The World Wide Web Addict

I think we’ve all at one point or another accidentally come across material online our boss wouldn’t approve of, but that’s part of using the Web at work. Most of you have probably seen those NSFW (not safe for work) tags on blog posts and forums, but not everyone is courteous enough to add one—which can be a bit embarrassing when you’re at the office or at school. Parents, on the other hand, may not want their kids to see what their otherwise approved sites might be linking to, so for them there are plug-ins.

If you’re a Firefox user, then you know plug-ins are small programs that add more functionality to a browser. I recently spotted two Firefox plug-ins that flag pages containing those NSFW links: one’s called Work Safer and the other one is No-NSFW. Both plug-ins basically do the same thing, which is alert you when you’re about to click on a page that contains adult material. One of the differences is No-NSFW displays a color-coded (red, yellow) warning on the lower right hand corner, and Work Safer displays a scoring system. Ratings are largely determined by votes gathered from its users, but if users haven’t voted on a specific site, the ratings are then based on other things like how many similar URLs are considered NSFW by voters. Both sites are still very new, but I like the warning system, and can’t wait to see how well this will work in the future now that NSFW links are everywhere.

source: yahoo technews

I am sharing this to all of you guys esp. to those who are using Windows XP..I am still using till now..I guess this is just a very important info..here it is!!

Users Fight to Save Windows XP

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer Mon Apr 14, 7:49 AM ET

SEATTLE – Microsoft Corp.‘s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world’s largest software maker. But you’d never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it’s someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.

Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft‘s latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.

No matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade people to embrace Vista, some just can’t be wowed. They complain about Vista’s hefty hardware requirements, its less-than-peppy performance, occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices and frequent, irritating security pop-up windows.

For them, the impending disappearance of XP computers from retailers, and the phased withdrawal of technical support in coming years, is causing a minor panic.

Take, for instance, Galen Gruman. A longtime technology journalist, Gruman is more accustomed to writing about trends than starting them.

But after talking to Windows users for months, he realized his distaste for Vista and strong attachment to XP were widespread.

“It sort of hit us that, wait a minute, XP will be gone as of June 30. What are we going to do?” he said. “If no one does something, it’s going to be gone.”

So Gruman started a Save XP Web petition, gathering since January more than 100,000 signatures and thousands of comments, mostly from die-hard XP users who want Microsoft to keep selling it until the next version of Windows is released, currently targeted for 2010.

On the petition site’s comments section, some users proclaimed they will downgrade from Vista to XP — an option available in the past to businesses, but now open for the first time to consumers who buy Vista Ultimate or Business editions — if they need to buy a new computer after XP goes off the market.

Others used the comments section to rail against the very idea that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move. Many threatened to leave Windows for Apple or Linux machines.

Microsoft already extended the XP deadline once, but it shows no signs it will do so again. The company has declined to meet with Gruman to consider the petition. Microsoft is aware of the petition, it said in a statement to The Associated Press, and “will continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs.”

Gruman said he’d keep pressing for a meeting.

“They really believe if they just close their eyes, people will have no choice,” he said.

In fact, most people who get a new computer will end up with Vista. In 2008, 94 percent of new Windows machines for consumers worldwide will run Vista, forecasts industry research group IDC. For businesses, about 75 percent of new PCs will have Vista. (That figure takes into account companies that choose to downgrade to XP.)

Although Microsoft may not budge on selling new copies of XP, it may have to extend support for it.

Al Gillen, an IDC analyst, estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP. Microsoft plans to end full support — including warranty claims and free help with problems — in April 2009. The company will continue providing a more limited level of service until April 2014.

Gillen said efforts like Gruman’s grass-roots petition may not influence the software maker, but business customers’ demands should carry more clout.

“You really can’t make 69 percent of your installed base unhappy with you,” he said.

Some companies — such as Wells Manufacturing Co. in Woodstock, Ill. — are crossing their fingers that he’s right. The company, which melts scrap steel and casts iron bars, has 200 PCs that run Windows 2000 or XP. (Windows 2000 is no longer sold on PCs. Mainstream support has ended, but limited support is available through the middle of 2010.)

