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Saturday, March 31, 2012
Ride This Stealth Bike Wherever You Want Without Being Seen [Bicycles]
Probiotics for Dogs and even Cats vs Prebiotics | Momoko Harada
Right now, the veterinary wellbeing group really praises merchandise that have probiotics for dogs and cats. Cat and dog probiotics are actually backed by a lot of reputable reports that declare that they are really critical in preserving optimum digestive wellbeing. Besides dog probiotics, prebiotics can also be offered by some suppliers. Even so, quite number of pet owners understand what the difference amongst these two are.
A good deal of vets normally should make clear to pet proprietors the main difference amongst prebiotics and probiotics for dogs and cats. Should you be not acquainted with both of these, tend not to fret ? you?re not alone! Prebiotics feed intestinal bacteria, even though probiotics can be a form of useful intestinal germs: here is the major big difference amongst these two. It?s been established that prebiotics feed not simply the useful gut germs, but will also the bad bacteria which could harm your pet.
Prebiotics will never do any hurt to the pet dog or cat if he has an optimally nutritious digestive tract. However, gastrointestinal (GI) troubles like leaky gut and modest intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can be a widespread dilemma between pets right now. Here is the explanation why their GI tracts very good to terrible germs ratio is from get. In these situations, it?s not at all best to present prebiotics to your pet. Prebiotics are intricate sugars. You could possibly uncover this complicated due to the fact these are typically frequently named fiber due to the fact they can be non-digestible. Due to the fact yeast and also other opportunistic pathogens feed on sugar while in the modest intestine, pet dogs and cats that have yeasty guts can become sicker from consuming prebiotics.
Heres one more big difference amongst prebiotics and probiotics for dogs and cats: even though prebiotics are sometimes blended with pet foodstuff, probiotics will not be. So, tend not to buy a pet foodstuff that statements to own the best probiotics for cats and pet dogs. This is due to cat and dog probiotics are heat and moisture-sensitive, and when you add them to a pet foodstuff system this sort of as kibble, they?re going to die and turn into pointless.
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Nanotech Armor Guards Against Breast Cancer Remission - 03/30 ...
The Burrill Report
Researchers at Brown University have created an implant with a modified surface that seems to prevent breast cancer cells from growing back after an operation to remove cancerous tissue. The implant, made from an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer with its surface changed at the nanoscale level, causes a reduction in the blood vessel architecture that breast cancer tumors depend upon, while at the same time attracting healthy endothelial cells for breast tissue. Their research results have been published in the journal Nanotechnology.
?This is like a bed-of-nails surface to them, says lead researcher Thomas Webster.?
Researchers at Brown University have created an implant with a modified surface that seems to prevent breast cancer cells from growing back after an operation to remove cancerous tissue. The implant, made from an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer with its surface changed at the nanoscale level, causes a reduction in the blood vessel architecture that breast cancer tumors depend upon, while at the same time attracting healthy endothelial cells for breast tissue. Their research results have been published in the journal Nanotechnology.
One in eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. Many of these women undergo surgery to remove the tumor and often undergo some kind of breast reconstruction afterward. Of these women, one in five will see their cancer return, according to the American Cancer Society.
Looking to create materials that might drive down that rate of relapse, the researchers created an implant with a surface structured like a ?bed-of-nails? at the nanoscale level that deters cancer cells from dwelling and thriving. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or 1/50,000th the width of a human hair.
?We?ve created an (implant) surface with features that can at least decrease (cancerous) cell functions without having to use chemotherapeutics, radiation, or other processes to kill cancer cells,? says Thomas Webster, associate professor of engineering and the corresponding author of the research paper. ?It?s a surface that?s hospitable to healthy breast cells and less so for cancerous breast cells.?
Webster and his lab were already modifying various implant surfaces to promote the regeneration of bone, cartilage, skin, and other cells. In this work, he and Lijuan Zhang, a fourth-year graduate student in chemistry, sought to reshape an implant that could be used in breast reconstruction surgery that would not only attract healthy cells but also repel any lingering breast-cancer cells. They created a cast on a glass plate using 23-nanometer-diameter polystyrene beads and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), a biodegradable polymer widely in clinical settings, such as stitches. The result is an implant whose surface is covered with adjoining, 23-nanometer-high pimples. They also created PLGA implant surfaces with 300-nanometer and 400-nanometer peaks for comparison.
In the lab they found that after one day, the 23-nanometer-peak surfaces showed a 15-percent decrease in the production of the VEGF protein upon which endothelial breast cancer cells depend, compared to an implant surface with no surface modification. They also found that the 23-nanometer semispherical surface yielded 15 percent more healthy endothelial breast cells compared to normal surface after one day of lab tests.
The 23-nanometer surface showed greater reduction in VEGF concentration when compared to the 300-nanometer and 400-nanometer-modified implants as well. Webster thinks this may be because the bumpier surface makes it more difficult for the tumor cells, which tend to be stiffer than normal cells, to wrap themselves around the contours, take hold, and thrive.
?This is like a bed-of-nails surface to them,? says Webster. ?I would guess that surface peaks less than 23 nanometers would be even better, although polystyrene beads with such dimensions don?t yet exist. ?The more you can push up that cancerous cell, the more you keep it from interacting with the surface.?
Webster and Zhang next plan to investigate why the nano-modified surfaces deter malignant breast cells, to create surface features that yield better results, and to determine whether other materials can be used. Their research was funded by the National Institutes of Health?s National Center for Research Resources and the Memorial Hermann Foundation, a group connected to the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas.?
March 30, 2012
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-nanotech_armor_guards_against_breast_cancer_remission.html
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Young Syrian activists put life on hold in revolt
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) ? Last year, Khalid was a 19-year-old Syrian university student whose modest dreams were to land a job and earn enough to marry his girlfriend ? not simple tasks given Syria's weak economy and his lack of connections to the ruling elite.
Since then, he's become a fugitive activist in the fight to topple President Bashar Assad. Khalid said he has been tortured by security forces and hasn't spoken to his loved ones in months for fear he'll endanger their lives.
Young people like Khalid have manned the front lines in the uprisings across the Arab world, organizing protests, documenting violence and taking up arms against government troops.
Analysts say youth frustration has proven to be a potent force in an area where some 60 percent of people are under 25 ? making it one of the world's youngest regions.
