (the sixth one came out this summer).
- The Rocky Mountain News and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer still existed.
Just a little perspective. It goes to show you how artificial these technology upgrade cycles are for one thing.
This suggestion is nothing new, but the need for multiple iPhone carriers in the U.S. is taking on greater urgency as frustration with AT&T grows. The same day that AT&T announced MMS availability, a story appeared in The New York Times , which was basically one big complaint-fest from AT&T iPhone customers. Dropped calls, spotty service, and slow data connections made up the majority of the complaints in the Times story, and comments from iPhone customers on blogs and other sites around the Web echoed the Times report. Discussing the iPhone situation with the Times, AT&T’s chief technology officer, John Donovan said, “It’s been a challenging year for us.” Challenging? More like a “P.R. nightmare” as one analyst told the Times.
With a second -- or even third -- carrier, iPhone customers would be able to choose their own network, and the current load on AT&T’s infrastructure would be reduced. This could improve service for iPhone customers who stick with AT&T, as well as those who migrate to other networks. Multiple carriers would not be an ideal situation for AT&T, of course, since the company could lose a big chunk of revenue if there was a mass exodus of iPhone customers to other carriers. But with a reportedly questionable service record and a little over two years of iPhone exclusivity, perhaps AT&T has had long enough to prove its worthiness as the only iPhone carrier in the U.S?
The problems with AT&T and the iPhone were apparent earlier this year during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. There were howls of derision coming from the WWDC audience when it was revealed that many international carriers would support two new features in iPhone OS 3.0 -- MMS and tethering -- when the new operating system launched, but AT&T would not.
MMS will finally make an appearance later this month on AT&T, but the carrier is reportedly delaying support for the iPhone’s tethering feature even though other AT&T handsets have this capability already.
An Open Marriage Would Be Profitable…for Apple
Besides customer choice and potential service improvements, another incentive for Apple to go with multiple U.S. networks can be found in a recent research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, according to a Barron’s report. Munster says the iPhone enjoys a much higher market share in countries where the iPhone is available on multiple cellular networks. In other words, more carriers equal more iPhone owners. Since Apple knows exactly how many iPhones the company has sold throughout the world, Munster’s conclusion likely doesn’t come as a shock to Cupertino. But if that’s the case, my only question is, “What’s the holdup, Apple?”
AT&T has spent years raking in huge customer fees from the iPhone, and according to a wide variety of reports, U.S. iPhone owners aren’t happy with the service they get in return. Apple needs to open the field up for the iPhone before angry customers march on -- or send MMSes to -- Washington asking for a government-style intervention to bring about iPhone carrier plurality for all.
SAN FRANCISCO -
Facebook is buying a Web service called FriendFeed that gives users a view of what their friends are doing on all sorts of social media sites, including Facebook's rivals.
In an interview, FriendFeed co-founder Bret Taylor said the two services will eventually merge, though FriendFeed will operate separately for now. He said FriendFeed was drawn to Facebook's much larger base of 250 million users.
"Facebook has a really unique opportunity for our team to reach a significant percentage of the world, and that was an opportunity I think everyone on our team was extremely excited about," he said.
Facebook said all 12 employees of Mountain View, Calif.-based FriendFeed will work for Facebook, whose headquarters is nearby in Palo Alto. FriendFeed's four founders — Taylor, Paul Buchheit, Jim Norris and Sanjeev Singh — will take on senior positions on the engineering and product teams at Facebook.
It's unclear what exactly Facebook plans to do with FriendFeed, which centers around the idea of instantaneously aggregating information from online destinations like short-messaging site Twitter, review site Yelp and photo-sharing site Flickr.
Gartner Inc. analyst Ray Valdes said the FriendFeed acquisition should help Facebook open up its site and boost features that show users more information in real time.
"They needed to do something to meet the Twitter challenge," he said, referring to the messaging site that has shown the type of buzz Facebook once enjoyed.
Chris Cox, Facebook's vice president of products, said the companies had been talking about a combination for some time, as they're both working on solving the same problems: how to help people connect with one another over time, how to make these connections work on various devices and how to filter information through friends.
"I think both companies start with the premise that the most valuable information in the world is the one that comes from the people you care about," he said. "Building technologies that leverage those relationships everywhere you go is where we're both starting from."
Cox would not say if Facebook plans to incorporate FriendFeed's real-time search capability into its site. He said Facebook has already been testing real-time search and that FriendFeed has done a great job with its own search.
Tell me again how long we've been using Windows XP, now?
- It was the year that Apple introduced the first iPod.
- The West Wing was the hot show on television.
- The first Harry Potter movie was released (the sixth one came out this summer).
- The Rocky Mountain News and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer still existed.
Just a little perspective. It goes to show you how artificial these technology upgrade cycles are for one thing.
Programs take longer to open than they used to, drop-down menus aren't fluid, finding files seems to take forever, and even though I've got a broadband Internet connection, "surfing" the Web feels more like wading in tide pools. I've seen a number of ads hawking software designed to miraculously speed up my PC, but what's the real scoop? Can such software make a difference, or are these just empty promises? Contact me And Let's see what we can do . I offer computer repair over the internet, What this mean's is that i can fix your computer without you ever having to take your computer apart take it to someone and have them tell you to come back next week, When you need your computer NOW''. I can Help with * Virus and spyware removal
* Installing virus protection Software
* Operating system support
* Downloading images from a digital camera to your PC
* Much, much more. Contact me and i will tell you how it work's , Contact Info,,,,,,,, fredlaw47@yahoo.com,,,,,,,, 704-369-4498. Or just send me a note to my in box, And for more info about ZURVITA . Just click on this link http://fredlaw47.zurvita.biz/index.asp Marvin Fredlaw
Computer and Security Systems
PRICE LIST Tex Support for
Package #1 - $ 45
Ad aware Removal
Spyware Removal
Defragmentation
Package #2 - $ 60
Virus Removal
Anti Virus Update
Security Update
Package #3 - $ 90
Computer Recovery
Update Recovery
Anti Virus included
At COMPUTER AND SECURITY SYSTEMS. We check our prices against major retailers every day so you can buy with confidence.
If you find a lower price for the same product and offer, we'll reduce our price by 10%
This applies to prices offered by retailers within 100 miles. Most work can be done remotely By me. And all ZURVITA Customers And Consultants get a 10% discount on all computer services done thought Computer and Security Systems. For more info on ZURVITA . JUST CLICK THIS LINK http://fredlaw47.zurvita.biz/index.asp
The work must be identical, the computer or network must be available for immediate repair in your home or business or church. - unit price for repair would depend on how many unit's there are to repair........Networking Services
Wireless and wired networks are our specialty! All it takes is one short telephone call, and we can dispatch a professional, friendly technician
to your home or office to take care of all your networking needs.
This price promise applies to:
Best Bye ,Argos, Comet, Jessops, Tesco, John Lewis, Asda, B&Q, Game Gamestation, Halfords, HMV, Maplin, Staples,
* OWNER/ C.E.O. Of Computer and Security Systems at Computer and Security Systems
What I Offer Is Computer Repair By Remote Over The Internet. And Internet Remote Security Cams. With My Security Cam's You Can See You Home Or Business From Anywhere That you Have A Computer And The Internet.
Attention All Members
Computer Maintain Cleanup
which will include removal of
ad ware and spy ware, defragmentation
and security check up.
For the low price of $65.
Breaking MLM Wireless News Zurvita Inks Deals With Sprint AT&T T-Mobile And Verizon
Thank you for coming back by to visit. Feel free to leave me a comment on the post you enjoyed the most. http://fredlaw47.zurvita.biz/index.asp
Breaking MLM Wireless News, Mark Jarvis’s company Zurvita inks deals with Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to take the lead in the MLM Wireless War.
After months of behind the scenes discussions, and some of the agreements coming down to the wire, Zurvita was able to create one of the most unique wireless business models available in Network marketing.
Here are a few of the unique benefits on the Zurvita Mobile program.
1. Current subscribers within a company can switch their current plans to a Zurvita plan. In other words I can take my AT&T plan, and have it converted to a Zurvita AT&T plan. This is HUGE!
2. Residual income is played on all new plan subscriptions. Talk about creating life long residual income.
3. By offering wireless from all the top carriers Zurvita Reps can talk to everyone the know about their new Wireless Services.
Now, the Wireless side of things is not even the BIG news. Zurvita also unveiled that within just a couple of weeks, around August 1st or shortly after, they will also be entering into the following service arenas.
1. Commercial Energy
2. Commercial Telecommunication
3. Residential Digital VOIP
and a few more goodies I just can’t share yet.
Mark Jarvis and his 80 top leaders took a huge risk 12 months ago when they ALL walked away from five and six figure monthly incomes to launch Zurvita.
But in reviewing what has taken place within this short time, I truly believe God had a hand in this epic adventure.
1. Mark Jarvis and 80 leaders walk from Ameriplan to launch Zurvita
2. Ameriplan sues Zurvita, Mark Jarvis and others
3. Amacore Group Inc. enters the picture and purchases Zurvita, leaving Mark Jarvis and his team in place.
4. Ameriplan and Zurvita settle out of court in an undisclosed settlement ending all legal issues.
5. Zurvita launches the Freedom Crusade
6. Zurvita unveils their new focus with ZurvitaMobile.com
Mark and team great job… You guys true run a Distributor Friendly Company!
Never Give Up, Apple Inc's Mac computers have steadily gained market share over the years, a winning streak that may be tested by next week's launch of Microsoft Corp's new Windows 7 operating system.
Few expect the new software to dent Apple's standing in the market in the long run, given the company's premium position and the fact that its dedicated user base largely ignores events in the Windows universe.
However, some analysts warn that Windows 7 -- which is garnering strong early reviews -- may initially slow Apple's advancement and apply more pressure on Mac prices, particularly in the United States.
Microsoft's Vista operating system, released in early 2007, was plagued by problems and bad press. For Apple, this meant an opportunity that the company seized upon.
But if the new Microsoft offering works as expected, Apple may not be able to count on Windows' clumsiness as a sales driver.
For its part, Apple expressed little concern about the new Windows.
"New Mac users continually tell us that they are tired of all the headaches with Windows, and they want the ease of use, stability and security of a Mac," spokesman Bill Evans said. "At the end of the day Windows 7 is still just Windows."
And some analysts argue that Windows 7 hype might end up helping Mac by enticing customers into stores and lifting overall computer sales amid the marketing hoopla.
"The Apple story is pretty idiosyncratic, company-specific, not really dependent on other parties," said Broadpoint Amtech analyst Brian Marshall, citing research showing that Microsoft's launches over the years have acted as catalysts for Mac sales.
Although its iPhone gets more press, Apple still derives the largest chunk of its sales from computers. Macs generated about 40 percent of the company's revenue in the June quarter.
Marshall thinks Apple can double its share of the computer market over the next five to 10 years. Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle agreed that the Windows 7 launch could end up boosting Mac sales.
"It could very well be a tide that lifts all boats," he said. "Windows 7, with a lot of marketing dollars, is going to drive a lot of people into stores. The extra traffic could actually help Apple."
But Enderle cautioned: "Windows 7 is good. It doesn't have the problems Vista did, so gaining share gets a lot tougher."
A PROFITABLE SLICE
Although Apple is not among the top five PC makers globally, it ranks No. 4 in the United States, according to research group Gartner, with a market share of 8.7 percent. Three years ago, Apple's U.S. share was 4.6 percent.
Apple sold 2.6 million Mac computers during the June quarter, up 4 percent from a year earlier.
Windows 7 comes on the heels of the release of Apple's newest operating system, Snow Leopard, in August. Early sales of the $29 upgrade have been strong, analysts said.
Although Microsoft's software drives more than 90 percent of the world's PCs, Apple has managed to carve out a highly profitable slice of the market.
It charges a premium price for Macs, which attract loyal consumers willing to spend. In June, on a dollar basis, Apple accounted for an eye-popping 91 percent of PCs that cost more than $1,000 and were sold at retail in the United States, according to research group NPD.
High prices help Apple enjoy margins on Macs that analysts estimate at roughly twice the average for PC makers.
Prices on Windows-based PCs have been declining for years, a trend that seems to be accelerating with the new crop equipped with Windows 7.
Vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba are rolling out thin and light, full-featured Windows notebook computers in the $500 range. By contrast, the cheapest Apple MacBook starts at $999.
NPD analyst Stephen Baker said a bigger near-term threat to Apple was tumbling prices on Windows PCs and the still-sour economy. He said the Microsoft-Mac rivalry was not the whole story.
"We always want to pit Windows and Apple against each other, and I'm not sure it's that simple," he said. "People are getting both, and they see a value to both."
Roughly 12 percent of all U.S. computer-owning households own Apple, NPD said, up from 9 percent in 2008. Of that 12 percent, close to 85 percent also own a Windows PC.
