A small New York technology firm said Friday it was planning to sue the world top search titan Google Inc for up to 5 bln usd for patent violation in the Internet telephony software used in Google Talk.
Jerry Weinberger, chief executive of Rates Technology Inc (RTI) claimed that he, was the inventor of software programming that allows telephone calls to be placed over the Internet.
He said 120 companies, including Lucent, Cisco, IBM, Yahoo and Microsoft, have paid RTI to use the technology for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls.
RTI filed suit in a Long Island federal court against Google two months ago because the search engine was using the technology without authorization, Weinberger said after the New York Post reported the lawsuit Friday.
Weinberger alleged that Google has abused two patented RTI software programs in Google Talk, which enables users to talk through a computer headset or to instant message each other for free.
He said Google could be liable for damages of up to 5 bln usd in a trial, unless it settles the complaint out of court.
Google spokesman Steve Langdon responded dismissively. 'We believe the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously,' he said. newsdesk@afxnews.com
www.us.internationalreporter.com
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Best friends with a taste for business and the good life
WHEN James Packer first met his London business partner, Damian Aspinall, the two men knew of each other only through their fathers, who were friends.
Both fathers were larger than life, superbly wealthy tycoons with a voracious taste for chance; Packer senior was notorious in London for his aggressive style and casino boss John Aspinall's collection of exotic animals (he raised Damian in the company of silverback gorillas) had made him a national figure of fascination.
Both sons, therefore, were persons of intense interest to London society in the early 1990s, when they reached manhood.
"We met at a dinner in London to welcome the new boy," was Damian Aspinall's subsequent recollection of their introduction.
"An English twat who had never met Jamie before said, 'I would like to propose a toast to Jamie, not because of who you are and how much you've got, but because you are a true friend'," he recalls. Everyone else around the table rose except Aspinall, who has inherited his now-deceased father's bluntness.
"I am not your friend," he declared. "I have never met you. I only came here because of who you are, what you've got and how much I can get out of you."
Packer junior's response was to grasp Aspinall's hand, telling him he was "the only genuine one here".
A profitable friendship was born and now the pair are poised to open a string of high-end casinos across Britain, taking advantage of the British Government's recent decision to license a new generation of gaming houses.
The Packer behemoth Consolidated Press Holdings co-owns with Aspinall the fledgling casino company Aspers, which has just opened a lush new casino at Newcastle
Damian Aspinall, now 45, did badly at school and was handed an air ticket to Australia at the age of 16, but built his own empire without help from his father and had made his first million in property dealing before the age of 30.
In James Packer, he recognised another product of stern fathering.
"Jamie is my best friend,' said Aspinall in 2000, in a rare interview upon the death of his father.
"(He's) the only son of that lot that I am close to. I have met so many sons like that and they are useless."
That's not to say that life for the junior tycoons has been all work and no play.
During the 1990s, James was a regular visitor to London and his dalliances included one with Sylvester Stallone's girlfriend Jennifer Flavin.
Damian's girlfriends included Naomi Campbell and the glamorous Petrina Khashoggi.
In 1999, Damian was best man at James Packer's wedding to Jodie Meares.
Oddly enough, his date to that event was Erica Baxter, now a fixture at James's side.
www.smh.com.au
Both fathers were larger than life, superbly wealthy tycoons with a voracious taste for chance; Packer senior was notorious in London for his aggressive style and casino boss John Aspinall's collection of exotic animals (he raised Damian in the company of silverback gorillas) had made him a national figure of fascination.
Both sons, therefore, were persons of intense interest to London society in the early 1990s, when they reached manhood.
"We met at a dinner in London to welcome the new boy," was Damian Aspinall's subsequent recollection of their introduction.
"An English twat who had never met Jamie before said, 'I would like to propose a toast to Jamie, not because of who you are and how much you've got, but because you are a true friend'," he recalls. Everyone else around the table rose except Aspinall, who has inherited his now-deceased father's bluntness.
"I am not your friend," he declared. "I have never met you. I only came here because of who you are, what you've got and how much I can get out of you."
Packer junior's response was to grasp Aspinall's hand, telling him he was "the only genuine one here".
A profitable friendship was born and now the pair are poised to open a string of high-end casinos across Britain, taking advantage of the British Government's recent decision to license a new generation of gaming houses.
The Packer behemoth Consolidated Press Holdings co-owns with Aspinall the fledgling casino company Aspers, which has just opened a lush new casino at Newcastle
Damian Aspinall, now 45, did badly at school and was handed an air ticket to Australia at the age of 16, but built his own empire without help from his father and had made his first million in property dealing before the age of 30.
In James Packer, he recognised another product of stern fathering.
"Jamie is my best friend,' said Aspinall in 2000, in a rare interview upon the death of his father.
"(He's) the only son of that lot that I am close to. I have met so many sons like that and they are useless."
That's not to say that life for the junior tycoons has been all work and no play.
During the 1990s, James was a regular visitor to London and his dalliances included one with Sylvester Stallone's girlfriend Jennifer Flavin.
Damian's girlfriends included Naomi Campbell and the glamorous Petrina Khashoggi.
In 1999, Damian was best man at James Packer's wedding to Jodie Meares.
Oddly enough, his date to that event was Erica Baxter, now a fixture at James's side.
www.smh.com.au
Medicare will drive health sector in 06
The new Medicare Part D prescription-drug benefit will be a major driver of the health-insurance sector in 2006, market analysts predicted, and certain health plans are already emerging as the front runners.
'I think Wall Street has been excited about the potential for the Medicare benefit, and the new members who will be booked into these plans (through) health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs), but also, of course, the (Medicare Part D plan, Jane DuBose, a managed care market analyst with Nashville-based Health Leaders-InterStudy, told United Press International.
'I think the potential will be realized for some companies, but for others. it will not. I think the market will begin to reflect the winners and losers,' she said.
In fact, according to DuBose, the difference between the clear winners and the also-rans, as with most business sectors, boils down to strategic alliances, getting the brand into consumers` consciousness, and location, location, location.
'I think United Health Group will clearly do well because they have this partnership with (American Association of Retired Persons) and that`s a name that seniors trust,' DuBose said.
'Humana will do well because they`ve been the most aggressive at marketing, and they have partnered with Walmart,' she added.
'I`ve seen statistics about the number of seniors who actually walk into a Walmart. Humana has had on site real people to answer questions.
I think that`s going to be a good strategy, so they`ve really blanketed in terms of marketing,' she said.
In addition, Humana has entered into numerous new PPOs across the country that will further increase the health-insurance giant`s exposure, DuBose noted.
Also, WellPoint -- expected to merge in 2006 with WellChoice -- is most likely to cash in on Medicare`s Part D in the nation`s heartland, she predicted. 'WellPoint has very strong presence in the Midwest,' DuBose said.
On the other hand, she predicted 'a toss up whether Aetna, Signa and Pacificare will be able to get their share' in this emerging market.
Although there are 10 or 11 national (health insurance) carriers, DuBose pointed out, 'in some states, you just don`t see marketing from some of these vendors. Pharmaceutical benefit management organizations (PBMs) like Medco Health Solutions and Caremark, for example, just don`t get into the (consumer) consciousness as much as these health plans in terms of marketing, so I`m not sure they`ll do as well as some of the health plans,' she said.
Medicare`s new program, which takes effect Jan. 1, will also unveil another first-of-its kind plan, the Medicare PPO -- and another potential cash cow for the major health-insurance players, DuBose added.
'The interesting thing about the (Medicare) PPO is, this is the first time that seniors all over the country, rural areas and urban, are going to have access to these (plans). In the past, it was only financially feasible for these health plans to offer the plans in urban markets,' she noted.
So which health insurer is most likely to benefit? 'Humana, big time,' DuBose predicted.
'They`re staking more than any other health plan on the acceptance of the Medicare PPO concept. The question is whether seniors want to do it, but if anybody gets uptake, it would be (Humana) because they simply have gone into more regions than anybody else in the country,' she said.
WellPoint, with its high Midwest profile, is also banking on the Medicare PPO, launching regional PPOs in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, she said. Other potential PPO winners include certain Blue Cross plans, DuBose added.
'Blue Cross of South Carolina, which is sort of a quiet giant that is not publicly held, is going to do the regional PPO concept in South Carolina and Georgia,' she said.
Charles Boorady, a managed-care-industry analyst with Citigroup, agreed that Medicare`s prescription-drug benefit will be a primary market mover in 2006.
'The summit ahead would be the largest expansion of Medicare since its inception and the largest privatization in our history: that of Medicare recipients (transitioning) into private health plans,' Boorady said in a note issued earlier this week.
www.news.monstersandcritics.com
'I think Wall Street has been excited about the potential for the Medicare benefit, and the new members who will be booked into these plans (through) health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs), but also, of course, the (Medicare Part D plan, Jane DuBose, a managed care market analyst with Nashville-based Health Leaders-InterStudy, told United Press International.
'I think the potential will be realized for some companies, but for others. it will not. I think the market will begin to reflect the winners and losers,' she said.
In fact, according to DuBose, the difference between the clear winners and the also-rans, as with most business sectors, boils down to strategic alliances, getting the brand into consumers` consciousness, and location, location, location.
'I think United Health Group will clearly do well because they have this partnership with (American Association of Retired Persons) and that`s a name that seniors trust,' DuBose said.
'Humana will do well because they`ve been the most aggressive at marketing, and they have partnered with Walmart,' she added.
'I`ve seen statistics about the number of seniors who actually walk into a Walmart. Humana has had on site real people to answer questions.
I think that`s going to be a good strategy, so they`ve really blanketed in terms of marketing,' she said.
In addition, Humana has entered into numerous new PPOs across the country that will further increase the health-insurance giant`s exposure, DuBose noted.
Also, WellPoint -- expected to merge in 2006 with WellChoice -- is most likely to cash in on Medicare`s Part D in the nation`s heartland, she predicted. 'WellPoint has very strong presence in the Midwest,' DuBose said.
On the other hand, she predicted 'a toss up whether Aetna, Signa and Pacificare will be able to get their share' in this emerging market.
Although there are 10 or 11 national (health insurance) carriers, DuBose pointed out, 'in some states, you just don`t see marketing from some of these vendors. Pharmaceutical benefit management organizations (PBMs) like Medco Health Solutions and Caremark, for example, just don`t get into the (consumer) consciousness as much as these health plans in terms of marketing, so I`m not sure they`ll do as well as some of the health plans,' she said.
Medicare`s new program, which takes effect Jan. 1, will also unveil another first-of-its kind plan, the Medicare PPO -- and another potential cash cow for the major health-insurance players, DuBose added.
'The interesting thing about the (Medicare) PPO is, this is the first time that seniors all over the country, rural areas and urban, are going to have access to these (plans). In the past, it was only financially feasible for these health plans to offer the plans in urban markets,' she noted.
So which health insurer is most likely to benefit? 'Humana, big time,' DuBose predicted.
'They`re staking more than any other health plan on the acceptance of the Medicare PPO concept. The question is whether seniors want to do it, but if anybody gets uptake, it would be (Humana) because they simply have gone into more regions than anybody else in the country,' she said.
WellPoint, with its high Midwest profile, is also banking on the Medicare PPO, launching regional PPOs in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, she said. Other potential PPO winners include certain Blue Cross plans, DuBose added.
'Blue Cross of South Carolina, which is sort of a quiet giant that is not publicly held, is going to do the regional PPO concept in South Carolina and Georgia,' she said.
Charles Boorady, a managed-care-industry analyst with Citigroup, agreed that Medicare`s prescription-drug benefit will be a primary market mover in 2006.
'The summit ahead would be the largest expansion of Medicare since its inception and the largest privatization in our history: that of Medicare recipients (transitioning) into private health plans,' Boorady said in a note issued earlier this week.
www.news.monstersandcritics.com
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Alcohol causing child health problems
RECORD numbers of British children were treated in hospital last year with alcohol-related problems, The Daily Telegraph reported today, quoting figures from the Liberal Democrats opposition party.Some 4, 09 children were admitted to accident and emergency units for the effects of drinking alcohol in 2004-05, a rise of 15 per cent since Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour party came to power in 1997.
The illnesses included cirrhosis, mental behaviour disorders and the toxic effects of drinking when young, the newspaper said.
The Department of Health figures also showed a rise in the number of adults admitted to hospital for drink-related conditions, up 30 per cent from 35,740 in 1996-97 to 46,299 in 2004-05.
The Times said the Government was looking to get tough with unscrupulous retailers who sold alcohol illegally to under-18s and that binge-drinking among under-age youngsters could reach record levels over the new year weekend.
One of the arguments for relaxing the licensing laws was that it would allow more civilised socialising.
But opponents argued that because of Britain's hard-drinking reputation, it would merely increase alcohol abuse, drink-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au
The illnesses included cirrhosis, mental behaviour disorders and the toxic effects of drinking when young, the newspaper said.
The Department of Health figures also showed a rise in the number of adults admitted to hospital for drink-related conditions, up 30 per cent from 35,740 in 1996-97 to 46,299 in 2004-05.
The Times said the Government was looking to get tough with unscrupulous retailers who sold alcohol illegally to under-18s and that binge-drinking among under-age youngsters could reach record levels over the new year weekend.
One of the arguments for relaxing the licensing laws was that it would allow more civilised socialising.
But opponents argued that because of Britain's hard-drinking reputation, it would merely increase alcohol abuse, drink-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Business dispute suspected in Russia gas attack
A gas attack in a home-supply store on one of the busiest shopping days of the year sickened scores of people yesterday in an incident that police called likely motivated by a commercial dispute or blackmail attempt.
Boxes containing timers wired to glass vials were discovered at the attack scene and three other stores in the same chain in Russia's second-largest city.
Seventy-eight people sought medical care: 66 were briefly hospitalized and sent home, officials said. Police said the store where the people were sickened hadn't opened for the day and all those affected were employees or police, ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Officials with the Maksidom home-supply chain, which sells furnishings, home-repair material and other domestic articles, said they had received recent threats that sales would be disrupted around New Year's, when Russians traditionally give holiday gifts.
Most efforts to undermine competitors' sales in Russia's sharp-elbowed free market take the form of negative advertising or damaging rumours. Business-related violence nonetheless remains a feature of the cutthroat capitalism that enveloped Russia following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
"The first reaction is that it is one of the competitors of this store chain," St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said in televised comments.
St. Petersburg police spokesman Vyacheslav Stepchenko said the gas appeared to be methyl mercaptan, which smells like rotten cabbage and is both naturally occurring and manufactured for use in plastics and pesticides. It rarely has long-lasting effects.
Employees at the branch where people were sickened said they heard a noise like a clap or pop before people smelled a garlicky odour and began to feel ill. Police called to the scene found a mechanism with a timer attached to shattered ampoules, and patients complained of nausea and vomiting, Stepchenko said.
He said a custodian at another branch discovered a suspicious box before opening time and found ampoules attached to wires and a timer inside. The woman inadvertently broke one of the ampoules and noticed a repulsive smell but was not sickened, he said.
Boxes with glass containers attached to timers were found in two other stores by employees who carried them outside and covered them with buckets; police explosives experts defused them, Stepchenko said.
www.thestar.com
Boxes containing timers wired to glass vials were discovered at the attack scene and three other stores in the same chain in Russia's second-largest city.
Seventy-eight people sought medical care: 66 were briefly hospitalized and sent home, officials said. Police said the store where the people were sickened hadn't opened for the day and all those affected were employees or police, ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Officials with the Maksidom home-supply chain, which sells furnishings, home-repair material and other domestic articles, said they had received recent threats that sales would be disrupted around New Year's, when Russians traditionally give holiday gifts.