Wells usually replaces 50 of its PCs every 18 months. In the most recent round of purchases, Chief Information Officer Lou Peterhans said, the company stuck with XP because several of its applications don’t run well on Vista.

“There is no strong reason to go to Vista, other than eventually losing support for XP,” he said. Peterhans added that the company isn’t planning to bring in Vista computers for 18 months to two years. If Microsoft keeps to its current timetable, its next operating system, code-named Windows 7, will be on the market by then.

___

source: yahoo news

On the Net:

Save XP Petition: http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/

Microsoft’s Windows support timeline: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy

By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO – Commonly used incontinence drugs may cause memory problems in some older people, a study has found. “Our message is to be careful when using these medicines,” said U.S. Navy neurologist Dr. Jack Tsao, who led the study. “It may be better to use diapers and be able to think clearly than the other way around.”

Urinary incontinence sometimes can be resolved with non-drug treatments, he added, so patients should ask about alternatives. Exercises, biofeedback and keeping to a schedule of bathroom breaks work for many.

U.S. sales of prescription drugs to treat urinary problems topped $3 billion in 2007, according to IMS Health, which tracks drug sales. Bladder control trouble affects about one in 10 people age 65 and older, according to the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the study. Women are more likely to be affected than men. Causes include nerve damage, loss of muscle tone or, in men, enlarged prostate.

The research began after Tsao met a 73-year-old patient. Shortly after starting an incontinence drug, she began hallucinating conversations with dead relatives and having memory problems. Her thinking improved when she stopped the drug for several months.

Tsao and his colleagues knew of similar reports. They decided to look at a large group of people to see if they could measure an effect of these and other medications that affect acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that shuttles signals through the brain and the rest of the nervous system. The drugs block some nerve impulses, such as spasms of the bladder.

The findings, released Thursday at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, come from an analysis of the medication use and cognitive test scores of 870 older Catholic priests, nuns and brothers who participated in the Religious Orders Study at Chicago‘s Rush University Medical Center. The average age was 75.

Researchers tracked them for nearly eight years, testing yearly for cognitive decline. They asked them to recite strings of numbers backward and forward, to name as many different kinds of fruit as they could in one minute and to complete other challenges during the annual testing.

Nearly 80 percent of the study participants took one or more of a class of drugs called anticholinergics, including drugs for high blood pressure, asthma, Parkinson’s disease and incontinence drugs such as Detrol and Ditropan.

The people who took the drugs had a 50 percent faster rate of cognitive decline compared to those who didn’t take any. The researchers considered other risk factors for memory loss, such as age, and still found the link. The researchers found no increased risk for the memory-robbing disorder Alzheimer’s in people taking the drugs.

The incontinence drugs were among the most potent and were the most frequently taken of all the anticholinergics in the study. That’s why the researchers believe they are driving the memory problems, Tsao said.

Some experts said the research supports previous observations and is helpful because it measures the size of the effect.

“This paper adds important new data to the picture,” said Dr. Elaine Perry of Newcastle University in England, who has done similar research but was not involved in the new study.

More research is needed on the effects of anticholinergic drugs on memory, Tsao said. Doctors should do baseline cognitive testing on patients before prescribing the drugs, he recommended.

A representative of Pfizer Inc., maker of the top-selling Detrol, said patients should always talk to their doctors about problems while taking medication.

“Detrol has been on the market since 1998. It has been prescribed more than 100 million times worldwide,” said Ponni Subbiah, Pfizer‘s vice president of medical affairs, in an e-mail response to questions.

Confusion and memory impairment were added to prescribing information for Detrol in 2006, Subbiah said, after some patients reported the problems. Since the reports weren’t part of a medical study, “the frequency of events and the role of Detrol in their causation cannot be reliably determined,” he said.

