Google Chrome Ads Raise Humanitarian Side

Google Chrome TV ad first appeared on national television as a campaign before it officially entered its first investment in Indonesia. Ads that are part of the campaign "Make the Internet Covering an area of ​​creations" It picked up the story about an Internet user (netter) that utilizes the Internet to conduct social activities. Although only lasted one minute, the ad was to convey the message and make emotion a number of people who see it.

Campaign "Make the Internet Covering an area of ​​creations" are depicted in the ad shows how a netter named Randa Valencia (@ justsilly), who cares about the activities of blood donors, utilizing internet technology for social activities. Valencia utilize the Chrome browser to search for information about blood donation, make the network by utilizing the Google +, gather the people who need blood donors, and the relief of people who can donate blood via e-mail.

Of some e-mails, Valencia can get the data of people who can donate blood as needed. Valencia then intercede for those who need blood donors and those who want to become a donor.

Ads are also uploaded on YouTube since 6 September 2011 had been viewed more than 14,000 times in just 5 days. Various comments appeared, most states thrilled to see the ads that had touched everyone. There is support social activities, some are supportive manner Valencia utilizing technology.

Blood for Life was created in March 2009, shortly before a catastrophic event Situ Gintung hit Jakarta. Initially shaped mailing list, consisting of 44 email accounts, which represents 44 members. This mailing list helps anyone who needs blood when blood needs are not met PMI. This movement is social, not on behalf of the foundation or any organization, so all patients who aided also not need to pay anything to get a blood donor. Anyone who wants to join can send a blank e-mail to blood-for-life@googlegroups.com. Preferred is the user's Google Mail account.

Any person who is willing to join are expected to name (either real or virtual name), blood group and rhesus him, along with residency and age. If there is a need or a hospital needs blood donor assistance, the link will send you an e-mail to a mailing list that contains the request for aid donors and rhesus him, as well as in hospitals where blood donors would be carried out. Required to include a phone number to be contacted at any time. Valencia then create a blog to hold all information with http://bloodforlife.wordpress.com address. Twitter Accounts for Blood for Life is also used to disseminate information of blood donors, which account @ Blood4LifeID.

In addition Blood4Life picked up the story, Google in this campaign is also preparing a video about the benefits of its services to families. Duration of one minute video uploaded on YouTube that depicts a father who sends a message to his future. He made a Gmail account with the name "lia.tersayang" and regularly sends special moments with her son with photos, videos, and personal messages. He hopes one day when her son was an adult open the messages. Touching.

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900 Million Tablet Computer to Flood World

The world is facing an era of tablet computers. According to various researches, touch screen based mobile devices will continue to grow sales rapidly.

"The number of tablet computer sales estimated to reach 900 million by 2016," said Pieter Lydian, Country Manager of Dell in Menara BCA Indonesia, Thursday (22/12/2011).

Estimated sales of nearly 1 billion units are based on analysis from research firm Gartner. One of the trigger factor is the increasing number of technology-literate younger generation.

Separate research by IDC says that in 2012, tablet computers with smartphones will prevail. The combination of both sales will exceed shipments of PCs.

"The mobile device will also be posted revenue of the sector is projected applications because there are 86 billion times a downloaded application," said Lydian citing IDC data.

For the vendor's own industry, year 2012 is considered promising. Because economic growth is projected to be pretty good.

"While this is indeed a crisis of Europe but it seems there will soon be a solution in the near future. Hence the economy next year is predicted to improve," said Lydian.

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Chinese hackers accused of breaking the Computer System of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Chinese hackers accused of involvement in the defense system's computer break-ins Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the United States that occurred years ago. Some important data of its members were allegedly managed to spy.

The accusation was made of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who found that, one of the servers in China have a number of allegedly stolen confidential data from the agency.

But it was denied by the Chinese government. "Nothing can be said about the accusations were unfounded," said a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Liu Weimin.

As reported by the WSJ  Friday (12.23.2011), though it occurred during the year but the action was just terendus recently, and not known what data is successfully taken away by the perpetrator.

Currently the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the United States is inhabited by hundreds of members who represent the most important industries of the Superpower.

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Free 3 Application Screen Reader for the Blind

Screen reader applications (screen reader) is the software used to operate the computer with visual impairment. Unfortunately, the average price is exorbitant commercial screen readers, so many blind people who can only feel the demo version only. Well, this time the author wants to share information about some free screen readers that blind people can be utilized without the need to pay a dime!

If I may say, a screen reader is the "eye" for the blind in operating computers. With these applications, the blind can get information about the text shown on the monitor screen. Text is converted into sound using a speech synthesizer technology, so the results can be heard by blind people.

Thus, it can be ascertained if the access to information for blind people became more open. Thanks to the help screen reader, they can browse, work, making presentations, and even enjoy entertainment on a PC or Notebook.

However, it turns out to obtain a screen reader cost is quite expensive. The cheapest price is around $ 399, and the most used price can exceed $ 1,000. For the value of it, perhaps only large institutions or certain circles who can afford it, while individuals with visual impairments may have to sacrifice ten or twenty months' salary to be able to buy it.

As an alternative, usually blind people use screen reader demo versions of commercial. The demo version allows the visually impaired use a screen reader for 30 or 40 minutes. After that, the screen reader will be non-active and to reactivate the computer must be restarted. Of course this is a practice which is less practical.

Here are some free screen reader that can be used as a solution to the above problems. Although its features can not complete commercial screen readers, but it was enough to be used as a tool for everyday computing activities.

