BDq

Profiting from Social Networks and Idle Browsers

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:54:00 +0000

Came across an interesting article in BusinessWeek:
"
Here are two potentially billion-dollar questions: How can you turn the Web's social-network users into consumers? And how can you turn idle browsing into a flourishing bottom line? Back in May, marketers hoped they might have the answer when social-networking giant Facebook opened its network to external developers. This instantly allowed them potential direct access to a user group of millions who are notoriously unimpressed by traditional advertising methods. The only challenge: developing real-world applications that users might want to embed in their profiles, which would have a real-world effect beyond mere entertainment."

The article goes on to say that doing this (developing an application that will catch fire on social networks) is not easy as it sounds. Interesting read, full article here

The two questions raised deserve some scrutiny:

1. How can you turn the Web's social-network users into consumers?
2. And how can you turn idle browsing into a flourishing bottom line?

In a small way, folks like me benefit from social network consumers...mainly by getting good web traffic to flow to our sites...but wowing such a massive networking with killer apps and making those fickle-minded folks to take your application (ever for free) is a completely different story. How does one do that? And how can one indeed profit from the millions of eyeballs and fingertips spent on idle browsing?

Interesting, significant questions

Treasure Ship's Half-billion-dollar Question: Who Owns the Treasure?

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:55:00 +0000

Treasure ship's half-billion-dollar question: Who owns it?

The Merchant Royal limped through the sea on Sept. 23, 1641, weighed down by tons of gold, silver and jewels, and sank. The ship, though privately owned by Britons, carried a load of treasure fresh from Spain's American mines.

In May 2007, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration released footage of gold and silver coins it says came from a shipwreck. The company has been tight-lipped about the ship's identity...but British shipwreck historian Richard Larn, who maintains the seven-volume, nearly 50, 000-entry Lloyd's Shipwreck Index of the British Isles, said he's almost certain Odyssey has found the Royal.

With this recovery will come important questions. Who owns treasure? Spain, the country that mined the gold and silver? England, the country whose ship transported it? The descendants of the slaves who dug it out of mines? The captain of the ship? Or is it the company that found it - Odyssey?

These questions might be considered academic, until one realises that the value of the treasure could be over half a billion, and who knows, perhaps even much more than than given the uncertain values that people place on antique and vintage treasures.

That's a billion dollar question for you today!

Read the full report from the St Petersburg Times

Taking Care of Web Site Performance Critical to E-business

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:47:00 +0000

Taking Care of Web Site Performance Critical to E-business

While enormous amounts of money are spent on making a site look good and one more tranche of enormous sum of money on tech gizmos on the site, how much money is spent on monitoring and ensuring that your web site performs well at a basic level?

That is, how much money do we spend on:

1. Monitoring what % of time the web site is up & running
2. How fast is the pipe leading to your web site / server and hence the download time for a user?
3. Do you lose traffic at times because bandwidth allocated to you by your service has been exceeded?

Put another way, how much money and efforts are we spending to ensure that the site we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on, is up & running?

A simple, but very important, question indeed!

SOD supplement may protect against atherosclerosis

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:42:00 +0000

SOD supplement may protect against atherosclerosis

By staff reporter, 3/14/2007

A superoxide dismutase (SOD) supplement, GliSODin, in combination with diet and lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, French researchers have reported.

SOD has a different mode of action to vitamins. First discovered in 1968, it is the first antioxidant mobilized by the cell for defence. It is thought to be more powerful than antioxidant vitamins as it activates the body's productions of its own antioxidants, including catalase and glutathione peroxidase.

Read the full news report from here @ Nutra Ingredients USA

Isis cholesterol drug lowers LDL levels

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:39:00 +0000

Isis cholesterol drug lowers LDL levels

26th March 2007, By Victoria Harrison

Isis Pharmaceuticals has said new results from its monotherapy phase II clinical trial of cholesterol drug showed improvements in LDL cholesterol.

Patients with high cholesterol were treated for ten weeks with 400 mg/week of the drug ISIS 301012. In this study, increasing the dose of ISIS 301012 to 400 mg/week was well tolerated and further reduced atherogenic lipids, with median improvements in LDL-cholesterol of 70%.

Read the full report here @ Pharmaceutical Business Review Online

Hemochromatosis gene linked to stroke risk

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:16:00 +0000

Hemochromatosis gene linked to stroke risk

Mar 26, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with a specific gene variation for hereditary hemochromatosis, an autosomal recessive disease associated with increased iron accumulation, have more than double the risk of stroke, new research suggests.

