Tech&Technology Reuters.com
Fri Apr 27, 2007 LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's slave trading past gets a human face on Friday as an ancestry-tracing Web site starts putting the personal histories of the victims online for the first time.
The Web site, www.Ancestry.co.uk, posted 100,000 names of Barbados slaves registered in 1834 in the colony.
By December the site will contain the names of three million slaves from 700 registers in 23 British colonies, from South Africa to Sri Lanka between 1812-1834.
Members of the site can search free for ancestors by entering their relatives' first and last names and place of enslavement during that period.
"We're dedicated to bringing quality historical record collections online and this is really important for anyone who is interested in black history," said spokesman Simon Ziviani.
Slavery was abolished in Britain in 1807 but continued in the colonies until 1834 and records were kept of registered slaves every three years, starting in 1812.
Today, two percent of Britain's population of around 60 million are black and the majority have slave ancestors, the site's organizers said.
They (the records) provide a much needed piece in the puzzle for those of us wanting to find the truth about our ancestors," Web site www.Blackhistory-month.co.uk founder Mia Morris said.
But not everyone in Britain's black community was pleased with Ancestry's launch of the records.
"What about the slaves who were chucked over board? It's almost an insult to some of our ancestors that it's not a comprehensive and definitive project," said Interim Director Eroll Walters of Black Londoners Forum, an organization established to advance ethnic minorities in London.
"It's a good idea but get it right. Half a loaf is not better than none. We want a full loaf."
Britain celebrated the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery in February with festivities and events across the country.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Microsoft releases public test of Longhorn Server...
Software - ZDNet Australia By Ina Fried, CNET News.com
27 April 2007. Microsoft on Wednesday said it is releasing its first public test version of Windows Server 'Longhorn' as the company works to get the release out the door.
Microsoft said it still plans to finalise the code this year -- a stage known as releasing to manufacturing -- though the launch event for the product may not come until next year.
"The odds are the launch will be in 2008, but we haven't signed up for a specific launch date," said Ward Ralston, a senior technical product manager in Microsoft's Windows Server group.
Businesses will be able to download the code once Microsoft releases it to manufacturing, though most enterprises go through a fairly lengthy testing process with new server releases. Server makers set their own schedule for adding the software onto new systems. Ralston said that the company feels it is on track with the product and is looking to get a broad array of testers to try out the new test version, Beta 3.
"We're trying to get as many testers as we possibly can get," Ralston said. The first two beta versions and other community technology preview versions have been released only to select testers, which include some of Microsoft's early adopter customers, developers and internal Microsoft users.
Beta 3, like a recently released private test version, is "feature complete," Ralston said, including new features just added to the program such as the PowerShell command line interface and several new server roles. Microsoft released Beta 2 of Longhorn Server to developers last May. The next milestone, after Beta 3, would be a near-final "release candidate" version, Ralston said.
One analyst said recent test builds of the product appear to be in remarkably good shape. "I'm very impressed with how stable it is," said Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry. Cherry said it was important that Microsoft has been able to add in PowerShell, noting that Microsoft has many technology initiatives, some of which have been slow to find their way into products.
Not everyone is convinced the product will be wrapped up this year, however. Even with Microsoft shipping the broadly available beta, Gartner analyst John Enck said that his firm believes there is a 40 percent chance Microsoft will release the software to manufacturing this year and a 60 percent chance it won't happen until next year.
27 April 2007. Microsoft on Wednesday said it is releasing its first public test version of Windows Server 'Longhorn' as the company works to get the release out the door.
Microsoft said it still plans to finalise the code this year -- a stage known as releasing to manufacturing -- though the launch event for the product may not come until next year.
"The odds are the launch will be in 2008, but we haven't signed up for a specific launch date," said Ward Ralston, a senior technical product manager in Microsoft's Windows Server group.
Businesses will be able to download the code once Microsoft releases it to manufacturing, though most enterprises go through a fairly lengthy testing process with new server releases. Server makers set their own schedule for adding the software onto new systems. Ralston said that the company feels it is on track with the product and is looking to get a broad array of testers to try out the new test version, Beta 3.
"We're trying to get as many testers as we possibly can get," Ralston said. The first two beta versions and other community technology preview versions have been released only to select testers, which include some of Microsoft's early adopter customers, developers and internal Microsoft users.
Beta 3, like a recently released private test version, is "feature complete," Ralston said, including new features just added to the program such as the PowerShell command line interface and several new server roles. Microsoft released Beta 2 of Longhorn Server to developers last May. The next milestone, after Beta 3, would be a near-final "release candidate" version, Ralston said.
One analyst said recent test builds of the product appear to be in remarkably good shape. "I'm very impressed with how stable it is," said Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry. Cherry said it was important that Microsoft has been able to add in PowerShell, noting that Microsoft has many technology initiatives, some of which have been slow to find their way into products.
Not everyone is convinced the product will be wrapped up this year, however. Even with Microsoft shipping the broadly available beta, Gartner analyst John Enck said that his firm believes there is a 40 percent chance Microsoft will release the software to manufacturing this year and a 60 percent chance it won't happen until next year.
Outrage over a female in the box..
Fox Sports
Jacqui Oatley
April 27, 2007 WOMEN have come a long way in sport, but events of the past week in England show they still have a long way to go.
That was borne out by the extraordinary reaction to the BBC's introduction of the first female commentator on its football institution Match Of The Day.
Critics did not wait until Jacqui Oatley, 32, uttered a word during Fulham's 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
When news of Oatley's approaching debut broke, shrill opposition quickly followed. A newspaper survey had 77 per cent of readers disagreeing with her appointment, describing football as being in a "female frenzy".
After her debut, another said the idea of female commentary was "abhorrent", an "insult" to male commentators, and Oatley's "excited voice sounds like a fire siren".
Ex-government minister turned sports columnist David Mellor said: "The verbal excitability so necessary to the football commentator's art does not suit unbroken voices . . . I didn't much care for Ms Oatley's squeaks of excitement."
Former Crystal Palace and Sheffield United manager Dave Bassett declared himself and his wife "totally against it", saying it "undermines the credibility of the program".
"I knew this would happen eventually. The world of football is so politically correct these days," Bassett lamented.
"You must have an understanding of the game and the tactics and in order to do that you need to have played the game."
What Bassett failed to grasp was that Oatley was a successful player until a knee injury ended her career and prompted her to do what she saw as the next best thing and report on it.
Many of the arguments against Oatley - shrill voice, lack of playing experience - are smokescreens disguising the real gripe of her critics, which is the intrusion of a woman into a cosy male domain.
As it turns out, her performance was largely well received, despite the scrutiny.
No thanks to her Match Of The Day colleagues.
Former England striker and host Gary Lineker quipped that "not even the presence of our female commentator" could inspire Fulham to victory.
Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon, in a patronising attempt at encouragement, replied: "She did well, didn't she?"
If their comments were well intentioned, they only served to draw yet more attention to Oatley's gender.
The BBC said Oatley will get more games, saying her presence probably brought in many first-time viewers.
It was a rationale that also prompted Australia's most remembered experiment with female commentary in a predominantly male game, when Channel 9 brought Kate Fitzpatrick into the booth for the 1983-1984 cricket season.
Fitzpatrick was set up for a fall by being instructed to ask questions about play rather than call the game, making her appear less informed on the game than she probably was.
Since those days, Australian female reporters have been abundant in covering mostly male sports from cricket to Australian rules football and rugby league.
But when it comes to broadcast roles, they have been restricted to presenting or, at best, "boundary riders" during matches.
AAP
Jacqui OatleyApril 27, 2007 WOMEN have come a long way in sport, but events of the past week in England show they still have a long way to go.
That was borne out by the extraordinary reaction to the BBC's introduction of the first female commentator on its football institution Match Of The Day.