Many youth activists say they had plenty to protest, facing adulthood in societies where decades of autocratic rule left them with limited freedom and constricted economies. For Khalid and other young Syrians, the uprising is about more than just toppling a dictator. It's a fight for their generation's dreams.
"I can't think about my own life now," said Khalid, now 20, after sneaking across the Syrian border into Lebanon. "All I can think about is working to make the revolution succeed because it will have a huge effect on the lives of all youth."
The young have been key players in Syria's uprising since its start in March 2011, when security forces arrested a group of teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall in the southern city of Daraa, generating huge protests.
Assad's security forces violently cracked down, deploying tanks, snipers and thugs to quash the spreading dissent. Later, many civilians took up arms to defend their communities and attack security forces. The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed, including at least 500 children. Hundreds more children have been injured, detained or abused.
As the death toll mounts, young activists acknowledge some naivete in their decision to challenge one of the region's most brutal police states. Their elders often tried to dissuade them, recalling how Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people while crushing a 1982 rebellion in the city of Hama.
"Many of them were scared. They saw what the regime can do and told us, 'We were there in 1982. You weren't.'" said Mustafa, 24, who fled the coastal city of Banias to Lebanon last year. Like Khalid, he asked only that his first name be used for fear of endangering relatives inside Syria.
Still, many have decided that a chance at better lives was worth dropping their studies, jobs and marriage plans.
Before the uprising, Khalid studied engineering at a university in the central city of Homs, even though he was interested in computers and wasn't sure he'd ever get a job. He dreamed of going to school abroad, but government scholarships went to students in the ruling Baath Party.
He never thought about politics, but began paying close attention when uprisings toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt last year. In March, security forces stopped an anti-regime demonstration on campus, then forced students to attend a pro-Assad rally.
In April, security forces killed protesters in his neighborhood, Baba Amr, then posted troops to deter future gatherings.
"That was the first time I got mad and decided I was against the regime," Khalid said.
Anger grew in the neighborhood as the regime crushed more protests and raided homes to arrest activists, sometimes detaining their parents, he said.
Khalid started a Facebook page to commemorate those killed while working with other activists to film protests to post online.
In October, security forces stopped him at a checkpoint and found a photo on his cellphone of a government sniper, Khalid said. At the police station, he was beaten with a mop handle until his back was numb, then locked with six others in a cell so small that only three people could sit down at a time, he added.
For 20 days, he was regularly beaten during interrogations and suspended by plastic strips around his wrists, he said. He finally escaped with the help of a sympathetic security officer.
"After that, I knew I'd never shut up," he said. "I wanted to do the impossible to make the revolution succeed."
But first, he broke up with his girlfriend, worrying that their relationship would endanger her. She cried when he told her.
"I had to do it for her safety," he said. "I have set out on a martyr mission. As soon as you say, 'I'm an activist,' you know you could die."
At that time, Baba Amr was becoming a national symbol of the uprising. Army defectors has flocked to the area, making it harder for troops to come in, protests grew and the youth organized into media, medical and even trash pickup committees.
That defiance drew the regime's wrath, and in early February troops surrounded Baba Amr and shelled it daily. Khalid and the media team kept working, filming and uploading videos and communicating with journalists and other activists via Skype.
Despite the violence, there was youthful mischief. When an explosion near their makeshift media center silenced a rooster often heard in their videos, they commemorated him with his own Facebook page.
On Feb. 22, government rockets hit the media center, killing a number of activists and foreign journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, who had sneaked into Syria. Government troops captured the area on March 1, after armed rebels and activists pulled out.
Khalid says he's seen the bodies of some of his relatives in activist videos from the neighborhood and hasn't spoken to his parents in two months.
None of the activists' claims could be independently verified. The Syrian government bars most media from operating inside the country.
Another Baba Amr activist who also fled to Lebanon said he passed up a chance to study medicine in Germany so he could work to topple Assad.
"I reached a point where I realized that Syria could have a good future," he said, declining to give his name for fear of reprisals against his relatives. "I used to want to go to a developed country, but someday, after Assad falls, Syria will be like that. But we'll build it ourselves."
While international condemnation of Assad has mounted, diplomacy has failed to stop the violence and many activists acknowledge that the conflict is unlikely to end soon.
Most are still driven by the hope of better lives in Syria.
"I want to go back and study, get a job in a company," said Mustafa, the activist from Banias, who was a barber before the uprising and now helps Syrian refugees settle in Lebanon.
He, too, put marriage plans on hold because of the uprising, but is still in touch with his girlfriend whom he hopes to marry someday.
"Perhaps the day after the regime falls," he said, laughing.
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Style Flavors Giveaway: $200 Gift-Card From A Retailer Of Your ...
Our US$200 gift-card giveaway continues today on our Facebook page. You can have $200 from one retailer or split it amongst 2 retailers or amongst 4 retailers; if you are so inclined. It?s all up to you. Pick from any retailer of your fancy. It?s literally free shopping money.
To enter, simply ?Like? us on Facebook and enter your details on the giveaway form here?or access it via our Giveaway tab on our Facebook page. It?s that simple. And oh, do tell all your friends because the more people we have, the more gift-cards we will giveaway so that means more chances to win free shopping money. There are no limits to how many prizes one can win. Good luck everyone.
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Successful Internet Marketing Includes Both Email Marketing & Social
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Successful Internet Marketing Includes Both Email Marketing & Social Media ? March 30, 2012 By Rod Moore Leave a Comment · Advertise On Profit Minute Site. Small Business Online Marketing Use To Increase In 2012, AT&T Poll Says ...
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Friday, March 30, 2012
California Bill Makes Student Teacher Relationships A Crime Even If ...
You know that a ?child protection? bill is bat shit insane when even readers of the Daily Femiservative Mail think it?s crazy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121745/California-make-teacher-student-relationships-felony-rolled-out.html
A 41-year-old high school teacher exchanges thousands of text messages with his student, then leaves his wife and three children to date her.
The couple then goes on national TV, saying their relationship didn?t become physical until she turned 18.
In California, there?s nothing illegal about what they did.
Now, a lawmaker is hoping to change that with a bill rolled out on Monday that would make such relationships a felony, even if the student is 18, and strip teachers of their pensions and retiree health care if they are convicted.