However, the author will not discuss in detail since it would lengthen this article. The author just wanted to introduce it, so that people can share this information to the needy.

The criteria that I use in choosing a free screen reader is as follows:

- Always update. Some screen readers have fallen free, so it is no longer updated, and certainly can not be used on the current operating system.

- Stable. This free screen reader running smoothly, at least for computers with the latest specifications.

- Supports the general computing activity (Jump to the operating system, Office applications, and internet). The author ensures visually impaired can enjoy the entertainment or working in the office by utilizing this free screen reader.

1. Voice Over

Voice Over screen reader is made to the default output of Apple products, both Mac and iDevice. Screen reader can be directly used as a Mac or iDevice enabled.

For first-party applications such as the program default operating system, Voice Over run smoothly without a hitch. In other words, blind people will not encounter difficulty in accessing basic features of the device.

Mac (iMac, Macbook): Press the shortcut Command + F5 or switch from the setup menu (accessibility).

iDevice (iPod, iPhone, iPad): Enable the option Settings> General> Accessibility. Can also be activated from iTunes through the Universal Access option (after the iDevice is connected to a PC or Notebook).

2. System Access To Go

System Access To Go is a screen reader for free from the commercial version, System Access. To be able to use the internet connection is required, because the screen reader is not installed, it goes online.

To run it, please go to the site www.satogo.com. It will be a voice that will guide the visually impaired user in installing the System Access To Go.

System Access To Go can deal with both the existing Windows applications, and some common applications like Microsoft Office, WinAmp, and Skype.

Well, the screen reader is very useful when blind people traveling public facilities such as a library or Internet cafe. System Access To Go does not require installation, then the computer is used as the host does not need to be tampered.

However, perhaps be a little difficult when the host computer does not give permissions to execute the EXE file, because the System Access To Go need to download and execute the main application file (size 3MB).

Weaknesses of the System Access To Go, of course, lies in the matter of the Internet connection itself. If the connection is slow or broken, then the System Access To Go will silence a thousand languages, and it certainly makes blind people lose contact with his computer.

3. NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access)

NVDA is a licensed open source screen reader made by NV Access. To get it, please access its website at www.nvda-project.org.

Although free, the ability of NVDA should thumbs up. In addition to having functions similar to the System Access To Go, NVDA also provides features that allow blind people to operate the mouse (if mouse is moved will sound indicating the position of the mouse).

NVDA is available in two flavors, the installer and portable. The installer can be installed on a PC, a portable and can be copy to the flash disk and can be run without installation.

Again this is very useful when traveling to a common means of visually impaired computer is not equipped with a screen reader, because NVDA can be directly executed (EXE executable requires administrative privileges).

Opinion writer

With this article, Indonesia is expected to more and more people who know how to give blind people access to the world of information through a computer at a cost of 0000. At least this applies to the procurement of a screen reader as a means of visually impaired and computer interaction.

Thus, blind people who live in remote or disadvantaged even been able to computing. Simply provide computer netbook specs and attach a screen reader for free, and blind even been able to use it.

In the world of education, the opportunity to participate in learning with visual impairments use computers became more open. The school does not have to spend the excess funds to provide a screen reader, because the applications that the authors mentioned above already can handle applications that are commonly used to complete school assignments.

This information can also be disseminated to the managers of public facilities such as a library or Internet cafe. Surely not too difficult to install a free screen reader that its size is relatively small. So, if there are visually impaired visitors who come, the manager can turn on the screen and visually impaired readers can take advantage of these public facilities.

The biggest thing that writers and other visually impaired colleagues dreamed, of course, is the creation of opportunities greater information access for the visually impaired. Free screen reader is expected to be one solution in realizing that dream.

Note: This article was written in Microsoft Word 2010 by using NVDA version 2011-3.

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Waiting for the use and adoption of cloud technology in 2012

Various vendors in 2011 somewhat vigorous in promoting the true capabilities of cloud computing technologies (cloud computing). But whether it can actually follow the industrialized world? It seems still difficult to predict.

However, the same belief at the time appeared to welcome the year 2012. Where technology is believed to be clouds have an important role in controlling technology trends.

According to Steve Herrod, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Senior Vice President of Reasearch & Development VMware, in 2012 the use and adoption of cloud technology will increase.

This is based from a Forrester research conducted in October 2011 and which shows that more and more organizations are choosing to implement public and private cloud technology with the percentage of 41%. This number increased nearly 10% compared to last year's research results (38%).

Public cloud itself, assessed Herrord, is definitely an option that is less preferred because most organizations across the region to see this technology is less secure to manage data and enterprise applications.

In the Asia Pacific region, as much as 78% of organizations are now assessed considering implementing virtualization as an important foundation for cloud computing. The adoption of virtual technology of the highest made by insurance companies (83%), followed by companies engaged in banking or finance (81%) with most now have adopted cloud computing.

The company is currently said to have a better understanding about the positive impact of cloud computing application to the development of their business. In the cloud computing journey - either through private or hybrid model, companies are now increasingly aware that there is no 'cloud' that fits all needs.

In terms of applications, Herrord also saw a shift in the type of application infrastructure is used. See the reality-based applications or modern mobile website, with dynamic usage patterns, needs a new architectural approach.

Where the technology must be flexible in every tier application so that when a user access, application infrastructure will immediately adjust to meet the demands of use.