Critics did not wait until Jacqui Oatley, 32, uttered a word during Fulham's 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
When news of Oatley's approaching debut broke, shrill opposition quickly followed. A newspaper survey had 77 per cent of readers disagreeing with her appointment, describing football as being in a "female frenzy".
After her debut, another said the idea of female commentary was "abhorrent", an "insult" to male commentators, and Oatley's "excited voice sounds like a fire siren".
Ex-government minister turned sports columnist David Mellor said: "The verbal excitability so necessary to the football commentator's art does not suit unbroken voices . . . I didn't much care for Ms Oatley's squeaks of excitement."
Former Crystal Palace and Sheffield United manager Dave Bassett declared himself and his wife "totally against it", saying it "undermines the credibility of the program".
"I knew this would happen eventually. The world of football is so politically correct these days," Bassett lamented.
"You must have an understanding of the game and the tactics and in order to do that you need to have played the game."
What Bassett failed to grasp was that Oatley was a successful player until a knee injury ended her career and prompted her to do what she saw as the next best thing and report on it.
Many of the arguments against Oatley - shrill voice, lack of playing experience - are smokescreens disguising the real gripe of her critics, which is the intrusion of a woman into a cosy male domain.
As it turns out, her performance was largely well received, despite the scrutiny.
No thanks to her Match Of The Day colleagues.
Former England striker and host Gary Lineker quipped that "not even the presence of our female commentator" could inspire Fulham to victory.
Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon, in a patronising attempt at encouragement, replied: "She did well, didn't she?"
If their comments were well intentioned, they only served to draw yet more attention to Oatley's gender.
The BBC said Oatley will get more games, saying her presence probably brought in many first-time viewers.
It was a rationale that also prompted Australia's most remembered experiment with female commentary in a predominantly male game, when Channel 9 brought Kate Fitzpatrick into the booth for the 1983-1984 cricket season.
Fitzpatrick was set up for a fall by being instructed to ask questions about play rather than call the game, making her appear less informed on the game than she probably was.
Since those days, Australian female reporters have been abundant in covering mostly male sports from cricket to Australian rules football and rugby league.
But when it comes to broadcast roles, they have been restricted to presenting or, at best, "boundary riders" during matches.
AAP
Boy gets toilet seat stuck on his head...
Reuters.com
Wed Apr 25, 2007. LONDON (Reuters) - British firefighters said on Wednesday they had come to a boy's rescue after he got a toilet seat stuck on his head.
The toddler, aged two-and-a-half, and his mother walked into a fire station in Braintree, Essex, Tuesday saying the boy had put his head through a small trainer seat for the toilet and now could not remove it.
"His mum had tried to get it over his head but couldn't budge it so she walked him down here and asked us to have a look at it and we went to work and we managed to get it off in no time," firefighter Chris Cox said.
"We simply put some dish washing liquid on his head and ears and it slid off nice as pie."
He said the boy had been "very brave" and "toddled away as happy as can be" after his ordeal ended.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Wed Apr 25, 2007. LONDON (Reuters) - British firefighters said on Wednesday they had come to a boy's rescue after he got a toilet seat stuck on his head.The toddler, aged two-and-a-half, and his mother walked into a fire station in Braintree, Essex, Tuesday saying the boy had put his head through a small trainer seat for the toilet and now could not remove it.
"His mum had tried to get it over his head but couldn't budge it so she walked him down here and asked us to have a look at it and we went to work and we managed to get it off in no time," firefighter Chris Cox said.
"We simply put some dish washing liquid on his head and ears and it slid off nice as pie."
He said the boy had been "very brave" and "toddled away as happy as can be" after his ordeal ended.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
See loins in the fountain...
Reuters.com
Mon Apr 23, 2007. ROME (Reuters) - A 40-year-old office clerk made a splash at Rome's Trevi fountain when she went for a swim, naked, in the Renaissance masterpiece in front of a crowd of tourists.
"The water is everyone's. I was hot," Roberta, who did not give her last name, said, as snapshots of her appeared in all Italy's major newspapers on Monday.
The Trevi featured in the 1960 classic film "La Dolce Vita" in which screen diva Anita Ekberg went for a dip in the fountain wearing a skimpy black dress.
But swimming in the fountain is prohibited and Roberta, from Milan, now risks a hefty fine for public indecency.
In 1995, German supermodel Claudia Schiffer also waded into the fountain for an advertising campaign for designer Valentino.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Mon Apr 23, 2007. ROME (Reuters) - A 40-year-old office clerk made a splash at Rome's Trevi fountain when she went for a swim, naked, in the Renaissance masterpiece in front of a crowd of tourists."The water is everyone's. I was hot," Roberta, who did not give her last name, said, as snapshots of her appeared in all Italy's major newspapers on Monday.
The Trevi featured in the 1960 classic film "La Dolce Vita" in which screen diva Anita Ekberg went for a dip in the fountain wearing a skimpy black dress.
But swimming in the fountain is prohibited and Roberta, from Milan, now risks a hefty fine for public indecency.
In 1995, German supermodel Claudia Schiffer also waded into the fountain for an advertising campaign for designer Valentino.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Teachers "purify" students with cow urine...
Reuters.com
Mon Apr 23, 2007. MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian teachers sprinkled cow urine on low-caste students to purify them and drive away evil, reports said on Saturday, in a country where millions of people remain oppressed at the bottom of the ancient Hindu caste system.
Upper-caste headteacher Sharad Kaithade ordered the ritual after taking over from a lower-caste predecessor at a school in a remote village in the western state of Maharashtra earlier this month, the Times of India reported.
He told an upper-caste colleague to spray cow urine in a cleansing ceremony as the students were taking an examination, wetting their faces and their answer sheets, the newspaper said.
"She said you'll study well after getting purified," student Rajat Washnik was quoted as saying by the CNN-IBN news channel. Students said they felt humiliated.
Hinduism reveres the cow, and its dung is used in the countryside as both a disinfectant and as fuel. In 2001, Hindu nationalists promoted cow's urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.
The newspaper said the two teachers were arrested after angry parents complained to police. They have been released on bail.
India's secular constitution bans caste discrimination, but Dalits -- those at the bottom of the caste system -- are still commonly beaten or killed for using a well or worshipping at a temple reserved for upper castes, especially in rural areas.
Dalits, once known as "untouchables," make up around 160 million of India's billion-plus population.
In February, the New York-based Human Rights Watch group said India is failing to protect its lower-caste citizens, who were condemned to a lifetime of abuse because of their social status.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Mon Apr 23, 2007. MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian teachers sprinkled cow urine on low-caste students to purify them and drive away evil, reports said on Saturday, in a country where millions of people remain oppressed at the bottom of the ancient Hindu caste system.
Upper-caste headteacher Sharad Kaithade ordered the ritual after taking over from a lower-caste predecessor at a school in a remote village in the western state of Maharashtra earlier this month, the Times of India reported.
He told an upper-caste colleague to spray cow urine in a cleansing ceremony as the students were taking an examination, wetting their faces and their answer sheets, the newspaper said.
"She said you'll study well after getting purified," student Rajat Washnik was quoted as saying by the CNN-IBN news channel. Students said they felt humiliated.
Hinduism reveres the cow, and its dung is used in the countryside as both a disinfectant and as fuel. In 2001, Hindu nationalists promoted cow's urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.
The newspaper said the two teachers were arrested after angry parents complained to police. They have been released on bail.
India's secular constitution bans caste discrimination, but Dalits -- those at the bottom of the caste system -- are still commonly beaten or killed for using a well or worshipping at a temple reserved for upper castes, especially in rural areas.
Dalits, once known as "untouchables," make up around 160 million of India's billion-plus population.
In February, the New York-based Human Rights Watch group said India is failing to protect its lower-caste citizens, who were condemned to a lifetime of abuse because of their social status.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Picasa 2.7 No Longer a Memory Hog, Supports Google Video...