To prevent teachers from ?grooming? students for relationships when they become adults, the bill would also criminalize seductive communication, such as sexual text messages.
?Our hope is that that will be a pretty strong and painful deterrent and will cause someone to think twice before starting an inappropriate, unethical relationship with a student,? said Republican Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, the bill?s sponsor.
In the UK, which has the strongest anti-?grooming? laws in Europe, it is already illegal to communicate with a person under 16 with ?the intention of having sex with them?.? I guess there would be no need for this law here, as you could already be prosecuted for having sex with a 30 year old woman if you had first e-mailed her when she was 15, whether you were her teacher or not.
Quote from the Brasseye Paedohysteria special :
Chris Morris : ?Would you have sex with this 3 year old girl now that she is 21??
Man in the street : ?No way!? You belong in a mental asylum!?
But should this be illegal as well?
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
Pope prays for freedom, 'renewal' in Cuba
HAVANA (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal "for the greater good of all Cubans" before the nation's patron saint Tuesday, but the island's communist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader's appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule.
The exchange came hours before Fidel Castro confirmed that he would happily meet with Benedict before he leaves for Rome on Wednesday. Castro made the much-awaited announcement at the end of a short opinion piece posted on a government website late Tuesday, saying he had decided to ask for "a few minutes of his busy time."
Expectations of a meeting have dominated Benedict's three-day visit to Cuba, which culminates with a morning Mass in Havana's Revolution Plaza.
On Tuesday, Benedict had a 55-minute closed-door meeting with Fidel's brother, President Raul Castro, in which the pontiff proposed that Good Friday, when Catholics commemorate the death of Christ, be made a holiday.
There was no immediate response. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said it was natural for the government to take time to consider such a request, which followed on the Cuban government's decision to declare Christmas a national holiday after Pope John Paul II's 1998 visit.
"It's not that it changes reality in a revolutionary way, but it can be a sign of a positive step ? as was the case of Christmas after John Paul's visit," Lombardi said.
Asked if the pope raised the matter of political prisoners or Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cuba on spy charges, Lombardi said "requests of a humanitarian nature" came up, but he had no information about whether individual cases were discussed.
Benedict spent nearly twice as long with Castro as he normally does with heads of state, which Lombardi attributed to the pontiff's desire to get to know the man.
Days after dismissing the Marxist ideology on which the Cuban system is based, Benedict continued to gently press themes highly sensitive to Cuban government in his prayer and short speech at the sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre near the eastern city of Santiago.
"I have entrusted to the Mother of God the future of your country, advancing along the ways of renewal and hope, for the greater good of all Cubans," the pope said. "I have also prayed to the Virgin for the needs of those who suffer, of those who are deprived of freedom, those who are separated from their loved ones or who are undergoing times of difficulty."
It wasn't long before a top official back in Havana responded.
"In Cuba, there will not be political reform," said Marino Murillo, Cuba's economic czar and a vice president.
The pope has kept his language lofty, his criticism vague and open to interpretation, but Murillo's comments left no room for doubt, and they were quickly picked up by pro-government blogs and on Twitter accounts.
Raul Castro has said that opening up Cuba's political system would inevitably spell doom for its socialist project since any alternative party would be dominated by enemies across the Florida Straits and beyond.
Alfredo Mesa, a Cuban-American National Foundation board member whose trip to Cuba was organized by the Miami Archdiocese, said the government's strong reaction would reinforce the pope's message and the need for change.
"I'd rather have them say this now than tomorrow," Mesa said.
During a quiet moment at the shrine of the Virgin of Charity, Benedict also prayed for more Cubans to embrace the faith in a country that is the least Catholic in Latin America. While most Cubans are nominally Catholic, fewer than 10 percent practice the faith.
The pontiff knelt before the crowned, wooden statue, which stood on a covered table shrouded in blue and white cloth. Helped by two bishops, the 84-year-old pontiff rose and approached the icon, lit a candle and stood in prayer as a choir sang hymns.
He called on all Cubans "to work for justice, to be servants of charity and to persevere in the midst of trials."
The pope pointedly referred to the Virgin by her popular name, La Mambisa, in a gesture to the many non-Catholics on the island who nonetheless venerate the statue as an Afro-Cuban deity. Mambisa is the word for the Cuban fighters who won independence from Spain at the turn of the last century.
In subtle ways, the pope has acknowledged a lack of faith in the island nation, and tried to make his trip appealing to potential believers. The visit is timed to the 400th anniversary of the appearance of the statue of the Virgin to two fishermen and an African slave in Cuba's Bay of Hipe.
Dunia Felipillo, 45, said she was proud to see the pope praying before the Virgin of Charity, even though she herself was not Catholic.
"We all ask favors of la Cachita," she said, using the Cuban slang for the Virgin, as she watched the ceremony on TV from the lobby of a Santiago hotel.
Benedict's frequent references to the Virgin also highlighted what the church shares with Cuba's nonreligious population, in contrast to his views that would spark more opposition, such as the church's position on divorce and abortion and his strong comments against Marxism.
Benedict has emphasized devotion to Mary throughout his Latin America trip, also making frequent reference to Our Lady of Guadalupe earlier in Mexico. But he has also warned the faithful in the past not to overdo it and forget that Christianity is about Christ.
Meanwhile, dissidents on the island say they still don't know the man who yelled "Down with the Revolution! Down with the dictatorship!" before the pope's Mass on Monday in Santiago.
Security agents hustled him away. Video of the incident showed him being slapped by another man wearing the uniform of a first-aid worker before security agents separated them.
"We do not know his name or his whereabouts, only that it was somewhat violent," said Elizardo Sanchez, head of a group that monitors detentions of government opponents.
He urged Cuban authorities, who have not commented on the incident, to identify the man.
Benedict seemed to walk with renewed vigor Tuesday as he greeted officials and clergy when his plane arrived in Havana. The previous evening, his spokesman acknowledged that the pope was fatigued from days of traveling in Mexico.
He was greeted on the tarmac by clergy, government officials and children who played music, danced and offered him flowers.
Ana Blanco, a 47-year-old Havana resident complained about people being told to attend a papal Mass on Wednesday in Havana, saying the pressure seemed odd in a country that in her early years taught her religion was wrong.
"Now there's this visit by the pope, and I don't agree with giving it so much importance or making anyone go to the Mass or other activities," the office worker said. "Before it was bad, now it's good. That creates confusion."