Most efforts to undermine competitors' sales in Russia's sharp-elbowed free market take the form of negative advertising or damaging rumours. Business-related violence nonetheless remains a feature of the cutthroat capitalism that enveloped Russia following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
"The first reaction is that it is one of the competitors of this store chain," St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said in televised comments.
St. Petersburg police spokesman Vyacheslav Stepchenko said the gas appeared to be methyl mercaptan, which smells like rotten cabbage and is both naturally occurring and manufactured for use in plastics and pesticides. It rarely has long-lasting effects.
Employees at the branch where people were sickened said they heard a noise like a clap or pop before people smelled a garlicky odour and began to feel ill. Police called to the scene found a mechanism with a timer attached to shattered ampoules, and patients complained of nausea and vomiting, Stepchenko said.
He said a custodian at another branch discovered a suspicious box before opening time and found ampoules attached to wires and a timer inside. The woman inadvertently broke one of the ampoules and noticed a repulsive smell but was not sickened, he said.
Boxes with glass containers attached to timers were found in two other stores by employees who carried them outside and covered them with buckets; police explosives experts defused them, Stepchenko said.
www.thestar.com
Current Technology Expands Scope of Strategic Laser & MedSpa Negotiations
Current Technology has expanded significantly the scope of its negotiations with Jaseon Olcese, President and Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Laser & MedSpa, LLC ("Strategic Laser").
Rather than a focus on developing a relationship with one or more specific customers, the objective is to rollout Current Technology's proprietary CTG (CosmeticTrichoGenesis) Mark 5 in the United States nationwide on a revenue sharing basis to selected salons and spas.
"Revenue sharing is the optimal approach to maximize shareholder value," states CEO Robert Kramer, "as it has the potential to significantly increase the amount of revenue the company may earn from a particular unit."
Historically, revenue in the United States has been generated primarily from a combination of the sale of units to distributors and the Technology Use Fees ("TUF" or royalty) charged on each use. Although the TUF may vary, it typically represents 5% to 10% of the ultimate retail price charged to the end user.
The financial model being negotiated with Jason Olcese would involve the sale at cost by Current Technology of CTG Mark 5s to Strategic Laser. In turn, Strategic Laser would place the units in high traffic salon and spa locations throughout the United States. Current Technology would earn a TUF of 30% of the price charged to the customer.
"We are in the process of developing the plan for the necessary infrastructure to successfully launch into the US market," states Strategic Laser's Jason Olcese. "I have shared my vision with Current Technology's executives for the national launch into the US market and we are in the process of finalizing negotiations to make this vision come to life."
"Jason has the vision, marketing talent and financial ability to achieve our goal of making CTG Mark 5 a 'must have' part of the vibrant beauty and spa industry in the United States," continues Kramer.
In order to achieve the vision of a national roll out on a revenue sharing basis in the United States, certain legacy distribution agreements had to be re-negotiated. To that end Current Technology on December 23, 2005 agreed to issue 1,400,000 restricted common shares as consideration for the termination of all exclusive distribution agreements in the United States. In addition, the pilot distributorship agreement with p6 Inc. announced September 29, 2005 has terminated.
"We are now in a position to move forward throughout the United States," continues Kramer. "We are reviewing various financial models with Jason, based on an initial placement of between 120 and 200 CTG Mark 5 units in prime markets. We are obviously very excited about this opportunity and look forward to the successful conclusion of negotiations and placement of the initial order in early 2006."
ABOUT CURRENT TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
Current Technology Corporation remains committed to developing its non- invasive pulsed electro-stimulation technology.
This technology has enabled the company to develop two separate and distinct products emanating from the TrichoGenesis platform, thus far, that offer help for those concerned with their hair: ElectroTrichoGenesis (ETG) and CosmeticTrichoGenesis (CTG). Current Technology holds patents throughout the world and has spent over US $15 million in research and development of its TrichoGenesis platform and systems. The patents encompass the technology, methodology and design of the Company's products.
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release may be considered "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management.
Investors are cautioned that any such forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect actual results. The Company disclaims any obligations to update any forward-looking statement as a result of developments occurring after the date of this news release.
www.biz.yahoo.com
Rather than a focus on developing a relationship with one or more specific customers, the objective is to rollout Current Technology's proprietary CTG (CosmeticTrichoGenesis) Mark 5 in the United States nationwide on a revenue sharing basis to selected salons and spas.
"Revenue sharing is the optimal approach to maximize shareholder value," states CEO Robert Kramer, "as it has the potential to significantly increase the amount of revenue the company may earn from a particular unit."
Historically, revenue in the United States has been generated primarily from a combination of the sale of units to distributors and the Technology Use Fees ("TUF" or royalty) charged on each use. Although the TUF may vary, it typically represents 5% to 10% of the ultimate retail price charged to the end user.
The financial model being negotiated with Jason Olcese would involve the sale at cost by Current Technology of CTG Mark 5s to Strategic Laser. In turn, Strategic Laser would place the units in high traffic salon and spa locations throughout the United States. Current Technology would earn a TUF of 30% of the price charged to the customer.
"We are in the process of developing the plan for the necessary infrastructure to successfully launch into the US market," states Strategic Laser's Jason Olcese. "I have shared my vision with Current Technology's executives for the national launch into the US market and we are in the process of finalizing negotiations to make this vision come to life."
"Jason has the vision, marketing talent and financial ability to achieve our goal of making CTG Mark 5 a 'must have' part of the vibrant beauty and spa industry in the United States," continues Kramer.
In order to achieve the vision of a national roll out on a revenue sharing basis in the United States, certain legacy distribution agreements had to be re-negotiated. To that end Current Technology on December 23, 2005 agreed to issue 1,400,000 restricted common shares as consideration for the termination of all exclusive distribution agreements in the United States. In addition, the pilot distributorship agreement with p6 Inc. announced September 29, 2005 has terminated.
"We are now in a position to move forward throughout the United States," continues Kramer. "We are reviewing various financial models with Jason, based on an initial placement of between 120 and 200 CTG Mark 5 units in prime markets. We are obviously very excited about this opportunity and look forward to the successful conclusion of negotiations and placement of the initial order in early 2006."
ABOUT CURRENT TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
Current Technology Corporation remains committed to developing its non- invasive pulsed electro-stimulation technology.
This technology has enabled the company to develop two separate and distinct products emanating from the TrichoGenesis platform, thus far, that offer help for those concerned with their hair: ElectroTrichoGenesis (ETG) and CosmeticTrichoGenesis (CTG). Current Technology holds patents throughout the world and has spent over US $15 million in research and development of its TrichoGenesis platform and systems. The patents encompass the technology, methodology and design of the Company's products.
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release may be considered "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management.
Investors are cautioned that any such forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect actual results. The Company disclaims any obligations to update any forward-looking statement as a result of developments occurring after the date of this news release.
www.biz.yahoo.com
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Children's health gains are at risk of reversal
It is bitterly ironic that during this season when our newspapers and televisions are filled with touching stories of children with a variety of serious chronic illnesses -- such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes, cancer, autism and sickle cell anemia -- the policies that shape our public commitment to these children have never been at greater risk.
Children with a chronic illness require two things: comprehensive health insurance and access to specialty care. The good news is that a number of counties, led by efforts in Santa Clara County, have implemented programs to provide basic health coverage for all children. The bad news is that the development of county-by-county programs is creating a highly inefficient patchwork quilt of programs with differing eligibility and benefit rules. Moreover, this haphazard approach leaves the long-term funding base for many of these programs unclear.
The second requirement, access to specialty medical care, is the essential component at greater risk. During the 1960s and 1970s, California created regional networks of community providers and specialty hospitals to facilitate referrals and immediate hospitalization for children with complex or critical cases. Coordinated by California Children's Services, a state agency, these networks have had a dramatic impact, resulting in great improvements in children's survival and quality of life. The system is one of the real triumphs of modern child health care.
This success, however, is currently being undermined by a remarkable indifference to the needs of seriously ill children as federal and state governments seek to cut health care spending. In Washington, the recently passed House budget covered the costs associated with Hurricane Katrina by slashing Medicaid funding for the poor and disabled. Beyond its breathtaking cynicism, this step will ultimately hurt our state's ability to address the needs of poor children with serious illness.
At the state level, a variety of proposals are swirling in Sacramento to dramatically alter or abolish our current systems for caring for seriously ill children. Although some are well-intended and seek to make much-needed improvements, most are concerned with cutting costs and are wildly uninformed. A major problem with much of this discussion is that children are being thrown into policy changes that are primarily directed at adults. This is understandable in some measure because the vast bulk of expenditures are generated by adults.
But children are not just small adults. Their patterns of health problems are very different and they are far more vulnerable to even slight interruptions in access to specialty care. This is because serious, urgent illnesses in children are relatively rare. While most health care facilities have the capacity to handle most serious adult cases such as heart attacks and diabetes, they commonly lack experience in dealing with seriously ill children, such as a 6-year-old who has sickle cell anemia with acute chest syndrome, a relatively rare but urgent, life-threatening condition in a child.
The regional referral systems have been set up precisely to address this kind of situation. However, these networks are based on a fragile set of financial structures, and great care will be needed to ensure that revised policies strengthen rather than undermine them.
The issue is not really one of cost. Public expenditures on children's health are minuscule when compared to those spent on adults. Indeed, this is one of the main reasons that children's health issues are being overshadowed by a focus on adult care. The current approach seems to be to worry about the elements of the adult policies now and deal with the child-focused details sometime in the future. The problem is that children with severe disorders live and die in the details.
A recent survey from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health (``What Bay Area Parents Worry About Most,'' San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 27) pointed up some of the many financial and emotional pressures faced by parents of children with chronic illnesses (see accompanying box). Today, there is a striking opportunity for the governor and the Legislature to provide statewide leadership in support of those families.
First, there can be no excuse for not working with the counties in creating a strong and stable program to insure all children in California. The counties already have done the heavy lifting on this issue; it is time for the state to act. Second, the incoherence in the public debate over the best ways to reform programs for children with chronic illnesses must end.
Our elected leaders must ensure that the enormous capacities and commitment of state health agencies are more purposefully linked to the real-world insights of parents with seriously ill children and health providers who have long cared for these children.
Such a process will best ensure that necessary reforms and cost reductions are constructive and that the quality and coordination of care actually improve.
However, without such a process -- one that respects the special requirements of children -- the successes of the past will be left unprotected, the real opportunities for constructive change will go untouched and, ultimately, our hearts and private charity will be increasingly uncoupled from our collective commitment to health policies that are both effective and just.
Parenting children
with chronic illnesses
Parents of children with chronic illness, compared to parents of children without chronic illness, are:Three times as likely to report that their family income is not enough to provide for their child's basic needs.
Twice as likely to report that their child's level of stress is ``high'' or ``very high''.
Four times as likely to be ``very concerned'' that their child may be depressed.
Source: Survey of Bay Area parent opinion conducted by the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, October 2005.
www.mercurynews.com
Children with a chronic illness require two things: comprehensive health insurance and access to specialty care. The good news is that a number of counties, led by efforts in Santa Clara County, have implemented programs to provide basic health coverage for all children. The bad news is that the development of county-by-county programs is creating a highly inefficient patchwork quilt of programs with differing eligibility and benefit rules. Moreover, this haphazard approach leaves the long-term funding base for many of these programs unclear.
The second requirement, access to specialty medical care, is the essential component at greater risk. During the 1960s and 1970s, California created regional networks of community providers and specialty hospitals to facilitate referrals and immediate hospitalization for children with complex or critical cases. Coordinated by California Children's Services, a state agency, these networks have had a dramatic impact, resulting in great improvements in children's survival and quality of life. The system is one of the real triumphs of modern child health care.
This success, however, is currently being undermined by a remarkable indifference to the needs of seriously ill children as federal and state governments seek to cut health care spending. In Washington, the recently passed House budget covered the costs associated with Hurricane Katrina by slashing Medicaid funding for the poor and disabled. Beyond its breathtaking cynicism, this step will ultimately hurt our state's ability to address the needs of poor children with serious illness.
At the state level, a variety of proposals are swirling in Sacramento to dramatically alter or abolish our current systems for caring for seriously ill children. Although some are well-intended and seek to make much-needed improvements, most are concerned with cutting costs and are wildly uninformed. A major problem with much of this discussion is that children are being thrown into policy changes that are primarily directed at adults. This is understandable in some measure because the vast bulk of expenditures are generated by adults.
But children are not just small adults. Their patterns of health problems are very different and they are far more vulnerable to even slight interruptions in access to specialty care. This is because serious, urgent illnesses in children are relatively rare. While most health care facilities have the capacity to handle most serious adult cases such as heart attacks and diabetes, they commonly lack experience in dealing with seriously ill children, such as a 6-year-old who has sickle cell anemia with acute chest syndrome, a relatively rare but urgent, life-threatening condition in a child.
The regional referral systems have been set up precisely to address this kind of situation. However, these networks are based on a fragile set of financial structures, and great care will be needed to ensure that revised policies strengthen rather than undermine them.
The issue is not really one of cost. Public expenditures on children's health are minuscule when compared to those spent on adults. Indeed, this is one of the main reasons that children's health issues are being overshadowed by a focus on adult care. The current approach seems to be to worry about the elements of the adult policies now and deal with the child-focused details sometime in the future. The problem is that children with severe disorders live and die in the details.
A recent survey from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health (``What Bay Area Parents Worry About Most,'' San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 27) pointed up some of the many financial and emotional pressures faced by parents of children with chronic illnesses (see accompanying box). Today, there is a striking opportunity for the governor and the Legislature to provide statewide leadership in support of those families.
First, there can be no excuse for not working with the counties in creating a strong and stable program to insure all children in California. The counties already have done the heavy lifting on this issue; it is time for the state to act. Second, the incoherence in the public debate over the best ways to reform programs for children with chronic illnesses must end.
Our elected leaders must ensure that the enormous capacities and commitment of state health agencies are more purposefully linked to the real-world insights of parents with seriously ill children and health providers who have long cared for these children.
Such a process will best ensure that necessary reforms and cost reductions are constructive and that the quality and coordination of care actually improve.
However, without such a process -- one that respects the special requirements of children -- the successes of the past will be left unprotected, the real opportunities for constructive change will go untouched and, ultimately, our hearts and private charity will be increasingly uncoupled from our collective commitment to health policies that are both effective and just.
Parenting children
with chronic illnesses
Parents of children with chronic illness, compared to parents of children without chronic illness, are:Three times as likely to report that their family income is not enough to provide for their child's basic needs.
Twice as likely to report that their child's level of stress is ``high'' or ``very high''.
Four times as likely to be ``very concerned'' that their child may be depressed.
Source: Survey of Bay Area parent opinion conducted by the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, October 2005.
www.mercurynews.com
Pyeongtaek to Get International Business Town
A new international business town will be built on 17.82 million sq. m in Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, the new home of the U.S. Forces Korea. Apartments and houses for 64,000 households will be built starting in 2009.
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation on Thursday unveiled its development plan for the land in Pyeongtaek¡¯s Mogok-dong and Godeok-myeon. Besides housing, the ministry will build an international business center and administrative complex as well as international schools needed for the children of U.S. personnel.