Hemochromatosis affects how the body metabolizes iron, which results an iron build-up in the liver. Without treatment, the condition causes liver enlargement that can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. The disease can also cause diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and other serious conditions.

Read the full report here @ Reuters, UK

Experimental Heart Drug Fails to Slow Atherosclerosis

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:12:00 +0000

Cholesterol News: Experimental Heart Drug Fails to Slow Atherosclerosis

By Marcia Trahan, March 26, 2007

Three new studies found that torcetrapib, an experimental heart drug, did not inhibit atherosclerosis, or plaque build-up in coronary arteries.

Two studies' results were presented March 26 at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in New Orleans. A third study will appear in the March 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Something very strange is going on with this drug [torcetrapib], where none of these fantastic changes translate into benefit for the arterial walls," said Dr. John J.P. Kastelein of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, who led the research team for two of the three studies.

Read the full news story from here @ Associated Content

Pfizer says new studies show higher dose of Lipitor slows atherosclerosis

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:09:00 +0000

Pfizer says new studies show higher dose of Lipitor slows atherosclerosis

26 Mar 2007

LONDON (AFX) - Pfizer Inc said results from two new imaging trials show a higher dose of its cholesterol-fighting drug Lipitor stopped the progression of atherosclerosis in patients with coronary heart disease or familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).

The results are part of three, two-year clinical trials, involving over 2,800 patients, designed to investigate the efficacy of torcetrapib in combination with Lipitor compared to Lipitor alone.

Read the full report from here @ Forbes

ACC: Atherosclerosis Impervious to HDL Infusions

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:05:00 +0000

ACC: Atherosclerosis Impervious to HDL Infusions

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

March 26, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, March 26 -- Artificially boosting high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels does not reverse atherosclerosis, though it may have some vascular benefit, said researchers here.

In the ERASE trial of 183 patients with recent acute coronary syndromes, weekly infusions of CSL-111, an investigational agent made with reconstituted HDL from human plasma, showed no significant advantage over placebo in reducing plaque volumes...

However, there were significant improvements in atheroma volume versus baseline with the agent as well as in plaque characteristics and coronary scores versus placebo "strongly suggestive of rapid beneficial effects" ...

Read the full news report here @ The Med Page

Crestor Effective at Halting Early Atherosclerosis

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:02:00 +0000

Crestor Effective at Halting Early Atherosclerosis

This press release issued by Eurekalert says that an international study using ultrasound technology has found that the most potent cholesterol-lowering drug is also effective at halting early changes in the blood vessels that can lead to atherosclerosis.

Results from the study were reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans and were published on-line by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research involved people with moderately elevated cholesterol levels who didn't qualify for treatment under national guidelines.

Read the full news report from the Hindu

Detecting Artery Disease In Your Legs - PAD

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:50:00 +0000

Detecting Artery Disease In Your Legs - PAD

March 23, 2007

New research finds it's in your legs not your chest that some of the most subtle signs of cardiovascular disease can appear.

The condition is called peripheral arterial disease, or PAD.

PAD affects about 10 million people in the United States. In its early stages, there may be no symptoms. Doctors say to be alert to any pain in the legs while walking that goes away when you rest. Other symptoms include swelling or numbness in the leg, sores that won't heal, or a change in the color of your leg.

Those at highest risk for PAD include anyone over age 50, people with a family history of cardiovascular disease, and anyone with diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.

Read the full report from here @ Click on Detroit

Peripheral Vascular Disease: Keeping the Blood Flowing

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:47:00 +0000

Peripheral Vascular Disease: Keeping the Blood Flowing

09 March 2007, By Steve Tokar

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) can result in “big trouble, and eventually lead to gangrene and amputation.” But not for all patients: Some grow new arteries when the old artery is blocked. Others do not, though, “and those are the ones who get into trouble.”

The problem, according to a surgeon, is that no one knows a reason for the difference. “We’ve come up with a lot of treatments for cleaning up, scraping out and bypassing arteries without really understanding why some patients have a poor response to PAD.”

Read the full report here @ UCSF

Stents Prevent Peripheral Arterial Disease-Related Amputation

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:43:00 +0000

Stents Prevent Peripheral Arterial Disease-Related Amputation

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

March 07, 2007

SEATTLE, March 7 -- Angioplasty and stenting of small vessels below the knee are successfully staving off amputation among older patients with severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD), researchers said here.

In a survey among 57 patients at the critical limb ischemia stage of PAD, 92% avoided amputation through two years of follow-up with the treatment, said Nael Saad, M.B., B.Ch., of the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center.