Digital Inspiration
24 April, 2007. Picasa users have a reason to celebrate. Google has just updated your favorite photo management software to version 2.7 and the new release is lightning fast when compared with Picasa 2.6.
Other than performance enhancements, Picasa 2.7 has better integration with Blogger and also allows you upload videos directly to Google Videos from Picasa. Earlier, this video uploading facility was only available to paid users of Picasa web albums.
As expected, Picasa 2.7 no longer ships with a separate screensaver but integrates nicely with the Google Photo Screensaver that was released only last month.
Picasa 2.7 is available for XP, Vista and Windows 2000. Download Picasa 2.7 [5.1 MB] The new features aren't mentioned in the Picasa Changelog but FileHippo has the latest installer.
More Picasa 2 Tutorials and Tricks:
Create Photo Collages with Picasa
Download Yahoo! Photos to Picasa Web Albums
Create Large Wall Posters in Picasa
24 April, 2007. Picasa users have a reason to celebrate. Google has just updated your favorite photo management software to version 2.7 and the new release is lightning fast when compared with Picasa 2.6.
Other than performance enhancements, Picasa 2.7 has better integration with Blogger and also allows you upload videos directly to Google Videos from Picasa. Earlier, this video uploading facility was only available to paid users of Picasa web albums.
As expected, Picasa 2.7 no longer ships with a separate screensaver but integrates nicely with the Google Photo Screensaver that was released only last month.
Picasa 2.7 is available for XP, Vista and Windows 2000. Download Picasa 2.7 [5.1 MB] The new features aren't mentioned in the Picasa Changelog but FileHippo has the latest installer.
More Picasa 2 Tutorials and Tricks:
Create Photo Collages with Picasa
Download Yahoo! Photos to Picasa Web Albums
Create Large Wall Posters in Picasa
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Dutch coffee shops say cannabis smoke here to stay...
Reuters.com
<---Customer Jurriaan Mensch inhales cannabis vapour through a 'volcano' in a coffeeshop in the centre of Amsterdam April 18, 2007. REUTERS/Michael Kooren
Fri Apr 20, 2007. "Nearly all of our American customers do that anyway, using pipes or the "volcano,"" Veling says in his dark, cozy coffee shop, pointing to a shiny, cone-shaped silver contraption.
The volcano or vaporizer heats cannabis to release vapors of THC and channels these into a long transparent balloon.
At the counter, a dark-haired man waits to get the air from the balloon into his lungs. Using the volcano makes cannabis consumption cheaper, Veling explains, because the drug can be used several times and is not burned like in a pipe.
"On good days, when the shop is full of Americans, we sell 100 or 200 of these balloons," Veling says.
A tobacco smoking ban, which could come into force at the start of 2008, may also boost the use of some of the weirder contraptions used for inhaling the active part of marijuana, THC, which gives users a high.
"Nearly all of our American customers do that anyway, using pipes or the "volcano,"" Veling says in his dark, cozy coffee shop, pointing to a shiny, cone-shaped silver contraption.
The volcano or vaporizer heats cannabis to release vapors of THC and channels these into a long transparent balloon.
At the counter, a dark-haired man waits to get the air from the balloon into his lungs. Using the volcano makes cannabis consumption cheaper, Veling explains, because the drug can be used several times and is not burned like in a pipe.
"On good days, when the shop is full of Americans, we sell 100 or 200 of these balloons," Veling says.
TOLERANCE
But most European customers of his "De Kuil" in central Amsterdam prefer to roll their marijuana with tobacco into joints, Veling admits.
One of them is Czech-born, Swiss resident Pavel Kotrba, sitting near the entrance with a broad smile and dilated pupils.
If a ban came into force, he says: "I would smoke my joint on the street in front of the coffee shop, no problem."
Soft drugs are legally banned in the Netherlands but under a policy of "tolerance," buyers are allowed to have less than 5 g of cannabis in their possession.
Government-regulated coffee shops sell cannabis and can keep stocks of up to 500 g.
Coffee shops first sprung up in the Netherlands in the 70s and have been drawing tourists ever since.
So far the majority of Dutch parliamentarians have urged that the coffee shops be exempt from any smoking ban, but a more sweeping Europe-wide ban might be introduced.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the soft drug retail business, Veling, who is also speaker of the Dutch Cannabis Retailers organization, does not consider the ban a danger to the industry which he estimates rolls in more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) a year.
Most of the more than 700 coffee shops in the Netherlands would not even be affected by it anyway, he says, as they resemble cannabis drive-ins, where people queue in front of counters, buy and leave.
"Some of these shops are huge and generate sales of approximately five million euros a year," he says.
Plus recent legislation banning the sale of both alcohol and cannabis together in coffee shops doesn't seem to have irked his customers too much.
"They smoke more, that's my impression."
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
<---Customer Jurriaan Mensch inhales cannabis vapour through a 'volcano' in a coffeeshop in the centre of Amsterdam April 18, 2007. REUTERS/Michael Kooren Fri Apr 20, 2007. "Nearly all of our American customers do that anyway, using pipes or the "volcano,"" Veling says in his dark, cozy coffee shop, pointing to a shiny, cone-shaped silver contraption.
The volcano or vaporizer heats cannabis to release vapors of THC and channels these into a long transparent balloon.
At the counter, a dark-haired man waits to get the air from the balloon into his lungs. Using the volcano makes cannabis consumption cheaper, Veling explains, because the drug can be used several times and is not burned like in a pipe.
"On good days, when the shop is full of Americans, we sell 100 or 200 of these balloons," Veling says.
A tobacco smoking ban, which could come into force at the start of 2008, may also boost the use of some of the weirder contraptions used for inhaling the active part of marijuana, THC, which gives users a high.
"Nearly all of our American customers do that anyway, using pipes or the "volcano,"" Veling says in his dark, cozy coffee shop, pointing to a shiny, cone-shaped silver contraption.
The volcano or vaporizer heats cannabis to release vapors of THC and channels these into a long transparent balloon.
At the counter, a dark-haired man waits to get the air from the balloon into his lungs. Using the volcano makes cannabis consumption cheaper, Veling explains, because the drug can be used several times and is not burned like in a pipe.
"On good days, when the shop is full of Americans, we sell 100 or 200 of these balloons," Veling says.
TOLERANCE
But most European customers of his "De Kuil" in central Amsterdam prefer to roll their marijuana with tobacco into joints, Veling admits.
One of them is Czech-born, Swiss resident Pavel Kotrba, sitting near the entrance with a broad smile and dilated pupils.
If a ban came into force, he says: "I would smoke my joint on the street in front of the coffee shop, no problem."
Soft drugs are legally banned in the Netherlands but under a policy of "tolerance," buyers are allowed to have less than 5 g of cannabis in their possession.
Government-regulated coffee shops sell cannabis and can keep stocks of up to 500 g.
Coffee shops first sprung up in the Netherlands in the 70s and have been drawing tourists ever since.
So far the majority of Dutch parliamentarians have urged that the coffee shops be exempt from any smoking ban, but a more sweeping Europe-wide ban might be introduced.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the soft drug retail business, Veling, who is also speaker of the Dutch Cannabis Retailers organization, does not consider the ban a danger to the industry which he estimates rolls in more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) a year.
Most of the more than 700 coffee shops in the Netherlands would not even be affected by it anyway, he says, as they resemble cannabis drive-ins, where people queue in front of counters, buy and leave.
"Some of these shops are huge and generate sales of approximately five million euros a year," he says.
Plus recent legislation banning the sale of both alcohol and cannabis together in coffee shops doesn't seem to have irked his customers too much.
"They smoke more, that's my impression."
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Fatty acid tied to depression and inflammation...