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who led a pilgrimage of about 300 mostly Cuban-Americans to the island for Benedict's visit, got a sustained standing ovation Tuesday when he gave a homily in a Havana cathedral packed mostly with Floridians. Wenski called for increased respect for human rights and political change on the island, while also warning against unbridled capitalism.
"The pope and the Cuban Church want a transition that is dignified for the human being, dignified for Cubans," he said in Spanish, repeating a theme he has spoken on in recent weeks. "The church wants a soft landing ... and a future of hope."
A Cuban exile group launched a flotilla of boats to park in international waters a little over 12 miles (20 kilometers) off Havana and set off fireworks to welcome the pope.
Havana has bristled at similar demonstrations in the past, calling them provocative acts that seek to violate its sovereignty.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in Havana receiving radiation treatment for cancer, sent his greetings to Benedict, but said there was no plan to meet with the pope: "They have their agenda. I'm not going to be interfering at all."
___
Associated Press writer Peter Orsi reported this story in Havana and Andrea Rodriguez reported in Santiago. AP writers Paul Haven, Vivian Sequera, Anne-Marie Garcia and Laura Wides-Munoz and Nicole Winfield in Havana contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP reporters covering the pope: www.twitter.com/(hashtag)!/AP/pope-visit.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-prays-freedom-renewal-cuba-205122671.html
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Cancer killing younger people in India, tobacco main cause
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cancer-killing-younger-people-india-tobacco-main-cause-064752172.html
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BumpWatch: Josh Lucas and His Blushing Bride
Josh Lucas and an expectant Jessica Ciencin Henriquez take their first steps as husband and wife after tying the knot March 17 at the Conservatory Garden in Central Park.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/dgD7mXEfYLQ/
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Epson America now shipping Android-powered Moverio BT-100 wearable display
Epson America this morning announced that it's now shipping the Android-powered Moverio BT-100 wearable display. Yes. Android-powered grandma glasses. On your melon.
I got to take these guys for a spin last fall. They pretty much feel how you'd think they feel -- a bit bulky. Get over that, and having the equivalent of an 80-inch display projected in front of your peepers is a pretty cool, if not entirely practical, idea.
With the glasses and earbuds over and in their respective orifices, you hold in your hand a controller (about the size of an old-school, original iPod) that connects to the glasses via a wire. The top half of the controller is a trackpad, for moving a cursor around the heads-up display. There are the usual Android buttons as well, and a directional-pad if that's how you prefer to navigate the menus. There's also a button to toggle between 2D and 3D modes.
So how'd it work? Look, it's a novelty, to be sure. But it's also one that was a bit surprising. It takes a minute to get used to the idea of video that close to your eyes. But even the 3D video we watched caused less strain than when we've tried it on smartphones. Another cool effect of the glasses is that you can remove the opaque lenses and actually see through the UI. Not that you're going to want to be walking and playing anytime soon, but the idea is that you lose some of the claustrophobia. The world is still the world.
The user interface we saw back in October was very much in prototype mode, so it was a bit janky, a mix of stock Android and something custom. But it also was very familiar and easy to find our way around.
Do you want one of these? It's certainly a fun idea, but you're going to need to have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, as it's going for a suggested retail price of $699. But think of the possibilities. Temple Run. At 80 inches. Angry Birds IN YOUR FACE. Or, you know, (warning: Shameless plug ahead) the all new Android Central Forums app.
We've got more pics and video after the break.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/8Evwk7UnVm8/story01.htm
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AMVETS Post 43 The Rewards of Business Software for Furniture ...
With the advent of business software, furniture retail companies are now able to monitor how each division is faring. A furniture retail business is comprised not only of the customers who pay and the home furnishing goods for sale. Much like a machine, a retail company is made up of smaller divisions, which can be further broken down into even smaller units ' employees, clients and items for sale. Given all the personalities and elements at play, business owners and managers often have to exert additional effort just to stay on top of everything.
Generally speaking, business software is any computing program that's developed for the primary purpose of furthering a business' success. Most of the time, business management software is designed to monitor the everyday activities of a business, so that business owners and managers can keep track of overall productivity levels. It's quite obvious that before software solutions came into the picture, many day-to-day details were overlooked. With the aid of computer software, all the company's activities can be accounted for ' sales, deliveries, payroll, and scheduling, to name a few.
When software for businesses was first introduced to the retail industry, they took on the form of individualized programs which dealt with single business aspects - like accounting and point of sales. Today, these programs are more integrative; that is, they tend come in bundles that comprise a unified system. And with the recent integration of web-based software, furniture retail business owners, managers and employees can update their database and cascade information in real-time.
Resource Box
STORIS Management Systems is a software and solutions provider for retail businesses. More than 350 retailers have reaped the rewards of software for furniture retail companies. For more information about their products, visit http://www.STORIS.com or call 1-888-4-STORIS.
About the Author:
Jeff Paul is a writer and copy editor who likes to share information on many different topics.
Author: Jeff PaulSource: http://amvetspost43.org/858287-The-Rewards-of-Business-Software-for-Furniture-Retail-Companies.html
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Republicans say Alabama immigration law rewrite will make it more ...
MONTGOMERY -- Key Republicans said a proposed rewrite of the state's immigration law runs longer than the original as lawmakers seek to clarify what they intended, and what they didn't, when they passed the controversial law in 2010.
"It's going to be a stronger bill. It's going to be more enforceable, and it's going to be more workable," Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard said. He said the bill will be introduced shortly after lawmakers return from this week's legislative spring break.
Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, the sponsor of the original law, also is working on the revision. The Decatur Republican said no section of the law will be repealed. Instead, much of the bill will be clarifying through added language and definitions what lawmakers intended when they passed the original.
"It will stop a lot of the confusion. I feel it will be a lot stronger bill because it will be easier to enforce," Hammon said.
Hammon said some have tried to "exaggerate" the law's intent, and he hopes the changes will correct that.
The original law forbids state and local governments from conducting business transactions with undocumented aliens. The law has been interpreted so that people were being forced to show proof of legal residency for mundane activities like getting water service.
Hubbard, R-Auburn, said the rewrite will clarify exactly the types of business transaction legislators intended.
"It is getting a business license. It's not getting your water turned on or your cable hooked up," Hubbard said.