Best Buy, AT&T to offer Nokia netbook
Best Buy, the only U.S. retailer to sell the Booklet 3G branded computer for the upcoming holiday shopping season, said the mini-laptop would cost $599 for consumers who do not opt for the AT&T wireless plan and instead just connect to the Web using Wi-Fi, a short-range wireless technology.
U.S. consumers will be able to order the Booklet on October 22, the launch date for Microsoft Windows 7 software, the operating system for the device. It will be in Best Buy stores around November 15.
With computer makers such as Apple Inc and Dell delving into the phone market, No. 1 phone maker Nokia is expanding its horizons into computing. It announced its plans to launch the netbook early last month. AT&T is also looking to expand beyond phones to maintain subscriber growth.
Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said that while the device is about twice the price of some rival netbooks it could attract consumers who are looking for improved battery life.
Nokia claims that when fully charged the netbook can work for as long as 12 hours, a battery life that Greengart described as "ridiculously good" in comparison to other netbooks with an average battery life of about 4 hours.
"You're paying a premium but you're getting a premium design and battery life," he said at a Nokia event where the distribution partnerships were announced.
AT&T's emerging devices executive Glenn Lurie said that he expects the improved battery life to help sales.
"We think this is going to be an absolute home run for the holiday season," he said at the event.
Best Buy's Chief Marketing Officer Barry Judge said that longer battery life, a high quality screen resolution and more memory should help put a dent in the relatively high return rate among netbook computer buyers.
"They do have a fairly high return rate because the netbook doesn't do what the notebook (computer) can do" said Judge, who added that the device should sell well as consumers were starting to spend again on items such as electronics. Netbooks don't have as much computing power as standard notebooks.
In a monthly update sent to users of its software, Microsoft released 13 security bulletins, or patches, to address 34 vulnerabilities it identified across its Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, Office and other products.
It said six of the patches were high priority and should be deployed immediately. The patches -- which update software to write over glitches -- are designed to protect users from hackers or malicious software downloaded from the Internet.
Several of the patches affect Windows 7, the software maker's new operating system, which will be officially unveiled next week, but has been widely used in test versions.
Such an early sign of security issues on Windows 7 is potentially worrisome for Microsoft, which is hoping its new operating system will erase bad feelings among many customers who bought the predecessor, Vista.
A Microsoft spokesperson could not immediately say whether the company had identified further security problems with Windows 7. The company generally does not disclose such problems until it has patches available.
The vulnerabilities in Windows 7, including the risk of having a PC taken over by a hacker, were serious flaws, but to be expected, according to Dave Marcus, senior researcher at software security firm McAfee Inc.
"As long as human beings are writing code there are always going to be vulnerabilities," he said.
Tuesday's update included the largest number of patches to be issued on a single day by Microsoft.
Corporate users will need to test the patches before they deploy them to make sure they do not cause machines to crash because of compatibility issues with existing software.
Most of us might not realize how easy it can be for a thief to get a hold of our identities. But this silent crime can affect any one of us. Can you be sure that your identity is safe? And if your personal information has been compromised, do you know what to do to regain control of your life? This week at the Computer and security systems I'v got the tips you need to make sure you stay on guard against identity thieves.
The Royal Mail owns and maintains the database of postcodes
Websites that help people find jobs or hospitals have been hit by legal action threatened by the Royal Mail.
The threat was issued against the company supplying them, and many other sites, with postcode data.
Royal Mail said the legal action was threatened to stop "unauthorised access" to the postcode data.
Ernestmarples.com, which supplied the address data, said it did not have the resources to fight a legal battle so has turned off its feed.
Sites affected by the withdrawal of data include Job Centre Pro Plus, HealthWare (locates nearby pharmacies and hospitals), Planning alerts.com (monitors planning applications), Straight Choice (finds out who sent political leaflets) and many more.
Commenting on its action the Royal Mail said: "We have not asked anyone to close down a website.
"We have simply asked a third party to stop allowing unauthorised access to Royal Mail data, in contravention of our intellectual property rights," it added in a statement.
The third party was Ernestmarples.com which supplied postcode data to the sites. Typically those wanting to use the regularly updated list of 1.7 million postcodes pay the Royal Mail for access.
Many of the sites hit by the action are volunteer efforts that would be unable to afford the licence fees - about £4000 per annum for unlimited access.
Harry Metcalfe, co-founder of Ernestmarples.com, declined to say how it got access to the postcode data.
"There are certain legal questions around the specifics of what we are doing," Mr Metcalfe told BBC News. "The advice we have received so far is that allowing the service to continue operating while we attempt to resolve this issue would be unwise."
In the interim, the company is searching for alternative free sources of postcode data even though those are known to be less accurate and not as regularly updated.
Mr Metcalfe said Ernestmarples.com would talk to the Royal Mail about getting access to the full postcode data.
Ernestmarples.com is named after the post master general who oversaw the introduction of postcodes in 1959.
Jim Killock, head of the Open Rights Group which campaigns on digital issues, said the action showed why the UK needed a more open approach to official data.
"It is easy to see that large numbers of small business ideas and not for profit services are being blocked by these licence fees," he said. "It is in effect a tax on innovation."
A cyber security coordinator is expected to be announced by President Barack Obama in the next week or two, and the lead candidate is Frank Kramer, who was an assistant Defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, a source said on Wednesday.
The source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, asked not to be named because of its sensitive nature.
U.S. chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra told reporters at a technology conference on Wednesday that he had interviewed candidates for the position, and that a coordinator would be named in the not too distant future.
Chopra said Chris Painter, a former FBI cyber security specialist, was acting coordinator.
Melissa Hathaway, who led a 60-day White House review of cyber policies, resigned in August. A holdover from the Bush administration, Hathaway has said she withdrew her application for the position out of frustration over the administration's delays in filling the post.
Obama had promised in May that he would personally decide who would become cyber security coordinator to lead the fight against cyber crime.
Holes in U.S. cyber security have allowed thefts of identities, money, intellectual property and corporate secrets, as well as sensitive military information and penetration of the U.S. electrical grid.
The Pentagon is considering creating a command dedicated to cyberspace, under the auspices of U.S. Strategic Command.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and John Poirier)
* Installing virus protection Software
* Operating system support
* Downloading images from a digital camera to your PC
* Much, much more. Contact me and i will tell you how it work's , Contact Info,,,,,,,, fredlaw47@yahoo.com,,,,,,,, 704-369-4498. Or just send me a note to my in box, And for more info about ZURVITA . Just click on this link http://fredlaw47.zurvita.biz/index.asp Marvin Fredlaw
Computer and Security Systems
PRICE LIST Tex Support for
Package #1 - $ 45
Ad aware Removal
Spyware Removal
Defragmentation
Package #2 - $ 60
Virus Removal
Anti Virus Update
Security Update
Package #3 - $ 90
Computer Recovery
Update Recovery
Anti Virus included
At COMPUTER AND SECURITY SYSTEMS. We check our prices against major retailers every day so you can buy with confidence.
If you find a lower price for the same product and offer, we'll reduce our price by 10%
This applies to prices offered by retailers within 100 miles. Most work can be done remotely By me. And all ZURVITA Customers And Consultants get a 10% discount on all computer services done thought Computer and Security Systems. For more info on ZURVITA . JUST CLICK THIS LINK http://fredlaw47.zurvita.biz/index.asp
The work must be identical, the computer or network must be available for immediate repair in your home or business or church. - unit price for repair would depend on how many unit's there are to repair........Networking Services
Wireless and wired networks are our specialty! All it takes is one short telephone call, and we can dispatch a professional, friendly technician
to your home or office to take care of all your networking needs.
This price promise applies to:
Best Bye ,Argos, Comet, Jessops, Tesco, John Lewis, Asda, B&Q, Game Gamestation, Halfords, HMV, Maplin, Staples,
* OWNER/ C.E.O. Of Computer and Security Systems at Computer and Security Systems
What I Offer Is Computer Repair By Remote Over The Internet. And Internet Remote Security Cams. With My Security Cam's You Can See You Home Or Business From Anywhere That you Have A Computer And The Internet.
Attention All Members
Computer Maintain Cleanup
which will include removal of
ad ware and spy ware, defragmentation
and security check up.
For the low price of $65.
Breaking MLM Wireless News Zurvita Inks Deals With Sprint AT&T T-Mobile And Verizon
Thank you for coming back by to visit. Feel free to leave me a comment on the post you enjoyed the most. http://fredlaw47.zurvita.biz/index.asp
Breaking MLM Wireless News, Mark Jarvis’s company Zurvita inks deals with Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to take the lead in the MLM Wireless War.
After months of behind the scenes discussions, and some of the agreements coming down to the wire, Zurvita was able to create one of the most unique wireless business models available in Network marketing.
Here are a few of the unique benefits on the Zurvita Mobile program.
1. Current subscribers within a company can switch their current plans to a Zurvita plan. In other words I can take my AT&T plan, and have it converted to a Zurvita AT&T plan. This is HUGE!
2. Residual income is played on all new plan subscriptions. Talk about creating life long residual income.
3. By offering wireless from all the top carriers Zurvita Reps can talk to everyone the know about their new Wireless Services.
Now, the Wireless side of things is not even the BIG news. Zurvita also unveiled that within just a couple of weeks, around August 1st or shortly after, they will also be entering into the following service arenas.
1. Commercial Energy
2. Commercial Telecommunication
3. Residential Digital VOIP
and a few more goodies I just can’t share yet.
Mark Jarvis and his 80 top leaders took a huge risk 12 months ago when they ALL walked away from five and six figure monthly incomes to launch Zurvita.
But in reviewing what has taken place within this short time, I truly believe God had a hand in this epic adventure.
1. Mark Jarvis and 80 leaders walk from Ameriplan to launch Zurvita
2. Ameriplan sues Zurvita, Mark Jarvis and others
3. Amacore Group Inc. enters the picture and purchases Zurvita, leaving Mark Jarvis and his team in place.
4. Ameriplan and Zurvita settle out of court in an undisclosed settlement ending all legal issues.
5. Zurvita launches the Freedom Crusade
6. Zurvita unveils their new focus with ZurvitaMobile.com
Mark and team great job… You guys true run a Distributor Friendly Company!
Never Give Up, Apple Inc's Mac computers have steadily gained market share over the years, a winning streak that may be tested by next week's launch of Microsoft Corp's new Windows 7 operating system.
Few expect the new software to dent Apple's standing in the market in the long run, given the company's premium position and the fact that its dedicated user base largely ignores events in the Windows universe.
However, some analysts warn that Windows 7 -- which is garnering strong early reviews -- may initially slow Apple's advancement and apply more pressure on Mac prices, particularly in the United States.
Microsoft's Vista operating system, released in early 2007, was plagued by problems and bad press. For Apple, this meant an opportunity that the company seized upon.
But if the new Microsoft offering works as expected, Apple may not be able to count on Windows' clumsiness as a sales driver.
For its part, Apple expressed little concern about the new Windows.
"New Mac users continually tell us that they are tired of all the headaches with Windows, and they want the ease of use, stability and security of a Mac," spokesman Bill Evans said. "At the end of the day Windows 7 is still just Windows."
And some analysts argue that Windows 7 hype might end up helping Mac by enticing customers into stores and lifting overall computer sales amid the marketing hoopla.
"The Apple story is pretty idiosyncratic, company-specific, not really dependent on other parties," said Broadpoint Amtech analyst Brian Marshall, citing research showing that Microsoft's launches over the years have acted as catalysts for Mac sales.
Although its iPhone gets more press, Apple still derives the largest chunk of its sales from computers. Macs generated about 40 percent of the company's revenue in the June quarter.
Marshall thinks Apple can double its share of the computer market over the next five to 10 years. Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle agreed that the Windows 7 launch could end up boosting Mac sales.
"It could very well be a tide that lifts all boats," he said. "Windows 7, with a lot of marketing dollars, is going to drive a lot of people into stores. The extra traffic could actually help Apple."
But Enderle cautioned: "Windows 7 is good. It doesn't have the problems Vista did, so gaining share gets a lot tougher."
A PROFITABLE SLICE
Although Apple is not among the top five PC makers globally, it ranks No. 4 in the United States, according to research group Gartner, with a market share of 8.7 percent. Three years ago, Apple's U.S. share was 4.6 percent.
Apple sold 2.6 million Mac computers during the June quarter, up 4 percent from a year earlier.
Windows 7 comes on the heels of the release of Apple's newest operating system, Snow Leopard, in August. Early sales of the $29 upgrade have been strong, analysts said.
Although Microsoft's software drives more than 90 percent of the world's PCs, Apple has managed to carve out a highly profitable slice of the market.