Health Reuters.com By Anne Harding
Farmed salmon sits in a tray ready to be packaged in a plant in the Pacific port of Chacabuco, some 1,800 kilometers south of Santiago, September 16, 2003. The imbalance of fatty acids in the typical American diet could be associated with the sharp increase in heart disease and depression seen over the past century, a new study suggests. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:10pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The imbalance of fatty acids in the typical American diet could be associated with the sharp increase in heart disease and depression seen over the past century, a new study suggests.
Specifically, the more omega-6 fatty acids people had in their blood compared with omega-3 fatty acid levels, the more likely they were to suffer from symptoms of depression and have higher blood levels of inflammation-promoting compounds, report Dr. Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser and her colleagues from Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus.
These compounds, which include tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6, are "all-purpose 'nasties' for aging," and have been tied to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and other ailments, Kiecolt-Glaser told Reuters Health.
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods such as fish, flax seed oil and walnuts, while omega-6 fatty acids are found in refined vegetable oils used to make everything from margarine to baked goods and snack foods. The amount of omega-6 fatty acids in the Western diet increased sharply once refined vegetable oils became part of the average diet in the early 20th century.
Hunter-gatherers consumed two or three times as much omega-6 as omega-3, Kiecolt-Glaser's team notes in their study, published in Psychosomatic Medicine, but today Westerners consume 15- to 17-times more omega-6 than omega-3.
The researchers investigated the relationship among fatty acid consumption, depression and inflammation in 43 older men and women. The 6 individuals diagnosed with major depression had nearly 18 times as much omega-6 as omega-3 in their blood, compared with about 13 times as much for subjects who didn't meet the criteria for major depression.
Depressed patients also had higher levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and other inflammatory compounds. And as levels of depressive symptoms rose, so did the omega 6 and omega 3 ratio. Continued...
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Farmed salmon sits in a tray ready to be packaged in a plant in the Pacific port of Chacabuco, some 1,800 kilometers south of Santiago, September 16, 2003. The imbalance of fatty acids in the typical American diet could be associated with the sharp increase in heart disease and depression seen over the past century, a new study suggests. REUTERS/Carlos BarriaTue Apr 17, 2007 1:10pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The imbalance of fatty acids in the typical American diet could be associated with the sharp increase in heart disease and depression seen over the past century, a new study suggests.
Specifically, the more omega-6 fatty acids people had in their blood compared with omega-3 fatty acid levels, the more likely they were to suffer from symptoms of depression and have higher blood levels of inflammation-promoting compounds, report Dr. Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser and her colleagues from Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus.
These compounds, which include tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6, are "all-purpose 'nasties' for aging," and have been tied to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and other ailments, Kiecolt-Glaser told Reuters Health.
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods such as fish, flax seed oil and walnuts, while omega-6 fatty acids are found in refined vegetable oils used to make everything from margarine to baked goods and snack foods. The amount of omega-6 fatty acids in the Western diet increased sharply once refined vegetable oils became part of the average diet in the early 20th century.
Hunter-gatherers consumed two or three times as much omega-6 as omega-3, Kiecolt-Glaser's team notes in their study, published in Psychosomatic Medicine, but today Westerners consume 15- to 17-times more omega-6 than omega-3.
The researchers investigated the relationship among fatty acid consumption, depression and inflammation in 43 older men and women. The 6 individuals diagnosed with major depression had nearly 18 times as much omega-6 as omega-3 in their blood, compared with about 13 times as much for subjects who didn't meet the criteria for major depression.
Depressed patients also had higher levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and other inflammatory compounds. And as levels of depressive symptoms rose, so did the omega 6 and omega 3 ratio. Continued...
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Meeste internetgebruikers dwalen regelmatig af...
Webwereld
Dinsdag 10 april 2007, 16:22 - 'Wilfing' het verschijnsel dat internetgebruikers tijdens een zoektocht op internet afgeleid raken en uiteindelijk vergeten wat ze zochten, blijkt sterk in opkomst.
Uit een enquete van onderzoeksbureau Yougov onder 2400 mensen, blijkt dat een kwart van de internetgebruikers twee dagen per maand 'wilft'. Wilf is een afkorting van 'What Was I Looking For?'. Het verschijnel leidt ertoe dat mensen minder doelgericht zoeken op internet en afdwalen, waardoor er veel tijd verloren gaat.
Uit het onderzoek blijkt dat vooral online winkelen leidt tot het maken van digitale zijsprongen. Mannen zouden hun aandacht eerder verliezen dan vrouwen, zo meldt The Daily Telegraph.
Uit de enquete blijkt dat zeven op de tien internetgebruikers last heeft van 'wilfing'. Volgens motivatiecoach Pete Cohen vergt het een mengeling van 'planning en wilskracht' om te stoppen met het afdwalen. Een andere aanpak is afwachten. Internetgebruikers van 55 jaar en ouder 'wilfen' namelijk drie keer zo weinig als mensen jonger dan 25 jaar.
Volgens Jason Lloyd van prijsvergelijkingssite Moneysupermarket.com hebben internetgebruikers zo veel keus en afleidingen dat ze vergeten met welk doel ze online kwamen, waardoor ze urenlang online ronddolen. Wilfing is daardoor ook een bedreiging voor de productiviteit op de werkvloer, zo verklaarde Loyd tegenover de Britse krant.
Dinsdag 10 april 2007, 16:22 - 'Wilfing' het verschijnsel dat internetgebruikers tijdens een zoektocht op internet afgeleid raken en uiteindelijk vergeten wat ze zochten, blijkt sterk in opkomst.
Uit een enquete van onderzoeksbureau Yougov onder 2400 mensen, blijkt dat een kwart van de internetgebruikers twee dagen per maand 'wilft'. Wilf is een afkorting van 'What Was I Looking For?'. Het verschijnel leidt ertoe dat mensen minder doelgericht zoeken op internet en afdwalen, waardoor er veel tijd verloren gaat.
Uit het onderzoek blijkt dat vooral online winkelen leidt tot het maken van digitale zijsprongen. Mannen zouden hun aandacht eerder verliezen dan vrouwen, zo meldt The Daily Telegraph.
Uit de enquete blijkt dat zeven op de tien internetgebruikers last heeft van 'wilfing'. Volgens motivatiecoach Pete Cohen vergt het een mengeling van 'planning en wilskracht' om te stoppen met het afdwalen. Een andere aanpak is afwachten. Internetgebruikers van 55 jaar en ouder 'wilfen' namelijk drie keer zo weinig als mensen jonger dan 25 jaar.
Volgens Jason Lloyd van prijsvergelijkingssite Moneysupermarket.com hebben internetgebruikers zo veel keus en afleidingen dat ze vergeten met welk doel ze online kwamen, waardoor ze urenlang online ronddolen. Wilfing is daardoor ook een bedreiging voor de productiviteit op de werkvloer, zo verklaarde Loyd tegenover de Britse krant.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Vista: Whatever happened to fast boot?
ZDNet.com
Vista: Whatever happened to fast boot? Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:35 am Categories: Vista, Windows client, Windows XP, Windows 7
April 10th, 2007. Anyone else remember when Microsoft used to talk about making Windows Vista (or Longhorn, as it was then known) a fast-booting operating system. Fast, as in cold boots that were 50 percent faster than those possible with Windows XP?
Something obviously went awry.
As Computerworld is reporting, a number of Vista users are none too happy about Vista boot-up times. Some are questioning whether Microsoft is advocating that users just put Vista into sleep mode, as opposed to shutting down systems on a daily basis, to mask the sluggish boot up
.
(And it's not just boot up speeds that are troublesome. Vista shutdown is as slow as molasses, too, Computerworld is reporting users as saying. And app-loading times are nothing to write home about, either.)
Microsoft has been touting the sleep/hibernate modes as the preferred ways to "shut off" Vista systems. As former Windows Chief Jim Allchin blogged in December:
"Everyone knows that turning a TV off doesn’t really turn it off. It is still available to receive the remote control signal, etc. so that it can come back on quickly. We wanted to emulate this for Windows Vista machines.