Hubbard declined to disclose all of the changes since the bill is a work in progress, and legislative leaders hope to have conversations with stakeholders who have made suggestions. But Hubbard said they've listened to concerns raised by law enforcement, charities, businesses and legal citizens.
The bill will not do away with a requirement that businesses use the federal E-Verify program to check the citizenship status of new hires, Hammon and Hubbard said. The requirement goes into effect Sunday.
However, Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said there will be some language added to clarify how far a company's liability will stretch.
"For instance in my business, I can show the E-Verify certification. But if I am having someone work on the crane in my complex, and I ask that person if they are E-Verify compliant and they say yes, it shouldn't be my obligation to request paperwork from their company," Marsh said.
Marsh said in the rewrite they've also tried to address the concerns expressed by religious organizations that work with immigrant communities.
"I think this will clarify that they are able to carry on those outreach programs without fear of being guilty of a crime," Marsh said.
Hubbard said the rewrite will also more clearly spell out when law enforcement can demand to see someone's proof of citizenship. Hammon said the changes should help "law enforcement be clear on what they can and can't do."
"We listened very closely to law enforcement to get rid of any ambiguity," Hubbard said.
"It's never been the intent of the Legislature to say you can stop someone walking down the street and say, 'Hey, you look like you might be illegal.' We've clarified that to make it abundantly clear," Hubbard said.
"It has to be some other reason the person is stopped or detained in order to check," Hubbard said.
Sen. Scott Beason, who sponsored the original bill in the Senate and has also been working on changes, said lawmakers have gotten multiple requests for changes to the existing law.
"Some are reasonable. Some of the stuff I think is not necessary, and I would question why they want to make those changes," Beason, R-Gardendale, said.
"I have no intention of doing anything that will weaken the law," Beason said.
Hammon said he believes the changes will enhance the law and not water it down.
"We will not weaken this legislation. As a matter of fact it will be more enforceable because of the clarifications and definitions we are adding," Hammon said.
Join the conversation by clicking to comment or email Chandler at kchandler@bhamnews.com.
Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/03/republicans_say_alabama_immigr.html
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Monday, March 26, 2012
For a Steal of a Roof, Choose Steel for Home Improvement
Submitted 2012-03-25 03:21:54
As time went on, roofing materials began to evolve with the use of felt paper and asphalt that was offered in colors and impregnated with stone. This provided homeowners added choice, and choice is good right? Roofing materials range from tile, hand cut slate, and other metals including tin, zinc, copper, and even gold. Today's answer for great looking roofs that have a long life is steel.
Steel provides the roofing industry a substance that offers customers a permanent roofing option. Fire from below aside, a steel roof will protect a home from winds greater than 120 miles per hour, tornado, land slides and falling limbs, and will take more abuse than most other materials offered for roofing. Hail and ice, heavy snow loads and downpours are all withstood with the use of a name brand steel roof of good quality and set in place by a team of professional roofers.
It is simple to make the switch from traditional roofing material to steel, and homeowners receives many benefits. The risk of fire is reduced because steel is not ignited by embers that are often generated from a fireplace or a nearby wildfire. This also means that you can safely install those homemade solar panels you've always wanted (don't do that on a roof made of wood). Many insurance agencies also provide discounts to their customers who switch to steel roofing.
Easy installation should be addressed when talking about a steel roof. Generally, a new steel roof can be installed over the top of an already existing roof. Homeowners can realize good results from putting a steel roof right over a single layer of other roofing materials. Codes differ from one state to the next, and your local roofing professional will have the answers for you about what is accepted in your area. As time has gone by, engineers and designers have made perfect techniques for making metal roofs so that now they can be ordered or picked up in your much loved style. Steel roofing is often found taking the styles of slate and tile, and can even be ordered with the look of an old barn. Every homeowner can be pleased with what a steel roof will do for them.
High heats are used to seal today's finishes on steel roofing materials, and most are complete with a manufacturer's guarantee of twenty years from peeling and faded colors which is better than most appearance guarantees today. With the myriad of colors to select from, homeowners should be able to locate one that is appealing to them.
In those states where extreme sunshine is a problem, placing a steel roof in white on the home will help to reduce attic temperatures by as much as 50 degrees, and that equates to large reduction in costs of energy, and that is a good deal in modern economies. When you add ten to fourteen inches of insulation in the attic and elsewhere in the house with a steel roof you can take charge of and control the costs of cooling and heating your home. Plus, if you install the solar panels I mentioned earlier, you'll save even more money.
Steel roofs are not susceptible to break down from exposure to the sun like conventional roofing does. This creates added value for residents in southern and southwestern states where hotter month heat and the blowing winds that permeate western America can place great stress on roofs. Because steel roofing is more cost effective than other materials, homeowners can use the immense savings on other home ugdates and repairs.
Typically, a cedar roof runs about $500 per 100 square feet to install, and when compared to $125 per 100 square feet for installing a steel roof, savings can be put to better use on a nursery or an array of solar panels. Of course, the Mrs. willdecide which. With savings that huge, anyone can benefit. Buildings, whether it is the house, garage, boat house or other out buildings can benefit from a steel roof.
The elements of steel roofing products are produced from designs that closely adhere to quality specifications and tolerance that assures an attractive product that is solid. Home improvements made with steel roofing only begin with the good looks it provides. With the strength that is inherent with a steel roof, loads of snow from Northern states and the monsoonal rains of the Southeast are carried well, and steel is not as heavy as the majority of other options in roofing materials which makes the installation process quicker and safer to achieve.
Professional roofers the country over offer steel as an alternative which is reasonably priced and the time needed to complete can create awe in the purchaser. Projects that could otherwise take a week to finish can be done in a matter of just a few days when you choose steel roofing.
Author Resource:
Solar power is fun! Come see the advantages of solar panels.
And check out these domestic wind turbines too!
Related Articles
By: Danny C. Miller
There is not much more important to a home than a good roof. Having a solid roof will help to provide protection for residents as well as contents from assaults from the elements. Primitive structures were first covered with thatch and skins, palm and banana leaves, and all of these techniques came with pros as well as cons. Roofs of wood, typically made of cedar, were primitive materials that were utilized on a massive scale and offered reliable materials for covering the roof, but they brought with them the hazard from fire.