Approach to application development front will have the following characteristics:
-. Develop using the modern framework.
-. Utilizing lightweight application server that is optimized for the platform infrastructure that will facilitate the installation of these technologies.
-. Storing session data in the cache are flexible so you can customize your application server with the ease and simplicity.
-. Using a cloud-based messaging technologies to integrate applications easily.
-. In the end, introducing a layer of access to data that can be tailored to remember this is the most important element.

Architectural approach can be applied also assessed by using virtualization. Making a virtual machine architecture allows users to build simple and eliminates the need for increased capacity VM continuously. This emphasis on simplicity and lightweight components that can adjust easily.

Users can start the migration of the cloud by looking for applications that can share some or even all of the five following characteristics:
-. Applications that have been virtualized
-. Applications are easily combined and modular in design
-. Applications that do not have many requirements for privacy and security
-. Applications that can tolerate an emergency
-. Applications that are not encumbered by various regulations.

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7 Human Diseases Transmitted from Animals

Humans often use animals to meet their own needs. Although different species, does not mean that diidap animal disease can not be transmitted to humans. This phenomenon is called a zoonosis.

Cleanliness is the key to avoiding infectious diseases of animals. Not all diseases can be transmitted, but some kabanyakan transmitted diseases harmful to humans.

Seven animal diseases that can be transmitted to humans as reported by Health24.com, Thursday (11/17/2011), among others:


1. Toxoplasma
Touching cat feces is a gap where toxoplasmosis attack humans. Wash your hands after touching the cat litter. Pregnant women should be very careful because toxoplasma infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, or defects in babies conceived.

2. avian influenza
Avian influenza or bird flu is caused by a virus found in infected birds. Not only birds, animals can also infect poultry countryman chicken, duck or turkey.

3. Plague or pestilence
Although not commonly found today, the bubonic plague had meluluh lantakkan in medieval Europe. Transmitted bubonic plague carried by fleas that are found mice and other rodents.

4. Salmonella
Maintaining reptiles are exotic and unique. But in other respects, the owner should be getting ready for salmonella infection.

5. Ebola
Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever is a severe acquired by contact with animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas and even a bat that has been infected.

6. Giardia
Intestinal parasites such as giardia can enter the body if drinking water is contaminated feces of livestock, waterfowl or other animals.

7. rabies
Just one bite from an infected animal can cause infection of this virus causes infection of the brain. Fortunately the current rabies vaccine is quite effective, even when given after a long exposure to the disease.

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8 Self-Care to Treat Hemorrhoids

Symptoms of hemorrhoids often interfere even be very painful. However, there are actually businesses that can be done to reduce and relieve the symptoms of hemorrhoids.

The efforts of self-care that can relieve the symptoms of hemorrhoids as quoted MSNHealth, Tuesday (11/15/2011), among others:

1. Use water therapy
Water can be very soothing for hemorrhoids that are inflamed, pain, and itching. Cold compresses or soak the anal area in warm water for about 10 minutes several times a day can also be very helpful.

Many people find that rubbing gently with a damp towel, rather than with toilet paper, can be more convenient.

2. Trying to counter hemorrhoid medication
Several types of medications without a prescription or OTC offers quick help to relieve symptoms of hemorrhoids. Drug or product including hemorrhoids creams, gels, foams, suppositories containing hydrocortisone and pads, or constricting drugs.

Or numbing medication, such as, Preparation H, pads containing medication, and Lanacane. Oral medications that can help reduce inflammation and pain include acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin).

3. Eating more fiber
Fiber helps avoid constipation and smooth bowel movements, which are both major risk factor for hemorrhoids. High-fiber diets also reduce the pain of hemorrhoids by making feces become softer and easier to remove.

Most Americans consume less than 14 g of fiber per day, while the recommended is 25 g per day for women and 38 g per day for men.

Some foods high in fiber, including fruits, vegetables, beans, bran, wheat cereal, and bread. High-fiber diet can also lower the risk of several serious diseases, such as colon cancer, heart disease, and obesity.

4. Eating fibrous food product
Many people find it difficult to get enough fiber in their diet to produce softer stools, which can reduce the risk and pain of hemorrhoids.

Eating high-fiber diet is the best. But if it can not consistently get 20-35 g of fiber per day through foods consumed, there are various products that can complement fiber intake.

These products include psyllium (Konsyl, Metamucil), methylcellulose (Citrucel), calcium polycarbophil (FiberCon), and wheat dextrin (Benefiber), all of which can be bought without prescription at your local grocery store or pharmacy.

5. Eating plenty of water
Water is a key element to produce a softer stool which in turn can reduce the pain of hemorrhoids. Drinking enough water can also help prevent hemorrhoids.

As a general rule, you should drink about eight 8 glasses of water a day, especially if it is in the hot weather and during exercise. Moreover, it also should avoid or limit intake of alcohol and caffeine. Alcohol and caffeine can increase water loss from the body, which can cause a hard stool and increases the pain of hemorrhoids.

6. Do enough physical exercise
Physical exercise is a key component to prevent and treat hemorrhoids. If the daily life or work allow to sit for long periods of time, be sure to get up and move around for a few minutes every hour.

Be aware that certain physical activities should be avoided, including seated for a long time in the toilet, lift weights, and anal sex, all of which can increase the risk of hemorrhoids and worsen symptoms.

7. Do not delay defecation
Morning is a hectic time for many families, and may not feel to have time to sit on the toilet and use the bathroom.

Although it does not need to have a bowel movement in the morning, it is important not to delay having a bowel movement when it has felt the urge to defecate. Delaying bowel movement can cause constipation and aggravate and increase the risk of developing hemorrhoids.