It charges a premium price for Macs, which attract loyal consumers willing to spend. In June, on a dollar basis, Apple accounted for an eye-popping 91 percent of PCs that cost more than $1,000 and were sold at retail in the United States, according to research group NPD.
High prices help Apple enjoy margins on Macs that analysts estimate at roughly twice the average for PC makers.
Prices on Windows-based PCs have been declining for years, a trend that seems to be accelerating with the new crop equipped with Windows 7.
Vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba are rolling out thin and light, full-featured Windows notebook computers in the $500 range. By contrast, the cheapest Apple MacBook starts at $999.
NPD analyst Stephen Baker said a bigger near-term threat to Apple was tumbling prices on Windows PCs and the still-sour economy. He said the Microsoft-Mac rivalry was not the whole story.
"We always want to pit Windows and Apple against each other, and I'm not sure it's that simple," he said. "People are getting both, and they see a value to both."
Roughly 12 percent of all U.S. computer-owning households own Apple, NPD said, up from 9 percent in 2008. Of that 12 percent, close to 85 percent also own a Windows PC.
Best Buy, AT&T to offer Nokia netbook
Best Buy, the only U.S. retailer to sell the Booklet 3G branded computer for the upcoming holiday shopping season, said the mini-laptop would cost $599 for consumers who do not opt for the AT&T wireless plan and instead just connect to the Web using Wi-Fi, a short-range wireless technology.
U.S. consumers will be able to order the Booklet on October 22, the launch date for Microsoft Windows 7 software, the operating system for the device. It will be in Best Buy stores around November 15.
With computer makers such as Apple Inc and Dell delving into the phone market, No. 1 phone maker Nokia is expanding its horizons into computing. It announced its plans to launch the netbook early last month. AT&T is also looking to expand beyond phones to maintain subscriber growth.
Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said that while the device is about twice the price of some rival netbooks it could attract consumers who are looking for improved battery life.
Nokia claims that when fully charged the netbook can work for as long as 12 hours, a battery life that Greengart described as "ridiculously good" in comparison to other netbooks with an average battery life of about 4 hours.
"You're paying a premium but you're getting a premium design and battery life," he said at a Nokia event where the distribution partnerships were announced.
AT&T's emerging devices executive Glenn Lurie said that he expects the improved battery life to help sales.
"We think this is going to be an absolute home run for the holiday season," he said at the event.
Best Buy's Chief Marketing Officer Barry Judge said that longer battery life, a high quality screen resolution and more memory should help put a dent in the relatively high return rate among netbook computer buyers.
"They do have a fairly high return rate because the netbook doesn't do what the notebook (computer) can do" said Judge, who added that the device should sell well as consumers were starting to spend again on items such as electronics. Netbooks don't have as much computing power as standard notebooks.
In a monthly update sent to users of its software, Microsoft released 13 security bulletins, or patches, to address 34 vulnerabilities it identified across its Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, Office and other products.
It said six of the patches were high priority and should be deployed immediately. The patches -- which update software to write over glitches -- are designed to protect users from hackers or malicious software downloaded from the Internet.
Several of the patches affect Windows 7, the software maker's new operating system, which will be officially unveiled next week, but has been widely used in test versions.
Such an early sign of security issues on Windows 7 is potentially worrisome for Microsoft, which is hoping its new operating system will erase bad feelings among many customers who bought the predecessor, Vista.
A Microsoft spokesperson could not immediately say whether the company had identified further security problems with Windows 7. The company generally does not disclose such problems until it has patches available.
The vulnerabilities in Windows 7, including the risk of having a PC taken over by a hacker, were serious flaws, but to be expected, according to Dave Marcus, senior researcher at software security firm McAfee Inc.
"As long as human beings are writing code there are always going to be vulnerabilities," he said.
Tuesday's update included the largest number of patches to be issued on a single day by Microsoft.
Corporate users will need to test the patches before they deploy them to make sure they do not cause machines to crash because of compatibility issues with existing software.
Most of us might not realize how easy it can be for a thief to get a hold of our identities. But this silent crime can affect any one of us. Can you be sure that your identity is safe? And if your personal information has been compromised, do you know what to do to regain control of your life? This week at the Computer and security systems I'v got the tips you need to make sure you stay on guard against identity thieves.
The Royal Mail owns and maintains the database of postcodes
Websites that help people find jobs or hospitals have been hit by legal action threatened by the Royal Mail.
The threat was issued against the company supplying them, and many other sites, with postcode data.
Royal Mail said the legal action was threatened to stop "unauthorised access" to the postcode data.
Ernestmarples.com, which supplied the address data, said it did not have the resources to fight a legal battle so has turned off its feed.
Sites affected by the withdrawal of data include Job Centre Pro Plus, HealthWare (locates nearby pharmacies and hospitals), Planning alerts.com (monitors planning applications), Straight Choice (finds out who sent political leaflets) and many more.
Commenting on its action the Royal Mail said: "We have not asked anyone to close down a website.
"We have simply asked a third party to stop allowing unauthorised access to Royal Mail data, in contravention of our intellectual property rights," it added in a statement.
The third party was Ernestmarples.com which supplied postcode data to the sites. Typically those wanting to use the regularly updated list of 1.7 million postcodes pay the Royal Mail for access.
Many of the sites hit by the action are volunteer efforts that would be unable to afford the licence fees - about £4000 per annum for unlimited access.
Harry Metcalfe, co-founder of Ernestmarples.com, declined to say how it got access to the postcode data.
"There are certain legal questions around the specifics of what we are doing," Mr Metcalfe told BBC News. "The advice we have received so far is that allowing the service to continue operating while we attempt to resolve this issue would be unwise."
In the interim, the company is searching for alternative free sources of postcode data even though those are known to be less accurate and not as regularly updated.
Mr Metcalfe said Ernestmarples.com would talk to the Royal Mail about getting access to the full postcode data.
Ernestmarples.com is named after the post master general who oversaw the introduction of postcodes in 1959.
Jim Killock, head of the Open Rights Group which campaigns on digital issues, said the action showed why the UK needed a more open approach to official data.
"It is easy to see that large numbers of small business ideas and not for profit services are being blocked by these licence fees," he said. "It is in effect a tax on innovation."
A cyber security coordinator is expected to be announced by President Barack Obama in the next week or two, and the lead candidate is Frank Kramer, who was an assistant Defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, a source said on Wednesday.
The source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, asked not to be named because of its sensitive nature.
U.S. chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra told reporters at a technology conference on Wednesday that he had interviewed candidates for the position, and that a coordinator would be named in the not too distant future.
Chopra said Chris Painter, a former FBI cyber security specialist, was acting coordinator.
Melissa Hathaway, who led a 60-day White House review of cyber policies, resigned in August. A holdover from the Bush administration, Hathaway has said she withdrew her application for the position out of frustration over the administration's delays in filling the post.
Obama had promised in May that he would personally decide who would become cyber security coordinator to lead the fight against cyber crime.
Holes in U.S. cyber security have allowed thefts of identities, money, intellectual property and corporate secrets, as well as sensitive military information and penetration of the U.S. electrical grid.
The Pentagon is considering creating a command dedicated to cyberspace, under the auspices of U.S. Strategic Command.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and John Poirier)
Photos
41 people in 4 states charged in mortgage fraud
NEW YORK – A mortgage fraud crackdown announced Thursday resulted in the arrests of dozens of people, including six lawyers, seven loan officers and three mortgage brokers in four states.
Thirty-one people were arrested in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina. They were among 41 people charged with engaging in mortgage fraud scams that defrauded lenders out of more than $64 million in home mortgage loans.
Of the 10 other defendants, one was expected to surrender later Thursday, four were previously charged and five remained at large.
Authorities gathering for an afternoon news conference in Manhattan said the crackdown, dubbed "Operation Bad Deeds," was aimed at the failure of gatekeepers in the mortgage industry to act responsibly and legally.
"Unfortunately, instead of protecting our financial system, in some cases they abused their positions and joined criminal schemes to steal millions of dollars," said Richard H. Neiman, the superintendent of banks for New York State.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that he found it "especially alarming" that lawyers, loan officers and mortgage brokers treated their professions as a "license to loot banks and profit from other people's pain." Those charged also included an accountant and a residential property appraiser.
Authorities said the arrests resulted from a series of investigations conducted by state and local authorities along with federal prosecutors, the FBI, the New York State Banking Department, federal housing authorities, the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Service investigators.
Most of the bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges brought against the defendants carry potential prison terms of 20 to 30 years each.
RIM launching new touchscreen BlackBerry Storm
The Storm2, as the device is known, is "a biggie for us," RIM co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said in an interview.
The smartphone retains the original Storm's clickable touchscreen interface, but improves upon it with faster typing and "multitouch" capabilities, which allow users to type on more than just one part of the screen at a time.
The phone is enabled for next-generation networks and also has Wi-Fi capability like some of the other devices in the BlackBerry lineup.
Mobile communications giant Vodafone announced on Thursday that the Storm2 will be available in time for the Christmas gift buying season in seven European countries and South Africa.
RIM's announcement was not a complete surprise: Balsillie first said in May that a new version of the Storm was in the works, given the "huge success" of the original smartphone.
UBS Investment Research analyst Phillip Huang said he thinks the Vodafone announcement is already largely embedded in expectations. He expects U.S. carrier Verizon to announce the Storm2 for the holiday season as well.
"We expect launches for Bold2 by U.S. and Canadian operators in late October," in addition to the Storm2, Huang wrote in a note to clients. The BlackBerry Bold is a high-end handset aimed at RIM's base of professional users.
The Storm2 news comes as Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM finds itself in increased competition with the iPhone.
Apple is expanding its smartphone's availability by offering it to a bigger number of wireless carriers. This means RIM has found itself forced to fight for previously uncontested territory.
For example, until recently, Rogers Communications was the only large Canadian carrier that offered the iPhone. However, BCE Inc and Telus Corp -- the country's other two main telecom companies -- announced earlier this month they will be able to offer the device in November.
Balsillie said the Storm2 will be key to maintaining RIM's growth in the retail consumer market, which it is increasingly emphasizing as it expands from its core base of business, government and other professional users.
"Obviously, we want to maintain and extend our leadership, there's no question," he said.
Late last month, RIM reported results and an outlook that disappointed investors and sent its shares tumbling more than 15 percent.
Analysts said increased competition in North America from the likes of Apple, Palm and Motorola Inc was a top concern for RIM's future.
New BlackBerry models are crucial if RIM is to succeed and Balsillie said the company is well prepared.
"We have a really rich (product) road map ... and we aren't slowing down," he said.
RIM's shares were down 1.1 percent at $68.43 on Nasdaq and off 0.8 percent at C$70.47 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Obama picks openly gay lawyer for ambassadorship
Huebner is based in Shanghai, where he handles international arbitration and mediation cases for a U.S. firm. A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, he is also the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's general counsel and previously served on the group's board.
He also has chaired the California Law Revision Commission, served as president of the Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Commission and taught at the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law.
Obama's announcement is a gesture just days before he speaks to a gay rights fundraising dinner on Saturday and gay activists march on Washington on Sunday.
Obama's relationship with gay activists has been rocky since his election. Gays and lesbians objected to the invitation of evangelist Rev. Rick Warren's to participate in Obama's inauguration because of Warren's support for repealing gay marriage in California. Obama responded by having Episcopalian Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the denomination's first openly gay bishop, participate at another event.
As president, Obama hasn't taken any concrete steps urging Congress to rescind the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they don't disclose their sexual orientation or act on it. Some former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have acknowledged the policy is flawed.
The office of the current chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, signed off on a journal article that called for lifting the ban, arguing that the military is forcing thousands of military members to live dishonest lives.
Obama also pledged during the campaign to work for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. But lawyers in his administration defended the law in a court brief. White House aides said they were only doing their jobs to back a law that was already on the books.
Officials said Obama's slow and incremental approach to the politically charged issues has produced some gains.
"The president made commitments on those issues — not just, quite frankly, in a presidential race but ran on some of those commitments in a Senate race," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "They are commitments that are important to him and he is intent on making progress on those issues and is working with the Pentagon to ensure, at least in 'don't ask, don't tell,' that we make progress on it."
Obama has expanded some federal benefits to same-sex partners, but not health benefits or pension guarantees. He has allowed State Department employees to include their same-sex partners in certain embassy programs available to opposite-sex spouses.
On Wednesday, Gibbs said the administration was working with the Office of Personnel Management to expand those benefits.
But that remains far short of his campaign rhetoric.
"At its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans," Obama said a 2007 statement on gay issues. "It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."
By Marvin Fredlaw
Three scientists who corralled light to transform our communications systems share this year's physics Nobel Prize.
Charles Kao is lauded for his work in the UK in helping to develop fibre optic cables, the thin threads of glass that carry phone and net data as light.