Read the full report here @ Med Page Today

Atherothrombosis Associated With High Rates Of Cardiovascular Events

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:40:00 +0000

Atherothrombosis Associated With High Rates Of Cardiovascular Events Within 1 Year

26 Mar 2007

Patients with arterial disease have relatively high rates of experiencing a cardiovascular event (such as heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death) within one year, and these increase with the number of arterial locations afflicted, according to a large, international study in JAMA.

Read the full news story from here @ Medical News Today

Don't ignore dangerous leg pains - could be PAD!

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:34:00 +0000

Don't ignore dangerous leg pains - could be PAD!

Mar 12 2007

By Jane Picken, The Evening Chronicle

Searing pains in the legs are not just unpleasant, they could be the warning signs of blocked arteries and the precursor to a heart attack or stroke. Health reporter Jane Picken finds out about Peripheral Arterial Disease. Read the full news story here @ IC Newcastle

To fight clotting and DVT, flex leg muscles

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:28:00 +0000

To fight clotting & DVT, flex leg muscles

Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt, March 25, 2007

In this interesting article, Dr Bosshardt says that "...studies show that simply putting patients on operating tables -- under anesthesia, irrespective of the surgery -- can increase the risk of DVT...

One of the most effective preventive measures to avoid DVT is early ambulation -- or movement. Unless prohibited by a doctor, patients should make every effort to get out of bed as quickly as possible and begin walking...Even when confined to bed, unless specifically prohibited by their doctor, patients can move and flex their legs, and contract the legs muscles forcefully. This should be done as often as possible...."

Interesting! Read the full article here @ The Orlando Sentinel

Don't pin back pain on age - But if you're pushing 50, listen up

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:23:00 +0000

Don't pin back pain on age - But if you're pushing 50, listen up

March 23, 2007 - By JANE GLENN HAAS / The Orange County Register

Age can give you an achy back, but don't blame the years; Blame your genes, or your lifestyle. Your parents, your weight, your exercise regime and even your office job contribute to a bad back.

A watershed year for backs is 50...When back pain is accompanied by leg pain, then it's either a herniated disc pinching a nerve (usually for 25- to 45-year-olds) or it's from spinal stenosis (for those 50 and older).

Read more from this news report @ Dallas Morning News

Wellness: Leg Pain May Be More Than a Pain in the Neck

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:20:00 +0000

Wellness: Leg Pain May Be More Than a Pain in the Neck

By Richard J. Bocklett

For people 65 and older, leg pain can be a warning sign for peripheral artery disease (PAD) in which clogged arteries in the body's lower extremities cause decreased blood flow in the legs, resulting in difficulty and pain when walking. PAD can strike anyone regardless of age, but it is most common in men and women over 50, affecting 12 to 20 percent of our older population - as many as 8 to 12 million Americans!

PAD is a common arterial condition, but it can become serious if unattended. It develops most commonly as a result of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which occurs when cholesterol and scar tissue build up, forming plaque that narrows and clogs the blood vessels. If untreated, this condition eventually can lead to gangrene and amputation.

This is an excellent article that provides detailed notes about PAD. Read the full news article from the Queen's Ledger here

Minimally invasive procedure eases back pain

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:16:00 +0000

Minimally invasive procedure eases back pain

Ask the Doctor: Shari Rudavsky @ Indy Star

Anthony Sabatino, an interventional pain anesthesiologist with Interventional Pain Care Associates in Carmel, Noblesville and Plainfield, discusses treatment for back pain.

See the questions asked about back pain and the answers provided by the doctor

New treatment options for low back pain

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:14:00 +0000

New treatment options for low back pain

Monday, March 26, 2007

DR. SHAY S. PATHARE

Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability in the United States. Low back pain affects up to 70 to 85 percent of people at some point in their lives and is the second most common cause for visiting a physician.

Numerous treatment options exist for LBP including physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, bed rest and various medications. There exists an entire subspecialty of medicine that specializes in a different form of treatment for low back pain. This is the field of interventional pain management, says this report

Read the full news report @ Staten Island Advance

Mega Millions jackpot swells to record $370 million

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:50:00 +0000

Mega Millions jackpot swells to record $370 million

March 6, 2007 , CNN

The multistate Mega Millions game has drawn bettors with a jackpot estimated at a record $370 million.

Because of the huge prize and publicity, the 12 participating states agreed to move Tuesday night's drawing from the game's usual home in Atlanta to New York's Times Square.

Two winners split a $363 million jackpot in 2000.

The competing Powerball game has the record for the largest single winner with $314.9 million, on Christmas Day.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about 1 in 176 million.

