e-Coops

Stores in the Ginza district of Tokyo will begin beaming special offers and coupons to passers-by next month using a network tied to radio frequency identification tags. The tags and transmitters will identify a shopper’s location and transmit messages on nearby stores or products to the passer-by’s mobile phone or a special receiver that will be available to rent. Project developers said future systems will seek to target specific types of customers with tailored information. Visitors in Ginza also will be able to access local maps and tourist information in 5 languages transmitted through radio tags on street lamps.

Family gathering via virtual tech

The virtual family dinner system that allows scattered family members to dine together at different locations was developed by technology consulting firm Accenture. The system uses a video conferencing device. Users can see what’s on each other’s table when they interact. For example, when a family member who lives alone puts a meal on the table, the system’s software automatically finds family members who are wired and determines who might be available to join the dinner. Prototype would become available in about 2 years and cost up to $1,000 per household.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 13th, 2007 at 3:20 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will propose a bill that would require Internet service providers to alert the government of any illegal images, primarily child pornography, and set fines of up to $300,000 for failing to do so. The bill proposes a national database of illegal images that Internet providers would use to immediately flag and report suspicious activity to police. The bill is intended to aid investigations of child pornographers and enhance the current system, making it a failure to report a federal crime. Critics say the bill goes too far.

More sleep may curb weight gain

Children who do not get enough sleep tend to weigh more, according to a 5-year study by Northwestern Univ. The researchers found that an extra hour of sleep reduced the chances of being overweight from 36% to 30% in children 3-8 years old and 34% to 30% in those 8-13 years old. The study suggested that sleeping less may affect hormones that influence appetite, those who stay awake longer may eat more, and less sleep may reduce the child’s activity during the day.

HIV infections in Japan rose 10% to 914 patients in 2006, while the number of those who developed AIDS grew 6.3% to 390, the health ministry said. Both numbers were a record high since statistics were first kept in 1985. The ministry said infections rose because more people are getting tested.

Air pollution, specifically fine particulates, increase women’s risk of heart disease far more than previously thought, said a new federal study done by the Univ. of Wash. The study followed 65,893 women who were exposed to legally acceptable pollution levels. The Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 is scheduled to question its standards for particulate matter.

Video games actually improve vision about 20%, a Univ. of Rochester study said. The study followed those who played a few hours a day for 1 month and found that the brain begins to process visual information differently because the games push the human visual system. Those tested had not played video games often, if at all, in the prior year.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 5:24 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will propose a bill that would require Internet service providers to alert the government of any illegal images, primarily child pornography, and set fines of up to $300,000 for failing to do so. The bill proposes a national database of illegal images that Internet providers would use to immediately flag and report suspicious activity to police. The bill is intended to aid investigations of child pornographers and enhance the current system, making it a failure to report a federal crime. Critics say the bill goes too far.

More sleep may curb weight gain

Children who do not get enough sleep tend to weigh more, according to a 5-year study by Northwestern Univ. The researchers found that an extra hour of sleep reduced the chances of being overweight from 36% to 30% in children 3-8 years old and 34% to 30% in those 8-13 years old. The study suggested that sleeping less may affect hormones that influence appetite, those who stay awake longer may eat more, and less sleep may reduce the child’s activity during the day.

HIV infections in Japan rose 10% to 914 patients in 2006, while the number of those who developed AIDS grew 6.3% to 390, the health ministry said. Both numbers were a record high since statistics were first kept in 1985. The ministry said infections rose because more people are getting tested.

Air pollution, specifically fine particulates, increase women’s risk of heart disease far more than previously thought, said a new federal study done by the Univ. of Wash. The study followed 65,893 women who were exposed to legally acceptable pollution levels. The Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 is scheduled to question its standards for particulate matter.

Video games actually improve vision about 20%, a Univ. of Rochester study said. The study followed those who played a few hours a day for 1 month and found that the brain begins to process visual information differently because the games push the human visual system. Those tested had not played video games often, if at all, in the prior year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 3:52 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Nearly 90% of CEOs are very confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, which is twice as many compared with five years ago. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Annual Global CEO Survey of 1,100 CEOs across 50 countries found that half of the CEOs are planning a cross-border merger or acquisition to help drive business growth. Despite overall optimism, CEOs foresee potential barriers to growth, with 73% citing overregulation as a concern, up from 64% a year ago, while half are worried about oil supplies, terrorism and political instability.

Fiber lowers breast cancer risk

Pre-menopausal women who eat 30 grams of fiber a day halve their breast cancer risk vs. those who eat less than 20 grams. University of Leeds researchers studied 35,000 women and found fiber affects the way the body processes and regulates the female hormone estrogen. The average person eats 12 grams of fiber a day, and to hit 30 grams, women need to eat high-fiber cereal, whole meal bread and 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day.

Among students in kindergarten through 12th grade, carrots and fresh vegetables are getting more popular for lunch, while french fries are getting less so, the School Nutrition Association’s annual survey showed. In 2005, at least 17 states enacted some form of school nutrition legislation. Also, a New Jersey law requires school districts to ban candy and soda by next fall.