Willard Boyle and George Smith, both North Americans, are recognised for their part in the invention of the charge-coupled device, or CCD.
This light detector initiated the digital camera revolution.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which administers the prize, said half of the award would go to Kao, who was born in Shanghai, China, in 1933 and holds UK-US citizenship.
It was his insight while working in Britain in the 1960s, said the academy, which allowed researchers to take fibre optics to a new level - to enable these thin cables to transmit light over much longer distances than had previously been possible.
Kao's team at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow proposed the means to improve dramatically the purity - and therefore the efficiency - of the glass material used to construct the fibres.
Today, fibre optics underpin the communication age.
The hair-like cables speed data around the globe in the form of rapid pulses of light.
The modern telephony system is built on the technology, and high-speed broadband internet would not be possible without it.
Wondrous views
The other half of the prize is to be split between Boyle, aged 85, and Smith, 79. Their breakthrough was made at Bell Laboratories in the US.
The North Americans' group invented the first digital sensor, a CCD (charge-coupled device), in 1969.
Fibre optics (SPL)
Fibre optics have made the world a much smaller place
The CCD contains arrays of photosensitive cells which become charged when light falls on them. The more light, the greater the charge. The chip reads out this signal, which can then be used to render an image.
The academy said the work of Canadian-born Boyle and US citizen Smith "revolutionised photography, as light could be now captured electronically instead of on film".
While the technology delivered instant pictures to the masses, CCDs have also transformed scientific observation.
Specialist detectors are now incorporated into the imaging systems of all space missions.
The Hubble telescope, for example, records its wondrous views of the cosmos on CCDs. And the vivid landscapes of Mars returned by robotic vehicles have also been captured on charge-coupled devices.
Such is the pace of change that CCDs are themselves being overtaken by CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology. This works in a related fashion but runs cooler, is more efficient and is cheaper to produce.
Hubble image (Nasa/Esa/STSCI
The Hubble telescope records its images on CCDs
Dr Robert Kirby-Harris, from the UK's Institute of Physics, celebrated the announcement.
"Ours is the age of information and images, and no two things better symbolise this than the internet and digital cameras," he said.
"From kilobytes to gigabytes, and now to petabytes and exabytes, information has never been so free-flowing or, with the development of the CCD, so instantly visual. These incredible inventors who have been responsible for transforming the world in which we live very much deserve their prize."
The Nobel Prizes - which also cover chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics (more properly called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize) - are valued at 10m Swedish Kronor (£900,000; 1m euros; $1.4m).
Laureates also receive a medal and a diploma.
This year's medicine Nobel, announced on Monday, honoured the study of telomeres, the structures in cells that cap the ends of DNA bundles, or chromosomes.
The work has furthered our understanding on human ageing, cancer and stem cells.
"As we emerge from this current economic crisis, our great challenge will be to ensure that we do not just drift into the future," Obama said at Hudson Valley Community College. "Instead, we must choose to do what past generations have done: shape a brighter future through hard work and innovation."
Obama delivered an economic pep talk and a plug for his economic recovery plan: a sustained investment in education, technology, health care and research. He told his audience that for years, Washington has not lived it up to its responsibilities to help.
"If government does its modest part, there is no stopping the most powerful and generative economic force the world has ever known: the American people," Obama said.
His pitch came in a region where the economic mood has long been gloomy. Nationwide, unemployment is at 9.7 percent, the highest level since 1983.
Obama vowed that by 2020, America will again have the world's highest proportion of college graduates. He said recent increases in Pell Grants and a simplification of financial aid processes will help the nation reach that goal.
The president also praised a plan to keep wireless carriers from blocking certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their networks. Obama said he was pleased that the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is announcing principles "to preserve an open Internet in which all Americans can participate and benefit."
Obama offered kind words to New York's embattled governor, David Paterson, despite reports that the White House wants Paterson to drop out of next year's gubernatorial race.
By Marvin Fredlaw
Bloggers
Some bloggers are keen to make money from their efforts
US regulators will for the first time crack down on bloggers who fail to disclose fees or freebies they get from companies for reviewing products.
The Federal Trade Commission, FTC, decided to update its nearly 30 year old guidelines to clarify the law for the vast world of blogging.
Offenders could face eventual fines of up to $11,000 (£6,900) per violation.
The updated policy on how advertisers can use endorsements will also apply to celebrities and research firms.
Until now, bloggers had not been covered by the guidelines - something which had concerned consumer groups. They had argued for a long time that the links between some bloggers and companies were not always totally transparent and clear for readers.
"Consumers are increasingly dependent on the internet for purchase information," said Jack Gillis of the Consumer Federation of America.
"There's tremendous opportunity to steer consumers in the wrong direction."
There is nothing in the new rules about how disclosures must be made.
"That's left up to the endorser," said Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC's division of advertising practices.
"It can be a banner, part of the review. The only requirement is that it be clear and conspicuous."
'Material connections'
The FTC said its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final web guidelines, which will take effect from 1 December. The commission had unveiled a draft of the proposed policy last year.
Amazon screenshot
The blog by advertisers for bloggers who advertise
In a statement the FTC said "the revised guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.
"Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."
The guides are not binding by law, but rather interpretations of law that hope to help advertisers comply with regulations.
The new policy will also apply to Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and other forms of new media advertising.
"The new rules on bloggers are the most far-reaching attempt to stamp some guidelines of conduct on the blogosphere, which in general operates according to informal codes and the notion that "inauthentic" bloggers - including those not disclosing commercial relationships - will suffer in the web's court of public opinion," wrote Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age.
'Trust'
Reaction from the blogosphere to the FTC's new guidelines over what has been dubbed blogger payola has been mixed.
"The concept of disclosure is not new to BlogHer. The trust of readers is everything," said Elisa Camahort Page, a co-founder of BlogHer the main news, entertainment and information network for women online reaching more than 15 million each month.
mommy blogger
'Mommy blogs' are starting to attract lots of traffic
"We have never been in favour of a universal code of conduct but we think that what the FTC has introduced is simple and achievable for anyone who wants a professional relationship with the market and to retain the trust of the reader," Ms Camahort Page told BBC News.
Wayne Sutton, who is a social media strategist and hosts a social media podcast at TalkSocialNews.com agreed.
"We're in a time when companies will try (to) leverage individuals who are community leaders or have a large audience for brand awareness...but if you want to keep them (readers/followers), being honest or "transparent" is the best way to do so."
Jeff Jarvis is a professor of journalism at New York's City University and long time blogger and sees things differently. In a blog post he attacked what he called "the FTC's misguided, dangerous ad/blog endorsement rules."
"I think that openness is the best fix for questions of trust and advise companies and politicians and certainly governments to become transparent by default as enlightened self-interest.
"But mandating this for anyone who dares speak online? Foolish," wrote Professor Jarvis.
On Twitter the issue became a trending topic.
"New FTC proposed rules on product endorsements are big-brotherish in extreme, unworkable and downright dangerous," tweeted Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Centre for Digital Media Entrepreneurship.
"
The suspects are accused of targeting accounts at two US banks
Dozens of people have been arrested in the US and in Egypt, accused of links to an alleged international identity theft ring targeting American banks.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said about 100 arrests were expected across the US states of California, Nevada and North Carolina as well as in Egypt.
The alleged ring is accused of using an internet "phishing" scheme to get data allowing it to access bank accounts.
Victims may together have lost about $2m (£1.3m), Ms Eimiller said.
The investigation has led to the indictment of the largest number of defendants ever charged in a cyber crime case, according to the FBI in Los Angeles.
The ring used a sophisticated phishing scheme - where people are lured into revealing their details on fake websites - to obtain personal information from thousands of people and defraud American banks, the FBI statement said.
Police in the US arrested 33 of 53 suspects named in Operation Phish Phry on Wednesday morning, with several more currently being sought.
The authorities in Egypt have charged 47 people in connection with the scheme, the statement added.
'Significant impact'
The 51-count indictment accuses all the suspects of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, charges which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.
Some are also charged with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit computer fraud.
According to the indictment, computer hackers in Egypt used the phishing scheme to obtain bank account numbers and security details from an unknown number of bank customers.
With the help of US co-conspirators, they used those details to hack into accounts at two US banks and illegally transfer funds into newly created fraudulent bank accounts, the indictment says.
Some of that money was then sent to the hackers in Egypt.
Acting US Attorney George Cardona said: "This international phishing ring had a significant impact on two banks and caused huge headaches for hundreds, perhaps thousands of bank customers.
"Organised, international crime rings can only be confronted by an organised response by law enforcement across international borders, which we have seen in this case."
Vet suicides outstrip UK average
Lethal injection is the most common form of suicide among vets
The suicide rate among vets is nearly four times the national average and double that of doctors or dentists, according to new research.
Findings published in the British Veterinary Association's (BVA) journal suggested lethal injections were the most common method of suicide.
Professor Richard Halliwell, of the BVA, said the suicides could be related to the stress of putting down animals.
The BVA is considering setting up an advice and support system for trainees.
The approach would be used to help aspiring vets and warn them of the stress they may face while at work.
So you have a dual problem of coping with the animals and coping with the people, which can be very stressful
Professor Richard Halliwell
Speaking about the possible reasons for suicide among vets, Professor Halliwell told the BBC's Farming Today: "When they are suffering themselves from emotional problems due to the stress, they may more readily decide to take their own life because they are used to euthanising animals who are suffering."
He described being a vet as "extremely stressful".
"You're dealing not only with life and death of animals, but you're dealing with people who either have significant commercial or financial involvement with those animals or, alternatively, are very emotionally attached to them.
"So you have a dual problem of coping with the animals and coping with the people, which can be very stressful."
Coping skills
He also said that the training was demanding, and "doesn't really prepare people for the communication and helping skills that they need".
Prof Halliwell, a former president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, said support after graduation was also lacking.
He said that, to improve the situation, vet schools needed to teach more about work-life balance and coping skills from the beginning and that support after graduation should be offered.
Dr Virginia Richmond of the Veterinary Surgeons Health Support Programme said vets of varying ages were asking for help.
"We're getting calls from vets who are feeling isolated, they don't feel supported, there seems to be a lot of stress involved in the work that they are doing.
"They don't know where they can go to with these problems they have.
Drug-taking
"There doesn't seem to be an awareness that there is help out there for them."
She also said that there was a "stigma" attached to mental health issues.
To cope with the stresses, Dr Richmond said vets mainly turned to alcohol and drugs - including injecting horse tranquiliser ketamine, which they have ready access to.
"That's part of the problem - they are not having to go out and find it in any devious or dishonest way.
"It's sitting there on the shelves looking at them."
What's your reaction to the BVA's findings? Are you surprised that the suicide rate amongst vets is so high?
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Vets like nurses, doctors carers have no access to emotional support nor do they have counselling training in order to help those affected by the death of loved ones. No wonder they are suicidally depressed.
Michael Taylor, Peterborough UK
We have an excellent and balanced, husband and wife, vet team here in this sheep farming upland area. However I noted that UK vets over the past 20 years made no comment about their farming customers suffering from sheep-dip poisoning.
Dr Lewis Moncrieff, Alston, Cumbria
Surely the fact that vets have a higher suicide rate than anyone else is because they have the means (lethal injections) ready to hand. How about running a clinical trial to make lethal injections available to a cross-section of other professions (tax-collectors and lawyers especially)? I bet the suicide rate would go up across the board.
Howard Almond, Dawlish, Devon
I visited our local surgery the other day and a lady came running out of the consulting room after leaving her dog there, it was obvious from her tears that the dog had been left for despatch, she was devastated, what about the poor vet who had the job of putting the dog down? I felt for them as well, they do wonderful work and should get all the support they need.
Maria Adlam, Suffolk
Vets are vets because they care. They get to know owners and their pets over many years and try to keep the pet healthy for as long as possible. To have the power to "do the best thing" must be the worst dichotomy. You know the owner will in most cases be very upset, yet for the sake of the animal you have to end its life. The mechanics of that may be simple but the emotional impact has to be soaked up somewhere, so it is hardly surprising it overflows into tragedy for too many vets.
Susan Fleming, Basingstoke, UK
This is no surprise. A very close friend of mine graduated from vet school and went straight into a job where she was expected to work 7 days a week including nights as she was a newly qualified, she became exhausted and depressed and was offered no support. She was an excellent vet who had always wanted to be a vet and after a year of working under these conditions she has left the vetinary profession as she was struggling to cope - what a waste.
Jo Gray, Warwickshire
I am surprised, as a second year vet undergraduate, so far veterinary doesn't seem like a depressing job. We go into the job wanting to help animals, and are too aware that putting down animals is part of the job. The case where i could see a window for vets becoming depressed with their job, however, is vets who were involved in the foot and mouth outbreak; knowingly putting down hundreds to thousands of healthy animals and the horrific way that it was handled. Vets have access to the drugs very readily, even more so than doctors, so maybe that's why the vet rate is higher than that of doctors??