As time went on, roofing materials began to evolve with the use of felt paper and asphalt that was offered in colors and impregnated with stone. This provided homeowners added choice, and choice is good right? Roofing materials range from tile, hand cut slate, and other metals including tin, zinc, copper, and even gold. Today's answer for great looking roofs that have a long life is steel.
Steel provides the roofing industry a substance that offers customers a permanent roofing option. Fire from below aside, a steel roof will protect a home from winds greater than 120 miles per hour, tornado, land slides and falling limbs, and will take more abuse than most other materials offered for roofing. Hail and ice, heavy snow loads and downpours are all withstood with the use of a name brand steel roof of good quality and set in place by a team of professional roofers.
It is simple to make the switch from traditional roofing material to steel, and homeowners receives many benefits. The risk of fire is reduced because steel is not ignited by embers that are often generated from a fireplace or a nearby wildfire. This also means that you can safely install those homemade solar panels you've always wanted (don't do that on a roof made of wood). Many insurance agencies also provide discounts to their customers who switch to steel roofing.
Easy installation should be addressed when talking about a steel roof. Generally, a new steel roof can be installed over the top of an already existing roof. Homeowners can realize good results from putting a steel roof right over a single layer of other roofing materials. Codes differ from one state to the next, and your local roofing professional will have the answers for you about what is accepted in your area. As time has gone by, engineers and designers have made perfect techniques for making metal roofs so that now they can be ordered or picked up in your much loved style. Steel roofing is often found taking the styles of slate and tile, and can even be ordered with the look of an old barn. Every homeowner can be pleased with what a steel roof will do for them.
High heats are used to seal today's finishes on steel roofing materials, and most are complete with a manufacturer's guarantee of twenty years from peeling and faded colors which is better than most appearance guarantees today. With the myriad of colors to select from, homeowners should be able to locate one that is appealing to them.
In those states where extreme sunshine is a problem, placing a steel roof in white on the home will help to reduce attic temperatures by as much as 50 degrees, and that equates to large reduction in costs of energy, and that is a good deal in modern economies. When you add ten to fourteen inches of insulation in the attic and elsewhere in the house with a steel roof you can take charge of and control the costs of cooling and heating your home. Plus, if you install the solar panels I mentioned earlier, you'll save even more money.
Steel roofs are not susceptible to break down from exposure to the sun like conventional roofing does. This creates added value for residents in southern and southwestern states where hotter month heat and the blowing winds that permeate western America can place great stress on roofs. Because steel roofing is more cost effective than other materials, homeowners can use the immense savings on other home ugdates and repairs.
Typically, a cedar roof runs about $500 per 100 square feet to install, and when compared to $125 per 100 square feet for installing a steel roof, savings can be put to better use on a nursery or an array of solar panels. Of course, the Mrs. willdecide which. With savings that huge, anyone can benefit. Buildings, whether it is the house, garage, boat house or other out buildings can benefit from a steel roof.
The elements of steel roofing products are produced from designs that closely adhere to quality specifications and tolerance that assures an attractive product that is solid. Home improvements made with steel roofing only begin with the good looks it provides. With the strength that is inherent with a steel roof, loads of snow from Northern states and the monsoonal rains of the Southeast are carried well, and steel is not as heavy as the majority of other options in roofing materials which makes the installation process quicker and safer to achieve.
Professional roofers the country over offer steel as an alternative which is reasonably priced and the time needed to complete can create awe in the purchaser. Projects that could otherwise take a week to finish can be done in a matter of just a few days when you choose steel roofing.
Author Resource:->??Solar power is fun! Come see the advantages of solar panels.
And check out these domestic wind turbines too!
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Psychology of Pain: Five Crises in Pain Management Dr. John D ...
I believe that there are five preeminent crises in pain management today: (1) the lack of evidence for the outcomes of most of the things providers do for patients, (2) the inadequate education of primary care providers about pain and how to treat it, (3) the largely unknown value of opioid treatment for patients with chronic nonmalignant pain, (4) funding for the providers of pain management, and (5) access to multidisciplinary care. All of these issues may loom larger in the United States than elsewhere, but they are not unique to this country. Yes, there are other issues, but these seem to me to be the most important.
Proving that what we do has favorable outcomes for patients is certainly paramount, but we need to balance population-based studies with what we know about individual variation in response to treatment and the associated risks. Furthermore, evidence-based medicine does not address the needs that patients have for diagnosis, prognosis, guidance, and sympathy that have always been, and should remain, part of the provision of health care.1 Tyranny of data must be tempered by clinical judgment. This problem is compounded by the recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that research for prospective new drugs should be targeted at diagnosis, yet the real focus should be on mechanisms of pain. Randomized clinical trials are not the only reliable source of information about treatment utility; they are rarely useful for the assessment of long-term effects, either good or bad. Observational studies do have something to offer. There is going to be tension between those who fund health care and would like to use population-based studies to determine what will be funded, and those who actually provide care to patients and recognize that almost no one is average. If we consider the individual's rights to be preeminent, how do we deny someone the chance to have a favorable response to a treatment that most people would not benefit from? Physicians have always placed their patients foremost. Who is going to fund research on the treatment outcomes that we advocate for, especially treatments that are not drug or device based? Since the mandate of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is to reduce the burden of disease, and since chronic pain produces more disability than the sum of cancer, heart disease, AIDS, and stroke, should we not look to the NIH to fund more pain treatment outcome trials?2 How do we get clinicians to have their patients participate in large trials that are necessary to determine population-based outcomes? How do we get all providers to record outcomes of their patients for such studies? Large national databases have been established in some countries. All patients evaluated and treated in any rehabilitation program in Sweden (including pain programs) are entered into a national register with demographics, diagnoses, and outcomes. In Quebec, all patients coming to tertiary care pain clinics are also entered into a data-base with a minimal 6-month follow up. These records include a structured physical examination, patient-reported outcomes, past treatments, new treatments, medications, and demographics. In Norway, all prescriptions are entered into a national database, which is used for research on opioid and benzodiazepine use and abuse. One way to get such outcomes and demographic data is to make physician reimbursement dependent not just upon the receipt of an operative report or clinic note but also upon follow-up data 6 and 12 months after treatment. All patients should be part of such studies, not just a small number selected for a randomized controlled trial. Why should any health care system fund care that has no known benefit to the patients? For such widespread data collection, we need to have a standardized database for all clinical outcomes studies so that meaningful comparisons can be made.3 We will also have to establish criteria for applying a diagnosis that are not solely based upon the procedure that the physician wishes to perform.