The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs on Dec. 5 unveiled a plan to invest W18 trillion (US$18 billion) in Pyeongtaek by 2020 to develop it into a regional hub on the back of the USFK relocation.
www.english.chosun.com
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation on Thursday unveiled its development plan for the land in Pyeongtaek¡¯s Mogok-dong and Godeok-myeon. Besides housing, the ministry will build an international business center and administrative complex as well as international schools needed for the children of U.S. personnel.
The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs on Dec. 5 unveiled a plan to invest W18 trillion (US$18 billion) in Pyeongtaek by 2020 to develop it into a regional hub on the back of the USFK relocation.
www.english.chosun.com
(BW) NewMarket Technology Inc. Releases Webcast of Shareholder Town Hall
NewMarket Technology Inc. (OTCBB:NMKT) today released a webcast of the Company's Shareholder Town Hall Meeting held last Thursday, December 15th.
The following is a statement from Philip Verges, the CEO and Chairman of NewMarket Technology, encouraging shareholders, investors, and entrepreneurs to view the webcast.
"NewMarket's revenue has grown on average by 40% per quarter over the last two years. At the same time, profit has increased at a normalized rate of 400%. Shareholder equity has also increased by 400% over the last two years.
NewMarket has grown from $2.3 million in revenue in 2003 to $41 million in revenue for the trailing twelve months. The Over the Counter market has been instrumental in facilitating this growth.
Nevertheless, while the Company has been growing exponentially in the last two years, NewMarket's average share price has declined 47%. The webcast explains in detail how a company can grow, while the share price declines. Through NewMarket's own experience, the webcast outlines for all entrepreneurs how to finance a development stage company in the Over the Counter market environment. Demonstrating the overall trading dynamics of the Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) Exchange and NewMarket's own historical trading dynamics, the webcast is helpful to OTCBB investors on how to realize healthy investment returns in development stage companies.
The primary message in the webcast is directed to our valued long-term NewMarket shareholders. The Company's intrinsic and enterprise value has grown in the last two years and that value is continuing to build upon the foundation forged during this time. However, the healthy revenue and bottom line growth fundamentals are locked inside an undervalued share price. Companies listed on national exchanges with similar services and similar revenues, but with less profit, are consistently trading at much higher Price to Sales ratios. The challenge for NewMarket is to unlock that value in the market.
Developing companies are less predictable than later stage companies. As the CEO, I have made mistakes in forecasting and prematurely setting high expectations for the future results of our early development stage operations. Even though NewMarket's overall operations have grown exponentially, my highly communicative program to inform shareholders have dampened shareholder's spirits as timelines were extended and some goals were not met (at least not yet).
Some part of the two year average share price decrease has been in reaction to shareholder's concerns from my premature communications regarding less than predictable developing aspects of NewMarket's business. Part of the decrease is due to the nature of the OTCBB market as the average traded share price for all companies listed on the entire OTCBB has decreased 50% over the last two years from $0.19 to $0.09.
The good news is that NewMarket's business value is growing as measured by shareholder's equity, as well as balance sheet, revenue and profitability growth. Now we have to get past the less than stellar communications and get off the OTCBB, so that we can meet the ultimate goal of every public company -- building shareholder value. Although, NewMarket's operations today are far more predictable than in the past, I have graduated from the school of hard knocks regarding overconfident and premature communications.
I encourage shareholders, public market investors and all entrepreneurs to view the webcast on our corporate website at www.newmarkettechnology.com. NewMarket is a case study for investors interested in the Over the Counter market, as well as being a case study for entrepreneurs trying to finance early development stage companies. Most importantly, long-term shareholders should be assured that we at NewMarket are committed to providing an impressive investment return going forward."
About NewMarket Technology Inc. (www.newmarkettechnology.com)
NewMarket Technology Inc. is a Systems Innovation Company. NewMarket has combined a traditional systems integration and support services capacity with a specialized asset-based approach to assisting its clients with the delicate balance between maintaining legacy systems and gaining a competitive edge from the latest technology innovations.
NewMarket provides certified integration and maintenance services to support the prevailing industry standard solutions to include Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) and Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW). Concurrently, NewMarket continuously seeks to acquire undiscovered emerging technology assets to incorporate into an overall product portfolio carefully packaged to complement the prevailing industry standard solutions. NewMarket's emerging technology portfolio includes products for the Telecommunications, Healthcare, Homeland Security and Financial Services industries.
NewMarket delivers its portfolio of products and services through its global network of Solution Integration subsidiaries in North America, Latin America, China and Singapore. As a Systems Innovator, NewMarket has set itself apart from the systems integration market through the introduction of a technology business model that monetizes the value of emerging technologies to improve corporate profits and enhance shareholder value with the regular issue of dividends.
NewMarket recently announced that it ranked Number 13 on the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on the percentage of revenue growth over five years from 2000-2004. NewMarket's revenue increased 18,082 percent during this period.
This press release contains statements (such as projections regarding future performance) that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
www.chron.com
The following is a statement from Philip Verges, the CEO and Chairman of NewMarket Technology, encouraging shareholders, investors, and entrepreneurs to view the webcast.
"NewMarket's revenue has grown on average by 40% per quarter over the last two years. At the same time, profit has increased at a normalized rate of 400%. Shareholder equity has also increased by 400% over the last two years.
NewMarket has grown from $2.3 million in revenue in 2003 to $41 million in revenue for the trailing twelve months. The Over the Counter market has been instrumental in facilitating this growth.
Nevertheless, while the Company has been growing exponentially in the last two years, NewMarket's average share price has declined 47%. The webcast explains in detail how a company can grow, while the share price declines. Through NewMarket's own experience, the webcast outlines for all entrepreneurs how to finance a development stage company in the Over the Counter market environment. Demonstrating the overall trading dynamics of the Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) Exchange and NewMarket's own historical trading dynamics, the webcast is helpful to OTCBB investors on how to realize healthy investment returns in development stage companies.
The primary message in the webcast is directed to our valued long-term NewMarket shareholders. The Company's intrinsic and enterprise value has grown in the last two years and that value is continuing to build upon the foundation forged during this time. However, the healthy revenue and bottom line growth fundamentals are locked inside an undervalued share price. Companies listed on national exchanges with similar services and similar revenues, but with less profit, are consistently trading at much higher Price to Sales ratios. The challenge for NewMarket is to unlock that value in the market.
Developing companies are less predictable than later stage companies. As the CEO, I have made mistakes in forecasting and prematurely setting high expectations for the future results of our early development stage operations. Even though NewMarket's overall operations have grown exponentially, my highly communicative program to inform shareholders have dampened shareholder's spirits as timelines were extended and some goals were not met (at least not yet).
Some part of the two year average share price decrease has been in reaction to shareholder's concerns from my premature communications regarding less than predictable developing aspects of NewMarket's business. Part of the decrease is due to the nature of the OTCBB market as the average traded share price for all companies listed on the entire OTCBB has decreased 50% over the last two years from $0.19 to $0.09.
The good news is that NewMarket's business value is growing as measured by shareholder's equity, as well as balance sheet, revenue and profitability growth. Now we have to get past the less than stellar communications and get off the OTCBB, so that we can meet the ultimate goal of every public company -- building shareholder value. Although, NewMarket's operations today are far more predictable than in the past, I have graduated from the school of hard knocks regarding overconfident and premature communications.
I encourage shareholders, public market investors and all entrepreneurs to view the webcast on our corporate website at www.newmarkettechnology.com. NewMarket is a case study for investors interested in the Over the Counter market, as well as being a case study for entrepreneurs trying to finance early development stage companies. Most importantly, long-term shareholders should be assured that we at NewMarket are committed to providing an impressive investment return going forward."
About NewMarket Technology Inc. (www.newmarkettechnology.com)
NewMarket Technology Inc. is a Systems Innovation Company. NewMarket has combined a traditional systems integration and support services capacity with a specialized asset-based approach to assisting its clients with the delicate balance between maintaining legacy systems and gaining a competitive edge from the latest technology innovations.
NewMarket provides certified integration and maintenance services to support the prevailing industry standard solutions to include Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) and Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW). Concurrently, NewMarket continuously seeks to acquire undiscovered emerging technology assets to incorporate into an overall product portfolio carefully packaged to complement the prevailing industry standard solutions. NewMarket's emerging technology portfolio includes products for the Telecommunications, Healthcare, Homeland Security and Financial Services industries.
NewMarket delivers its portfolio of products and services through its global network of Solution Integration subsidiaries in North America, Latin America, China and Singapore. As a Systems Innovator, NewMarket has set itself apart from the systems integration market through the introduction of a technology business model that monetizes the value of emerging technologies to improve corporate profits and enhance shareholder value with the regular issue of dividends.
NewMarket recently announced that it ranked Number 13 on the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on the percentage of revenue growth over five years from 2000-2004. NewMarket's revenue increased 18,082 percent during this period.
This press release contains statements (such as projections regarding future performance) that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
www.chron.com
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
GPs deal with 10m mental health visits
Australians made almost 10 million visits to their GPs for mental health problems last financial year, a new report shows.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report also found almost 200,000 Australians were admitted to hospital due to some form of mental illness in 2003-04, the latest period for which figures are available.
The AIHW said mental health problems accounted for almost 11 per cent of all problems managed by GPs last financial year.
"There were about 9.8 million attendances (during 2004/05) in which general practitioners managed mental health problems," the report said.
It said the number of visits to GPs for mental health-related care had been relatively stable since 1999.
In 2003-04, there were almost five million visits to publicly-funded mental health services.
"The care that people with mental health problems receive most often is care in the community from GPs or government-operated health services, rather than from hospitalisations," said Jenny Hargreaves, head of AIHW's hospitals and mental health services unit.
She said men sought assistance more often for mental health problems than women.
"There were 256 service contacts per 1,000 people for men, compared with 226 for women," Ms Hargreaves said.
But she said that was not surprising given that one of the more common conditions treated in government-funded mental health care was schizophrenia, which is more common in men.
Between 1999-2004 the number of mental health-related admissions to hospitals increased at an average annual rate of just over two per cent to 197,712 for that year, the report said.
Schizophrenia accounted for the highest number of hospital admissions with specialised psychiatric care at 19 per cent, followed by a depressive episode at 16 per cent.
The report found that for patients who did not receive specialised psychiatric care while in hospital, the most common diagnosis was mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use at 17 per cent.
For patients whose hospital visit involved specialised psychiatric care, the number of admissions was highest for those living in major cities and lowest for those in remote areas.
The opposite was true for patients who did not receive specialised psychiatric care while in hospital.
The AIHW said there were 14 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in Australia in 2003.
However, remote areas had only 2.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, compared to 18.5 in major cities.
The report also said there were more than 12,800 mental health nurses per 100,000 people in that year.
www.theage.com.au
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report also found almost 200,000 Australians were admitted to hospital due to some form of mental illness in 2003-04, the latest period for which figures are available.
The AIHW said mental health problems accounted for almost 11 per cent of all problems managed by GPs last financial year.
"There were about 9.8 million attendances (during 2004/05) in which general practitioners managed mental health problems," the report said.
It said the number of visits to GPs for mental health-related care had been relatively stable since 1999.
In 2003-04, there were almost five million visits to publicly-funded mental health services.
"The care that people with mental health problems receive most often is care in the community from GPs or government-operated health services, rather than from hospitalisations," said Jenny Hargreaves, head of AIHW's hospitals and mental health services unit.
She said men sought assistance more often for mental health problems than women.
"There were 256 service contacts per 1,000 people for men, compared with 226 for women," Ms Hargreaves said.
But she said that was not surprising given that one of the more common conditions treated in government-funded mental health care was schizophrenia, which is more common in men.
Between 1999-2004 the number of mental health-related admissions to hospitals increased at an average annual rate of just over two per cent to 197,712 for that year, the report said.
Schizophrenia accounted for the highest number of hospital admissions with specialised psychiatric care at 19 per cent, followed by a depressive episode at 16 per cent.
The report found that for patients who did not receive specialised psychiatric care while in hospital, the most common diagnosis was mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use at 17 per cent.
For patients whose hospital visit involved specialised psychiatric care, the number of admissions was highest for those living in major cities and lowest for those in remote areas.
The opposite was true for patients who did not receive specialised psychiatric care while in hospital.
The AIHW said there were 14 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in Australia in 2003.
However, remote areas had only 2.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, compared to 18.5 in major cities.
The report also said there were more than 12,800 mental health nurses per 100,000 people in that year.
www.theage.com.au
Business owners look to revitalize Canmore
Business owners in Canmore are working on a plan to revitalize their downtown area.
Despite $130 million worth of commercial development in the past decade, about ten per cent of downtown commercial space is sitting empty.
Business owner Greg Bury worries the empty shops will scare off customers who might think the town is having economic troubles.
"I think this town is full right now in terms of what the marketplace wants," Bury told CBC News. "And for us to continue to just throw stores out there – like throwing a dart on a dart board and hoping that something good happens is a very scary business proposition."
Leah Kendal, one of the area's largest property developers, says he has about 13 vacant stores downtown.
He says development outside the town centre has significantly hurt the town's retail core, while others blame high rents for the vacancies.
To fight the problem, a group of the town's concerned business owners have formed what they call a business revitalization zone.
Sean Meggs, a local business owner and chair of the new group, says store owners have been struggling for more than a decade to get the municipal government to commit to redeveloping the downtown.
Meggs says the revitalization group is working on its own plan.
The plan includes aesthetic work like burying overhead wires, installing new lighting and benches as well as improving traffic flow. The costs would be split between business owners and the town.
"We're talking about working out a formula with the town as to a reasonable split as to what businesses would pay and what the town would pay," Meggs says.
Canmore Mayor Ron Casey says no amount of redesign will fix the problem. He says Canmore is simply overdeveloped commercially and until tourism rebounds to what it was before Sept. 11, there won't be enough demand to fill the vacancies.
Town council would still have to approve the plan that could cost the town as much as $8 million.
www.cbc.ca
Despite $130 million worth of commercial development in the past decade, about ten per cent of downtown commercial space is sitting empty.
Business owner Greg Bury worries the empty shops will scare off customers who might think the town is having economic troubles.
"I think this town is full right now in terms of what the marketplace wants," Bury told CBC News. "And for us to continue to just throw stores out there – like throwing a dart on a dart board and hoping that something good happens is a very scary business proposition."
Leah Kendal, one of the area's largest property developers, says he has about 13 vacant stores downtown.
He says development outside the town centre has significantly hurt the town's retail core, while others blame high rents for the vacancies.
To fight the problem, a group of the town's concerned business owners have formed what they call a business revitalization zone.
Sean Meggs, a local business owner and chair of the new group, says store owners have been struggling for more than a decade to get the municipal government to commit to redeveloping the downtown.
Meggs says the revitalization group is working on its own plan.
The plan includes aesthetic work like burying overhead wires, installing new lighting and benches as well as improving traffic flow. The costs would be split between business owners and the town.
"We're talking about working out a formula with the town as to a reasonable split as to what businesses would pay and what the town would pay," Meggs says.
Canmore Mayor Ron Casey says no amount of redesign will fix the problem. He says Canmore is simply overdeveloped commercially and until tourism rebounds to what it was before Sept. 11, there won't be enough demand to fill the vacancies.
Town council would still have to approve the plan that could cost the town as much as $8 million.
www.cbc.ca
Microsoft reveals more Vista technology
"We are on a path to be code-complete by the end of 2005," said Shanen Boettcher, Microsoft senior director in the company's Windows client group. A code-complete CTP is expected in early 2006, with the general release version of Vista set for the second half of next year.