Gina Harrison, Cambridge, UK
I'm both surprised and saddened to know the suicide rate is so high amongst vets. Having had animals all my life I've had regular contact with many vets life and always admired the dedication and empathy they are able to show both pet and owner. I'd be interested to know if this is a growing trend. Maybe, like lots of us, vets are under increasing commercial and financial pressure these days. Whatever it is, we need to identify it and reverse the trend because the job vets do is such a valuable one in so many ways.
Buck is the county administrator in Jefferson County, a rural area in southwest Mississippi dotted with small churches, modest homes and markers noting a Civil War skirmish.
"It is a great small town, and everybody knows everybody," Buck says.
If you look through the statistics, three things jump out:
• The Census Bureau lists the population of Jefferson County as 86 percent African American, the highest percentage of any county in the United States.
• It is the fourth-poorest county in the United States, with a median income of $15,037.
• The unemployment rate in August was 18.6 percent, the highest of Mississippi's 82 counties.
"It has not always been this way," says Angelia Shelvy, a single mother of three who is among the unemployed. "I think we are forgotten."
Shelvy had a job making $10,000 a year as a teacher's assistant, but she left it to take a job paying twice as much, signing on with a union that provides workers to nuclear power plants. Her parents agreed to care for her children when she had to travel, for months at a time, as far away as Arizona.
Shelvy thought it was the right thing to do for her family, but phone calls to home at bedtime proved otherwise. Her 4-year-old, especially, had a rough time adjusting.
* Story Highlights
* Scientist re-creates Shroud of Turin to support his belief it is a medieval fake
* Many Christians have believed shroud is actual burial shroud of Jesus
* Luigi Garlaschelli made copy by wrapping cloth over student, baking and washing it
updated 3:41 p.m. EDT, Wed October 7, 2009
* Next Article in World »
By Richard Allen Greene
CNN
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(CNN) -- An Italian scientist says he has reproduced one of the world's most famous Catholic relics, the Shroud of Turin, to support his belief it is a medieval fake, not the cloth Jesus was buried in.
Luigi Garlaschelli says his reproduction of the shroud disproves the claims of its strongest supporters.
Luigi Garlaschelli says his reproduction of the shroud disproves the claims of its strongest supporters.
Luigi Garlaschelli created a copy of the shroud by wrapping a specially woven cloth over one of his students, painting it with pigment, baking it in an oven (which he called a "shroud machine") for several hours, then washing it.
His result looks like the cloth that many Christians through the centuries have believed is the actual burial shroud of Jesus, he told CNN.
"What you have now is a very fuzzy, dusty and weak image," he said. "Then for the sake of completeness I have added the bloodstains, the burns, the scorching because there was a fire in 1532."
Garlaschelli says his work disproves the claims of the shroud's strongest supporters.
"Basically the Shroud of Turin has some strange properties and characteristics that they say cannot be reproduced by human hands," he told CNN by phone from Italy, where he is a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia.
"For example, the image is superficial and has no pigment, it looks so lifelike and so on, and therefore they say it cannot have been done by an artist."
His research shows the pigment may simply have worn off the cloth over the centuries since it was first "discovered" in 1355, but impurities in the pigment etched an image into the fibers of the cloth, leaving behind the ghostly picture that remains today.
"The procedure is very simple. The artist took this sheet and put it over one of his assistants," he said.
"His good idea was to wrap the sheet over the person underneath because he didn't want to obtain an image that was too obviously a painting or a drawing, so with this procedure you get a strange image," said Garlaschelli.
"Time did the rest," he said.
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* Compare the original and the copy
He undertook the research out of personal interest, he said.
"As a hobby I am interested in mysteries, and the Shroud of Turin is obviously a very mysterious object," he said.
He described himself as a rationalist, but said he is not specifically anti-religious.
"I am not a believer, but I am first of all a curious person, and I like to investigate these mysteries, not necessarily related to religion," he said. "It's not my fault if in Italy most of these paranormal facts are related to religion. If the church would like to fund me (to do research), I am ready."
The Shroud of Turin is a linen sheet more than 14 feet long and 3 feet, 7 inches wide that carries an imprinted image of the front and the back of a crucified man, according to the Catholic Archdiocese of Turin.
"The imprint shows the peculiar characteristics that usually belong to a photographic negative," says the Web site of the shroud, which is maintained by the archdiocese.
The Vatican does not have an official position on whether the relic is genuinely the cloth Jesus was buried in after being crucified.
"Since it is not a matter of faith, the church has no specific competence to pronounce on these questions," the late Pope John Paul II said in 1998.
Carbon dating in the 1990s suggested it dates from the Middle Ages.
But John Paul II insisted it is important to learn lessons from the relic, whether or not it is genuine.
"The imprint left by the tortured body of the crucified one, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age," he said in an address at Turin Cathedral, the home of the shroud.
"Before the shroud, how can we not think of the millions of people who die of hunger, of the horrors committed in the many wars that soak nations in blood, of the brutal exploitation of women and children, of the millions of human beings who live in hardship and humiliation on the edges of great cities, especially in developing countries?" the pope asked.
The Vatican has not responded to Garlaschelli's research, which was funded by the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics, he said.
He dabbled on the project for years, he said, starting with handkerchief-size pieces of cloth and different combinations of acid and pigment, before making his shroud this summer.
Now that he knows how to do it, he could make another one in about a week, he estimated.
The greatest expense was having a cloth specially woven to mimic the shroud, he said.
He did not have access to the shroud itself, which is usually kept in a special chamber, away from public view.
"Only a few very chosen persons have direct access to it," he said, adding he had relied on "the published data" about the relic.
He is due to present his findings Saturday at a conference of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims on the Paranormal. He has also written a 50-page paper that he hopes to publish in a scientific journal.
The real Shroud of Turin is due to go on display to the public in April and May of 2010. It was last put on public view in 1998 and 2000, but has undergone extensive restoration since then, including removing a backing and patches added over the centuries
existence of God
By Marilyn Adamson
proof of GodJust once wouldn't you love for someone to simply show you the evidence for God's existence? No arm-twisting. No statements of, "You just have to believe." Well, here is an attempt to candidly offer some of the reasons which suggest that God exists.
But first consider this. If a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence can be rationalized or explained away. It is like if someone refuses to believe that people have walked on the moon, then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks...all the evidence would be worthless, because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to the moon.
When it comes to the possibility of God's existence, the Bible says that there are people who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God.1 On the other hand, for those who want to know God if he is there, he says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you."2 Before you look at the facts surrounding God's existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would I want to know him? Here then, are some reasons to consider...
1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.
Many examples showing God's design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:
The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.3 Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.
existence of GodThe Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.
And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.4
Water...colorless, odorless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:
It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees.
proof of GodWater is a universal solvent. This property of water means that thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.5
Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.
Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.
Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.
Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.6
The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.
existence of GodThe human brain processes more than a million messages a second.7 Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.
The eye...can distinguish among seven million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an astounding 1.5 million messages -- simultaneously.8 Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of living organisms from nonliving matter.
2. Does God exist? The universe had a start - what caused it?
Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself.
Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen."9
Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousands million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light."10
The universe has not always existed. It had a start...what caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and matter.
3. Does God exist? The universe operates by uniform laws of nature. Why does it?
Much of life may seem uncertain, but look at what we can count on day after day: gravity remains consistent, a hot cup of coffee left on a counter will get cold, the earth rotates in the same 24 hours, and the speed of light doesn't change -- on earth or in galaxies far from us.
How is it that we can identify laws of nature that never change? Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable?
"The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence."12
Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle."13
4. Does God exist? The DNA code informs, programs a cell's behavior.
existence of GodAll instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent. Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose. Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of our cells is very similar. It's made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There are three billions of these letters in every human cell!!
Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual.14
existence of God Why is this so amazing? One has to ask....how did this information program wind up in each human cell? These are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop.
Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot find instruction, precise information like this, without someone intentionally constructing it.
5. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.
I was an atheist at one time. And like many atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those poor, delusional people...to help them realize their hope was completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life.
proof of GodI didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them.
I am not the only one who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow, besides questing, I was being pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."
Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. I too had no expectations other than rightfully admitting God's existence. Yet over the following several months, I became amazed by his love for me.
6. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing himself to us.
Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.
He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."15 He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me."16
What proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people...blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature...walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you're seeing.17
Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he first loved us.
Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."18 This is God, in action.
Does God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We're told that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."19
God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ. If you need to know more about Jesus and reasons to believe in him, please see: Beyond Blind Faith.
If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.
This is your decision, no coercion here. But if you want to be forgiven by God and come into a relationship with him, you can do so right now by asking him to forgive you and come into your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [or her]."20 If you want to do this, but aren't sure how to put it into words, this may help: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."
God views your relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all those who believe in him, Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand."21
So, does God exist? Looking at all these facts, one can conclude that a loving God does exist and can be known in an intimate.
By Marvin Fredlaw
Dell Inc plans to launch a smartphone with Google's Android mobile software on carrier AT&T's network, a source said, marking the PC maker's first foray into a cut-throat U.S. cellphone arena.
Dell will become the latest tech manufacturer to try and establish a footprint in a fast-growing market dominated by Apple and Research in Motion. Its planned phone would also give a boost to Google's fledgling mobile platform, which vies with Apple's and Microsoft's platforms.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters Dell plans to introduce a U.S. version of its "oPhone" for China -- which runs on Android -- and that the device had been certified by AT&T for its domestic network.
The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news on Wednesday, cited people briefed on the matter as saying Dell's phone could be launched as soon as early 2010.
Smartphones -- or cellphones that come with an array of complex functions from email to multimedia -- have exploded onto the corporate and consumer market as users increasingly access information and entertainment on the go.
Worldwide factory shipments of smart phones are expected to rise to 235.6 million units in 2010, up 27.9 percent from 184.2 million in 2009, according to iSuppli. That is a far cry from a 12.3 percent decline projected for cellphones overall in 2009.
But analysts warn that the world's No. 2 PC maker would face a tough challenge in a market already crowded with competition. On Wednesday, South Korea's Samsung said it would also begin selling an Android phone through Sprint Nextel's network.
Others including Taiwanese rivals Acer and Asustek Computer are moving into smartphones, which tend to offer higher margins than PCs.
Dell spokesman Andrew Bowins declined comment on the AT&T tie-up but said: "We are deeply engaged with our operator partners around the world to deliver mobile broadband enabled computing devices."
He added: "We haven't announced anything around voice or Android although we continue to explore opportunities in those areas with operators around the world."
Google declined comment, as did AT&T. But a spokesman for the telecoms giant, Michael Coe, declined comment on the tie-up: "We expect to sell Android phones in the future."
Dell has been coy about its plans, although such a move has been rumored ever since it hired Ron Garriques from Motorola Inc in 2007 to lead its consumer products division.
U.S. chip designer Marvell Technology had developed the "oPhone" platform for cellphone makers who wanted to make smartphones without investing the associated research and development costs. Dell was one of the first companies to sign up to make them.
Marvell subsequently came up with a mobile device for China Mobile Ltd -- a large, touchscreen phone.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people briefed on the matter, reported Dell's Android phone for AT&T would also come with a touch-screen, plus a camera.
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White House opens Web site programming to public
The online-savvy administration on Saturday switched to open-source code for http://www.whitehouse.gov — meaning the programming language is written in public view, available for public use and able for people to edit.
"We now have a technology platform to get more and more voices on the site," White House new media director Macon Phillips told The Associated Press hours before the new site went live on Saturday. "This is state-of-the-art technology and the government is a participant in it."
White House officials described the change as similar to rebuilding the foundation of a building without changing the street-level appearance of the facade. It was expected to make the White House site more secure — and the same could be true for other administration sites in the future.
"Security is fundamentally built into the development process because the community is made up of people from all across the world, and they look at the source code from the very start of the process until it's deployed and after," said Terri Molini of Open Source for America, an interest group that has pushed for more such programs.
Having the public write code may seem like a security risk, but it's just the opposite, experts inside and outside the government argued. Because programmers collaborate to find errors or opportunities to exploit Web code, the final product is therefore more secure.
For instance, instead of a dozen administration programmers trying to find errors, thousands of programmers online constantly are refining the programs and finding potential pitfalls.
It will be a much faster way to change the programming behind the Web site. When the model was owned solely by the government, federal contractors would have to work through the reams of code to troubleshoot it or upgrade it. Now, it can be done in the matter of days and free to taxpayers.
Obama's team, which harnessed the Web to win an electoral landslide in 2008 and raise millions, has been working toward the shift since it took office Jan. 20 with a White House site based on technology purchased at the end of President George W. Bush's administration.