A British zoo announced that it succeeded in the virgin births of five Komodo dragons. DNA paternity tests confirm the lack of male input. Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis, but virginal conception of Komodo dragons was a first. Scientists hope the discovery will pave the way to finding other species capable of self-fertilization.

Gaining weight is not only bad for your health, but also your pocketbook, according to research conducted by 9 European countries. The study found that adding 10% of one’s body mass index which is a measurement of weight vs. height that determines obesity can reduce a man’s real earnings by 3.3% and a woman’s by 1.8%.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 4th, 2007 at 11:31 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Lung cancer surgery did nothing to end some smokers’ addictions, as almost half started smoking again within a year and others within 2 months of the operation. The Washington Univ. School of Medicine studied 154 patients, who had early-stage surgery to treat lung cancer, and said each gave up smoking before surgery. But the power of nicotine proved too strong, with those who quit at the last minute before surgery more prone to relapse.

Stress hits people of all cultures

About three-fourths of people in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, S. Korea and the U.K. said they experience stress daily, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. 61% of Spaniards said they were stressed, while more than half of Mexicans said they rarely or never experience stress. Germans feel the most stressed among the nations polled, Americans cited financial pressures as the top worry. In most countries, men were less likely than women to be stressed daily and the British said they frequently felt life was beyond their control .

Embryonic stem cell research is proceeding despite a federal ban on it. N.J. will set aside $7 mil next year from state coffers to experiment on federally restricted stem cell lines. N.J. joins Calif., Conn., Ill. and Md. N.J. will also spend $3 mil on less controversial adult stem cell research and $270 mil on stem cell research facilities.

Cell phone alerts can deliver breaking news, sports scores and now, family planning. Women seeking to boost their odds of becoming pregnant are increasingly signing up on Web sites that can send out alerts via the Internet to notify them of their peak ovulation periods. In addition, some sites help women to schedule events in their lives, such as weddings and vacations, around their periods.

Cognitive ability can be kept longer and sharper if one is continually challenged, according to a team of researchers led by Pa. State Univ. Of seniors who participated, 87% showed immediate improvement in processing speed by trying to identify objects faster and faster. Other drills were with mnemonic devices and pattern recognition.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 8:21 am and is filed under Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Stores in the Ginza district of Tokyo will begin beaming special offers and coupons to passers-by next month using a network tied to radio frequency identification tags. The tags and transmitters will identify a shopper’s location and transmit messages on nearby stores or products to the passer-by’s mobile phone or a special receiver that will be available to rent. Project developers said future systems will seek to target specific types of customers with tailored information. Visitors in Ginza also will be able to access local maps and tourist information in 5 languages transmitted through radio tags on street lamps.

Family gathering via virtual tech

The virtual family dinner system that allows scattered family members to dine together at different locations was developed by technology consulting firm Accenture. The system uses a video conferencing device. Users can see what’s on each other’s table when they interact. For example, when a family member who lives alone puts a meal on the table, the system’s software automatically finds family members who are wired and determines who might be available to join the dinner. Prototype would become available in about 2 years and cost up to $1,000 per household.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 9:30 pm and is filed under Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Soon advertisers will hope not just to catch your eye, but also your nose. The use of scent is predicted to be the top marketing trend in 2007 by the trade journal Advertising Age. Already the olfactory onslaught has been launched by Kraft () with “rub-and-smell” ads for Chips Ahoy and Jell-O. The trend is not limited to food and beverages. Verizon () is hyping its new “Chocolate” cell phone with mocha-scented strips in some Northeastern stores. Within 10 years the scent-oriented trend is expected to grow 10-fold to $500 mil.

Fewest plane crashes in 43 years

In 2006, there were 156 plane crashes worldwide, 22 fewer than in 2005 and the least since 1963, said the Aircraft Crashes Record Office in Geneva. The monitoring agency said the number of deaths in crashes fell 11% to 1,292. N. America had the most crashes, with 32% of the total, followed by Africa with 18% and Asia with 17%. The office’s tally encompassed only planes that carried 6 or more passengers.

Manhattan apartment prices bucked the downward trend in the U.S. housing market last year, as the average selling price climbed 5% to $1.14 mil. On the Upper West Side, 4-bedroom and larger apartments jumped 48% to more than $5.7 mil on average.

Moderate drinking for men with high blood pressure lessens the risk for heart attack, according to a Harvard study. But men in the study who drank more than 1-2 drinks a day saw their blood pressure increase, a risk factor for heart attack. Men who drank only one drink a day saw a 32% decrease in risk compared with those who abstained, while men who drank 2 drinks were 28% less likely to have a heart attack.

Space weather forecasting is on the way, said a Univ. of Illinois professor. The research team takes digital images of variations in what’s known as airglow, the weak light emitted by earth’s atmosphere, over the equator. The weather in the ionosphere can affect satellite communications and air travel. The team came up with a way to create a sort of ionospheric equivalent of animated weather maps.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 7:10 am and is filed under Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.