With the December CTP, Windows AntiSpyware has been renamed Windows Defender. It features improved detection and removal of spyware and malware as well as a redesigned user interface, Boettcher said. Microsoft describes the anti-spyware offering in the December CTP as a functioning early preview of what will be in the final version.
Also offered in the CTP is BitLocker Drive Encryption, formerly known as full-volume encryption. It provides hardware-based data protection to address the issue of data being accessed from lost or stolen machines. The entire Windows system volume is encrypted to prevent unauthorised access.
Users of the new CTP can apply Group Policy to block installation of removable storage drives. "This has been a big concern for folks in terms of data leakage," Boettcher said.
Internet Explorer gets support for international domain names as well as protection from spoofing of these domain names. Advancements in firewall software include bi-directional filtering. Rules set in the Windows Service Hardening platform are enforced to limit the file, registry, and network access. Advanced IPSec is offered, integrated into a single management console with firewall management.
To improve performance and mobility, a single button is being used as an on/off control while a Windows SuperFetch algorithm caches items used most frequently. USB Flash drive can be used to provide additional memory employed by SuperFetch.
The new user interface in build 5270 features improvements in design elements and some consumer-oriented features. The December CTP includes Windows Media Player 11, featuring improvements to the look and feel.
An early version of Aero is highlighted, as well. Aero encompasses a new design philosophy that includes a translucent "glass" appearance of open windows as well as smoother transitions between windows. A re-designed start menu also is part of Aero.
One analyst described the December CTP as a progression toward the final version.
www.techworld.com
With the December CTP, Windows AntiSpyware has been renamed Windows Defender. It features improved detection and removal of spyware and malware as well as a redesigned user interface, Boettcher said. Microsoft describes the anti-spyware offering in the December CTP as a functioning early preview of what will be in the final version.
Also offered in the CTP is BitLocker Drive Encryption, formerly known as full-volume encryption. It provides hardware-based data protection to address the issue of data being accessed from lost or stolen machines. The entire Windows system volume is encrypted to prevent unauthorised access.
Users of the new CTP can apply Group Policy to block installation of removable storage drives. "This has been a big concern for folks in terms of data leakage," Boettcher said.
Internet Explorer gets support for international domain names as well as protection from spoofing of these domain names. Advancements in firewall software include bi-directional filtering. Rules set in the Windows Service Hardening platform are enforced to limit the file, registry, and network access. Advanced IPSec is offered, integrated into a single management console with firewall management.
To improve performance and mobility, a single button is being used as an on/off control while a Windows SuperFetch algorithm caches items used most frequently. USB Flash drive can be used to provide additional memory employed by SuperFetch.
The new user interface in build 5270 features improvements in design elements and some consumer-oriented features. The December CTP includes Windows Media Player 11, featuring improvements to the look and feel.
An early version of Aero is highlighted, as well. Aero encompasses a new design philosophy that includes a translucent "glass" appearance of open windows as well as smoother transitions between windows. A re-designed start menu also is part of Aero.
One analyst described the December CTP as a progression toward the final version.
www.techworld.com
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Recognize mental health needs
With regard to the recent spate of murders, I would like to point out that, unfortunately, our health care system does not value mental health care services.
Mental health issues are treated disparately by insurance companies, as most will only pay 50 percent of the charges and one is generally subject to a process of pre-certification before one is allowed to obtain services, along with any deductibles and co-pays, and with limitations on the number of visits available.
Throw in the additional costs for medications (not inexpensive and frequently changed to new ones) and regular follow-ups and one will find that the average individual is unable to afford to obtain mental health services. The wealthier just pay for services, and the poorest obtain Medicaid, while the middle are just out of luck.
I think as a country we are far behind in recognizing the need for a good universal health care plan that will cover all citizens for their basic mental and physical health care needs, as in the long run, we all pay the costs of human suffering.Companies are decreasing or finding ways to eliminate health insurance.
People are unable to afford the costs of insurance, or are between jobs or unemployed with no insurance. Until we, as citizens, come to some agreement on the basic health care needs of all citizens, with regard to both mental and physical health care, people will continue to suffer.
Please express to your elected representatives that disparate health care for mental health services is unacceptable and push for insurance changes, so that those who need mental health care can receive the help they need. It could save a life.
www.heraldtribune.com
Mental health issues are treated disparately by insurance companies, as most will only pay 50 percent of the charges and one is generally subject to a process of pre-certification before one is allowed to obtain services, along with any deductibles and co-pays, and with limitations on the number of visits available.
Throw in the additional costs for medications (not inexpensive and frequently changed to new ones) and regular follow-ups and one will find that the average individual is unable to afford to obtain mental health services. The wealthier just pay for services, and the poorest obtain Medicaid, while the middle are just out of luck.
I think as a country we are far behind in recognizing the need for a good universal health care plan that will cover all citizens for their basic mental and physical health care needs, as in the long run, we all pay the costs of human suffering.Companies are decreasing or finding ways to eliminate health insurance.
People are unable to afford the costs of insurance, or are between jobs or unemployed with no insurance. Until we, as citizens, come to some agreement on the basic health care needs of all citizens, with regard to both mental and physical health care, people will continue to suffer.
Please express to your elected representatives that disparate health care for mental health services is unacceptable and push for insurance changes, so that those who need mental health care can receive the help they need. It could save a life.
www.heraldtribune.com
Business leaders urge EU to save WTO talks
ET Business leaders joined Saturday in urging the European Union and other governments to push ahead with trade reforms and salvage World Trade Organization talks that appeared on the verge of failure.
"As world business leaders, we are very concerned with the lack of progress in Hong Kong," said a statement released by World Business Leaders for Growth, one of many business coalitions lobbying for progress, especially on lowering tariffs and other limits on foreign manufactured goods and services.
Business and farm leaders in the United States and a number of other countries expressed frustration over the apparent lack of progress toward setting a global trade deal that would conclude WTO negotiations launched in 2001 in Doha, Qatar.
Delegates to the 149-member WTO were under pressure to finalize a weakened compromise deal by Sunday, or face seeing the effort fail. Negotiators reported virtually no progress in any area, with agricultural trade proving the major obstacle.
"The world demands movement from its leadership," said Harold McGraw III, chairman of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Failure "runs the risk of degrading the whole world trading system," he said. "The penalties of failure, the economic consequences are very real. The political consequences are very real."
The executives accused officials of holding back for the sake of domestic political reasons.
"There's a lot of spin going on here to try to protect peoples' political reputations when they go home," said John H.W. Denton, chief executive officer of the Australian law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
"If the trade ministers fail, this matter must be raised to the heads of government," he said.
High-powered business delegations from America, Europe, Canada, Japan and many other countries were in Hong Kong lobbying trade negotiators alongside other nongovernment groups seeking to influence the outcome of the talks.
"The voice of business has got to be loud," McGraw said.
The executives were so busy lobbying trade delegates that earlier in the week WTO director general Pascal Lamy appealed to them to "try to allow the ministers enough time to negotiate."
www.businessweek.com
"As world business leaders, we are very concerned with the lack of progress in Hong Kong," said a statement released by World Business Leaders for Growth, one of many business coalitions lobbying for progress, especially on lowering tariffs and other limits on foreign manufactured goods and services.
Business and farm leaders in the United States and a number of other countries expressed frustration over the apparent lack of progress toward setting a global trade deal that would conclude WTO negotiations launched in 2001 in Doha, Qatar.
Delegates to the 149-member WTO were under pressure to finalize a weakened compromise deal by Sunday, or face seeing the effort fail. Negotiators reported virtually no progress in any area, with agricultural trade proving the major obstacle.
"The world demands movement from its leadership," said Harold McGraw III, chairman of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Failure "runs the risk of degrading the whole world trading system," he said. "The penalties of failure, the economic consequences are very real. The political consequences are very real."
The executives accused officials of holding back for the sake of domestic political reasons.
"There's a lot of spin going on here to try to protect peoples' political reputations when they go home," said John H.W. Denton, chief executive officer of the Australian law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
"If the trade ministers fail, this matter must be raised to the heads of government," he said.
High-powered business delegations from America, Europe, Canada, Japan and many other countries were in Hong Kong lobbying trade negotiators alongside other nongovernment groups seeking to influence the outcome of the talks.
"The voice of business has got to be loud," McGraw said.
The executives were so busy lobbying trade delegates that earlier in the week WTO director general Pascal Lamy appealed to them to "try to allow the ministers enough time to negotiate."
www.businessweek.com
Cambridge technology chief shot near MIT
John J. Donovan Sr., a well-known former technology and business professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and chairman of a Cambridge consulting company, was shot multiple times last night in the company's parking lot adjacent to the MIT campus, police said last night.
Donovan, who has a 68-acre farm in Hamilton, was listed in serious condition late last night at Massachusetts General Hospital, where police said he was undergoing surgery.
Donovan was apparently shot during a dispute in the parking lot of his business, Cambridge Executive Enterprises, police said last night. He called State Police from his cellphone after the shooting and was conscious when paramedics arrived, Cambridge police said.
''This did not appear to be a random act," said Frank Pasquarello, Cambridge police spokesman. ''We're still trying to piece everything together."
Donovan, who liked to be called ''Professor Donovan," was embroiled in a family feud and contended his children were trying to force him out of his home. His fortune is estimated at $100 million.
In a Globe story that ran in 2004, Donovan called himself a ''visionary." The New York Times called him the Johnny Carson of the executive training circuit. Over the years, he started at least a dozen companies.
''Right now, we are looking at anyone who could be a suspect," Pasquarello said. ''Friends, ex-friends, enemies, relatives, employees, anyone."
Donovan spent three decades teaching electrical engineering and management at MIT before he retired to focus on private business.
Cambridge Executive Enterprises ''is a leading provider of executive education programs," according to an archived company website from 2004.
On the dust jacket of one of his books and on a corporate website, Donovan referred to his ''five wonderful children."
But relations with his family reached a nadir in 2002, when allegations of sexual molestation were made by one of his daughters.
In an affidavit filed in Suffolk Superior Court, the daughter alleged, ''My father, Donovan Sr., abused me sexually when I was a child. The sexual abuse by my father has caused me tremendous pain, psychological trauma, and anguish, which continues to this day." (The Globe is omitting her name, in keeping with its policy of not identifying alleged sexual abuse victims.)
Donovan, in an affidavit, called the allegations ''absolutely false."
As police investigated the scene last night, investigators cordoned off the parking lot of Cambridge Executive Enterprises.
The Vassar Street lot where the shooting took place, is located near a towering dormitory.
As police milled about the area MIT students walked by. Many said they were shocked by the shooting, noting that violent crime rarely occurs in the area.
''I walk here a lot at night, and I always feel safe," said MIT freshman Olay Oyebode, 17.
Cambridge police said no suspects had been arrested last night.
Police in Hamilton, where Donovan has relatives, said they were dispatched in Hamilton to assist with the case.
www.boston.com
Donovan, who has a 68-acre farm in Hamilton, was listed in serious condition late last night at Massachusetts General Hospital, where police said he was undergoing surgery.
Donovan was apparently shot during a dispute in the parking lot of his business, Cambridge Executive Enterprises, police said last night. He called State Police from his cellphone after the shooting and was conscious when paramedics arrived, Cambridge police said.
''This did not appear to be a random act," said Frank Pasquarello, Cambridge police spokesman. ''We're still trying to piece everything together."
Donovan, who liked to be called ''Professor Donovan," was embroiled in a family feud and contended his children were trying to force him out of his home. His fortune is estimated at $100 million.
In a Globe story that ran in 2004, Donovan called himself a ''visionary." The New York Times called him the Johnny Carson of the executive training circuit. Over the years, he started at least a dozen companies.
''Right now, we are looking at anyone who could be a suspect," Pasquarello said. ''Friends, ex-friends, enemies, relatives, employees, anyone."
Donovan spent three decades teaching electrical engineering and management at MIT before he retired to focus on private business.
Cambridge Executive Enterprises ''is a leading provider of executive education programs," according to an archived company website from 2004.
On the dust jacket of one of his books and on a corporate website, Donovan referred to his ''five wonderful children."
But relations with his family reached a nadir in 2002, when allegations of sexual molestation were made by one of his daughters.
In an affidavit filed in Suffolk Superior Court, the daughter alleged, ''My father, Donovan Sr., abused me sexually when I was a child. The sexual abuse by my father has caused me tremendous pain, psychological trauma, and anguish, which continues to this day." (The Globe is omitting her name, in keeping with its policy of not identifying alleged sexual abuse victims.)
Donovan, in an affidavit, called the allegations ''absolutely false."
As police investigated the scene last night, investigators cordoned off the parking lot of Cambridge Executive Enterprises.
The Vassar Street lot where the shooting took place, is located near a towering dormitory.
As police milled about the area MIT students walked by. Many said they were shocked by the shooting, noting that violent crime rarely occurs in the area.
''I walk here a lot at night, and I always feel safe," said MIT freshman Olay Oyebode, 17.
Cambridge police said no suspects had been arrested last night.
Police in Hamilton, where Donovan has relatives, said they were dispatched in Hamilton to assist with the case.
www.boston.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
U.S. to Begin Mapping Cancerous Tumor Cells
In a bold but uncertain bid to spur cancer treatment, federal medical researchers announced a $100-million project Tuesday to begin cataloging the disease's molecular underpinnings.
The Cancer Genome Atlas, as the project is called, will start as a three-year pilot program to identify the genes behind two or three types of cancerous tumors. If the research proves promising and affordable, it would be expanded to study thousands of cancerous tumors.
Describing the effort as potentially "revolutionary," officials at the National Institutes of Health said the resulting knowledge could lead to the development of more effective cancer drugs and therapies.
"This is really the beginning of an era," said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the NIH, the government's main medical research arm and a distributor of funding. "What I think we will see is an acceleration of discovery."
Often referred to as a single disease, cancer is a collection of more than 200. Cancers develop, scientists believe, after genetic changes cause cells to mutate and grow wildly.
The cancer project, NIH officials said, would find the common features underlying the genetic malfunctions — probably not a single glitch causing various cancerous cells to flourish, but a set of glitches that each lead to a number of diseases.
"It will be an important step in our understanding of the genetic components of cancer and the genetic susceptibilities of people affected by cancer," said Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, director of the National Cancer Institute and acting head of the Food and Drug Administration.
In 2003, scientists finished mapping the human genome, the genetic code that guides a body's functions and characteristics. Sequencing cancer genes is a natural follow-up, as researchers can use the blueprint of normal human DNA to identify cancer genes.
Supporters of the cancer project contend that the vast diversity of cancer genes requires NIH involvement. They say more effective treatments can't be developed without the better understanding that sequencing cancer genes would provide.
"The more we learn about cancer at the molecular level, the more chance we have of being successful in treating cancer," said Dr. Bob Strausberg, vice president for human genomic medicine at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., founded by the scientist who raced the government to be first to define the human genetic code.
The sequencing of cancer genes is challenging, and the work is costly. Because cancer causes the cells to mutate, each tumor cell has its own genome, so mapping every tumor would be equivalent to undertaking scores of human genome projects — 12,500 by one estimate.
Researchers must review many genes before distinguishing those that play important roles in causing mutations.
Another obstacle is that no two cells in a malignant tumor may be identical. So successful sequencing of some cancer genes might miss others. If a missed gene plays a key role in causing malignancy, treatment would suffer.