It didn't let the tech-savvy Obama team build the new online platform it wanted. For instance, 60,000 watched Obama speech to a joint session of Congress on health care. One-third of those stayed online to talk with administration officials about the speech. But there are limits; the programming used to power that was built for Facebook, the popular social networking Web site.
"We want to improve the tools used by thousands of people who come to WhiteHouse.gov to engage with White House officials, and each other, in meaningful ways," Phillips said.
It's also a nod to Obama's pledge to make government more open and transparent. Aides joked that it doesn't get more transparent than showing the world a code that their Web site is based on.
Under the open-source model, thousands of people pick it apart simultaneously and increase security. It comes more cheaply than computer coding designed for a single client, such as the Executive Office of the President. It gives programmers around the world a chance to offer upgrades, additions or tweaks to existing programs that the White House could — or could not — include in daily updates.
Yet the system — known as Drupal — alone won't make it more secure on its own, cautioned Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
"The platform that they're moving to is just something to hang other things on," he said. "They need to keep up-to-date with the latest security patches."
Social Security freeze means seniors must scrimp.
By Marvin Fredlaw
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – If her check were bigger, 76-year-old Agnes Conti might be able to spring for a better cut of meat for her pot roast. She could afford to send her nine grandchildren more than $20 for their birthdays and Christmas. She'd be able to buy some nice new clothes, like she sees on QVC, not what she settles for at Walmart.
If only. The government has said the Social Security checks Conti and tens of millions of other seniors rely on as their primary source of income will not increase next year as consumer prices have fallen overall. And while the retired hospital clerk will get by, she'll be watching her spending even closer, knowing she can't expect the annual raise she's been accustomed to.
"We were good citizens all our lives. We went to work, we lived by the book, we weren't on welfare, we didn't ask the city for anything," Conti said while taking a break from crafts at a senior center here. "And what do we get?"
At the Southwest Focal Point Senior Center in this Fort Lauderdale suburb, seniors lamented the cost-of-living freeze and praised a White House plan for $250 checks to soften the blow. But they took all of the news in stride, saying they've had a lifetime of experience living on a fixed income and would manage with the money they currently receive.
Frank Ferreira sits in the center's lobby, near a decorative fireplace and an autumn centerpiece. The 90-year-old retired truck driver loves to sing, even practicing on a karaoke machine at home, and loves to dance even more. He gets about $890 a month from Social Security, most of which he hands over to his daughter to help pay his share of the bills.
The money isn't the biggest issue, Ferreira said. It's the message the government is sending about caring for seniors.
"I could use a little more, but that's all right, I get along," he said. "But I think that we deserve it, the elderly. You can't just discard them. You've got to help them."
Nearby, 89-year-old Miriam Danzinger is shuffling along with a walker. She gets about $1,300 monthly in Social Security, and after rent and other expenses, including a MediGap plan, she has little to spare. Her daughter helps pay her bills.
When her Chevrolet Cavalier broke down a few months back, Danzinger was forced to give it up. When she goes to the store, she's thrifty, having learned how to cut grocery costs when she ran a coffee shop. She lives as simply as possible.
"Listen, there's no money. People are going hungry," she said. "But what can I say? I'm only a little ant."
The freeze in next year's checks is the first since automatic Social Security cost-of-living increases were adopted in 1975, and follows a 5.8 percent increase in January, the largest since 1982. By law, the adjustments are pegged to inflation, which is negative this year because of lower energy costs.
The Obama administration plan to send $250 stimulus payments to about 57 million seniors, veterans, retired railroad workers and people with disabilities, would amount to a roughly 2 percent raise for the average Social Security recipient. If approved, the checks would cost about $13 billion, though there is no plan yet how to finance them.
While seniors here have grown used to the annual raises, many of them said they're willing to cut the government some slack given the recession and the federal deficit.
"When they have the money, they give us the raise. If they don't have it, they don't have it," said Lucy Polieto, a retired waitress who lives in Southwest Ranches. She wears a glittery gold sweater and chains around her neck, and walks with a spry bounce that belies her 94 years. "Sometimes, I'm so surprised when I look at the check and I get a raise."
The news this week that checks would be stagnant is buffered by some positives: Seniors won't be getting any less than they already do, most recipients' Medicare part B premiums will freeze as well, and the president's plan could soften the blow. But because the one-time stimulus payments won't be a lifetime raise, it means many seniors will never see what amounts to thousands of dollars.
For those in poverty, the raise could have made a huge difference. But for the average senior simply living on a fixed income, it is seen less in dollars and cents, and more in the tangible costs they might be more careful with.
Polieto cooks eggplant, chicken cacciatori and pasta fazool. A raise could have given her more leeway with her grocery bill.
"Then I could buy some steaks, maybe," she said. "But I'd rather have a pork chop."
By Marvin Fredlaw
The Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group, said Wednesday it is nearly finished putting together a Wi-Fi Direct specification, a set of technical "rules" that guide consumer electronics companies that plan to add the new capability.
Kelly Davis-Felner, the Wi-Fi Alliance's marketing director, said Wi-Fi Direct will make it easier to liberate the mounting gigabytes of digital family photos that are trapped in cameras, smart phones or PCs. Now those gadgets will be able to connect directly to digital photo frames, TVs or printers.
In creating the specification, the Alliance is moving into the territory of Bluetooth, a competing wireless technology that already handles direct gadget-to-gadget connections. Bluetooth uses less power but has much shorter range and a lower transfer speed. To tackle the latter problem, the industry group behind Bluetooth announced last year that it would co-opt Wi-Fi technology to make it possible to send videos and other bandwidth-hogging files around the house, much as Wi-Fi Direct promises to do.
Only one of the gadgets need have the new Wi-Fi Direct technology to make a two-way connection work. In one scenario, you could connect a smart phone with Wi-Fi Direct to a laptop and piggyback on its wired Internet connection for a quick e-mail check without tapping your phone's data plan.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/14/financial/f134428D55.DTL#ixzz0U3a6AOCL
Microsoft says most Sidekick phone data recovered
Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it has recovered most of the data feared lost by users of its Sidekick mobile phone, following a Microsoft server computer failure.
Data such as contacts, photos and calendar entries saved on the phones and remotely at Microsoft's servers was originally thought to be destroyed, according to T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, the U.S. carrier for the handset.
"We are pleased to report that we have recovered most, if not all, customer data for those Sidekick customers whose data was affected by the recent outage," Microsoft executive Roz Ho said in a statement.
Microsoft plans to begin restoring users' personal data "as soon as possible," the company said, adding it now thinks that only a minority of Sidekick users were hit by the data loss.
The problem was caused by a server failure that hurt Microsoft's main and backup databases supporting Sidekick.
The glitch hit as technology companies are increasingly looking to convince customers to use remote storage services to back up their data, and at a time when Microsoft is fighting to gain ground in the market for smartphones.
Members of the Senate Finance Committee are pictured.
A scathing insurance industry report was released on the eve of a crucial vote in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. Photo: John Shinkle
In the health care reform debate, where playing nice has been the rule, a scathing insurance industry report looked to critics Monday like a grenade aimed at scuttling progress in Congress.
But it also looked to some like too little, too late.
Not only did the report land many months into the debate — with Democrats on the cusp of passing bills through five committees — it infuriated some of the very people the industry group hoped to influence.
“I don’t view the impact of the report as a bill-stopper as much as a bill-changer,” said Robert Blendon, a health policy pollster and political analyst at Harvard University. “The momentum is way too far [in favor of passing a reform bill], and there is a sense out there that something has to be done.”
On the eve of a crucial vote in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, the industry group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, raced against the White House and Senate Democrats to frame the 26-page analysis conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which concluded that premiums would cost more under the Finance Committee legislation than under the current system.
White House and Senate officials hinted at the possibility of legislative payback for releasing a report Democrats described as deeply flawed and self-serving. At the very least, officials said, it will help Democrats close ranks behind the Finance Committee bill, which had come under fire from the progressives as too moderate.
They also predicted liberal lawmakers will go harder after the insurers, perhaps by proposing a cap on premiums or solidifying support for the government insurance plan.
“They have opened themselves up,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide. “It is an incredibly stupid strategic blunder. If you are going to fire a shot like this, you fire a good shot.”
AHIP chief Karen Ignagni defended the report as an effort to shape the congressional debate. Insurers were counting on a mandate requiring Americans to own health insurance, and a penalty as high as $3,800 a family to require it.
But during the Finance Committee markup, that fee was cut to $1,500 per family and phased in over several years — leading PricewaterhouseCoopers to conclude that healthy people wouldn’t buy insurance and the notion of coverage-for-all would collapse.
The weak mandate, coupled with a requirement on insurers to provide coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, will drive up the cost of health insurance premiums, so that the average family’s premium could cost $4,000 more by 2019, the report said.
“Because we don’t see comprehensive cost control in any piece of legislation, we’re looking at continuing those projected 6.2 percentage point increases” in annual health care costs, she said.
Against strong criticism from Democrats, Ignagni said she stood by the report, saying it was conducted by a “world-class firm with a stellar reputation.”
The timing of the report left longtime observers of the insurance industry scratching their heads.
Wendell Potter, a former executive at CIGNA who has been speaking out against insurance industry practices, said AHIP was responding to critical analyses from Wall Street that the weakened penalty will hurt private insurers.
“Karen had no alternative because the CEOs were so determined to do something to try to sway the committee to back off the reductions. She didn’t have an alternative,” Potter said. “They are obviously doing this on the eve of the vote in the Senate Finance Committee, hoping enough members of the committee would be concerned, to restore it. I think the strategy will backfire.”
Ignagni made a high-profile promise to the president in March that she would work to pass a bill, and at least publicly, she was was welcomed at the table until now. However, since the summer, both the White House and the industry have been increasingly at odds over the direction of reform, and the report seems to mark a final break. Some Democrats yesterday even hinted that Ignagni released the report because the chief executives she represents were angered by a provision in the Senate Finance bill that would cap insurance executives’ pay – a charge an Ignagni spokesman denied.
By Marvin Fredlaw
mobile phone users
Mobile broadband has enjoyed huge popularity.
Researchers predict that more than one billion people around the world will be using mobile broadband by 2012.
However some European mobile operators claim that current levels of use are already crippling their networks.
In Britain mobile operator Vodafone is doubling its mobile broadband capacity to 14.4Mbps (Megabits per second).
The new service rolling out across the UK should give users a realistic peak speed of 10.8Mbps, says the company. The upgrade will not affect devices.
By March 2009 three million British homes had mobile broadband access according to communications watchdog Ofcom.
Many use dongles, which attach to computers like a USB stick and enable internet access from anywhere with a mobile signal.
"Dongles really are reaching a critical mass," a Vodafone spokesperson told BBC News.
"There has been quite a bit of obsessing about speed by the media, but we have been concentrating on depth of coverage and quality of the network... as it will help us cope with the demands of new users."
French operator SFR claims laptops equipped with a dongle use 450 times more bandwidth than a classic mobile phone.
Fixed rate deals
The mobile broadband service is proving particularly popular with young adults says Howard Wilcox, senior analyst at Juniper Research.
"There's a growing number of under 35s living in rented properties, who tend to move around and take their mobile broadband with them," he said.
People need to know what it's going to cost them - there's no way back from fixed monthly deals. A fair use policy is reasonable.
Phil Sayer, Forrester Research
"Growth has also been driven by the availability of smartphones. It must be placing a strain on the mobile operators' networks."
The majority of complaints about mobile broadband from UK users are about network congestion in busy areas and poor signals inside office buildings.
Phil Sayer, principal analyst at Forrester Research, believes that the TV industry may unwittingly provide the solution to the interior signal problems.
Following digital switchover in 2012, the TV analogue frequency that the BBC, ITV, Channel Four and Five currently broadcast on, will no longer be in use.
A decision has not yet been made about what will happen to it.
"It would improve mobile broadband enormously," he believes. "700 MHz is a great frequency for good building penetration. 2.4 GHz [the current frequency used for wireless broadband] is pretty poor."
Fixed rate deals
An added attraction of web access on the move is that it is usually available for a competitively-priced, fixed-rate fee.
In the UK many fixed rate deals are capped - which can lead to high charges for dongle users who go over their allocated bandwidth.
Earlier this year O2 claimed the surcharge was "used as a deterrent and to make sure that others using the network had a good experience".
"Very few of our customers go over their limits," added a spokesman.
According to Phil Sayer fixed rates are here to stay.
"People need to know what it's going to cost them - there's no way back from fixed monthly deals," he said.
"A fair use policy is reasonable. Nobody wants anybody totally hogging the service."
Some operators, such as Norway's Telenor, slow down or even block the internet connection of individual users once they reach a certain amount of bandwidth.