___

On the Net:

American Academy of Neurology: http://www.aan.com/

source: yahoo news

This is quite interesting to share about!! got it in yahoo tech news..bloggers were badly attacked by trojan virus last month, so I believed that these tips are very useful..done some of it last month..it really worked..

here it is!!

Wed Apr 2, 2008 11:46AM EDT

WASHINGTON (UPI) — The U.S. space agency announced Tuesday it is extending the Cassini-Huygens mission — scheduled to end in July — by two years.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the spacecraft’s stunning discoveries and images of Saturn have revolutionized our knowledge of that planet and its moons.

The two-year extension will include 60 additional orbits of Saturn and more flybys of its moons, including 26 flybys of Titan; seven of Enceladus; and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. NASA said the extension also includes studies of Saturn’s rings, its complex magnetosphere, and the planet itself. During the extended mission, the spacecraft might come as close as 15 miles from Enceladus’ surface.

Based on findings from Cassini, scientists now think liquid water might be just beneath the surface of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. That’s why the small moon is one of the highest priority targets for the extended mission, NASA said.

Launched Oct. 15, 1997, Cassini has been in Saturn’s system for nearly four years, completing 62 revolutions around the planet and returning nearly 140,000 images and related data to Earth.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
www.arcamax.com

Was there ice cream on the moon?

In a way — Baskin-Robbins introduced the flavor “Lunar Cheesecake” to commemorate America’s landing on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Is a diamond worth more than an emerald?

While diamonds are usually considered the most precious of stones, a large, near flawless emerald is worth considerably more than a diamond of the same size.

Which are the world’s oldest trees?

The Sequoias and Redwoods of the American West Coast are not the oldest living trees in the world. The honor belongs to the Macrozamia trees of Australia, which live 5,000 to 7,000 years and, some claim, may even reach 15,000 years.

Which is safer — New York City or Arkansas?

Per capita, it is safer to live in New York City than it is to live in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

How long should tripe be cooked?

Ideally, tripe is cooked for 12 hours. As it is difficult to digest, tripe shouldn’t be eaten by those who are dyspeptic or goutish.

EVANSTON, Ill. (UPI) — Quantum computing is currently mostly fodder for science fiction writers, but U.S. scientists say they’ve moved one step closer to realizing that technology.

Northwestern University Professor Prem Kumar said he and his colleagues recently demonstrated one of the basic building blocks for distributed quantum computing: using entangled photons generated in optical fibers.

“Because it is done with fiber and the technology that is already globally deployed, we think it is a significant step in harnessing the power of quantum computers,” Kumar said.

Quantum computing differs from classical computing in that a classical computer works by processing “bits” that exist in two states, either one or zero. Quantum computing uses quantum bits, or qubits, which, in addition to being one or zero, can also be both one and zero simultaneously, the scientists said, noting that’s possible because qubits are quantum units like atoms or photons that operate under the rules of quantum mechanics instead of classical mechanics.

The research that included Jun Chen, Joseph Altepeter, Milja Medic, Kim Fook Lee and Burc Gokden of Northwestern, as well as Robert Hadfield, and Sae Woo Nam of the National Institute of Standards and Technology appears in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

WASHINGTON (UPI) — Parents are joining teens in the cell phone text-messaging revolution, becoming the fastest-growing group thumb-typing the abbreviated texts.

Parental text messaging is outstripping the growth rate among younger generations, The Washington Post reported Friday.

During the past two years, use of the technology by those ages 45 to 54 jumped 130 percent, market researcher M:Metrics. By comparison, those in the 13-to-17 age group increased their text messaging by 41 percent.

“Parents like the immediacy of it and that it is not intrusive, said Ralph de la Vega, executive director of AT&T Mobility. “It’s become an important way of communicating with their kids.”

A 2006 study commissioned by AT&T indicated 50 percent of adults who used text messaging said they started because of their children.

And carriers are helping parents learn texting shorthand. AT&T offers a four-page guide on lingo. Verizon Wireless’s Quick Text feature allows parents to choose from a menu of stock phrases such as “On my way,” so they don’t have to type the same message every time.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
www.arcamx.com