For that reason, Dr. Garth R. Anderson, a cancer geneticist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., criticized the project for taking money from what he said was more worthwhile research promising early diagnosis of tumors and more lasting treatments.
www.latimes.com
The Cancer Genome Atlas, as the project is called, will start as a three-year pilot program to identify the genes behind two or three types of cancerous tumors. If the research proves promising and affordable, it would be expanded to study thousands of cancerous tumors.
Describing the effort as potentially "revolutionary," officials at the National Institutes of Health said the resulting knowledge could lead to the development of more effective cancer drugs and therapies.
"This is really the beginning of an era," said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the NIH, the government's main medical research arm and a distributor of funding. "What I think we will see is an acceleration of discovery."
Often referred to as a single disease, cancer is a collection of more than 200. Cancers develop, scientists believe, after genetic changes cause cells to mutate and grow wildly.
The cancer project, NIH officials said, would find the common features underlying the genetic malfunctions — probably not a single glitch causing various cancerous cells to flourish, but a set of glitches that each lead to a number of diseases.
"It will be an important step in our understanding of the genetic components of cancer and the genetic susceptibilities of people affected by cancer," said Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, director of the National Cancer Institute and acting head of the Food and Drug Administration.
In 2003, scientists finished mapping the human genome, the genetic code that guides a body's functions and characteristics. Sequencing cancer genes is a natural follow-up, as researchers can use the blueprint of normal human DNA to identify cancer genes.
Supporters of the cancer project contend that the vast diversity of cancer genes requires NIH involvement. They say more effective treatments can't be developed without the better understanding that sequencing cancer genes would provide.
"The more we learn about cancer at the molecular level, the more chance we have of being successful in treating cancer," said Dr. Bob Strausberg, vice president for human genomic medicine at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., founded by the scientist who raced the government to be first to define the human genetic code.
The sequencing of cancer genes is challenging, and the work is costly. Because cancer causes the cells to mutate, each tumor cell has its own genome, so mapping every tumor would be equivalent to undertaking scores of human genome projects — 12,500 by one estimate.
Researchers must review many genes before distinguishing those that play important roles in causing mutations.
Another obstacle is that no two cells in a malignant tumor may be identical. So successful sequencing of some cancer genes might miss others. If a missed gene plays a key role in causing malignancy, treatment would suffer.
For that reason, Dr. Garth R. Anderson, a cancer geneticist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., criticized the project for taking money from what he said was more worthwhile research promising early diagnosis of tumors and more lasting treatments.
www.latimes.com
Yes Car Credit business to close
The Yes Car Credit business is to be closed with the loss of about 820 jobs, its owner Provident Financial has said.
Provident Financial said Yes Car Credit was "no longer viable" after talks with possible buyers of the company collapsed last week.
The firm said it would continue to collect £240m of outstanding car loans.
"If you have bought a car from Yes with a loan then nothing changes, you keep the vehicle and make repayments," a Provident Financial spokeswoman said.
Provident said Yes Car Credit's customers who have questions about their loan agreements or their vehicles could call a service helpline on 0870 2400 596. Yes Car Credit has 60,000 customers, Provident added.
The firm stressed that customers would still be covered if their vehicle broke down, provided it was under warranty.
Losses
Provident said tough competition and changes to the regulatory environment had changed trading conditions, and Yes had ceased to be profitable in 2004.
Yes is expected to make a pre-tax trading loss of £24m this year.
However, Provident added that the write-off of goodwill, closure costs and asset write downs meant the Yes unit was set to record a pre-tax loss of about £141m.
Provident Financial said its profits for 2005 - excluding Yes - are expected to be about 5% below market forecasts.
Struggle
The Yes Car Credit division has been struggling for some time. It has seen profitability vanish and its sales practices have come under fire.
In March, the BBC's Whistleblower programme exposed failings at the business.
The programme claimed that because proper safety inspections were not carried out, potentially dangerous cars were sold to customers.
The Whistleblower programme showed sales staff openly criticising Yes Car Credit's vehicles and even advising an undercover reporter from the BBC not to bother buying one.
LINKS TO MORE BUSINESS STORIES
SelectUS and EU differ at trade talksYes Car Credit business to closeBoeing secures $10bn Qantas dealGUS buys Pricegrabber for $485mUK unemployment total increasesEnron boss blames finance chiefTurner warns on public pensionsBrazil to pay off IMF debts earlyBaugur bid for Whittard tea firm'No offer' on Britain's EU rebateFed pushes US rates up to 4.25%Deal reached in ferries disputeFirms 'need to fill skills gap'City 'well-prepared' for attackM&S wins landmark tax rebate caseItalian finance bosses 'arrested'Russia threatens Ukraine gas cutVodafone buys Turkish mobile firmTax credit fraud hits Job CentresGM bankruptcy not 'far-fetched'UK inflation level falls to 2.1%BBC guidelines for financial journalists
www.news.bbc.co.uk
Provident Financial said Yes Car Credit was "no longer viable" after talks with possible buyers of the company collapsed last week.
The firm said it would continue to collect £240m of outstanding car loans.
"If you have bought a car from Yes with a loan then nothing changes, you keep the vehicle and make repayments," a Provident Financial spokeswoman said.
Provident said Yes Car Credit's customers who have questions about their loan agreements or their vehicles could call a service helpline on 0870 2400 596. Yes Car Credit has 60,000 customers, Provident added.
The firm stressed that customers would still be covered if their vehicle broke down, provided it was under warranty.
Losses
Provident said tough competition and changes to the regulatory environment had changed trading conditions, and Yes had ceased to be profitable in 2004.
Yes is expected to make a pre-tax trading loss of £24m this year.
However, Provident added that the write-off of goodwill, closure costs and asset write downs meant the Yes unit was set to record a pre-tax loss of about £141m.
Provident Financial said its profits for 2005 - excluding Yes - are expected to be about 5% below market forecasts.
Struggle
The Yes Car Credit division has been struggling for some time. It has seen profitability vanish and its sales practices have come under fire.
In March, the BBC's Whistleblower programme exposed failings at the business.
The programme claimed that because proper safety inspections were not carried out, potentially dangerous cars were sold to customers.
The Whistleblower programme showed sales staff openly criticising Yes Car Credit's vehicles and even advising an undercover reporter from the BBC not to bother buying one.
LINKS TO MORE BUSINESS STORIES
SelectUS and EU differ at trade talksYes Car Credit business to closeBoeing secures $10bn Qantas dealGUS buys Pricegrabber for $485mUK unemployment total increasesEnron boss blames finance chiefTurner warns on public pensionsBrazil to pay off IMF debts earlyBaugur bid for Whittard tea firm'No offer' on Britain's EU rebateFed pushes US rates up to 4.25%Deal reached in ferries disputeFirms 'need to fill skills gap'City 'well-prepared' for attackM&S wins landmark tax rebate caseItalian finance bosses 'arrested'Russia threatens Ukraine gas cutVodafone buys Turkish mobile firmTax credit fraud hits Job CentresGM bankruptcy not 'far-fetched'UK inflation level falls to 2.1%BBC guidelines for financial journalists
www.news.bbc.co.uk
Emerging Glucose Monitoring Technologies Challenges Traditional Markets
The long-heralded introduction of emerging technologies is beginning to alter the dynamics of the glucose monitoring market. Traditional technologies such as glucose strips may soon face stiff competition from these advanced solutions that promise to be non- invasive as well as accurate, easy to use, portable, stylish, and inexpensive.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, (http://www.healthcare.frost.com ), U.S. Glucose Monitoring Markets and Emerging Technologies, reveals that revenues in this market totaled 2.83 billion in 2004 and projects to reach $5.36 billion by 2011.
If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the latest analysis of the U.S.
Glucose Monitoring Markets and Emerging Technologies then send an e-mail to Melina Trevino - Corporate Communications at melina.trevino@frost.com with the following information: your full name,company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, state, and country. We will send you the information via email upon receipt of the above
information.
"For the first time in decades, the composition of the glucose monitoring market is projected to change with the development of emerging technologies into the U.S. market," observes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Nathan Cohen. "As a multi-billion dollar market in the United States, the growth opportunity for new market entrants with advanced technology is immense."
The vast majority of revenue in the U.S. glucose monitoring market is derived from the sale of glucose strips, which accounts for 87.9 percent of the overall market in 2004. Following the growth in emerging technologies, such traditional segments are expected to decrease proportionately.
With its contribution to overall revenues pegged at $4.8 million in 2004, emerging technologies is set to become the second largest market segment and
generate $349.0 million by 2011.
The enormous diabetic population and the growing recognition of the importance of diabetes management only justify the need for such advanced glucose monitoring technologies. Adjustments in Medicare reimbursements also point toward the need for more efforts to increase diagnosis of the undiagnosed diabetic population.
"A primary driver for technological development is the need to improve glucose monitoring compliance," explains Cohen. "The aim has been to move toward smaller blood samples, less pain, faster responses, and other improvements with the user interface that consequently increase the frequency of testing."
However, if such a system was introduced at a price comparable to the cost of meters and strips, there is a possibility that traditional glucose monitoring markets could take a major hit as consumers shift to other technologies.
"Meters and strips manufacturers cannot afford to ignore the threat from emerging technologies," says Cohen. "Active monitoring of product developments and investments in competitive information gathering must be coupled with in- house technology developments and searches for effective strategic partners."
Marketing investments targeted at high frequency testing populations, such as insulin pump users, is also likely to prove effective for maintaining market share and maximizing return on investment.
U.S. Glucose Monitoring Markets and Emerging Technologies, part of the patient monitoring subscription, analyzes the aforementioned market, segmenting it into glucose strips, glucose meters, and emerging glucose monitoring technologies. The study discusses the various market trends and opportunities while providing in-depth analysis of market share, revenue forecasts, and market drivers and restraints. Analyst interviews are available to the press.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies,
econometrics, and demographics.
www.prnewswire.com
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, (http://www.healthcare.frost.com ), U.S. Glucose Monitoring Markets and Emerging Technologies, reveals that revenues in this market totaled 2.83 billion in 2004 and projects to reach $5.36 billion by 2011.
If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the latest analysis of the U.S.
Glucose Monitoring Markets and Emerging Technologies then send an e-mail to Melina Trevino - Corporate Communications at melina.trevino@frost.com with the following information: your full name,company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, state, and country. We will send you the information via email upon receipt of the above
information.
"For the first time in decades, the composition of the glucose monitoring market is projected to change with the development of emerging technologies into the U.S. market," observes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Nathan Cohen. "As a multi-billion dollar market in the United States, the growth opportunity for new market entrants with advanced technology is immense."
The vast majority of revenue in the U.S. glucose monitoring market is derived from the sale of glucose strips, which accounts for 87.9 percent of the overall market in 2004. Following the growth in emerging technologies, such traditional segments are expected to decrease proportionately.
With its contribution to overall revenues pegged at $4.8 million in 2004, emerging technologies is set to become the second largest market segment and
generate $349.0 million by 2011.
The enormous diabetic population and the growing recognition of the importance of diabetes management only justify the need for such advanced glucose monitoring technologies. Adjustments in Medicare reimbursements also point toward the need for more efforts to increase diagnosis of the undiagnosed diabetic population.
"A primary driver for technological development is the need to improve glucose monitoring compliance," explains Cohen. "The aim has been to move toward smaller blood samples, less pain, faster responses, and other improvements with the user interface that consequently increase the frequency of testing."
However, if such a system was introduced at a price comparable to the cost of meters and strips, there is a possibility that traditional glucose monitoring markets could take a major hit as consumers shift to other technologies.
"Meters and strips manufacturers cannot afford to ignore the threat from emerging technologies," says Cohen. "Active monitoring of product developments and investments in competitive information gathering must be coupled with in- house technology developments and searches for effective strategic partners."
Marketing investments targeted at high frequency testing populations, such as insulin pump users, is also likely to prove effective for maintaining market share and maximizing return on investment.
U.S. Glucose Monitoring Markets and Emerging Technologies, part of the patient monitoring subscription, analyzes the aforementioned market, segmenting it into glucose strips, glucose meters, and emerging glucose monitoring technologies. The study discusses the various market trends and opportunities while providing in-depth analysis of market share, revenue forecasts, and market drivers and restraints. Analyst interviews are available to the press.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies,
econometrics, and demographics.
www.prnewswire.com
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Youth foundation to tackle mental health
A new National Youth Mental Health Foundation will help to reduce the burden of mental illness, Prime Minister John Howard has said.
Mr Howard said the aim of the foundation is to promote early, effective intervention for young people aged 12 to 25 with mental health and related substance use disorders.
"As I think we all know, young people are particularly vulnerable to mental illness," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney.
"Three quarters of mental health problems begin before the age of 25 and mental illness can be brought on or exacerbated by drug and alcohol misuse."
Mr Howard said a consortium led by the Orygen Research Centre at the University of Melbourne had been selected to establish the foundation.
Other members of the consortium are the Brain and Mind Institute, the Australian Psychological Society and the Australian Divisions of General Practice.
Pacific Magazines chairman and Seven Network Asia president Ryan Stokes will chair the foundation, which will receive federal government funding of $54 million over four years.
The foundation is expected to be up and running early next year.
www.theage.com.au
Mr Howard said the aim of the foundation is to promote early, effective intervention for young people aged 12 to 25 with mental health and related substance use disorders.
"As I think we all know, young people are particularly vulnerable to mental illness," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney.
"Three quarters of mental health problems begin before the age of 25 and mental illness can be brought on or exacerbated by drug and alcohol misuse."
Mr Howard said a consortium led by the Orygen Research Centre at the University of Melbourne had been selected to establish the foundation.
Other members of the consortium are the Brain and Mind Institute, the Australian Psychological Society and the Australian Divisions of General Practice.
Pacific Magazines chairman and Seven Network Asia president Ryan Stokes will chair the foundation, which will receive federal government funding of $54 million over four years.
The foundation is expected to be up and running early next year.
www.theage.com.au
Federal funding injection to health
THE states will be offered hundreds of millions of dollars to improve public hospitals and treatment of the elderly and disabled as part of a renewed assault on health reform by the Howard Government.Canberra's latest funding offer is designed to relieve pressure on hospitals by moving elderly patients, requiring long-term care, from general wards to lower-cost facilities.
Additional funds will also be made available to encourage the states to move younger disabled patients from nursing homes and hostels into more appropriate housing.
John Howard will unveil the new health agenda in February during his next meeting with Labor premiers. The Prime Minister is keen to develop a national mental health strategy and has received cabinet approval to have this discussed at the next Council of Australian Governments meeting.
The reforms are an effort to streamline the health system by removing demarcation lines between Canberra and the states.
"What we are going to do is put a number of proposals to respond to the key pressure points in health," a senior government figure said.
The health plan is designed to neutralise complaints by Labor premiers that the Howard Government does not contribute enough funding to fix the system's chronic problems.
In a further peace offering to the states, the Government will stump up about $800million in the latest round of national competition payments.
These are paid to the states to encourage them to introduce competition in sectors such as energy, retail and water.
The competition payments will be made for reforms undertaken this financial year.
It is understood some states, including Western Australia and South Australia, have lagged in areas such as liquor regulation. But overall the states have largely complied with the reform agenda set by the National Competition Council.
Canberra is also expected to approve the sale of Medibank Private, with a scoping study expected to be considered by the cabinet early next year.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Additional funds will also be made available to encourage the states to move younger disabled patients from nursing homes and hostels into more appropriate housing.
John Howard will unveil the new health agenda in February during his next meeting with Labor premiers. The Prime Minister is keen to develop a national mental health strategy and has received cabinet approval to have this discussed at the next Council of Australian Governments meeting.