"We have to do this otherwise only a few users will end up straining the whole network," a spokesman told Reuters.
High cost
Some operators claim that they do not generate a big enough financial return from fixed price deals to allow for much investment in the service.
"You can easily lose money on mobile broadband if you do it in the wrong way," warns Bjorn Amundsen, director of mobile network coverage at Telenor in Norway.
"We have had to be careful not to invest too much, because the only thing that would happen if we did would be to increase data traffic without an increase in our profits."
Phil Sayer does not think there will be much public sympathy for their plight.
"The user community as a whole is tired of hearing special pleading from the mobile operators," he said.
"Remember, these guys have been making money hand over fist from data roaming charges."
In July this year the EU introduced caps on the cost of using the internet abroad from a mobile.
The maximum operators can now charge is one Euro per megabyte.
Dell Inc plans to buy Perot Systems Corp for about $3.9 billion, paying a steep 67.5 percent premium to expand its technology services business and compete with Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM.
Perot Systems, a computer services provider founded in 1988 by former U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot, would be the largest ever acquisition by Dell and comes after extended speculation about its M&A strategy.
Dell is looking to buy a company with a strong focus on serving healthcare and federal government customers. It expects the deal to add to earnings in fiscal 2012, but some analysts thought the price tag may have been to high.
Dell said it would pay $30 per share for Perot Systems. Its Friday's closing price was $17.91 on the New York Stock Exchange.
J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said the price is 1.4 times Perot Systems' sales, compared to HP's purchase of EDS for 0.6 times sales last year. That would make the acquisition a little expensive, although it was good for Dell to lessen its dependence on personal computers, he said.
"We believe the deal should be a good stepping stone to diversifying beyond Dell's historically high reliance on PCs," Moskowitz wrote in a research note. "We do see the building block as being compelling, but the purchase price seems relatively rich."
Perot shares jumped 65 percent to $29.58 in afternoon trading while Dell shares fell 4.4 percent to $15.96.
The deal comes as large technology companies expand into higher margin IT services to secure stable and recurring revenues as computer hardware becomes cheaper.
Dell is the world's No. 2 maker of PCs, with roughly 60 percent of its revenue coming from that market. The company has been trying to diversify its range of offerings, and services currently comprise only around one-tenth of sales.
HP made a splashy foray into the services segment with last year's $13.2 billion purchase of EDS, founded by Ross Perot in 1962. HP is the world's No. 1 PC maker and No. 2 IT services player, behind IBM.
Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said Dell is finally taking a step to address some of its weaknesses, but it remains to be seen how much impact the deal will have as Dell's combined services offering would still be much smaller than its rivals.
"This still doesn't have quite the scale to compete ... but it's also not so outrageous it will be difficult to integrate," Wu said.
ONE-THIRD OF EMPLOYEES ARE BASED IN INDIA
Perot specializes in providing business processes and technology consulting services, with a strong client base among healthcare, government and other commercial segments. Over a third of its employees are based in India.
Perot Systems is expected to become Dell's services unit. It will be run by Peter Altabef, the current chief executive of Perot Systems.
On a combined basis, the two companies have posted services revenue of roughly $8 billion over the past four quarters.
Dell said the deal may open the door to the sale of Dell PCs to Perot's clients, but emphasized that the main target was the expansion in IT services.
"For me and our board this acquisition makes great sense because of the obvious ways our businesses complement each other and enable us to grow profitably over time," Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell told analysts on a conference call.
Dell said the two companies spend a combined $4 billion in the areas they plan to integrate, and that Dell hopes to achieve cost savings of about 6-8 percent, or $300 million over two years.
"We believe this is a critical acquisition in our strategy to transform the company," said Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden. "IT services will be a big part of our strategy and we were very focused on getting a great anchor acquisition, which we believe we did."
Ross Perot Jr., Perot Systems' chairman, will be considered for appointment to the Dell board. Perot Systems' biggest owner as of March was HWGA Ltd, an investment firm founded by Perot senior. Sprint Facing $1.2 Billion Class-Action Lawsuit
By Marvin Fredlaw
Computer and security systems.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) is facing a $1.2 billion class-action lawsuit over claims that it wrongly charged customers early-termination fees.
In July, a California judge ruled that the third largest U.S. wireless carrier had to pay $73 million over these cancellation fees. The attorney in that case, Scott Bursor, has now filed a federal lawsuit which claims the $150 and $200 fees violate laws in every state as well as the Federal Communications Act.
Communications at CDW talks about the benefits of unified communications, some of the technology involved, the typical migration path, several advanced applications, and provides a customer example. The Swedish LTE site will be part of a commercial network scheduled to go live in 2010, bringing data rates far above what is possible in today's mobile broadband networks.
See the new visual voicemail feature in action on a recently upgraded Blackberry Bold
"After a full trial on merits, we proved that Sprint Nextel's termination fees violated California's law," Bursor said.
But Bursor may be jumping the gun a bit, as the California ruling is not final. A California judge will hear arguments from both sides Thursday, and a final ruling is expected within 90 days.
Sprint has not responded to press inquiries regarding the national ETF lawsuit, but the company did recently finalize a new pro-rated ETF policy. The mobile operator said its $200 fee will be reduced by $10 per month after month six. The adjusted cancellation fee will only apply for new contracts, but existing subscribers can get it by renewing their service agreement.
All four major U.S. wireless carriers have a cancellation fees, and nearly all of them have faced multimillion-dollar lawsuits over them. The mobile operators say these fees are crucial in recouping costs of heavily-subsidized handsets, but consumer advocates say they are overly punitive and stifle consumer freedom to switch carriers.
The Federal Communications Commission has even leapt into the discussion, and is mulling a plan to create a nationwide policy.
"While I'm respectful of state regulators, I have been skeptical that lawsuits are a good way of ensuring protection for all consumers," said Kevin Martin, the FCC's commission chairman.
Justice Dept. probing IBM computer market conduct
WASHINGTON -
The Justice Department is looking into allegations that IBM has abused its monopoly in the mainframe computer business to keep competitors out of the market.
The Justice Department would not comment on a potential antitrust investigation.
But the Computer and Communications Industry Association, an industry trade group that brought the issue to the agency's attention, said the government is examining whether IBM has exploited its monopoly in mainframe operating systems to lock customers into using its mainframe computers.
International Business Machines Corp. confirmed that the Justice Department has asked it for documents related to a lawsuit brought by T3 Technologies Inc., a rival that makes mainframe-compatible computers.
WASHINGTON -
The Justice Department is looking into allegations that IBM has abused its monopoly in the mainframe computer business to keep competitors out of the market.
The Justice Department would not comment on a potential antitrust investigation.
But the Computer and Communications Industry Association, an industry trade group that brought the issue to the agency's attention, said the government is examining whether IBM has exploited its monopoly in mainframe operating systems to lock customers into using its mainframe computers.
International Business Machines Corp. confirmed that the Justice Department has asked it for documents related to a lawsuit brought by T3 Technologies Inc., a rival that makes mainframe-compatible computers.
Badge
Google targeted in e-mail scam
By Marvin Fredlaw
Gmail screen grab
More than 30,000 account details have been posted online
Google's web-based e-mail system, Gmail, has been targeted as part of an "industry-wide phishing scheme".
The firm said that it had immediately safeguarded the affected accounts.
BBC News has seen two lists that detail more than 30,000 names and passwords from e-mail providers, including Yahoo and AOL, which were posted online.
The lists also include details of thousands of Microsoft Hotmail users. Google said fewer than 500 of its accounts had been affected by the scam.
However, the search giant revealed that it had discovered a third list, but would not say how many accounts it showed.
Phishing involves using fake websites to lure people into revealing data such as bank account details or login names.
"We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail accounts," said a Google spokesperson.
"As soon as we learned of the attack, we forced password resets on the affected accounts. We will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when we become aware of them."
The firm stressed that the scam was "not a breach of Gmail security" but rather "a scam to get users to give away their personal information to hackers".
'Industry problem'
The phishing scam was originally thought to target just Hotmail users.
It was brought to light when 10,000 Hotmail addresses were posted online at Pastebin, a website commonly used by developers to share code.
The list was reported by technology blog Neowin.
However, a second list of 20,000 names has since emerged containing e-mail addresses and passwords from Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Gmail and other service providers. A third list, which has not been seen by the BBC, was discovered by Google.
This should be a wake-up call to Google and Microsoft to educate their users
Carole Theriault
Security consultant
Phishing attack targets Hotmail
Some of the accounts on the list of 20,000 names appear to be old, unused or fake. However, BBC News confirmed that many - including Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail addresses - were genuine.
Other addresses on the list include Comcast and Earthlink accounts.
It is not clear whether the new lists was part of the same phishing attack that collected the Hotmail addresses or a separate scam.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said phishing was an "industry-wide problem".
"Our guidance to customers is to exercise extreme caution when opening unsolicited attachments and links from both known and unknown sources, and that they install and regularly update their anti-virus software."
Both lists can still be accessed online.
A spokesperson for Yahoo urged consumers to "take measures to secure their accounts whenever possible, including changing their passwords".
Carole Theriault of security firm Sophos agreed.
"Getting access to one password can give someone access to lots of things," she said.
People should change their password on any other site where they use it, she added.
A recent report by the firm said that around 40% of people had the same password for every website they used.
"People need to see a difference between an online bank account and booking cinema tickets online," she told BBC News.
But, she said, blame did not rest with the users of the e-mail services, who most likely clicked on a link in a scam message.
"Phishing attacks are very subtle these days," she said. "People do all kinds of tricky things."
Fake websites, which ask for a user's login details, can be made to look like those of reputable companies.
"This should be a wake-up call to Google and Microsoft to educate their users," said Ms Theriault.
Do you have a Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL account? Have you been affected by "phishing" scams? How do you look after your passwords?
Send me your comments to Computer and security systems. Below. Microsoft launches new phone software
Microsoft Corp introduced new software for mobile phones on Tuesday, promising a range of devices to compete with Apple Inc's iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd's BlackBerry.
The world's largest software company, in partnership with phone makers and phone companies such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, AT&T Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, said more than 30 new devices with the new Windows Mobile 6.5 software would be on the market in more than 20 countries by the end of the year.
The new phones can play music, open Word and Excel documents, and be synchronized over the Internet. But some analysts worry that the new software is not enough of a leap to keep up with rivals.
Investors generally welcomed the launch, sending Microsoft's shares up 2.1 percent on the New York Stock Exchange, in a broadly higher market.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer played down recent industry talk that the company was developing its own smartphone.
"We are not here to announce today that we are making phones," he said at an event in Paris.
The market for phones is set to treble or quadruple in the next few years, Ballmer said, and Microsoft is ready to challenge other phone makers for market share.
He added that Windows Mobile's share of the mobile phone market is equal to Apple's.
"We and Apple are neck and neck and we're chasing the two other players," Ballmer said, referring to Nokia, the world's No. 1 smartphone maker, and Research in Motion.
Microsoft has no plans to counter Google Inc's move into the smartphone market with its free Android software, according to Ballmer.
"Free is not a business model," he said. "We are a commercial company, we will look to gain revenue and profit from our activities. You'll have to ask our competitors if they'll make money on free things."
Microsoft also announced a new online application store, where users can buy 246 applications for their phones.
(Reporting Marvin Fredlaw
* By Marvin Fredlaw
Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting small and medium-sized businesses that don't have the resources to keep updating their computer security, according to federal authorities.
Many of the attacks are being waged by organized cyber groups that are based abroad, and they are able to steal not only credit card numbers, but personal information — including Social Security numbers — of the card holders, said Michael Merritt, assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service's office of investigations.
Merritt, in testimony prepared for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said that as larger companies have taken on more sophisticated computer network protections, cyber criminals have adapted and gone after the smaller businesses who do not have such high-level security.
Phil Reitinger, the deputy under secretary at the Department of Homeland Security said there are many simple steps that businesses can take to protect themselves.
"Securing the entrances of one's factory or store is second nature to any business owner and so cyber security protections must become," he said in his testimony to the panel. He added that a recent study suggested that as many as 87 percent of data breaches could be avoided by installing simple to intermediate preventative measures.
Reitinger and Merritt said government agencies are working to coordinate more both with each other and with the private sector to improve cyber security.
But lawmakers working on cyber security legislation in several committees across Capitol Hill are pressing for the administration to do more.
"Security cannot be achieved by the government alone," said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn. and chairman of the homeland security panel. "Public-private partnership is essential. Together, business, government, law enforcement, and our foreign allies must partner to mitigate these attacks and bring these criminals to justice." Tools to keep your kids safe online
by Marvin Fredlaw
Although some of us remember life before computers and the Internet, there's a new generation of children who don't. From an early age, they're on PCs, playing games, and in many cases, learning about the Internet.