"To the degree possible, 'off' equals 'sleep' in Windows Vista, where the system state is saved in RAM. This creates the best balance of user experience for speed of resuming and lowest usage of power. However, if the PC is running on batteries even that minimal power usage could drain the batteries eventually. Remember the top goal here is to make sure that we can enable a fast on experience (like your cell phone) and a fast off experience, while still making sure that you don't lose your work when a Windows PC is turned off. To do this, we created a new approach that we call 'hybrid sleep state' that is the best of the sleep and hibernate modes (which existed separately in Windows XP)."
From the reaction on the Vista support forums, it doesn't seem like users are cottoning to Microsoft's sleep/hibernate Vista settings.
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 20 years. Don't miss a single post. Subscribe via Email or RSS. Got a tip? Send Mary Jo your rants, rumors, tips and tattles.
Vista: Whatever happened to fast boot? Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:35 am Categories: Vista, Windows client, Windows XP, Windows 7
April 10th, 2007. Anyone else remember when Microsoft used to talk about making Windows Vista (or Longhorn, as it was then known) a fast-booting operating system. Fast, as in cold boots that were 50 percent faster than those possible with Windows XP?
Something obviously went awry.
As Computerworld is reporting, a number of Vista users are none too happy about Vista boot-up times. Some are questioning whether Microsoft is advocating that users just put Vista into sleep mode, as opposed to shutting down systems on a daily basis, to mask the sluggish boot up
.
(And it's not just boot up speeds that are troublesome. Vista shutdown is as slow as molasses, too, Computerworld is reporting users as saying. And app-loading times are nothing to write home about, either.)
Microsoft has been touting the sleep/hibernate modes as the preferred ways to "shut off" Vista systems. As former Windows Chief Jim Allchin blogged in December:
"Everyone knows that turning a TV off doesn’t really turn it off. It is still available to receive the remote control signal, etc. so that it can come back on quickly. We wanted to emulate this for Windows Vista machines.
"To the degree possible, 'off' equals 'sleep' in Windows Vista, where the system state is saved in RAM. This creates the best balance of user experience for speed of resuming and lowest usage of power. However, if the PC is running on batteries even that minimal power usage could drain the batteries eventually. Remember the top goal here is to make sure that we can enable a fast on experience (like your cell phone) and a fast off experience, while still making sure that you don't lose your work when a Windows PC is turned off. To do this, we created a new approach that we call 'hybrid sleep state' that is the best of the sleep and hibernate modes (which existed separately in Windows XP)."
From the reaction on the Vista support forums, it doesn't seem like users are cottoning to Microsoft's sleep/hibernate Vista settings.
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 20 years. Don't miss a single post. Subscribe via Email or RSS. Got a tip? Send Mary Jo your rants, rumors, tips and tattles.
Man's wives have no sense of humor...
Reuters.com
Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:06am ET. RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi man lost a bit of his nose in a joint assault by his two wives after he jokingly threatened to marry a third woman.
Judaie Ibn Salem had thought his threat would help resolve an argument over dividing up his house.
"I swore that I would do it because ... they were impolite and that's when I came under an even bigger attack," Ibn Salem told Shams newspaper after having seven stitches inserted.
"I never realized they would get so worked up. But the only way to restore my dignity is really to take a third wife.
"I don't know what I'm going to lose next if I do that."
Islamic law allows men to take up to four wives and polygamy is not unusual in the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:06am ET. RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi man lost a bit of his nose in a joint assault by his two wives after he jokingly threatened to marry a third woman.
Judaie Ibn Salem had thought his threat would help resolve an argument over dividing up his house.
"I swore that I would do it because ... they were impolite and that's when I came under an even bigger attack," Ibn Salem told Shams newspaper after having seven stitches inserted.
"I never realized they would get so worked up. But the only way to restore my dignity is really to take a third wife.
"I don't know what I'm going to lose next if I do that."
Islamic law allows men to take up to four wives and polygamy is not unusual in the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Runaway mouse delays flight...
Reuters.com
<---A lab mouse is seen in a file photo. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico
HANOI (Reuters) - A small white mouse running around a Boeing 777 delayed a Vietnam Airlines flight to Tokyo for more than fours, newspapers reported Monday.
A passenger saw the mouse on the aircraft, which had arrived in Hanoi from the central city of Danang at 10 p.m. Saturday and was scheduled to continue to Japan.
"Technicians were sent to seek and kill the mouse on the Boeing and this task lasted for over four hours," according to one report in the online newspaper VietnamNet www.vnn.vn.
The report and others in state-run newspapers said the passengers went to a hotel and luggage was removed during the search for the mouse.
The rodent was found early Sunday and the aircraft took off at 4 a.m.
Vietnam Airlines employees said they suspected that a passenger brought the mouse onto the plane and it escaped.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
<---A lab mouse is seen in a file photo. REUTERS/Alessia PierdomenicoHANOI (Reuters) - A small white mouse running around a Boeing 777 delayed a Vietnam Airlines flight to Tokyo for more than fours, newspapers reported Monday.
A passenger saw the mouse on the aircraft, which had arrived in Hanoi from the central city of Danang at 10 p.m. Saturday and was scheduled to continue to Japan.
"Technicians were sent to seek and kill the mouse on the Boeing and this task lasted for over four hours," according to one report in the online newspaper VietnamNet www.vnn.vn.
The report and others in state-run newspapers said the passengers went to a hotel and luggage was removed during the search for the mouse.
The rodent was found early Sunday and the aircraft took off at 4 a.m.
Vietnam Airlines employees said they suspected that a passenger brought the mouse onto the plane and it escaped.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Cocoa, not tea, calms blood pressure, study says...
Health Reuters.com
Mon Apr 9, 2007. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some may see a cup of tea as soothing but chocolate is more likely to lower one's blood pressure, German researchers reported on Monday.
Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure but drinking green and black tea may not, according to an analysis of previously published research in the Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association.
The drop in blood pressure among participants who consumed cocoa products for at least two weeks was in the same range as achieved by someone taking drugs commonly prescribed to control high blood pressure.
The fall in blood pressure credited to cocoa could be expected to reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 10-20 percent, the report said.
Both cocoa and tea contain polyphenols, a class of chemicals known to help prevent cardiovascular disease that are present in most fruits and vegetables. But cocoa has a different type than tea -- procyanids -- that appear to be more active.
Currently, patients with high blood pressure are urged to eat more fruits and vegetables, although cocoa and tea products account for the bulk of total polyphenol consumption in Western countries, the study said.
But don't start gobbling up chocolate bars just yet, wrote study author Dirk Taubert of the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.
Treats such as dark chocolate might be substituted for other high-calorie desserts, based on the study's findings, but "we believe that any dietary advice must account for the high sugar, fat and calorie intake with most cocoa products.
"Rationally applied, cocoa products might be considered part of dietary approaches to lower hypertension risk," he wrote.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Mon Apr 9, 2007. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some may see a cup of tea as soothing but chocolate is more likely to lower one's blood pressure, German researchers reported on Monday.
Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure but drinking green and black tea may not, according to an analysis of previously published research in the Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association.
The drop in blood pressure among participants who consumed cocoa products for at least two weeks was in the same range as achieved by someone taking drugs commonly prescribed to control high blood pressure.
The fall in blood pressure credited to cocoa could be expected to reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 10-20 percent, the report said.
Both cocoa and tea contain polyphenols, a class of chemicals known to help prevent cardiovascular disease that are present in most fruits and vegetables. But cocoa has a different type than tea -- procyanids -- that appear to be more active.
Currently, patients with high blood pressure are urged to eat more fruits and vegetables, although cocoa and tea products account for the bulk of total polyphenol consumption in Western countries, the study said.
But don't start gobbling up chocolate bars just yet, wrote study author Dirk Taubert of the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.