The reforms are an effort to streamline the health system by removing demarcation lines between Canberra and the states.
"What we are going to do is put a number of proposals to respond to the key pressure points in health," a senior government figure said.
The health plan is designed to neutralise complaints by Labor premiers that the Howard Government does not contribute enough funding to fix the system's chronic problems.
In a further peace offering to the states, the Government will stump up about $800million in the latest round of national competition payments.
These are paid to the states to encourage them to introduce competition in sectors such as energy, retail and water.
The competition payments will be made for reforms undertaken this financial year.
It is understood some states, including Western Australia and South Australia, have lagged in areas such as liquor regulation. But overall the states have largely complied with the reform agenda set by the National Competition Council.
Canberra is also expected to approve the sale of Medibank Private, with a scoping study expected to be considered by the cabinet early next year.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Small business group hits 18 out of 19
The Government is not prepared to give small employers a personal grievance-free period after they hire new employees, but is supporting 18 other recommendations from a small business advisory group.
Small Business Minister Lianne Dalziel announced yesterday that the Government supported in substance 18 of 19 recommendations in the August 2004 report from a group of nine people who owned small and medium-sized businesses.
Sixty per cent of new jobs in New Zealand in the past four years were in small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government's actions in response to the recommendations include extra funding for mentoring services; the Economic Development Ministry examining ways the Government can measure and publish the costs of compliance; changes to simplify depreciation and the fringe benefit tax; setting up a $40 million fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises to get capital.
Ms Dalziel said there were "other ways" the Government would explore to address the risks of hiring employees. The group was asking the Government to remove a probationary employee's right to file a personal grievance.
Its report said: "We believe that these are the single most important changes that could be made to the employment legislation and that they would lead directly and immediately to employment and business growth."
Ms Dalziel said the Employment Relations Act provided for a probationary period for new employees, with performance reviews and provisions that could lead to termination on the basis of non-performance.
Timaru businessman Murray Cleverley, a member of the advisory group, said the main aim was to minimise the risk of taking on new employees.
Ms Dalziel said even though employers had the right to dismiss a probationary employee for non-performance, there were employment consultants interested only in financial settlements from personal grievances.
Dunedin footwear manufacturer, Nigel McKinlay, also a group member, said employers might choose to pay out on a grievance, even though it might fail in court, because defending it would cost more in time and legal fees. Mr Cleverley said the group would work with the minister toward another solution.
www.stuff.co.nz
Small Business Minister Lianne Dalziel announced yesterday that the Government supported in substance 18 of 19 recommendations in the August 2004 report from a group of nine people who owned small and medium-sized businesses.
Sixty per cent of new jobs in New Zealand in the past four years were in small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government's actions in response to the recommendations include extra funding for mentoring services; the Economic Development Ministry examining ways the Government can measure and publish the costs of compliance; changes to simplify depreciation and the fringe benefit tax; setting up a $40 million fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises to get capital.
Ms Dalziel said there were "other ways" the Government would explore to address the risks of hiring employees. The group was asking the Government to remove a probationary employee's right to file a personal grievance.
Its report said: "We believe that these are the single most important changes that could be made to the employment legislation and that they would lead directly and immediately to employment and business growth."
Ms Dalziel said the Employment Relations Act provided for a probationary period for new employees, with performance reviews and provisions that could lead to termination on the basis of non-performance.
Timaru businessman Murray Cleverley, a member of the advisory group, said the main aim was to minimise the risk of taking on new employees.
Ms Dalziel said even though employers had the right to dismiss a probationary employee for non-performance, there were employment consultants interested only in financial settlements from personal grievances.
Dunedin footwear manufacturer, Nigel McKinlay, also a group member, said employers might choose to pay out on a grievance, even though it might fail in court, because defending it would cost more in time and legal fees. Mr Cleverley said the group would work with the minister toward another solution.
www.stuff.co.nz
AED 1 billion worth of rare Business Bay plots auctioned in less than 4 hours
Excitement and bidding frenzy, investors asking for more time to make up their minds or get on the phone to ask their partners and principals for instructions or more funds, made for an electric atmosphere as the charged bidding for the exclusive plots started.
'We are pleased. The plots in Business Bay offer one of the best locations in the city of Dubai along Sheikh Zayed Road. All the eight prime plots on offer were auctioned off in a highly intense bidding session that lasted less than four hours,' said Hashim Al Dabal, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Properties.
This was the second auction of real estate organised by Mazad. An exclusive list of property developers and investors were invited to today's auction, which, in keeping with the elite nature of the event, was held at the world's first seven-star super-luxury hotel, The Burj Al Arab. Mazad offered 'The Constellation', a collection of prime plots at Business Bay.
'Another major factor that made these plots so rare from others was that investors can construct buildings as high as they want as these plots come with a pre-approval for mixed-use buildings of unlimited height. Also the investors can have unlimited underground parking and additional podium height,'Al Dabal pointed out. 'This is our way of rewarding investors who have put their trust in us,' he added.
Prime Location'This was an exclusive opportunity to own plots at one of the best locations in Dubai and the investors, knowing the supreme benefits, took full advantage of the opportunity,' Al Dabal pointed out.
'I am pleased that the awareness about Business Bay has spread throughout the region as we had more than 200 investors from GCC countries, UAE, Pakistan and Iran who attended this highly exclusive event,' he added. Al Dabal said eight plots measuring a total of 700,000 square feet were sold for over AED 1 billion in less than 4 hours. The biggest plot was sold for AED 214 million, while the lowest price that a plot fetched was a substantial AED 45 million.
'What indicates the huge response to this once-in-a-lifetime offer was the fact that one of the 8 plots was sold to a pre-bidder even before the event for 20% more than the expected price,' said Al Dabal. He said that the 7 remaining plots were then sold during the event...all went for a price higher than the pre-set reserve price.
'I thank all the investors who attended from all over the region. Their presence and their interest in the Business Bay made us at Dubai Properties and Mazad feel so proud to have created something that people think so highly of and want so much,' Al Dabal added. Dubai Properties sought out John McGrath, recognised as Australasia's finest real estate auctioneer, to conduct the Mazad auction.
In a 23-year real estate career John McGrath has personally auctioned over 5,000 properties including some of Australia's most valuable and important real estate. Dubai Properties has been created by Dubai Holding Group with the express aim of conceiving niche, large-scale development projects and transforming that vision into reality.
www.ameinfo.com
'We are pleased. The plots in Business Bay offer one of the best locations in the city of Dubai along Sheikh Zayed Road. All the eight prime plots on offer were auctioned off in a highly intense bidding session that lasted less than four hours,' said Hashim Al Dabal, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Properties.
This was the second auction of real estate organised by Mazad. An exclusive list of property developers and investors were invited to today's auction, which, in keeping with the elite nature of the event, was held at the world's first seven-star super-luxury hotel, The Burj Al Arab. Mazad offered 'The Constellation', a collection of prime plots at Business Bay.
'Another major factor that made these plots so rare from others was that investors can construct buildings as high as they want as these plots come with a pre-approval for mixed-use buildings of unlimited height. Also the investors can have unlimited underground parking and additional podium height,'Al Dabal pointed out. 'This is our way of rewarding investors who have put their trust in us,' he added.
Prime Location'This was an exclusive opportunity to own plots at one of the best locations in Dubai and the investors, knowing the supreme benefits, took full advantage of the opportunity,' Al Dabal pointed out.
'I am pleased that the awareness about Business Bay has spread throughout the region as we had more than 200 investors from GCC countries, UAE, Pakistan and Iran who attended this highly exclusive event,' he added. Al Dabal said eight plots measuring a total of 700,000 square feet were sold for over AED 1 billion in less than 4 hours. The biggest plot was sold for AED 214 million, while the lowest price that a plot fetched was a substantial AED 45 million.
'What indicates the huge response to this once-in-a-lifetime offer was the fact that one of the 8 plots was sold to a pre-bidder even before the event for 20% more than the expected price,' said Al Dabal. He said that the 7 remaining plots were then sold during the event...all went for a price higher than the pre-set reserve price.
'I thank all the investors who attended from all over the region. Their presence and their interest in the Business Bay made us at Dubai Properties and Mazad feel so proud to have created something that people think so highly of and want so much,' Al Dabal added. Dubai Properties sought out John McGrath, recognised as Australasia's finest real estate auctioneer, to conduct the Mazad auction.
In a 23-year real estate career John McGrath has personally auctioned over 5,000 properties including some of Australia's most valuable and important real estate. Dubai Properties has been created by Dubai Holding Group with the express aim of conceiving niche, large-scale development projects and transforming that vision into reality.
www.ameinfo.com
Orion Technology and Digital Highway Join Forces to Enter Italian Market
Orion Technology, a leading provider of web-GIS software and integration services and Digital Highway an established provider of custom software solutions to public and private enterprises and government agencies throughout Italy, announced today that the two companies have signed a business partnership agreement.
Under terms of the partnership, Digital Highway will offer Orion’s OnPoint Suite of web-GIS software products to the Italian market.Based out of Rende, in Southern Italy, Digital highway provides custom software solutions to public and private enterprises and government agencies throughout the country and prides itself on providing leading edge software and consulting services.
Paolo Spadafora, the founder and CEO of Digital Highway recognized a need in the Italian and European markets for software and technology pioneered by Orion. With expertise in customizing solutions to fit customer needs, the Digital highway alliance with Orion will create unparalleled products and support for the Italian market. “The OnPoint Suite has the scalability and flexibility to serve a multitude of geographic and vertical markets.
Partnering with Digital Highway furthers Orion’s partnership strategy, and provides a unique opportunity to enter the Italian marketplace with a reputable company committed to client satisfaction, as we are at Orion.” commented Faizal Hasham, Director of Sales and Marketing for Orion.OnPoint, Orion’s flagship product, is a fully customizable web-GIS product (using ESRI's ArcIMS) that lets clients post their geographic data on the web fast. It is enjoying growing support in the GIS community, both domestically and internationally, as a standard for providing geographic data through intuitive Internet and Intranet web-based user interfaces.
OnPoint provides out-of-the-box implementation capabilities, powerful administration tools for customizing and managing the web portal, and unparalleled data-integration features. “We can now deliver cutting edge GIS technologies and solutions to the Italian marketplace” stated Paolo Spadafora.About Orion Technology Inc.Orion Technology, based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, is a technology consulting and services integration company, specializing in web-GIS. Orion's focus is on helping organizations incorporate spatial technology into all facets of their businesses. Orion’s wealth of knowledge in the GIS domain and top-notch GIS software-development expertise has been showcased with its award-winning flagship product OnPoint™.
OnPoint™ is enjoying growing support in the GIS community, both domestically and internationally, as a standard for providing geographic data through intuitive Internet and Intranet web-based user interfaces. OnPoint™ provides out-of-the-box implementation capabilities, powerful administration tools for customizing and managing the web portal, and unparalleled data-integration features. Orion's easy-to-use Web-GIS products and custom application development services have helped Orion achieve phenomenal success in securing and delivering projects for reputable clients worldwide - from small organizations to entire countries.
To find out more about Orion and its products, visit www.orion-gis.com.About Digital Highway Digital Highway is a dynamic company located in southern Italy. Digital Highway provides custom software solutions to public and private enterprises and government agencies and prides itself on providing leading edge software and consulting services. Digital Highway is focused on delivering tailor made products and services in the trademark “made in italy” tradition of custom engineering and design.
Through our modular solution design, we offer high-quality cost-effective products quickly, bringing down costs and time barriers. Our areas of expertise include: Customer Relationship Management, Content Management Systems, B2B and B2C e-commerce, Internet and Intranet Portals, Supply Chain Management, GIS Application Integration, Workflow and Document Management Systems.
www.spatialnews.geocomm.com
Under terms of the partnership, Digital Highway will offer Orion’s OnPoint Suite of web-GIS software products to the Italian market.Based out of Rende, in Southern Italy, Digital highway provides custom software solutions to public and private enterprises and government agencies throughout the country and prides itself on providing leading edge software and consulting services.
Paolo Spadafora, the founder and CEO of Digital Highway recognized a need in the Italian and European markets for software and technology pioneered by Orion. With expertise in customizing solutions to fit customer needs, the Digital highway alliance with Orion will create unparalleled products and support for the Italian market. “The OnPoint Suite has the scalability and flexibility to serve a multitude of geographic and vertical markets.
Partnering with Digital Highway furthers Orion’s partnership strategy, and provides a unique opportunity to enter the Italian marketplace with a reputable company committed to client satisfaction, as we are at Orion.” commented Faizal Hasham, Director of Sales and Marketing for Orion.OnPoint, Orion’s flagship product, is a fully customizable web-GIS product (using ESRI's ArcIMS) that lets clients post their geographic data on the web fast. It is enjoying growing support in the GIS community, both domestically and internationally, as a standard for providing geographic data through intuitive Internet and Intranet web-based user interfaces.
OnPoint provides out-of-the-box implementation capabilities, powerful administration tools for customizing and managing the web portal, and unparalleled data-integration features. “We can now deliver cutting edge GIS technologies and solutions to the Italian marketplace” stated Paolo Spadafora.About Orion Technology Inc.Orion Technology, based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, is a technology consulting and services integration company, specializing in web-GIS. Orion's focus is on helping organizations incorporate spatial technology into all facets of their businesses. Orion’s wealth of knowledge in the GIS domain and top-notch GIS software-development expertise has been showcased with its award-winning flagship product OnPoint™.
OnPoint™ is enjoying growing support in the GIS community, both domestically and internationally, as a standard for providing geographic data through intuitive Internet and Intranet web-based user interfaces. OnPoint™ provides out-of-the-box implementation capabilities, powerful administration tools for customizing and managing the web portal, and unparalleled data-integration features. Orion's easy-to-use Web-GIS products and custom application development services have helped Orion achieve phenomenal success in securing and delivering projects for reputable clients worldwide - from small organizations to entire countries.
To find out more about Orion and its products, visit www.orion-gis.com.About Digital Highway Digital Highway is a dynamic company located in southern Italy. Digital Highway provides custom software solutions to public and private enterprises and government agencies and prides itself on providing leading edge software and consulting services. Digital Highway is focused on delivering tailor made products and services in the trademark “made in italy” tradition of custom engineering and design.
Through our modular solution design, we offer high-quality cost-effective products quickly, bringing down costs and time barriers. Our areas of expertise include: Customer Relationship Management, Content Management Systems, B2B and B2C e-commerce, Internet and Intranet Portals, Supply Chain Management, GIS Application Integration, Workflow and Document Management Systems.
www.spatialnews.geocomm.com
Modern Technology Corp Announces Positive Quarterly Results and Issues Update
Modern Technology Corp (OTC BB: MOTG), a diversified technology development and acquisition company, announced today quarterly revenues of $1,311,779. The company had a cash balance of $1,161,688, $1,509,498 in trading securities, and total current assets of $4,833,159 as of September 30, 2005.
The company reports $8,327,296 in total Assets and positive Stockholder Equity. The company's expenses have been large due in part to interest expense and the extraordinary initial costs associated with acquisitions. The company's current growth pattern anticipates positive Earnings-Per-Share within the coming year.
Stockholders are reminded the majority of our subsidiary's revenue will be generated in the latter part of 2005 during the busiest sales season. The company's subsidiary Sound City (www.soundcity.com), is doubling its retail footprint and continues to add product lines.
With the opening of this subsidiary's new location, we expect revenue to be in line with expectations.