That's why it's so important to safeguard your children while they're surfing the Web. The Internet can be a scary place, but these resources will help keep the bad stuff away:
Glubble Glubble bills itself as a family "social network" and browser. Although I'm not entirely convinced that it's a social network, it does do a fine job of ensuring your kids stay safe online.
Glubble lets you upload content like photos, videos, or special moments for your family to see. But where it shines is in controlling what your kids can do on the Web. All the sites they can browse are approved by you. Whenever they go to different sites, it's recorded so you can see what your kids are up to when they use the computer. Glubble provides your kids with several activities, including games and puzzles. It's a nice app for both the family and the children.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -
Nestled near a row of sultry, silvery-green palm trees and a 205-foot-long infinity pool, room 1508 at the National Hotel on South Beach is a portrait of Art Deco luxury. It is also where, on May 7, 2008, federal agents seized two computers, $22,000 in cash and a Glock 9 gun from a man known on the Internet as "soupnazi."
His real name is Albert Gonzalez, and he was with his girlfriend when federal agents arrived. Just as the setting was not run-of-the-mill, neither was the arrest. Gonzalez was charged with hacking into business computer networks and stealing credit and debit card accounts — and in an embarrassing twist, he had once been an informant for the U.S. Secret Service.
This week, Gonzalez, 28, was indicted in New Jersey on more federal charges. Now the biggest credit card hacks of the decade — totaling 170 million accounts — have been pinned on Gonzalez.
Industry analysts marveled at the scope of the operation — which Gonzalez allegedly dubbed "Get Rich or Die Tryin'." One compared it to a hackers' version of the 1980s gangster movie "Scarface."
"Albert Gonzalez is definitely the Tony Montana of credit card theft," said Sean Arries, a computer security expert at the Miami-based Internet technology company Terremark.
Gonzalez has been in custody since his 2008 arrest in Miami Beach. He awaits federal trials in New York and Massachusetts, along with the New Jersey charges. If convicted he faces life in prison.
Gonzalez's lawyer, Rene Palomino Jr., wouldn't address the charges in detail, saying that the case is in a "very delicate stage" and that Gonzalez is trying to resolve it. The attorney said Gonzalez and federal prosecutors were close to reaching a plea deal in the New York and Massachusetts cases this week, before the New Jersey indictment was added.
People who know Gonzalez say he is a nerdy, shy man who got mixed up in a shadowy world.
"Albert is not a mean-spirited individual, he desires no physical harm on anybody and he wouldn't hurt a fly," said Palomino, who first met his client when Gonzalez was an 8-year-old altar boy. "He's really not a bad guy. He just got way in over his head."
Gonzalez's father, Alberto, came to the U.S. from Cuba on a handmade raft in the 1970s, Palomino said. The elder Gonzalez, who was a landscaper, got married and had a daughter before Albert was born in June 1981. The family put down roots in a modest, tan stucco home bought for $54,000 in a working-class enclave southwest of Miami's downtown.
"As a little kid, he was nice, we used to play hide-and-go seek," said neighbor Vanessa Pedrianes, 25. "When he got older, he was a little bit nerdier than the other kids. He was really smart."
Gonzalez's parents bought him a computer when he was 8, said Palomino, who was in charge of Gonzalez's Lutheran youth group. When the computer got a virus, Palomino said, the boy was so angry that he set out to learn everything about his machine.
"The kid is a self-taught genius," Palomino said. "Albert never had a normal childhood. He had no friends. His best friend was his computer. He would spend hours on the computer."
Gonzalez's talent got him in trouble in 1998, when the FBI and local police descended on his high school to investigate whether he had used the computers in the library to hack into Indian government servers and left offensive messages. It's unclear how the matter was resolved.
The boy didn't go to college. In 1999, he was charged with marijuana possession, though the matter was dismissed, and his computer savvy allowed him to get a job at a New Jersey firm, Palomino said. He didn't elaborate on what the position was.
It's unclear what transpired between the time Gonzalez got that job and his first federal arrest. In 2003, Gonzalez was arrested for hacking but not charged because authorities said he became an informant, helping the Secret Service hunt other hackers.
Palomino said Gonzalez should have gotten therapy then for what he says was a computer "addiction" — but that authorities used him like a machine to ferret out hackers.
Yet over the next five years, authorities said, Gonzalez continued to hack into the computer systems of Fortune 500 companies even while providing assistance to the government. A judge allowed him to move from New Jersey back to Florida in 2004, and court documents alleged that Gonzalez hacked into the national restaurant chain Dave & Buster's.
He lived lavishly from selling the data he stole, court records show. Gonzalez threw a $75,000 birthday party for himself, complained that he had to count $340,000 in 20-dollar bills by hand because his money counter broke and considered investing in a nightclub.
In 2005, Gonzalez bought a one-bedroom condo for $118,000 near his parents, in a squat, three-story building populated with retirees and recent immigrants. Whether Gonzalez actually lived there is a mystery — no one in the building remembers seeing him.
Around that time, federal agents said, Gonzalez devised a sophisticated attack to penetrate computer networks, steal credit and debit card data, and send that information to computer servers in California, Illinois, Latvia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
The Justice Department said Gonzalez and others used that attack to mine companies' computers for approximately 40 million credit card numbers. At the time, that was believed to be the biggest such theft ever, and punctured the electronic defenses of such retailers as T.J. Maxx, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority and OfficeMax.
Prosecutors allege Gonzalez was the ringleader of the hackers in that case.
One of their techniques apparently involved "wardriving," or cruising through different areas with a laptop computer and looking for retailers' accessible wireless Internet signals. Once they located a vulnerable network, the hackers installed "sniffer programs" that captured credit and debit card numbers as they moved through a retailer's processing computers — then tried to sell the data.
In the latest indictment, authorities say Gonzalez and two Russian conspirators used a different technique to hack into corporate networks and secretly place "malware," or malicious software, that would allow them backdoor access to the networks to steal data later.
James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, points out that if Gonzalez's co-defendants are in or near Russia, where capturing or extraditing them is difficult, he is the only one of them likely to face trial.
"It's relatively common in these crimes for the masterminds to live overseas and have a partner in the United States," said Lewis. "At the end of the day, Gonzalez was the bagman." Hacker used Twitter to control infected PCs
* Hacker used Twitter to control infected PCs
Twitter's been having a rough couple of weeks.
A researcher looking into the attacks that knocked Twitter offline last week discovered another, unrelated security problem.
At least one criminal was using a Twitter account to control a network of a couple hundred infected personal computers, mostly in Brazil. Networks of infected PCs are referred to as "botnets" and are responsible for so much of the mayhem online, from identity theft to spamming to the types of attacks that crippled Twitter.
Jose Nazario with Arbor Networks said he found a Twitter account that was used to send out what looked like garbled messages. But they were actually commands for computers in a botnet to visit malicious Web sites, where they download programs that steal banking passwords.
The affected Twitter account was taken down. Twitter didn't immediately respond to e-mails for comment.
Nazario said what appeared to be the same person was doing the same thing on an account with a Google Inc. service called Jaiku, which is similar to Twitter.
Google said the affected account was shut down.
The technique Nazario described isn't sophisticated, and a couple hundred infected computers is small when some botnets contain hundreds of thousands of infected PCs.
But it shows how criminals are finding inventive ways to exploit legitimate social networking services to help with their dirty work. One reason social networks are an attractive target for crooks is because their content is hard to monitor, and because people click on lots of links inside their accounts, which is a key way computer infections are spread.
"I wouldn't call it rocket science, but it's effective," Nazario said. "This is the problem with free social media that people need to be aware of."
The revelation comes on the heels of a destructive "denial-of-service" attack that brought down Twitter at stretches last week. Those attacks appear to have targeted a lone blogger in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, but affected the entire Twitter service.
Denial-of-service attacks consist of flooding a Web site with so much traffic that its servers buckle under the strain. That's either done by pounding it with an immense volume of traffic (which can be easy to thwart), or increasingly, hammering a site with lots of harder-to-detect computing-intensive requests, like trying to log in or do searches, which can also bring a site to its knees. Botnets, or networks of zombie computers, are the main weapon in both attacks.Coming Soon? Banking By Phone By Marvin Fredlaw
Bank deposits at ATM machines just became low-tech thanks to a fascinating and cool new application that will allow Apple iPhone users to photograph both sides of a check, then send the images via their iPhone to make a deposit.
The new Deposit@Mobile application will debut this week from San Antonio, Texas-based USAiphone banking
Artwork: Chip Taylor
A (United Services Automobile Association), a privately-held financial services and insurance company, according to a report in The New York Times. USAA posted a video on the new application on YouTube to show off its innovative capabilities.
USAA already released an iPhone application in May that allows members to check their bank balances, transfer money, find nearby ATMs and make other inquiries using their iPhones (and it's not the only one). Mobile banking is expected to grow. But thisnew check-depositing process will add a new dimension to the group's existing services.
The iPhone check-depositing process won't be the first time USAA has offered bankingoffsite deposits from back customers, though. Back in February 2007, the bank introduced a process in which customers could scan their checks into their home computers and then transmit the images to the back for deposit.
After using the new iPhone application, customers won't have to send the deposited checks to the bank later, but are advised to void the documents or save them for safekeeping, according to The New York Times report. Due to concerns about fraud and theft, only customers who are able to obtain credit accounts or have insurance with USAA will be eligible to use the new service.
Will this kind of application be available in the future for other brands and models of smartphones? Those possibilities will come in the future, according to posts on the bank's blog, but further details are not yet available.
Yet as cool as this is, I still am a bit concerned about the possibilities of fraud when you allow people to deposit their checks electronically, then still hang on to that alluring piece of paper, with its possible temptation to try to deposit again somewhere else. You've seen the film "Catch Me If You Can," a true story about check fraud, haven't you?
I sure hope that USAA officials -- and those at all the banks now asking 'why didn't we think of that?' -- have very carefully thought about making this as secure as possible to prevent such fraudulent activities. Because what we don't need is one more thing fouling up our nation's financial system right now. We've got enough problems fixing Wall Street, the banks, and our economy, after the recent financial meltdown. Technology promises to try to help us, not put us in a bigger hole. At least that's the hope. I, for one, hope that this new iPhone app won't be something we come to regret.
A Texas-based manufacturer of CD and DVD storage cases finds that allowing customer feedback on its website not only helps sell its products but gives the business insight into how it could make improvements.
4 Keys to Success with Social Media
To gain insight into how to use social media in your business, look to the successes of some of the entrepreneurs who use the medium best.
Link Bait: Giving It Away Online to Get Traffic
Every small business yearns for 'link love' -- links from other websites that can bring traffic to your site and raise your company's visibility. One way to get it is to offer 'link bait' -- free products or samples, software, or coupons.
The Domain Name Game
Companies can use descriptive domain names to draw traffic to their websites without having to pay big bucks for online advertising.
Do-it-Yourself Web Design for Small Business
Small businesses can save money on Web design by doing it themselves with a variety of new online applications such as Wix, Sprout, and Weebly.
Now Is the Time to Start an Internet Business
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Stop E-Mail Overload with Wikis, Blogs, and IM
Businesses are getting bogged down by their reliance on e-mail to alert employees about everything from landing big clients to donuts in the kitchen. Other technology tools can be more useful.
Anand Rajaraman
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How to Collect Money Online
PayPal, merchant accounts, shopping cart software -- what should a new online retailer choose to use?
Raising the Bar for Web Content
Everyone seems to be creating content on the Web these days. As a small business, you are competing with established media companies for eyeballs -- so you better raise the quality.
Is Your Domain Name Killing Your Business?
Was the name of your company taken in the dot-com world? Or did you add a hyphen or change an 's' to a 'z' at the end of your company name figuring that customers would just figure it out?
Drive Traffic to Your Business Blog
You won’t get any business from your company blog if nobody knows about it. To reach its full potential, a blog needs traffic. To get visitors, use a mix of old-fashioned marketing and contemporary Web tools.
2008: What a Mashup!
The technologies that will take off among small businesses in the coming year build upon last year's fascination with Web applications and collaboration tools.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is concerned that excessive use of emails and mobile phone text messaging is creating shallow friendships and undermining community life, according to an interview published on Sunday.
Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, also said that popular social networking sites led young people to form "transient relationships" which put them at risk of suicide when they collapsed.
"Friendship is not a commodity, friendship is something that is hard work and enduring when it's right," he told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
"I think there's a worry that an excessive use, or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we're losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together and building a community."
The Archbishop, 63, said too much use of electronic information was "dehumanizing," leading to a loss in social skills and the ability to read a person's mood through their body language.
Furthermore social networking sites encouraged children to place an excessive importance on the number of friends they had instead of the quality of their relationships, he said.
"Among young people often a key factor in their committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships. They throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they're desolate," Nichols said.
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