Treats such as dark chocolate might be substituted for other high-calorie desserts, based on the study's findings, but "we believe that any dietary advice must account for the high sugar, fat and calorie intake with most cocoa products.
"Rationally applied, cocoa products might be considered part of dietary approaches to lower hypertension risk," he wrote.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Aussie-made super search - web...
Technology - Sydney Morning HeraldApril 6, 2007. Yahoo's Australian engineers have just taken the wraps off their first stand-alone search project - a fully customisable search engine through which users can perform Flickr, Wikipedia, YouTube and Yahoo search queries simultaneously.
The site, dubbed "Alpha", is part of a new breed of personalised, roll-your-own search products.
It is similar to Google's Co-op and the smaller US start-up, Rollyo.
"[Alpha] allows you to search all of your favourite search engines from the ease of just one page," said Brett Poole, a search engineer at Yahoo7 who spearheaded the site's development.
After it was quietly turned on yesterday, word of Alpha's existence spread globally within hours.
Poole was astonished at the initial publicity as no marketing had been conducted whatsoever.
"We put it out for very limited testing - we are not quite sure how it spread as fast and wide as it did," he said.
"It is a very cool idea that we thought we would throw out there and let people have a look at."
The site incorporates Yahoo's regular web search function, but, in addition to this, can display results from Wikipedia, Yahoo7 Answers, Flickr and YouTube.
"We chose those because we know a lot of Australians visit those sites," said Poole, adding that more sites would be added as the service matured.
Alpha has so far been met with a mixed reception from critics; Michael Arrington, of the popular TechCrunch website that reviews new web services, described it as "confusing" and "abstruse".
But Poole readily acknowledged that Alpha was still "a very early stage prototype" that would continually be updated, based on user feedback.
"Yahoo globally has a day called Hack Day and it is really a day for innovation, which basically means we all get the day off to actually sit down and code up new ideas for any part of the business," said Poole.
"This is an idea that came out of Hack Day."
It has not yet been decided when or if Alpha will be rolled out as an official, final product.
"We are getting a lot of feedback about what it [Alpha] means and what it can do and a lot of people are suggesting things, so we are just going to sit back for a while and gather a whole lot of feedback," said Poole.
Solar bursts threaten GPS devices - Technology - brisbanetimes.com.au
Brisbane Times
April 5, 2007. The Global Positioning System (GPS), increasingly vital technology for activities including navigating cars and planes, bank financial transfers and more, may be threatened by powerful radio bursts from the sun, a panel of scientists in the US warned today.
"Our increasingly technologically dependent society is becoming increasingly vulnerable to space weather," David L. Johnson, director of the US National Weather Service, said at a briefing.
GPS receivers have become widely used in recent years, using satellite signals to navigate planes, ships and automobiles, and in the use of mobile phones, mining, surveying and many commercial applications.
Indeed, banks use the system to synchronise money transfers, "so space weather can affect all of us, right down to our wallet," said Anthea J. Coster, an atmospheric scientist at the Haystack Observatory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The cause for their concern, Johnson said, was an unexpected solar radio burst on December 6 that affected virtually every GPS receiver on the lighted half of Earth. Some receivers had a reduction in accuracy while others lost the ability to determine position, he said.
Solar activity rises and falls in 11-year cycles with the next peak expected in 2011.
If that increasing level of activity produces more such radio bursts the GPS system could be seriously affected, the researchers said.
And protecting the system is no simple task, added Paul M. Kintner Jr., a professor of electrical engineering at Cornell University, who monitored the December event.
There are two possible ways to shield the system, he said, both very expensive. Either alter all GPS antennas to screen out solar signals or replace all the GPS satellites with ones that broadcast a stronger signal.
That is why it is essential to learn more about the sun's behaviour quickly in an effort to find ways to predict such events, the researchers said.
In addition to the GPS system, the December solar flare affected satellites and induced unexpected currents in the electrical grid, Johnson said.
"The effects were more profound than we expected and more widespread than we expected," added Kintner.
Dale E. Gary, chairman of the physics department of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the burst produced 10 times more radio noise than any burst previously recorded.
The difference between that burst and normal solar radio emissions "was like the difference between the noise level of a normal conversation and the noise level in the front row of a rock concert," he said.
"This is a wake-up call" to improve technology, commented Anthony J. Mannucci, group supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Patricia H. Doherty, co-director of the Institute for Scientific Research at Boston College, said the burst affected but did not shut down the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System, which uses GPS signals to help in navigation.
Most WAAS ground stations maintained contact with enough satellites to continue working, although their accuracy was somewhat affected, she said.
The stations have to maintain contact with at least four satellites to work, but they usually monitor at least 10 to increase their accuracy, she said. Most were able to meet the minimum, she said.
The briefing came at a Space Weather Enterprise Forum convened by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to discuss the effects of solar activity. Because of its increasing importance, Johnson said, the Weather Service's Space Environment Centre was converted from a mainly research centre in 2005 to an operational centre reporting on solar activity and its impacts.
AP
April 5, 2007. The Global Positioning System (GPS), increasingly vital technology for activities including navigating cars and planes, bank financial transfers and more, may be threatened by powerful radio bursts from the sun, a panel of scientists in the US warned today.
"Our increasingly technologically dependent society is becoming increasingly vulnerable to space weather," David L. Johnson, director of the US National Weather Service, said at a briefing.
GPS receivers have become widely used in recent years, using satellite signals to navigate planes, ships and automobiles, and in the use of mobile phones, mining, surveying and many commercial applications.
Indeed, banks use the system to synchronise money transfers, "so space weather can affect all of us, right down to our wallet," said Anthea J. Coster, an atmospheric scientist at the Haystack Observatory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The cause for their concern, Johnson said, was an unexpected solar radio burst on December 6 that affected virtually every GPS receiver on the lighted half of Earth. Some receivers had a reduction in accuracy while others lost the ability to determine position, he said.
Solar activity rises and falls in 11-year cycles with the next peak expected in 2011.
If that increasing level of activity produces more such radio bursts the GPS system could be seriously affected, the researchers said.
And protecting the system is no simple task, added Paul M. Kintner Jr., a professor of electrical engineering at Cornell University, who monitored the December event.
There are two possible ways to shield the system, he said, both very expensive. Either alter all GPS antennas to screen out solar signals or replace all the GPS satellites with ones that broadcast a stronger signal.
That is why it is essential to learn more about the sun's behaviour quickly in an effort to find ways to predict such events, the researchers said.
In addition to the GPS system, the December solar flare affected satellites and induced unexpected currents in the electrical grid, Johnson said.
"The effects were more profound than we expected and more widespread than we expected," added Kintner.
Dale E. Gary, chairman of the physics department of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the burst produced 10 times more radio noise than any burst previously recorded.
The difference between that burst and normal solar radio emissions "was like the difference between the noise level of a normal conversation and the noise level in the front row of a rock concert," he said.
"This is a wake-up call" to improve technology, commented Anthony J. Mannucci, group supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Patricia H. Doherty, co-director of the Institute for Scientific Research at Boston College, said the burst affected but did not shut down the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System, which uses GPS signals to help in navigation.
Most WAAS ground stations maintained contact with enough satellites to continue working, although their accuracy was somewhat affected, she said.
The stations have to maintain contact with at least four satellites to work, but they usually monitor at least 10 to increase their accuracy, she said. Most were able to meet the minimum, she said.
The briefing came at a Space Weather Enterprise Forum convened by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to discuss the effects of solar activity. Because of its increasing importance, Johnson said, the Weather Service's Space Environment Centre was converted from a mainly research centre in 2005 to an operational centre reporting on solar activity and its impacts.
AP
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Dentist guilty of urinating in surgery sink...
Reuters.com
<---SINK OR URINAL?
Fri Apr 6, 2007. LONDON (Reuters) - A British dentist was found guilty Thursday of urinating in his surgery sink and using dental tools meant for patients to clean his fingernails and ears.