8. Taking special care
Hemorrhoids are very common during pregnancy and after childbirth. To make a person and her baby is safe, it must consult with a health care provider about symptoms that may occur, such as pain and itching in the anus.

One simple treatment while being pregnant is lying on the left side when resting or sleeping to help reduce pressure on certain blood vessels that can cause swelling and cause the vein was

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Six simple habits they are helpless remember that you can apply stronger everyday to enhance the ability of the brain.

Six simple habits they are helpless remember that you can apply stronger everyday to enhance the ability of the brain.

1. Watching television is nothing more than an hour each day.
People remember strong power rarely seen spectacle-a spectacle that does not really matter, unless the spectacle of nature educate. They are more often read than watch.

2. consuming fish
Fish is a source of protein that serves regenerate dead cells. Brain cells must continue to be regenerated. Some types of fish such as salmon and sardines contain omega 3 which is very good for the development of brain cells and the ability to remember someone

3. Crossing and connecting the data
The ability of the brain will continue to increase when the data that goes into it is connected to one another. By relating such, the data will be stored and implanted in the brain is stronger again.

4. reading the novel
By reading the novel, the brain will be trained to think and guess what will happen. Novel storyline twist will make the brain continue to think but in the form of the brain that is more interesting adventure and fun. Imagine events in the novel and feel it flowing in the mind.


5. Drinking tea or coffee
Tea and coffee contain caffeine which can stimulate the heart and brain to stay awake and work better. However, excessive consumption, especially of coffee can be fatal. Drink in reasonable doses. Tea commonly consumed by people asia, while coffee by Europeans.

6. Always make a note in the form of a journal or small notebook
Data coming into our brains may be recorded without sticking and maybe not. However, if the data is recorded, then we can look back when forgotten. Also noted it could increase the brain's ability to memorize up to 20 percent ...

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Bad memories can be lost only by Sleep and Dreaming

When experiencing something unpleasant, someone usually so difficult to sleep for fear of nightmares. But according to the study, sleep and let the brain the imagination in dreams just potent eliminate those bad memories.

Research conducted at the University of California at Berkeley shows, while dreaming of the brain will activate certain nerves to relieve the tension of mind. Whatever type of dream, a reaction that occurs in general are equally soothing.

Reactions that trigger changes in the nervous system activity in the brain that occurs in the phase of rapid eye movement (REM), when the dream began to take shape. Once awake, the person will no doubt aware of what is happening in the brain during sleep.

Nervous system activity during sleep that will make the brain better able to manage emotions, so the bad memories that will not be mind again. Probably not really missing, but at least your mind can focus on other things more useful.

"When entering a phase of REM, the memory will be reactivated, arranged with a particular perspective that is connected and integrated, in certain conditions that make the level of stress completely suppressed," said Els van der Helm who conducted the study as quoted from the Telegraph, Thursday ( 24/11/2011).

In an experimental study that included 35 participants Helm adults who are physically and mentally in good health. A total of 150 was told to look at pictures of sad, as much as 2 times a day with a pause for 12 hours.

Some participants were shown the pictures in the afternoon, then sleep while disurtuh observed brain activity with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the morning after waking, the participants in this group were shown the same picture again.

The other group was shown the pictures for the first time in the morning, then were shown again 12 hours later, ie in the afternoon. During this time the participants were active throughout the day as usual and had not slept much less dreaming.

The result sepderti expected, participants who had slept and dreamed to give a different response when seeing the sad pictures. The difference is more calm and more able to keep a distance with feelings than participants who did not get to sleep

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When pain relief Deteriorating Child in the Night

The disease has never come at the right time. Often the children wake up at night due to symptoms of certain diseases, whereas the doctor's office was closed and the mother does not know whether to wake the doctor or try to cope alone.

Some symptoms can be a sign of serious harm, such as high fever, difficulty breathing, strange rashes or convulsions. Almost all the symptoms in infants under 4 months requiring treatment by a doctor immediately, no matter at any time.

As quoted from Parenting.com, Sunday (27/11/2011), many symptoms of illness in children is worse at night. Although not life-threatening, these symptoms can make children miserable.

With a little planning and help from health practitioners, some actions can be done to help relieve the symptoms of the disease in children.

Asthma and allergies

"Symptoms of asthma and allergies are often worse at night. There are many factors that play, which decreases cortisol levels at night and cortisol have a preventive effect of asthma," said Santiago Martinez, MD, an allergist and assistant professor of child clinical medicine at the School of Florida State Medical University in Tallahassee.

The increase of histamine also trigger symptoms of allergies and asthma. Some allergens such as dust and pet dander found more often in child's room thus increasing the exposure when the child slept.

If the child had an attack during the night allergies, antihistamines can reduce the symptoms. If the disorder often occurs throughout the year, should give immunotherapy by introducing small amounts of substances pemiocu allergic to the body so the body gradually build up immunity.

Preventive measures to reduce exposure to allergy-triggering substances is to reduce exposure. Ari, make sure the child's bedroom window remains closed, do not put the doll or furry animals in his room. Can also install filters designed to trap very small particles that can aggravate allergy symptoms.

Cough

Coughing can be caused by a viral infection that settled in the upper airways and voice box, and it usually strikes when a child has a cold. Because it causes swelling of the vocal cords, coughing can also be accompanied by a rapid or noisy breathing.