Anthony Welch, Modern Technology Corp's Chairman, said, "We continue to grow with our acquisitions and targets are being met. We are entering our strong revenue season and expect superb results. We will be issuing more news in the coming days."
The company previously announced acquisitions expected to add an estimated $11 Million in 2005 profitable revenues and a projected additional $13 Million in profitable revenues for 2006.
These new acquisitions will be consolidated in the Company's financials in the next quarter.
The company's current revenue projections for 2005 year-end are expected to be in excess of $20,000,000. This projection does not include other acquisitions under consideration.
It must be noted that we have transactions under consideration that may propel the company beyond $50,000,000 for 2005.
The company expects ongoing synergy-based cost reductions as well as increased revenue growth resulting from the synergies between the subsidiaries.
This guidance is the company's best good faith estimate based on current conditions and numerous assumptions about the company's industry, its access to financing, the competitive and regulatory landscape and its ability to successfully consummate the acquisitions under consideration.
About Modern Technology Corp.
Founded in 1982, Modern Technology Corp is a diversified technology development and acquisition company, building revenues by strategic acquisition and commercialization of nascent commercial technology and by the acquisition of synergistic operating companies. MOTG commercializes technology and provides to its subsidiaries new product lines, operations infrastructure, and significant intellectual capital. The company's mission is to consistently build shareholder value through accretive acquisitions of emerging technology or acquiring operating companies capable of benefiting from technology infrastructure enhancements or new product lines. For more information, visit: http://www.moderntechnologycorp.com.
Safe-Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements (such as projections regarding future performance) that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
www.marketwire.com
The company reports $8,327,296 in total Assets and positive Stockholder Equity. The company's expenses have been large due in part to interest expense and the extraordinary initial costs associated with acquisitions. The company's current growth pattern anticipates positive Earnings-Per-Share within the coming year.
Stockholders are reminded the majority of our subsidiary's revenue will be generated in the latter part of 2005 during the busiest sales season. The company's subsidiary Sound City (www.soundcity.com), is doubling its retail footprint and continues to add product lines.
With the opening of this subsidiary's new location, we expect revenue to be in line with expectations.
Anthony Welch, Modern Technology Corp's Chairman, said, "We continue to grow with our acquisitions and targets are being met. We are entering our strong revenue season and expect superb results. We will be issuing more news in the coming days."
The company previously announced acquisitions expected to add an estimated $11 Million in 2005 profitable revenues and a projected additional $13 Million in profitable revenues for 2006.
These new acquisitions will be consolidated in the Company's financials in the next quarter.
The company's current revenue projections for 2005 year-end are expected to be in excess of $20,000,000. This projection does not include other acquisitions under consideration.
It must be noted that we have transactions under consideration that may propel the company beyond $50,000,000 for 2005.
The company expects ongoing synergy-based cost reductions as well as increased revenue growth resulting from the synergies between the subsidiaries.
This guidance is the company's best good faith estimate based on current conditions and numerous assumptions about the company's industry, its access to financing, the competitive and regulatory landscape and its ability to successfully consummate the acquisitions under consideration.
About Modern Technology Corp.
Founded in 1982, Modern Technology Corp is a diversified technology development and acquisition company, building revenues by strategic acquisition and commercialization of nascent commercial technology and by the acquisition of synergistic operating companies. MOTG commercializes technology and provides to its subsidiaries new product lines, operations infrastructure, and significant intellectual capital. The company's mission is to consistently build shareholder value through accretive acquisitions of emerging technology or acquiring operating companies capable of benefiting from technology infrastructure enhancements or new product lines. For more information, visit: http://www.moderntechnologycorp.com.
Safe-Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements (such as projections regarding future performance) that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
www.marketwire.com
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Human health under threat from ecosystem degradation: WHO
Human health is under threat from ecosystem degradation, and threats are particularly acute in poorer countries, according to a report published Friday by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The report, Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Health Synthesis, represents an attempt to describe the complex links between the preservation of healthy and biodiverse natural ecosystems and human health.
"Over the past 50 years, humans have changed natural ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period in human history," said Lee Jong-wook, director-general of WHO.
"This transformation of the planet has contributed to substantial net gains in health, well-being and economic development. But not all regions and groups of people have benefited equally from this process," he said.
According to the report, approximately 60 percent of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth (such as fresh water, clean air and a relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used unsustainably.
In the report, scientists warn that harmful consequences of this degradation to human health are already being felt and could grow significantly worse over the next 50 years.
"The benefits should be acknowledged," said Carlos Corvalan, WHO 's lead expert on the report. "But these benefits are not enjoyed equally. And the risks we face now from ecosystem degradation, particularly among poor populations directly dependent on natural ecosystems for many basic needs, has to be addressed."
Ecosystem services are absolutely vital to preventing disease and sustaining good health, the Health Synthesis report underlines. Many important human diseases have originated in animals, and so changes in the habitats of animal populations that are disease vectors or reservoirs, may affect human health, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively.
Intensive livestock production, while providing benefits to health in terms of improved nutrition, has also created environments favorable to the emergence of diseases, the report notes.
Trends ranging from forest clearance to climate-induced habitat changes also appear to have impacted on certain populations of mosquitoes, ticks and midges, altering transmission patterns for diseases like malaria and Lyme disease.
Pressures on ecosystems could have unpredictable and potentially severe future impacts on health, the report states. Regions facing the greatest present-day risks, meanwhile, include sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, parts of Latin America, and certain areas in South and Southeast Asia.
One of the most serious problems is nutrition. Degradation of fisheries and agro-ecosystems are factors in the malnutrition of some 800 million people around the world. At least an additional billion people experience chronic micronutrient deficiency.
Safe drinking-water is also serious. Water-associated infectious diseases claim 3.2 million lives, approximately 6 percent of all deaths globally. Over one billion people lack access to safe water supplies, while 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation, and related problems of water scarcity are increasing, partly due to ecosystem depletion and contamination.
Solid fuel dependency is another problem. About 3 percent of the global burden of disease has been attributed to indoor air pollution, a major cause of respiratory diseases. Most of the world's population uses solid fuels to cook and heat, a factor in deforestation.
The Health Synthesis Report is WHO's contribution to the broader Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year series of studies and reports, involving over 1300 scientists, considering impacts on human well-being, past, present and future.
www.english.people.com.cn
The report, Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Health Synthesis, represents an attempt to describe the complex links between the preservation of healthy and biodiverse natural ecosystems and human health.
"Over the past 50 years, humans have changed natural ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period in human history," said Lee Jong-wook, director-general of WHO.
"This transformation of the planet has contributed to substantial net gains in health, well-being and economic development. But not all regions and groups of people have benefited equally from this process," he said.
According to the report, approximately 60 percent of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth (such as fresh water, clean air and a relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used unsustainably.
In the report, scientists warn that harmful consequences of this degradation to human health are already being felt and could grow significantly worse over the next 50 years.
"The benefits should be acknowledged," said Carlos Corvalan, WHO 's lead expert on the report. "But these benefits are not enjoyed equally. And the risks we face now from ecosystem degradation, particularly among poor populations directly dependent on natural ecosystems for many basic needs, has to be addressed."
Ecosystem services are absolutely vital to preventing disease and sustaining good health, the Health Synthesis report underlines. Many important human diseases have originated in animals, and so changes in the habitats of animal populations that are disease vectors or reservoirs, may affect human health, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively.
Intensive livestock production, while providing benefits to health in terms of improved nutrition, has also created environments favorable to the emergence of diseases, the report notes.
Trends ranging from forest clearance to climate-induced habitat changes also appear to have impacted on certain populations of mosquitoes, ticks and midges, altering transmission patterns for diseases like malaria and Lyme disease.
Pressures on ecosystems could have unpredictable and potentially severe future impacts on health, the report states. Regions facing the greatest present-day risks, meanwhile, include sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, parts of Latin America, and certain areas in South and Southeast Asia.
One of the most serious problems is nutrition. Degradation of fisheries and agro-ecosystems are factors in the malnutrition of some 800 million people around the world. At least an additional billion people experience chronic micronutrient deficiency.
Safe drinking-water is also serious. Water-associated infectious diseases claim 3.2 million lives, approximately 6 percent of all deaths globally. Over one billion people lack access to safe water supplies, while 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation, and related problems of water scarcity are increasing, partly due to ecosystem depletion and contamination.
Solid fuel dependency is another problem. About 3 percent of the global burden of disease has been attributed to indoor air pollution, a major cause of respiratory diseases. Most of the world's population uses solid fuels to cook and heat, a factor in deforestation.
The Health Synthesis Report is WHO's contribution to the broader Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year series of studies and reports, involving over 1300 scientists, considering impacts on human well-being, past, present and future.
www.english.people.com.cn
Malaysian PM urges for enhanced regional business linkage
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Saturday called on the East Asian business community to complement initiatives undertaken by their respective governments to enhance business linkages within the region.
Trade and industry associations in the region should also work to further enhance their networking, the prime minister said while opening the East Asia Business Exhibition here.
This could be facilitated through more frequent exchanges of trade and investment delegations as it would contribute to better understanding of the business environment and more frequent sharing of views and information, the prime minister said.
It would serve to "enhance awareness and facilitate closer business cooperation and discussions on issues of common interest as well as provide feedback to the governments," he said.
Last year, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) together with China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand accounted for 22.7 percent of world trade.
"This is no small achievement because it represents 24.2 percent of world exports and 21.2 percent of world imports," he said.
These countries also accounted for 22.6 percent of the world's gross domestic product in 2004, amounting to 9.2 trillion US dollars, according to the Malaysian prime minister.
Intra-regional trade for these countries has been growing faster than their trade with other regions.
www.news.xinhuanet.com
Trade and industry associations in the region should also work to further enhance their networking, the prime minister said while opening the East Asia Business Exhibition here.
This could be facilitated through more frequent exchanges of trade and investment delegations as it would contribute to better understanding of the business environment and more frequent sharing of views and information, the prime minister said.
It would serve to "enhance awareness and facilitate closer business cooperation and discussions on issues of common interest as well as provide feedback to the governments," he said.
Last year, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) together with China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand accounted for 22.7 percent of world trade.
"This is no small achievement because it represents 24.2 percent of world exports and 21.2 percent of world imports," he said.
These countries also accounted for 22.6 percent of the world's gross domestic product in 2004, amounting to 9.2 trillion US dollars, according to the Malaysian prime minister.
Intra-regional trade for these countries has been growing faster than their trade with other regions.
www.news.xinhuanet.com
Old technology gets new look in wake of crashes on short-overrun runways
An airplane crash at Little Rock National Airport in June 1999 that killed 11 people started a flurry of discussions over runway safety.
It was then the acronym EMAS entered the aviation lexicon even though it wasn’t a new concept.
Representatives at one Chicago law firm said Friday they believe the crash at Chicago’s Midway Airport, which left a 6-year-old Leroy boy dead, will force a resurrection of the discussion of the value of the Emergency Material Arresting System technology.
EMAS, developed in the 1980s, uses dense material and places it at the ends of airport runways that have less than 1,000 feet of runway safety space. When a plane can’t stop in the length of a runway, or lands short of the runway, the EMAS material crumbles upon impact, causing the aircraft to stop.
But, there’s debate over whether Midway could accommodate such a system.
“I think as a result of this (crash) the FAA has to take some action at Midway,” said Tom Ellis, spokesman for Nolan Law Group. But, they should have been proactive instead of waiting for an accident to prompt change, he said.
“It seems to be the same FAA tombstone-safety mentality,” Ellis said, referring to the Burbank and Little Rock airports which installed an EMAS only after deadly accidents occurred.
The system has proven effective — most recently preventing an accident at New York’s JFK Airport in January — and the FAA has recommended its installation in several airports across the country that don’t meet the FAA standard of 1,000 feet of overrun space.
According to the FAA, approximately 300 airports in the nation, including Midway and Gary/Chicago International Airport, do not meet those regulations. Recommendations are now being made for these airports to either extend their runways or install an EMAS.
But one FAA official said even though Congress suggests a deadline of 2015 for airports to comply, there would still be exceptions for some.
There may be some extenuating circumstances at some airports where EMAS simply wouldn’t be possible, said Tony Molinera, spokesman for the FAA Great Lakes Region. Midway might fit within that exception, he said.
A standard EMAS requires at least 500 feet, Molinera said. The Midway runway that a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 slid off Thursday was only 83 feet from the wall surrounding the airfield, Molinera said.
In addition, the airport, surrounded on all sides by residential streets, houses and businesses, has no space to expand.
Ellis argues a nonstandard EMAS would require much less space. And he says Midway can accommodate such a system.
The Chicago Department of Aviation didn’t return calls for comment on Friday.
Paul Karas, administrator of Gary/Chicago International Airport, said the FAA recommended it consider EMAS as it started a feasibility study on extending its runway.
But in order to accommodate EMAS, the Gary runway would actually have to be shortened. And the system would cost the airport more than $22 million to install and $400,000 per year in maintenance, Karas said.
The end of Gary’s Runway 30, Karas said, is about 250 feet from a railroad bed. Since an EMAS would require at least 400 feet, the runway would have to be shortened in order to accommodate it. The airport is instead proposing the removal of the railroad bed in order to extend the runway.
“They (FAA) haven’t made their final decision, but they recognize installing EMAS poses other difficulties for Gary Airport,” Karas said.
Ellis said Midway’s runways are capable of accommodating planes as large as the 737-700. But the design needs to account for any possible emergency scenario, and it doesn’t, he said.
If that safety can’t be ensured, Ellis said, “Maybe they should take those flights to O’Hare.”
www.post-trib.com
It was then the acronym EMAS entered the aviation lexicon even though it wasn’t a new concept.
Representatives at one Chicago law firm said Friday they believe the crash at Chicago’s Midway Airport, which left a 6-year-old Leroy boy dead, will force a resurrection of the discussion of the value of the Emergency Material Arresting System technology.
EMAS, developed in the 1980s, uses dense material and places it at the ends of airport runways that have less than 1,000 feet of runway safety space. When a plane can’t stop in the length of a runway, or lands short of the runway, the EMAS material crumbles upon impact, causing the aircraft to stop.
But, there’s debate over whether Midway could accommodate such a system.
“I think as a result of this (crash) the FAA has to take some action at Midway,” said Tom Ellis, spokesman for Nolan Law Group. But, they should have been proactive instead of waiting for an accident to prompt change, he said.
“It seems to be the same FAA tombstone-safety mentality,” Ellis said, referring to the Burbank and Little Rock airports which installed an EMAS only after deadly accidents occurred.
The system has proven effective — most recently preventing an accident at New York’s JFK Airport in January — and the FAA has recommended its installation in several airports across the country that don’t meet the FAA standard of 1,000 feet of overrun space.
According to the FAA, approximately 300 airports in the nation, including Midway and Gary/Chicago International Airport, do not meet those regulations. Recommendations are now being made for these airports to either extend their runways or install an EMAS.
But one FAA official said even though Congress suggests a deadline of 2015 for airports to comply, there would still be exceptions for some.
There may be some extenuating circumstances at some airports where EMAS simply wouldn’t be possible, said Tony Molinera, spokesman for the FAA Great Lakes Region. Midway might fit within that exception, he said.
A standard EMAS requires at least 500 feet, Molinera said. The Midway runway that a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 slid off Thursday was only 83 feet from the wall surrounding the airfield, Molinera said.
In addition, the airport, surrounded on all sides by residential streets, houses and businesses, has no space to expand.