A medical tribunal said it was satisfied the evidence showed 51-year-old Alan Hutchinson, who routinely did not wear gloves or wash his hands, had risked the health of "himself, staff and patients" for more than 28 years.
A dental nurse who worked for Hutchinson for 16 years said she had caught him urinating in the sink more than once.
"He was tucking something into his trousers before zipping them up hastily. I walked over and I was behind him. He moved to the left and I could smell urine," the nurse told the tribunal.
The tribunal determined that the dentist's poor hygiene habits made him unfit to practice and struck him off the dental register, banning him from work.
"You urinated into a sink in your surgery following which you did not wash your hands and then proceeded to treat a patient. This behavior was clearly inappropriate and is completely unacceptable," the tribunal chairman said.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
<---SINK OR URINAL?Fri Apr 6, 2007. LONDON (Reuters) - A British dentist was found guilty Thursday of urinating in his surgery sink and using dental tools meant for patients to clean his fingernails and ears.
A medical tribunal said it was satisfied the evidence showed 51-year-old Alan Hutchinson, who routinely did not wear gloves or wash his hands, had risked the health of "himself, staff and patients" for more than 28 years.
A dental nurse who worked for Hutchinson for 16 years said she had caught him urinating in the sink more than once.
"He was tucking something into his trousers before zipping them up hastily. I walked over and I was behind him. He moved to the left and I could smell urine," the nurse told the tribunal.
The tribunal determined that the dentist's poor hygiene habits made him unfit to practice and struck him off the dental register, banning him from work.
"You urinated into a sink in your surgery following which you did not wash your hands and then proceeded to treat a patient. This behavior was clearly inappropriate and is completely unacceptable," the tribunal chairman said.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Eggs will raise your cholesterol, and other myths...
Health Reuters.com
Tue Apr 3, 2007. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Avoid eggs. Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Eating carbs will make you fat. Nutritional advice such as this has been touted for years -- but is it accurate?
Not necessarily, according to Wendy Repovich, an exercise physiologist at Eastern Washington University in Cheyenne, Washington, who did her best to dispel several common nutrition misconceptions during an American College of Sports Medicine-sponsored health and fitness summit held recently in Dallas.
"Eating eggs will raise your cholesterol." This myth started because egg yolks have the most concentrated amount of cholesterol in any food, Repovich told Reuters Health. However, when eaten in moderation, eggs do not contain enough cholesterol to pose health risks, she said.
"Most people avoid eggs and probably if they have any kind of cardiovascular risk their physicians tell them to avoid eggs," Repovich said. "But really, there aren't a whole lot of studies that show that one or two eggs a day really make a difference to cholesterol levels."
"Eating carbohydrates makes you fat" is another myth. Cutting carbs from the diet may help a person shed pounds due to water loss from a decrease in carbohydrate stores, Repovich said, but eating carbs in moderation does not directly lead to weight gain.
Here's another myth. "Drink 8 glasses of water a day." Repovich said people need to replace water lost through breathing, urinating, sweating each day -- but that doesn't necessarily total 64 ounces of water.
"I see an awful lot of people carrying bottled water around," Repovich said. "I think people are still under the impression that they have to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but most people don't realize they get water from other sources in the diet."
And too much water can be harmful, Repovich warned, leading possibly to an imbalance in the body of sodium, a condition called hyponatremia.
It's also a myth, Repovich said, that everyone needs vitamin supplements, although she admits to popping a multivitamin each morning. People who eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, along with moderate amounts of a variety of low-fat dairy and protein and the right quantity of calories, probably don't need a vitamin supplement, she said.
"But for the most part, we don't eat the way we should so probably a simple multivitamin is good for most people," Repovich said.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Tue Apr 3, 2007. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Avoid eggs. Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Eating carbs will make you fat. Nutritional advice such as this has been touted for years -- but is it accurate?
Not necessarily, according to Wendy Repovich, an exercise physiologist at Eastern Washington University in Cheyenne, Washington, who did her best to dispel several common nutrition misconceptions during an American College of Sports Medicine-sponsored health and fitness summit held recently in Dallas.
"Eating eggs will raise your cholesterol." This myth started because egg yolks have the most concentrated amount of cholesterol in any food, Repovich told Reuters Health. However, when eaten in moderation, eggs do not contain enough cholesterol to pose health risks, she said.
"Most people avoid eggs and probably if they have any kind of cardiovascular risk their physicians tell them to avoid eggs," Repovich said. "But really, there aren't a whole lot of studies that show that one or two eggs a day really make a difference to cholesterol levels."
"Eating carbohydrates makes you fat" is another myth. Cutting carbs from the diet may help a person shed pounds due to water loss from a decrease in carbohydrate stores, Repovich said, but eating carbs in moderation does not directly lead to weight gain.
Here's another myth. "Drink 8 glasses of water a day." Repovich said people need to replace water lost through breathing, urinating, sweating each day -- but that doesn't necessarily total 64 ounces of water.
"I see an awful lot of people carrying bottled water around," Repovich said. "I think people are still under the impression that they have to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but most people don't realize they get water from other sources in the diet."
And too much water can be harmful, Repovich warned, leading possibly to an imbalance in the body of sodium, a condition called hyponatremia.
It's also a myth, Repovich said, that everyone needs vitamin supplements, although she admits to popping a multivitamin each morning. People who eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, along with moderate amounts of a variety of low-fat dairy and protein and the right quantity of calories, probably don't need a vitamin supplement, she said.
"But for the most part, we don't eat the way we should so probably a simple multivitamin is good for most people," Repovich said.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Microsoft issues emergency Windows patch...
Computerworld Robert McMillan (IDG News Service)
04/04/2007 Get the Facts: Window Servers vs Linux Zone
With attackers finding more ways to exploit a critical flaw in its Windows operating system, Microsoft has published an emergency software patch.
The update fixes seven separate Windows vulnerabilities, but security experts are most concerned about a bug in the way Windows processes .ani Animated Cursor files. Online criminals have been exploiting this bug since late last week.
This is the only one of the seven vulnerabilities rated "critical" by Microsoft.
Microsoft was forced to release the early update a week ahead of schedule because attacks had become too widespread, director of malicious code intelligence with iDefense, Ken Dunham, said. "We have over 400 different URLs identified and related to attacks, and multiple emails have been sent out that direct people back there," he said. "We have proof that organised groups are now launching attacks."
The .ani attack vector would probably be one of the most prevalent and persistent types of attacks over the next months and years, he said.
Exploit code for the flaw had now been added to the widely used Metasploit hacking tool, and there were automated malicious website generation tools available, he said.
This is the third such "out-of-band" patch release Microsoft has made since January 2006. While attacks based on this .ani flaw are still considered limited, exploitation of the bug is following trends similar to the Windows Metafile (WMF) and Vector Markup Language (VML) vulnerabilities that were patched in the other two updates, according to director of Microsoft's Security Response Center, Mark Miller.
Microsoft had seen only Web-based exploitation of the .ani flaw, Miller said. "There have been some indications that email has been used, but we haven't seen anything on that front."
It was first notified of the flaw in December 2006 by security vendor, Determina.
Earlier this week, a Determina executive said Microsoft would have been better off issuing a patch for the .ani flaw sooner, rather than waiting for the April update and forcing customers to rush an emergency fix. "The customers are now going to incur the same cost as they would before, except that they are going to have to do this in panic," Determina's vice-president of marketing, Nand Mulchandani, said. "I have no idea why they didn't do this earlier."
Miller defended Microsoft's decision. He said that because the .ani flaw could affect other applications it required a great deal of testing. "The amount of time taken to patch was appropriate given the level of quality we were trying to release with," Miller said.
Windows users are strongly encouraged to install the patch, because the .ani flaw can be used to exploit computers running virtually any version of Windows, including Vista, even if they are running non-Microsoft browsers like Firefox and Opera, Mulchandani said.