There are woeful inadequacies in pain education for medical students and advanced trainees.4?10 This shortfall has been noted for many years, and it remains, at least in the United States, the major cause of poor pain treatment. In Europe, this problem has begun to be addressed. In Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland), doctors who have completed clinical specialty training can enroll in a pain course. The Danish government will not allow any Danish doctor to practice as a pain doctor without having completed this course. Portugal also has such a course with a similar curriculum.
All physicians who deal with clinical illnesses will be confronted with chronic pain patients. For this reason, no one should receive a medical degree without learning core knowledge about both acute and chronic pain, including cancer pain and nonmalignant pain. There are hospitals that require all interns to spend a minimum of 1 week in the pain clinic. Some pain clinics also get residents for a minimum of 2 weeks from almost every specialty, but this practice has not yet become compulsory. The huge number of pain patients mandates that the overwhelming majority of health care for patients with chronic pain must come from primary care providers. Pain specialists can see only those who have special needs for advanced forms of therapy. The crisis in opioid therapy discussed below is primarily due to the prescribing traits of primary care practitioners, not pain specialists. The problem involves not only how physicians are educated, but also what types of people are selected to become physicians. Those who have a biomedical fixation are not likely to deal successfully with chronic pain patients. It seems to me that other health care disciplines have advanced further than medicine in this arena. Medical school curricula are the last vestige of the feudal system in the modern era; change will not be an easy task. The length of the educational process is fixed, and the hours available for teaching are not going to increase. What can be deleted from the existing curriculum to make room for pain? Since most of the faculty of most medical schools are ignorant of pain, how do we get them to replace existing curricular content with pain information? The prevalence of chronic pain and the inadequacies of our current graduates must be used to agitate for change. I cannot say that I am optimistic about this process, but we must do better by our students. A few North American schools of medicine have successfully addressed this issue and have shared their programs in publications.11,12
Pain management is plagued by factionalism. There is no organization that speaks for all of us, and there are no agreed-upon educational or certifying steps; many practitioners function within silos, unaware of what others are learning, saying, or doing. Competing accreditation organizations for individuals and professional societies produce confusion for the public and for organized medicine. Different agendas underlie the efforts of the myriad of professional organizations and publications that claim to represent pain medicine. Guidelines are promulgated that are said to be evidence-based, but often reflect what the members of the guideline-writing committee do for a living or where they stand on a political spectrum, particularly in reference to opioids.13,14 All guidelines reflect the values and preferences of those who write them; they are not really scientific, even though they are said to be based on "evidence." Perhaps we need a David to consolidate the pain professionals and lead us to victory over the Philistines who surround us.
Health care has never been based exclusively upon scientific evidence; indeed, acquisition of such evidence has been relatively novel in the history of medicine, and it is only recently that providers have had the opportunity to apply treatments that have scientifically demonstrated efficacy. Nowhere is this situation more clearly demonstrated than in the use of opioids to treat chronic pain. The first principle here was that acute and chronic pain were very different phenomena; this insight was one of Bonica's most important early contributions. His pain clinic was founded at the University of Washington in 1960, and within a decade its clinicians were swamped with patients who complained of chronic pain yet were taking significant doses of multiple opioids (and other drugs) prescribed by multiple physicians who had no idea what their patients were actually consuming. From this clinical experience, we developed the mantra that it was not wise to treat chronic pain patients with opioids, and we developed treatment strategies to get these patients off their drugs (using the "pain cocktail" approach) and rehabilitate them.15 It did not enter our minds that there could be significant numbers of chronic pain patients who were successfully managed with opioids, because if there were any, we almost never saw them.
In the mid-1980s, several papers were written that challenged the opprobrium surrounding opioids in the management of chronic pain patients.16 The authors appeared to generalize experiences from the treatment of cancer pain patients and reported on a small number of chronic noncancer pain patients who were carefully followed for limited times and "appeared" to do well, meaning that their reports of pain levels were improved but no functional changes were noted. Aberrant, drug-seeking behavior patterns were not observed. These publications fed into the concept that anyone who said "ouch" was entitled to receive opioids in whatever dose they seemed to need. Soon thereafter, the marketing of OxyContin? and the implication that opioids were good for all chronic pain patients led the charge in widespread use of opioids for chronic pain patients in the United States. Opioid prescriptions written by primary care practitioners and pain specialists soared, diversion became a very large problem, and deaths and emergency room visits ascribed to opioids escalated. The inevitable pendulum swing is now occurring, and there is much more concern about opioids for chronic pain patients. Side effects and risks of improper use are now hotly debated.
The fundamental question about efficacy of opioids for chronic pain patients has been lost in the political, economic, and ethical arguments. Scientifically valid data about treatment outcomes are sparse. Pain management in the United States has been badly hurt by this debacle. Similar things have happened in Canada, where the politicians are trying to enforce a special license for prescribing opioids, with mandatory teaching as a prerequisite. In Europe, opioid prescribing has not had such extreme highs and lows; problems with opioid prescriptions for nonmalignant pain were identified earlier than in the United States, and remedial actions were implemented in many countries.17 In many countries and in many U.S. states, the rational use of opioids is now impeded by regulatory agencies and insurers in the attempt to control excessive prescriptions without regard for what is best for a particular patient. Another result of the opioids-for-all movement has been the "pill mills" that seem to be most prevalent in the southeastern United States. Yet another is the expectation by chronic pain patients that they are entitled to receive opioids whenever they hurt. This crisis is primarily due to lack of evidence for the results of chronic opioid administration. Although the treatment of chronic pain may be a basic human right, that does not mean that all patients are entitled to large doses of opioids.18 On the other hand, what is legal to put in one's mouth has never been determined by medical science; it has always has been a social convention. The ethical resolution of this crisis is only to be found in research on this topic, not from consensus panels or legislative mandates. Who is going to fund this research?
The fundamental principle of capitalism is that money motivates behavior. This tenet certainly applies to health care providers; the way the United States favors the reimbursement of procedures over cognitive activities has led to the proliferation of interventional pain specialists and enormous increases in injections and operations for pain in the past 20 years, as well as a reduction in the number of comprehensive multidisciplinary pain clinics. This change has occurred in spite of very little evidence that interventional procedures are beneficial for most chronic pain patients. In countries that have centralized allocation of health care resources, this phenomenon has been controlled to a much larger degree.