Cough is almost always worse at night because blood flow to the respiratory tract changes when the child was lying. Dry air can also be made it worse.

"Start by giving ibuprofen to reduce the severity of inflammation in the airways and relieve the discomfort," said Andrea Leeds, MD, a pediatrician in Bellmore, New York, and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

If children aged 12 months to bottom, do not use ibuprofen unless your doctor permits. Then off diapers or pants, turn on the shower, and sit in a steamy bathroom for fifteen minutes.

After that, wear clothing and wrap in blankets. take him out of the house exposed to the cold night air. If when it's summer, lay out the freezer or air conditioning for at least five minutes.

The steam will relax the airways and vocal cords, while the cold air can reduce the swelling. This combination is often able to control the symptoms of coughing up the next day.

Earache

Infections of the middle ear or in the ear canal can be increasingly felt the symptoms when lying because increased fluid collection and putting extra strain on the inflamed tissue.

Ibuprofen can be given to children aged 12 months upwards. Acetaminophen can help relieve pain.

"Heat a tablespoon olive oil in a microwave until warm but not hot. Give 2-3 drops of warm oil on the affected ear to soothe the ear membrane," said Dr. Leeds.

Attaching a warm wet cloth on the child's ear can also help. Sometimes need antibiotics to clear up the infection if it does not heal by itself. If the child is susceptible to antibiotics, ask your doctor about prescription ear drops to numb the pain.

Fever

Fever worse at night because your body temperature rises naturally at night so a light fever during the day can go up easily when sleeping.

First, check your child's temperature. Do it through the anus rectal if children younger than 6 months. Fever above 38 ° C in infants under 3 months requiring immediate treatment by a physician.

The same applies if the temperature is higher for children accompanied by lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, stiff neck, or an unusual rash.

"Acetaminophen can also be given. Wait for it for half an hour, and check the temperature again. If you have not started to fall and is older than a year, give the child some ibuprofen as well. These medications can be used together separated a distance of half an hour. Acetaminophen can be given every four hours, and ibuprofen given every six to eight hours, "said Dr. Leeds.

Children can be washed at room temperature (25 ° - 27 ° C) to help cool the body temperature. Make sure children stay hydrated by providing water, formula or breast milk if a baby before the child back to sleep.

Itchy Skin

Itchy skin worse at night because when the child quiet and lie down, itchiness is more easily felt. Itching can be caused by vines, insect bites, eczema, or sunburn. And if skin itching caused by allergies, increased levels of histamine can make it worse.

For itching due to eczema, apply moisturizer to clean the body before bed. Massage can also be soothing. It is also important to keep the air humidity in the room.

If itchy rashes caused by allergies, antihistamines can help relieve symptoms. Topical cortisone creams can also help. Do not use a specific type of product before consulting a pediatrician.

Nasal congestion

Nasal congestion worse at night because decreasing the nasal passages during sleep. Use eye drops or nasal spray to moisten and thin the mucus membranes making it easier for children melesitkan mucus or swabbed with a cloth.

Decongestants can help relieve symptoms of nasal congestion. But its use is not recommended for children younger than 2 years.

Throw up

Make sure children do not spit blood. Call your doctor if it happens, because it can indicate a serious condition. The same applies if the vomiting accompanied by pain in the lower right side of the abdomen.

If vomiting due to travel, rub a child with a cold, wet cloth on his forehead and face, then let him go back to sleep. Place a plastic bowl or other container at his bedside when he felt sick again.

"If the child is still awake but does not throw up again, give children cola or ginger ale. One tablespoon of pear or peach syrup every fifteen minutes may also help," said Philip Itkin, MD, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical College in Omaha

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Brain Just Need Time 0.2 Seconds Identifying Nude Pictures

The brain processes information faster than the naked body of the dress pictures. The brain only takes 0.2 seconds to process images naked body. The more skimpy clothes worn in the photographs, the faster information processing.

Most people really like to see pictures of the human body naked or scantily clad. Seeing naked bodies will arouse sexual desire. The naked human body is also a common subject in classical art.

In fact, the ads currently using models dressed half-naked to give a positive image for the product being advertised.

Research conducted Hietanen Jari K from the University of Tampere and Lauri Nummenmaa of Aalto University in Finland showed that the perception of the naked body encourages the early stages of visual processing.

In that study, participants were shown photographs of men and women who are wearing everyday clothes, good clothes, a swimsuit or naked.

At the same time, the visual brain responses were recorded by electrical activity in the brain. This method allows researchers to investigate the early stages of visual information processing.

The results showed that in less than 0.2 seconds, the brain processes images naked body is more efficient than drawing the clothed body. Even the minimal clothing worn in the photographs, the faster information processing, as quoted from Medicalnewstoday, Tuesday (11/22/2011).

The brain is the most powerful responses when participants saw the photos of naked bodies, the second strongest is when viewing a photo wearing a bathing suit, and weakest when viewing images with a complete outfit.

Male participants of the brain respond more strongly to the bodies of naked women than naked men, whereas women did not respond influenced participants' brain sex.

These findings suggest that signals the brain to increase sexual arousal. In addition to the brain respond, self-evaluation and measurement of the participants also reflect the activation of the autonomic nervous system according to the researchers expected, the nude pictures more arousing than other types of images.

The rapid processing of sexual signals may play an important role in reproduction and ensure the perception of potential partners to find a mate efficiently.

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Motorola Droid 4 Released Soon

Photos and specifications of the Droid 4 began to bloom in a variety of tech blogs. Motorola's latest smartphone that can run on a 4G network is reportedly soon to be released early next month.