04/04/2007 Get the Facts: Window Servers vs Linux Zone
With attackers finding more ways to exploit a critical flaw in its Windows operating system, Microsoft has published an emergency software patch.
The update fixes seven separate Windows vulnerabilities, but security experts are most concerned about a bug in the way Windows processes .ani Animated Cursor files. Online criminals have been exploiting this bug since late last week.
This is the only one of the seven vulnerabilities rated "critical" by Microsoft.
Microsoft was forced to release the early update a week ahead of schedule because attacks had become too widespread, director of malicious code intelligence with iDefense, Ken Dunham, said. "We have over 400 different URLs identified and related to attacks, and multiple emails have been sent out that direct people back there," he said. "We have proof that organised groups are now launching attacks."
The .ani attack vector would probably be one of the most prevalent and persistent types of attacks over the next months and years, he said.
Exploit code for the flaw had now been added to the widely used Metasploit hacking tool, and there were automated malicious website generation tools available, he said.
This is the third such "out-of-band" patch release Microsoft has made since January 2006. While attacks based on this .ani flaw are still considered limited, exploitation of the bug is following trends similar to the Windows Metafile (WMF) and Vector Markup Language (VML) vulnerabilities that were patched in the other two updates, according to director of Microsoft's Security Response Center, Mark Miller.
Microsoft had seen only Web-based exploitation of the .ani flaw, Miller said. "There have been some indications that email has been used, but we haven't seen anything on that front."
It was first notified of the flaw in December 2006 by security vendor, Determina.
Earlier this week, a Determina executive said Microsoft would have been better off issuing a patch for the .ani flaw sooner, rather than waiting for the April update and forcing customers to rush an emergency fix. "The customers are now going to incur the same cost as they would before, except that they are going to have to do this in panic," Determina's vice-president of marketing, Nand Mulchandani, said. "I have no idea why they didn't do this earlier."
Miller defended Microsoft's decision. He said that because the .ani flaw could affect other applications it required a great deal of testing. "The amount of time taken to patch was appropriate given the level of quality we were trying to release with," Miller said.
Windows users are strongly encouraged to install the patch, because the .ani flaw can be used to exploit computers running virtually any version of Windows, including Vista, even if they are running non-Microsoft browsers like Firefox and Opera, Mulchandani said.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
French set new rail speed record...
BBC NEWS Europe
<---The modified TGV was powered by two engines
Tuesday, 3 April 2007. A French high-speed train (TGV) has smashed the world record for a train on rails by a big margin, reaching 574.8km/h (356mph). The previous TGV record was 515km/h (320mph), set in 1990.
The record attempt by a modified TGV took place on a track between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg.
The absolute train speed record was set by a Japanese magnetic levitation train - Maglev - in 2003. It reached 581km/h (361mph).
The TGV set the new record at 1314 (1114GMT) on Tuesday. It was a modified version called V150, with larger wheels than usual and two engines driving three double-decker cars.
V150 TRAIN
Two engines - one at each end
Three double-decker cars
Three motorised bogies
Power output: more than 25,000 horsepower
Cost: 30m euros (£22m; $40m)
The event was broadcast live on French TV.
The train travelled almost as fast as a World War II Spitfire fighter at top speed.
The electrical tension in the overhead cable was boosted from 25,000 volts to 31,000 for the record attempt.
French TGV trains, in service since 1981, generally travel at about 300km/h. But from 10 June they will be allowed to reach 320km/h on the recently opened Paris-Strasbourg LGV Est line.
SNCF and the train's makers Alstom say the record attempt represents a test on the infrastructure in extreme conditions, which is impossible to carry out in the laboratory.
Alstom also aims to boost TGV sales abroad, where it is competing with the Japanese Shinkansen and the German Inter-City Express high-speed trains.
China, South Korea and Taiwan are the most important customers for high-speed trains.
<---The modified TGV was powered by two enginesTuesday, 3 April 2007. A French high-speed train (TGV) has smashed the world record for a train on rails by a big margin, reaching 574.8km/h (356mph). The previous TGV record was 515km/h (320mph), set in 1990.
The record attempt by a modified TGV took place on a track between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg.
The absolute train speed record was set by a Japanese magnetic levitation train - Maglev - in 2003. It reached 581km/h (361mph).
The TGV set the new record at 1314 (1114GMT) on Tuesday. It was a modified version called V150, with larger wheels than usual and two engines driving three double-decker cars.
V150 TRAIN
Two engines - one at each end
Three double-decker cars
Three motorised bogies
Power output: more than 25,000 horsepower
Cost: 30m euros (£22m; $40m)
The event was broadcast live on French TV.
The train travelled almost as fast as a World War II Spitfire fighter at top speed.
The electrical tension in the overhead cable was boosted from 25,000 volts to 31,000 for the record attempt.
French TGV trains, in service since 1981, generally travel at about 300km/h. But from 10 June they will be allowed to reach 320km/h on the recently opened Paris-Strasbourg LGV Est line.
SNCF and the train's makers Alstom say the record attempt represents a test on the infrastructure in extreme conditions, which is impossible to carry out in the laboratory.
Alstom also aims to boost TGV sales abroad, where it is competing with the Japanese Shinkansen and the German Inter-City Express high-speed trains.
China, South Korea and Taiwan are the most important customers for high-speed trains.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Australian judge faces fraud over speeding ticket...
Reuters.com
Thu Mar 29, 2007.SYDNEY (Reuters) - A former Australian judge, who blamed a dead woman for a speeding offence in his car, has been charged by police and could face a hefty jail sentence over his attempts to avoid a A$77 ($62) traffic fine.
After a long-running investigation that has attracted nationwide publicity, police laid 13 separate charges of perjury, perverting the course of justice and other offences against former judge and human rights advocate Marcus Einfeld.
A Sydney newspaper last year sparked the massive police investigation into the use of statutory declarations to avoid speeding fines after revealing a woman blamed for driving Einfeld's car had died three years before the offence. "It will be alleged that the offences relate to four separate camera detection infringement notices," chief police investigator Colin Dyson told reporters.
The police investigation found 240 people had also used a scam to blame another dead person, or a man living in another state, after their cars were photographed speeding or committing traffic offences.
A Sydney court last August dismissed a speeding charge against Einfeld when he provided a declaration that he had loaned his car to an old friend from the United States on the day of the offence.
A Sydney newspaper which attempted to verify Einfeld's story later found the woman had died in a car accident in 2003 -- three years before Einfeld's car was photographed speeding in Sydney.
Einfeld, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, was bailed to appear in court in April. The offences he is now charged with carry sentences of up to 14 years in jail.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Thu Mar 29, 2007.SYDNEY (Reuters) - A former Australian judge, who blamed a dead woman for a speeding offence in his car, has been charged by police and could face a hefty jail sentence over his attempts to avoid a A$77 ($62) traffic fine.
After a long-running investigation that has attracted nationwide publicity, police laid 13 separate charges of perjury, perverting the course of justice and other offences against former judge and human rights advocate Marcus Einfeld.
A Sydney newspaper last year sparked the massive police investigation into the use of statutory declarations to avoid speeding fines after revealing a woman blamed for driving Einfeld's car had died three years before the offence. "It will be alleged that the offences relate to four separate camera detection infringement notices," chief police investigator Colin Dyson told reporters.
The police investigation found 240 people had also used a scam to blame another dead person, or a man living in another state, after their cars were photographed speeding or committing traffic offences.
A Sydney court last August dismissed a speeding charge against Einfeld when he provided a declaration that he had loaned his car to an old friend from the United States on the day of the offence.
A Sydney newspaper which attempted to verify Einfeld's story later found the woman had died in a car accident in 2003 -- three years before Einfeld's car was photographed speeding in Sydney.
Einfeld, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, was bailed to appear in court in April. The offences he is now charged with carry sentences of up to 14 years in jail.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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