Read more from this CNN/AP report

Palm Oil Biodiesel not as Profitable as Expected

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 04:43:00 +0000

According to an Asian biodiesel pioneer Long Tian Ching, Managing Director of Singapore's Vance Bioenergy, the palm oil biodiesel business may not be as lucrative as some people believed. His company is one of the largest companies involved in the manufacture of biodiesel from palm oil. He is bullish on the future prospects for biofuels and biodiesel but not as bullish when it comes to price and profit margins. According to him, escalating prices for raw materials have significantly eroded profit margins.

A year ago, things were different. Palm oil prices were relatively lower, while crude prices were soaring. Now it is the other way round, and not surprisingly, that is not good news for palm-based biodiesel producers.

In addition, Europe, one of the major consumers of diesel and biodiesel, has always viewed palm-based biodiesel with a bit of scepticism as the region is more familiar with fuel from rapeseed and soy. The other criticism for palm based biodiesel is something that many other energy crops are suffering from as well - widespread deforestation and disruption of wildlife

The above summary was based on an article in Dow Jones, Feb 27

Portfolio Rebalancing - Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate Investing Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 05:21:00 +0000

Read an interesting article by Chet Currier @ Bloomberg on portfolio rebalancing, which is something most of average stock market investors ignore and plain are unaware of!

The idea is simple: You have an asset allocation plan, in terms of percent of investment allocated to each type of asset. To begin with, most of us match our actual investments with the allocation plan. But do we review this periodically and make sure it stays the same? Hmmm...

The Vanguard Group says that every investor should review the portfolio at least annually ( probably more frequent than that) and rebalance it if your allocation of stocks and bonds has shifted from your target by more than 5% points.

Why is this needed? Simply because some of your assets appreciate while some others could depreciate, changing the investment % of total assets you have. The rebalancing is of course a simple matter of re-allocating funds from one asset to another based on the level of each investment at that point in time. What is not a simple matter is us average investors remembering to do that!

US Federal IT Outsourcing to be 18 billion $ by 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:45:00 +0000

Growing at a compounded annual rate of over 5%, the total IT outsourcing from US government sector is expected to reacg 18 billion US $ by 2011, according to a report, as mentioned by PTI.

The news item further states that there will be a shift within the federal market from government-owned and operated models towards a contract oriented approach.

This shift and increase in outsourcing will be partly fuelled by federal IT workforce shortage and the Iraq war. A significant portion of the federal technology related workforce is nearing retirement age.

The most significant growth areas in outsourcing will be seen in business process outsourcing (BPO) and application outsourcing, according to the report.

Longevity Linked To Learning - Yahoo Report

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:13:00 +0000

Longevity Linked To Learning - Yahoo Article

Ongoing Learning Increases Longevity, Researchers Sayby Gabby Hyman

This Feb 2007 compilation by Yahoo is quite an interesting one that suggests that continuous learning is perhaps the long sought holy grail for youth.

Excerpts:

1. After decades of studies, researchers continue to find that those who keep their minds engaged in active education live longer and stave off the ravages of aging, such as memory loss and lethargy.
2. Comprehensive studies on the effects of ongoing learning on aging appear to support the contentions of 3rd Century BC philosopher, Aristotle, who said, "Education is the best provision for old age."
3. In her ground-breaking 1999 study, Columbia University grad student Adriana Lleras-Muney found that when people reached age 35, their life expectancy was increased by 18 months if they completed an extra year of education. Research done by a few others seemed to support such a finding.
4. The Alzheimer's Association now sponsors "Maintain Your Brain" workshops throughout the country, encouraging people to stay physically and intellectually active.
5. Learning constantly seems to activate parts of the brain that slow aging and increase memory, emotional engagement, and intellectual curiosity.
6. Some doctors encourage "Mental Aerobics" - exercise for the mind. A popular anti-aging book, The Longevity Bible, proposes an eight-step game plan to keep your body supple and your mind in peak condition. Number one on the list: "Sharpen Your Mind..."
7. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in 2003 that revealed that old people who continued to read actively along with engaging in other physical and artistic activities had lower rates of Alzheimer's disease.
8. Researchers have showed that the idle mind, like muscles in the body, atrophies from nonuse.

Interesting read, the full report here

Some links that were used as references by the author of the article:

"Brain Health." Alzheimer's Association National Office
Hartman, Diana. "Life, Learning, and Longevity." BlogCritics Magazine
Small, Gary, Ph.D. "Eight Essentials."
Stenson. Jacqueline. "A Workout For Your Brain." MSNBC