Motorola seems to be very ready to present the successor to its line of smartphones Droid. Droid Life reports citing internal sources say Motorola Droid 4 will be launched soon, which is December 8, 2011.

Digital Trends reported on Monday (28.11.2011), Droid 4 will be first marketed in the United States (U.S.) with a packet of data from Verizon Wireless.

Specifications are not much different from previous Droid series. 4th Droid has a slide-out keyboard, 4-inch screen, dual-core processor 1.2 GHz, 1GB RAM, front camera for video chat and rear 8MP camera.

However, both Motorola and Verizon, were equally willing to provide confirmation yet related to this report.

For the record, Motorola has released four Droid series smartphones this year. It is the fourth smartphone Droid X2, Droid 3, Droid and Droid Bionic RAZR. If the Droid 4 comes in accordance with the time specified, then this will be the fifth smartphone Motorola released in 2011.

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Destroy Google Navigation Bar

Google has just completed a redesign of the navigation bar. This maximizes the redesign overhaul that also did some time ago on Google Search, Maps, News, Reader and Gmail.

"We have now entered the final stage of the redesign bars Google's new. This will allow you to navigate quickly between our services and share content easily on Google +," said Eddie Kessler, Technical Lead Google as quoted from the official Google blog Wednesday (11/30/2011).

Yes, in essence, a new navigation bar that connects to all Google products making it easier for users to explore everything. For example, moving the mouse pointer on the Google logo will bring up a drop down menu with links to Google +, Image Search, Maps and other Google products.

Official Google Account + provides a record, the latest navigation bar released in stages starting this week until a few days ahead. So, not all users see the new navigation bar.

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Micro Four Thirds System aggressively Camera Market

First time introduced to the public, Micro Four Thirds system was successfully captured the attention of the camera vendors and consumers. According to Jerry Aurum, a professional photographer who also had a jury Caraka Creative Festival, this system is a system that takes the cake portion of the fastest compared to other systems.

Micro Four Thirds System presents a smaller camera body because it eliminates the mirror in it. The lenses can be exchanged with lenses from other vendors that use a similar system.

Besides smaller in terms of body, a camera that uses this system also promises quality images with great resolution. Yes, a camera that uses this system is promising as short as a pocket camera body but the quality that rivals a DSLR.

"So far the Micro Four Thirds system has mastered 38% of the market in just two years. There never was a system that accounted for a cake as fast as that," Jerry said when talking with the Epicentrum Walk, Rasuna, Jakarta, Saturday (3 / 11 / 2011).

"When his appearance he had reached 2% of the market, then 17% in a year. The system is undermined pocket and SLR," said a figure that has spawned two books and known for his photographs that decorate many major media.

Until now many camera vendors who implement the system in addition to the four thirds Olympus and Panasonic as the originator of this system.

Only the Canon which, according to Jerry has not seen the signs would issue a similar camera. "I really have not seen the Canon will issue a camera system is yes," he said after the workshop in the event the On | Off today.

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Windows 8 Ready Performance Dentistry

United States - Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8, soon will try to hit the IT universe. Month of February 2012 mentioned will be the premiere Windows 8 beta.

Yes, some chatter in the world IT community now highlight the OS is the successor of Windows 7. "What are the innovations that Microsoft is doing? How it looks," called a few questions back and forth.

2012 International Consumer Electronic Show in January in Las Vegas, United States also will be a momentum for Microsoft to further heat the issues surrounding Windows 8.

Quoted from Tom's Hardware, on Monday (5/12/2011), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said will go directly to the CES 2012 in order to stage a demonstration.

Well, after public curiosity peaked - or a month later in February - Microsoft is believed to be Windows 8 beta release to the public.

Even so, it does not mean Windows 8 will come officially on the market at the beginning of the year. Because, after the beta, users still have to wait several more months to wait for the version of 'almost finished' aka Release to Manufacturing (RTM) in the range of June.

Until finally the latest OS will actually land on computers and mobile devices in the 2012 holiday season arrives.

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Police Robot Replace Task Prison Warden

Pohang, South Korea - Robot with sensors that can detect suspicious behavior will be present at the detention center in South Korea (ROK). Duties, patrolling supervise the prisoners who tried to escape.

Designed to replace duty prison guard, which was developed robots group of scientists in South Korea are part of the project the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Ministry of Justice of the South to swallow up funds of up to one billion won.

Reported by the Telegraph, Friday (11/25/2011), 1.5-meter-high robot and walk on four wheels will be more frequently used at night. These robots can connect inmates with prison officials over the function of long-distance conversation.

There are sensors that allow the robot to detect unusual behavior of the prisoners. In addition to reporting the prisoners who intend to escape, this robot can also be reported if there are prisoners who would conduct suicide or violence.

"We're almost finished creating the key operating system. Now we are trying to make it look more friendly," said one scientist robot development team, Professor Good-Chul Lee of Kyonggi University.

He continued, when the development was completed, the three robots will be tested in the detention area of ​​Pohang, South Korea.

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Another Service Interruption for BlackBerrys

A month after BlackBerry service crashed worldwide, stranding some customers for up to three days, the company said on Wednesday that some users were again experiencing service delays.

And earlier in the day, Google said it would stop offering a Gmail application for BlackBerrys on Nov. 22. While the app will continue to function after that date, Google also plans to abandon support for it.