Ellis argues a nonstandard EMAS would require much less space. And he says Midway can accommodate such a system.
The Chicago Department of Aviation didn’t return calls for comment on Friday.
Paul Karas, administrator of Gary/Chicago International Airport, said the FAA recommended it consider EMAS as it started a feasibility study on extending its runway.
But in order to accommodate EMAS, the Gary runway would actually have to be shortened. And the system would cost the airport more than $22 million to install and $400,000 per year in maintenance, Karas said.
The end of Gary’s Runway 30, Karas said, is about 250 feet from a railroad bed. Since an EMAS would require at least 400 feet, the runway would have to be shortened in order to accommodate it. The airport is instead proposing the removal of the railroad bed in order to extend the runway.
“They (FAA) haven’t made their final decision, but they recognize installing EMAS poses other difficulties for Gary Airport,” Karas said.
Ellis said Midway’s runways are capable of accommodating planes as large as the 737-700. But the design needs to account for any possible emergency scenario, and it doesn’t, he said.
If that safety can’t be ensured, Ellis said, “Maybe they should take those flights to O’Hare.”
www.post-trib.com
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Many Colon Cancer Patients Lack Therapy
More than a decade after new treatment guidelines for the disease were
issued, many patients with advanced colon cancer are not getting
chemotherapy after surgery, despite clear-cut evidence it boosts
survival, a study found.
Blacks, women and elderly patients were found to be less likely to get
chemo, even though such treatment was shown to improve survival in all
groups.
About two-thirds of the patients who received chemotherapy in
addition to surgery were alive after five years, compared with about
half of those who had surgery alone, according to the study in
Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. On average,
chemotherapy improved the five-year survival rate by about 16 percent.
"It gives you quite a lot of edge," said study co-author Dr. J.
Milburn Jessup of the National Cancer Institute and Georgetown
University Medical Center.
The National Institutes of Health published guidelines in 1990
recommending chemotherapy after surgery for stage III colon cancer, in
which the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes of the abdomen. Colon
cancer is the second deadliest cancer for Americans after lung cancer.
The researchers analyzed data from nearly 86,000 patients at 560 U.S.
hospitals who were entered into a national cancer database, and found
that the share of those who received surgery plus chemo went from 39
percent in 1991 to 64 percent in 2002.
Similarly, studies presented at an American Society of Clinical
Oncology meeting in May showed significant variation in the treatment
given to patients with cancer of the breast or stomach.
The disparity found in the JAMA study narrowed for blacks over the
decade, until it was no longer significant in 2002. But the gap
remained wide for women and even wider for elderly patients. Jessup
would not speculate about the reason for the disparities.
"A lot of patients still don't get treated despite very promising
data," said Dr. Wells Messersmith at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer
Center, who was not involved in the research. He said nearly all his
stage III patients receive chemotherapy after surgery.
Some patients fear chemotherapy and do not realize new medications can
lessen its side effects, he said. And some doctors do not have the
means to provide the best treatment or do not keep up with the
research, Messersmith said.
Dr. Mark Zalupski of the University of Michigan, who was not involved
in the research, said colon cancer patients in their 80s are more
likely to have other health problems that might make chemotherapy
after surgery less practical.
Elderly patients also sometimes refuse chemotherapy, he said.
"In my own practice, I've seen older patients who don't want to be
bothered with the burdens of therapy. They've lived their lives and
will sort of take their chances," Zalupski said.
www.sun-sentinel.com
Gabriel Technologies Announces Upcoming Launch of Trace Location Services; Asset Tracking Technology Integrates a-GPS, Wireless and Internet
Gabriel Technologies Corp. (OTCBB:GWLK), a homeland security company
focused on serving the transportation industry, announced today that
it will formally launch its Trace location services in late January
2006.
Trace provides a flexible, rapidly deployable assisted-GPS
location-based service that enables a wide array of customizable
applications. The technology locates and/or tracks assets or people.
Trace owns a license to use Qualcomm SnapTrack's a-GPS software for
devices using the ReFlex wireless paging network.
CEO Keith Feilmeier said, "This launch represents an important new
milestone for our company. We have spent considerable time and
resources developing Trace in the last 18 months, and we are excited
to bring the product to market.
Trace's proprietary two-way paging-over-wireless network software and
web services interface are going to revolutionize how and where GPS
can be applied. Trace's staff and partners are recognized experts in
two-way paging, wireless networking, nuclear applications, government
contracting and financial management of technology and entrepreneurial
ventures."
Gabriel is initially targeting areas that have good ReFlex coverage,
which is optimal for the Trace technology. Potential uses include:
-- Emergency responder coordination and tracking
-- Airline asset tracking at airports
-- Manage movable assets and people
-- Transportation and vehicular tracking
-- Alzheimer patient tracking
-- Postal shipment tracking
-- Security for high-value cargo
-- Tracking of assets and people on large campuses or highly congested areas
Trace intends to sell its services primarily through its network of
licensed value-added resellers (VARs). The VARs will manage marketing,
Tier 1 support, ongoing customer billing and sales of the bundled
airtime, service and devices. The VARs will pay Trace monthly for
service based on locates and number of devices as well as an
activation and deactivation fee. Trace also will receive royalties on
all devices sold.
About Trace Technologies
Trace Technologies, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gabriel
Technologies Corporation. Trace location tracking provides enhanced
location services to devices supporting Qualcomm's SnapTrack(TM)
assisted-GPS technology. Subscribers and licensees pay a fee to access
the Trace SnapTrack-based location information to determine the
precise location of enabled devices, such as the Trace Asset Tag.
The company works with a number of value-added resellers and
distribution partners to give the technology a greater reach of the
tracking services market. Trace Technologies' mission is to provide
the highest quality security solutions available by creating
innovation, proven technologies that can be implemented on a realistic
basis. The company is headquartered in Omaha, Neb., with satellite
offices in Seattle, Wash., and Dallas, Texas. For more information,
visit http://www.trace-tech.net.
About Gabriel Technologies
Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Gabriel Technologies, LLC of
Omaha, Neb., Gabriel Technologies Corp. develops, manufactures and
sells a series of physical locking systems for the transportation and
shipping industries collectively known as the WAR-LOK(TM) Security
System. Security has evolved substantially in recent years due to
increased risks from theft and terrorism. With the implementation of
the award-winning WAR-LOK, Gabriel Technologies provides
cost-efficient security measures to prevent national and global theft
and homeland security issues.
Gabriel Technologies' mission is to provide the highest quality
security products available to the transportation and shipping
industries by creating innovative, proven technologies that can be
implemented on a realistic basis. Gabriel Technologies Corp. is also
the parent company of the next-generation-assisted GPS company,
Trace Technologies, LLC, http://www.trace-tech.net. For more
information about Gabriel, contact Dan Chicoine at (402) 614-0258 or
visit http://www.gabrieltechnologies.com.
A profile on the business can be found at
http://www.hawkassociates.com/gabriel/profile.htm.
Investors may contact Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, Hawk
Associates, at (305) 451-1888, e-mail: info@hawkassociates.com. An
online investor relations kit containing Gabriel Technologies' press
releases, SEC filings, current Level II price quotes, interactive Java
stock charts and other useful information for investors can be found
at http://www.hawkassociates.com and http://www.americanmicrocaps.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: Investors are cautioned that certain
statements contained in this document are "Forward-Looking Statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
Forward-looking statements include statements which are predictive in
nature, which depend upon or refer to future events or conditions,
which include words such as "believes," "anticipates," "intends,"
"plans," "expects" and similar expressions. In addition, any
statements concerning future financial performance (including future
revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or
prospects, and possible future Gabriel actions, which may be provided
by management, are also forward-looking statements as defined by the
act. These statements are not guarantees of future performance.
home.businesswire.com
Online software, services taking new look at how we manage time
Benjamin Franklin said that more than 200 years ago, yet we still lose
much time in the modern world from everyday inefficiency and
confusion.
Personal computers and the Internet were supposed to have helped solve
those problems, following a burst of enthusiasm for online calendars
and scheduling programs in the late 1990s.
But that first generation of products didn't work particularly well
and were too difficult to use. While electronic calendars,
particularly the one in Microsoft Outlook, are widely used within some
big corporations, most people still keep track of their lives on
paper.
Silicon Valley is now revisiting the difficult question of time
management, with a new crop of online software and services from
companies big and small.
Their ideas were on display Tuesday at ``When 2.0,'' a one-day
conference held at Stanford University.
``I'm just excited the topic is coming up again,'' said Ray Ozzie,
chief technology officer of Microsoft and inventor of the Lotus Notes
software for organizing work group activity.
Ozzie sat on a panel that included Lotus co-founder Mitch Kapor,
moderated by technology doyenne Esther Dyson.
``There's much more pain around calendars than there is around
e-mail,'' Kapor told an audience of 165.
Kapor is an advocate for open-source software, where new programs are
created collaboratively and shared freely. He's backing an open-source
project called Chandler that will offer advanced tools for selectively
sharing your personal calendar entries with others.
Chandler is based on iCalendar, an open-source standard for sharing
calendar entries among different programs. Microsoft hasn't fully
supported iCalendar, greatly reducing its value, but it is swinging
fully into the iCalendar camp with the next version of Outlook, due in
2006.
Microsoft and the open-source community have yet to come to terms on
several other important technical standards. Kapor said he would sit
down with Ozzie immediately after the panel to start ironing out these
wrinkles, and the two men did spend time together at a picnic table
outside the hall.
Of course, you can't have a conference in Silicon Valley without
everyone wondering what Google will do.
There were rumors that at the conference Mountain View-based Google
would announce a free online calendar service, to compete with the
online calendars already offered by Yahoo and Microsoft.
Carl Sjogreen, a Google product manager, announced during the
question-and-answer period that Google would make no announcement.
But something is more than likely on the horizon. When I asked
Sjogreen what product he managed, he declined to answer -- leaving me
to wonder if he's the product manager for a Google calendar project
that's still in development.
Of the several start-ups presenting at When 2.0, my favorite was Renkoo.
The Palo Alto company plans to launch an online service early next
year that will provide a shared space for small groups to plan events.
If you want to invite a list of friends to a party with a fixed time
and place, it's easy to use the existing Evite service. But Evite
doesn't work well when you're not sure what you want to do, or what
your friends prefer.
With Renkoo, you can send a query by e-mail, instant message or
cell-phone text message, perhaps asking, ``Who wants to go for a hike
this weekend? What's the best time for you, and where do you want
go?''
Your friends then reply with their preferences, and the group goes
back and forth -- with the dialogue recorded on a single Web page --
until there's a consensus.
Renkoo, named for a form of Japanese poetry called renku or renga
where people take turns writing verses, will be free to users and
hopes to make money through ads and sponsorships.
Adam Rifkin, Renkoo's co-founder and chief executive officer, said he
aims to solve a basic problem: ``You can never get enough information
on what your friends are doing.''
While it's much too soon to know whether Renkoo or any of the other
bold proposals at When 2.0 will succeed, the vision at least is clear.
In a few years, we'll effortlessly manage our time by entering
appointments on whatever Internet-connected electronic device is at
hand -- a computer or a cell phone or a personal digital assistant --
and those appointments will instantly appear on the calendars of
others we designate.
If we change the time of an appointment, it will instantly update the
calendars of others.
Public and group events we want to track, from upcoming rock concerts
and professional hockey games to our children's soccer team schedules,
will automatically pop into our calendars.
There are lots of technical, security and privacy issues yet to
resolve, but the benefits are big enough that families may ultimately
be freed from running their lives through scraps of paper stuck to
refrigerator doors.
www.myrtlebeachonline.com/
State To Issue Long-Awaited Report Cards On Hospitals
A Web site tracking surgical procedures and other treatments at hospitals across New York will be launched next month by the state Health Department, almost a decade after a law was passed requiring the state to do so.
Some of the measures tracked will include treatment of heart attacks and pneumonia and the prevention of surgical infections, said Health Department spokesman Rob Kenny.
Kenny declined to elaborate about the site, which has been in the works for more than a year, until its launch is finalized and officially announced early next month.
The Web site is in response to a 1996 law that required the state to issue report cards tracking hospitals procedures. Kenny said the delay was partly because such medical reports are complex and must take into account various factors.
"They've had 10 years to work on it, so it'll be interesting to see how they approach it. We're waiting with bated breath," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which lobbied for the law a decade ago.
The department now only tracks three types of common cardiac procedures.
Citing studies that show public scrutiny improves the quality of care, critics have long said the Health Department should expand its reporting of hospital procedures.
A report card released by the Health Department this year showed that in 2003, the mortality rate for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery was 1.61 percent, compared to 3.52 percent in 1989.
Few people are aware of the state report card, however, Horner said.
"It's a buried treasure," he said.
Additionally, the reports are based on information that is usually at least two years old, he said.
News of the department's Web site launch comes just a week after an independent group health care plans and providers issued a report card on 28 measures and procedures in hospitals statewide.
The Niagara Health Quality Coalition tracked 28 procedures and treatments in its third annual report card.
A single comprehensive report would make it easiest for consumers, said Matt Cox, spokesman for the Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents about 500 health care facilities statewide.
Before seeing the state's Web site, however, Cox declined to say which site would be more useful to consumers.
"If they're just going to duplicate what we have, it's probably not that helpful," said Bruce Boissonnault, president of NHQC.
Horner, meanwhile, pointed out the state, unlike NHQC, can mandate that providers alert consumers to the report cards, whether by requiring them to tell patrons or by sending out notifications through voter information forms or DMV mailings.
"It's better for the government to do it because they have the regulatory clout," he said. "It's good that they're finally getting something out the door."
www.wnbc.com
Some of the measures tracked will include treatment of heart attacks and pneumonia and the prevention of surgical infections, said Health Department spokesman Rob Kenny.
Kenny declined to elaborate about the site, which has been in the works for more than a year, until its launch is finalized and officially announced early next month.
The Web site is in response to a 1996 law that required the state to issue report cards tracking hospitals procedures. Kenny said the delay was partly because such medical reports are complex and must take into account various factors.
"They've had 10 years to work on it, so it'll be interesting to see how they approach it. We're waiting with bated breath," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which lobbied for the law a decade ago.
The department now only tracks three types of common cardiac procedures.
Citing studies that show public scrutiny improves the quality of care, critics have long said the Health Department should expand its reporting of hospital procedures.
A report card released by the Health Department this year showed that in 2003, the mortality rate for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery was 1.61 percent, compared to 3.52 percent in 1989.
Few people are aware of the state report card, however, Horner said.
"It's a buried treasure," he said.
Additionally, the reports are based on information that is usually at least two years old, he said.
News of the department's Web site launch comes just a week after an independent group health care plans and providers issued a report card on 28 measures and procedures in hospitals statewide.
The Niagara Health Quality Coalition tracked 28 procedures and treatments in its third annual report card.
A single comprehensive report would make it easiest for consumers, said Matt Cox, spokesman for the Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents about 500 health care facilities statewide.
Before seeing the state's Web site, however, Cox declined to say which site would be more useful to consumers.
"If they're just going to duplicate what we have, it's probably not that helpful," said Bruce Boissonnault, president of NHQC.
Horner, meanwhile, pointed out the state, unlike NHQC, can mandate that providers alert consumers to the report cards, whether by requiring them to tell patrons or by sending out notifications through voter information forms or DMV mailings.
"It's better for the government to do it because they have the regulatory clout," he said. "It's good that they're finally getting something out the door."
www.wnbc.com
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