No matter how health care is financed, pain management must be included within the pay line. Concerted action is needed on the part of the pain world to influence those who will make such funding decisions; whatever happens to pain management will be part of the grand scheme for the provision of health care. We must be vigilant, for we could be completely omitted from what will be funded. We need to create public demand for our services and secure legislative recognition for the importance of pain management. We need to develop champions in the political arena who will work on behalf of providers and our patients to facilitate the delivery of first-class pain management. This usually means access to multidisciplinary diagnosis and management. Access is compromised both by a shortage of such clinics and by the long patient waiting lists. In Sweden, the government body responsible for health care recently put forth a proposal that every county should have a board to which difficult pain problems would be sent for review. The problems would be evaluated, and if it was deemed necessary, the patients would then be sent for evaluation and treatment to a team composed of a physician, a psychologist, and a physiotherapist. Two Swedish counties have begun this process.
Eleven years ago I contributed an essay to Pain: Clinical Updates and outlined five issues that deserved our attention: defining the mission of pain management, producing outcomes data, showing the public why we matter, figuring out how to get paid for what we need to do, and learning how to continue to provide sympathetic care to our patients. Although some progress has been made on each of these points, it is not enough to make me feel comfortable about our specialty. Of all these issues, I believe that the one that is most critical is the education of health care providers. Pain physicians in academic medicine are the only ones who will address this shortfall, and we must make progress in this area. This endeavor should be independent of the political and economic issues that have enveloped medicine and over which we have little control. We need to redouble our efforts to provide better education for our students and trainees; no one else will do it if we default. And we need to do so with evidence-based clinical data to add to the vastly expanded basic science knowledge of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and neuropharmacology. If we fail, I look forward apprehensively to a legislatively mandated curriculum for medical schools: who knows what will be taught then? To be at the whim of legislators or government administrators will, I fear, be the death knell for both scientific and humanistic pain medicine. Health care providers need to care about patients and not see them as customers. The good for the individual patient must take precedence over costs and health system needs. The essence of health care is caring for the patient.
References
1. Barondess JA. The care of the patient. Pharos 2011(Summer):7?10.
2. National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2006 with chartbook on trends in the health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2006.
3. Turk DC, Dworkin RH, Burke LB, Gershon R, Rothman M, Scott J, Allen RR, Atkinson JH, Chandler J, Cleeland C, et al.; Initiative on Methods, Measurement and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials. Developing patient-reported out-
come measures for pain clinical trials: IMMPACT recommendations. Pain 2006;125:208?15.
4. Institute of Medicine Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education. Relieving pain in America: blueprint for transforming prevention, care, education, and research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2011.
5. Green CR, Wheeler JR, Marchant B, LaPorte F, Guerrero E. Analysis of the physician variable in pain management. Pain Med 2001;2:317?27.
6. Chang HM, Gallagher R, Vaillancourt PD, Balter K, Cohen M, Garvin B, Charibo C, King SA, Workman EA, McClain B, Ellenberg M, Chiang JS; American Academy of Pain Medicine Undergraduate Education Committee. Undergraduate medical education in pain medicine, end-of-life care, and palliative care. Pain Med 2001;1:224.
7. Upshur CC, Luckmann RS, Savageau JA. Primary care provider concerns about management of pain in community clinic populations. J Gen Int Med 2006;21:652?5.
8. Fishman S. Listening to pain. Waterford Life Sciences; 2006. p. 3.
9. Benedetti C, Dickerson ED, Nichols LL. Medical education: a barrier to pain therapy and palliative care. J Pain Symptom Manage 2001;21:360?1.
10. Lippe PBC, David J, Crossno R, Gitlow S. The First National Pain Medicine Summit?final summary report. Pain Med 2010;11:1447?68.
11. Vadivelu N, Kombo N, Hines RL. The urgent need for pain management training. Acad Med 2009:84:408.
12. Murinson BB, Nenortas E, Mayer RS, Mezei L, Kozachik S, Nesbit S, Haythornthwaite JA, Campbell JN. A new program in pain medicine for medical students: integrating core curriculum knowledge with emotional and reflective development. Pain Med 2011;12:186?95.
13. Perret D, Rosen C. A physician-driven solution: The Association for Medical Ethics, the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, and ethical challenges in pain medicine. Pain Med 2011;12:1361?79.
14. Schatman ME. Editorial: The suppression of evidence-basis in pain medicine and the physician-driven quest to re-establish it. Pain Med 2011;12:1358?60.
15. Sizemore WA. Behavioral aspects of managing medications for chronic pain not caused by cancer. In: Loeser JD, Egan KJ, editors. Managing the chronic pain patient. New York: Raven Press; 1989. p. 117?27.
16. Portenoy RK, Foley KM. Chronic use of opioid analgesics in non-malignant pain: report of 38 cases. Pain 1986;25:171?86.
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John D. Loeser, MD
Departments of Neurological Surgery and Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Email: jdloeser@u.washington.edu
http://www.iasp-pain.org/AM/AMTemplate.cfm?Section=HOME,HOME&SECTION=HOME,HOME&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=15343
Source: http://psychologyofpain.blogspot.com/2012/03/five-crises-in-pain-management-dr-john.html
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Apple ready to license its nano-SIM design for free, on one not-so-nano condition
If you hadn't heard, there are two rival nano-SIM designs going around, but only room for one of them to become an industry standard. Nokia, Motorola and RIM sit together in one corner, and we've already covered why they think their design is superior. On the other side of the ring sits Apple, which has its own tactics for bringing ETSI, the European Telecoms Standards Institute, over to its way of thinking. According to a legal letter shown to FOSS Patents by a "perfectly reliable source", Apple is prepared to license its nano-SIM design royalty-free, so long as it becomes the new standard and all other nano-SIM patent holders reciprocate the gesture. Such a gambit may not appease Cupertino's rivals and it certainly doesn't address their technical concerns, but it might show that Apple isn't looking to profit out of this particular format war and is simply continuing its quest for greater clarity on FRAND licensing terms. Then again, it could all just be lawyer-speak.Apple ready to license its nano-SIM design for free, on one not-so-nano condition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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