Tenille Kennedy, a spokeswoman for RIM, said the users whose service was affected on Wednesday were in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. Thats the same part of the world where the failure of a major networking component led to last months shutdown. The problem that time became worldwide as the buildup of undelivered data it created eventually overwhelmed all of RIMs network.

Speaking late on Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Kennedy said it was unclear how many users were affected or exactly what sort of delays they were encountering.

She emphasized that the trouble appeared to be isolated to that part of the world.

“Theres no systemwide outage, she said.

RIM operates a proprietary, worldwide network to handle data traveling to and from BlackBerrys. For corporate users, the network creates a high degree of security. For all users, including consumers, the network has technologies that speed up Web browsing, lower wireless data bills and enable the companys BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging system. When, of course, everything functions properly.

The announcement about the Gmail apps on BlackBerrys was less significant than perhaps symbolic of growing competition between Google, which makes the Android smartphone operating system and which is acquiring Motorola Mobile, and other smartphone companies — even though BlackBerrys have suffered in some markets like North America because of a comparative lack of apps,

Since 2009, all BlackBerrys have shipped with software in their operating systems that supports a variety of Google services, including Gmail, Google calendar and contact syncing.

In a statement, RIM said, “The large majority of users who access Gmail on their BlackBerry smartphones do so through RIMs software rather than Googles Gmail app. As well, BlackBerry users can also use Gmail through the browser on their phones although that can be a less than optimal experience on some models with small displays.

RIM said it would continue to expand and improve its operating support for Google products.

Earlier this month, Google introduced a Gmail app for Apples iPhone and then withdrew it for repairs after the software proved flawed. As is the case with BlackBerrys, the the iPhone’s iOS operating system allows users to use Gmail without downloading any additional apps from Google.

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Nokia’s Comeback Strategy in Smartphones

The challenge Nokia faces in the smartphone market was grimly detailed last week. In the third quarter, according to IDC, Nokia’s worldwide smartphone sales fell 37 percent to 16.8 million phones from 26.5 million a year ago.

Nokia’s retreat comes in a booming market. Smartphone shipments grew 43 percent in the third quarter.

Stephen Elop, Nokia’s chief executive, is not despairing, and he has a turnaround strategy. The game plan is coherent and ambitious, but its success is not assured.

The opening for Nokia, Mr. Elop explained, depends on Nokia’s ability to exploit the rapidly shifting market in smartphones, to profit from its new alliance with Microsoft and to develop services based on its own assets, like the company’s advanced mapping and location data technology.

“There is tremendous opportunity for differentiation,” Mr. Elop said Monday in an interview.

The difference, said Mr. Elop, who joined the Finnish phone maker from Microsoft just over a year ago, starts with Microsoft’s new Windows Phone operating system. The well-reviewed software presents the user with large touchscreen tiles, which can be tailored to collect all the communications — e-mail, Twitter, Facebook — from a person’s family or spouse, for example.

Its smartphone interface, Mr. Elop said, contrasts with the “grid of icons” for software apps that greet users of Apple‘s iPhone or phones that run Google‘s Android software. The first Nokia smartphones powered by Windows software were announced two weeks ago. They will go on sale in six European countries this month and in the United States next year.

But Nokia and Microsoft face the latecomer’s dilemma. The smartphone market is a business with powerful network effects — the more people who use your hardware and software, the more applications developers who are attracted to your platform, whose apps in turn attract more users.

Once that snowballing effect gets under way, it can be quite powerful. And things are rolling for both Apple and Google’s Android. Samsung, for example, jumped to the top of smartphone market in the third quarter; its sales tripled thanks to its popular Android smartphones.

Such technology platforms are often called ecosystems, and Mr. Elop described Nokia’s strategy in those terms. Mobile network operators, like AT&T and Verizon, would welcome more smartphone competition. “They want a third ecosystem,” Mr. Elop said.

Nokia competes with other handset makers, like Samsung, HTC and LG. But Mr. Elop made it clear that was not his greatest concern.

“The highest priority for us is to beat Android and Apple,” he said. “This is an ecosystem to ecosystem battle.”

Nokia, Mr. Elop said, is also developing services to try to distinguish itself from the smartphone leaders. He pointed to the company’s Navteq location data as an example. Nokia acquired Navteq,a leading provider of mapping and location data,for $8 billion in 2007. It supplies GPS systems like Garmin and Magellan, online map services like Mapquest, Yahoo Maps and Bing Maps, and the geographic data to create the flyover terrains in Microsoft’s Flight Simulator.

Nokia recently announced a location-based service called Nokia Live View. Point the smartphone’s camera at a building like Madison Square Garden, and it not only identifies the building but, based on past browsing and purchasing behavior, it might tell Mr. Elop, who is Canadian and a hockey fan, that a professional hockey game is scheduled that night at the Garden.

“These devices are essentially a platform of sensors,” Mr. Elop said. “The Navteq location data is one of the best assets we have. Fully integrating that technology into our smartphones is a major area of investment for us and a real area of differentiation.”

The Nokia strategy in alliance with Microsoft, analysts say, makes sense. Yet even if  it is successful, it will take time and a lot of money. “Birthing a new platform is a big deal,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at IDC. “It’s a long-run game, one that will take years.”

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OneID Aims to Unite Devices to Fight Hackers

Assume your computer, your cellphone and your iPad are all insecure, subject to hackers. All three of them working together to protect your information — would that be better?

It would, according to OneID, a start-up company in San Jose, Calif., that is trying to promote a new kind of single sign-on security for the Web.

