News
"The unintended consequences of American funding in Pakistan"
By Rob Winters - Published on Monday, 09 May 2011 19:57
"It’s the end of the Second World War, and the United States is deciding what to do about two immense, poor, densely populated countries in Asia. America chooses one of the countries, becoming its benefactor.
Over the decades, it pours billions of dollars into that country’s economy, training and equipping its military and its intelligence services. The stated goal is to create a reliable ally with strong institutions and a modern, vigorous democracy. The other country, meanwhile, is spurned because it forges alliances with America’s enemies.
The country not chosen was India, which “tilted” toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War."
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/16/110516fa_fact_wright
"Pursuit of Profit Leads To Increase in Infections in Nursing Home Residents"
By Rob Winters - Published on Monday, 09 May 2011 19:47
"An understaffed nursing home can be hazardous to your health if you’re a resident there. The latest evidence comes from a study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh‘s Graduate School of Public Health, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC).The study found “a strong correlation between low staffing levels and the receipt of an infection control deficiency citation” at nursing homes, according to a news release from the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, publisher of APIC. And infections are the leading cause of death in nursing homes, according to the release, responsible for nearly 400,000 deaths per year."
Read more: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/node/8959
Tips for moving someone into a nursing home
By Rob Winters - Published on Monday, 09 May 2011 19:41
"NEW YORK - A new government report by the Health and Human Services Inspector General found that 88 percent of the time Medicare paid for antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes the drugs went to patients with dementia, even though the FDA issued a severe warning saying the drugs should not be used on patients with dementia because of a risk of sudden death.Moving a loved one with dementia into a nursing home can be extremely stressful for both the patient and family members. Experts say this is often when nursing home residents can become agitated and upset. This can lead to patients being prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs.
Gov't finds nursing homes misuse antipsychotics."
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20061267-10391695.html
"Apple, Google to face lawmakers in privacy tussle"
By Rob Winters - Published on Sunday, 08 May 2011 21:19
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tech companies such as Apple and Google are hoping the tracks of millions of mobile device users will lead to billions of dollars in revenue.But where they see dollar signs, lawmakers see red flags.
The revelation last month that Apple's iPhones collected location data and stored it for up to a year -- even when location software was supposedly turned off -- has prompted renewed scrutiny of the nexus between location and privacy.
On Tuesday, senior Apple and Google executives will submit to questions from a congressional panel on how location-tracking may violate users' rights.
Smartphone and advertising companies argue that they use data on what users like (which they know because users use the phone to check prices); where they are (which they know because of contact with cell phone towers); and who their friends are (which they know from social media like Facebook) to give their customers ads for products they are most likely to buy."
Read more: http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE7471SA20110508
Paper phone - the new phone of the future
By Rob Winters - Published on Sunday, 08 May 2011 21:15
"The PaperPhone is flexible and can be controlled by being bent, written on or used as a touchscreen.
The PaperPhone, built to determine how people use a flexible device, is a collaboration between researchers from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, Arizona State University, USA, researchers from the E-Ink Corporation.
“This is the future. Everything is going to look and feel like this within five years,” Roel Vertegaal, director of the human media lab at Queen’s, said. “This computer looks, feels and operates like a small sheet of interactive paper.”
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