Single sign-on is a kind of holy grail on the Internet, a way of avoiding having to remember separate passwords for every Web site and service a person uses. Like the original grail, lots of people have believed in it and no one has found it. In this case, Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystems and long-forgotten companies like Oblix (now part of Oracle) have all tried.

Frequently the technology behind one company or another’s single sign-on is plausible, but everyone else on the Internet is not comfortable turning their customers’ identities over to one big player. Facebook might want to be the one-stop identity company, too, but would face distrust. This may leave an opening for a smaller company with sufficient financing and a novel technology.

Enter OneID, founded by Steve Kirsch, a well-known Silicon Valley multimillionaire who founded, among other companies, the search engine Infoseek. His technology confirms who you are by combining the private security keys of several devices, which are then encrypted in a blob in a remote data center. Supposedly your personal information, including your name and address, passwords and credit card data, cannot be obtained there, either. When you want to log on to a Web site, OneID checks the security of the site, then determines who you are by confirming three different digital signatures on different devices. Merchants never see your credit card information but receive a clearance from OneID.

(Mr. Kirsch is also somewhat known in the valley for having technologygone public about his blood cancer, which a few years ago threatened his life. He appears healthy and says he is taking a drug that keeps the condition stable. In addition, he is closely following new therapies, one of which he thinks looks quite promising.)

The redundancy in the OneID system, Mr. Kirsch says, is what makes the product effective. You have to compromise three different private keys to break into this, he says. Distributing information across devices makes it safer. In some cases, the individual digital signatures are stored with other providers, so one step to hacking OneID would involve hacking Apple without a trace. There is usually an added level of security, Mr. Kirsch notes, in that many cellphones and tablets have their own access codes, so a hacker would have to obtain all of a user’s devices, break into them and get at the personal information before his target could know that anything was wrong.

OneID recently won a VC Bait contest at a big e-commerce trade show called X.Commerce. Mr. Kirsch is also offering $1 million of his own money, plus his name and one password, to hackers who are willing to try cracking the overall system.

The product is set to have its debut in February, but if you register at the company’s site now, OneID will give you priority in securing the handle by which you wish to be identified â€" which could be a valuable thing, if OneID catches on.

I recently ran into Mr. Kirsch along Sand Hill Road, the center of the venture capital universe, and he invited me down for a look at the product. It seems easy to use, and graphically very attractive, particularly the control screen for the iPad. This allows you to set higher levels of security for certain places or tasks, allow or shut off access to other devices and deal with browsers you might use at a public computer. Mr. Kirsch has similar interfaces for other devices and has worked on a QR code version of the service, so you could establish your identity at a checkout stand by holding a phone over a scanner. It seemed to work quickly enough, despite all the cross-checking going on in the background.

It is all very nice, but as much as the fancy security, the real test of single sign-on is how readily others are willing to use it. As Mr. Kirsch put it at the start of our meeting, Hundreds of people have tried this already, so why shouldn’t you write my obituary? His advantage, he thinks, is in the compelling nature of the technology, his network of connections into big companies that might be interested in such a product and a general dissatisfaction with the current system.

I have one wife, one car, three kids, one cat, and 352 user names and passwords, he says. We have plenty of allies who want to move past this. Facebook has already been somewhat successful as a single sign-on service for social sites, though not yet for financial information. Mr. Kirsch may hope Facebook’s size makes others wary, giving him an opening.

As for another likely competitor, PayPal, he says, They are focused on being a payments company. OneID is an identity company. In his mind, anyway, payments are just a subset of identity. Can’t say the man is thinking small.

Mr. Kirsch was clearly in the middle of several demonstrations and negotiations with computer, payments and social media companies, but so far would not say if he had any agreements. He will need a lot, if the company is to get any traction. But then, that was the initial problem for the credit card companies. People were first suspicious of plastic  and accepted it more readily once others did.

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What’s Really Next for Apple in Television

Ive finally cracked it! Steven P. Jobs, co-founder of Apple, told his biographer, Walter Isaacson.

Although Mr. Jobs was referring to Apples plans to build a full-fledged television, he was not actually referring to the TV set, which is how the comment has been widely interpreted. Instead, it is becoming clear that Mr. Jobs was talking about Siri, Apples new artificial intelligent software on the iPhone 4S.

Apple engineers and designers, spurred by Mr. Jobs, have been struggling for years to find a new interface for the television. One of the biggest hurdles, according to people with knowledge of the project, has been replacing the television sets annoying best friend: the awkward and confusing remote control. Apple would give people a way to choose the content on their television that is as easy as choosing the content on their iPod, iPhone or iPad.

Alternative remote ideas floated by Apple included a wireless keyboard and mouse, or using an iPod, iPhone or iPad as a remote. None of these concepts worked. But there was one I finally cracked it moment, when Apple realized you could just talk to your television.

Enter Siri.

Its the stuff of science fiction. You sit on your couch and rather than fumble with several remotes or use hand gestures, you simply talk: Put on the last episode of Gossip Girl. Play the local news headlines. “Play some Coldplay music videos.” Siri does the rest.

Of course this experience goes beyond just playing TV shows or the local news. As the line between television programming and Web content continues to erode, a Siri-powered television would become more necessary. You aren’t going to want to flip through file folders or baskets of content, checking off what you want. Telling Siri to play videos of cute cats falling asleep would return an endless YouTube stream of adorable napping fur balls.

The television project has been in the works for sometime. I first heard about Apples television plans over a year ago.

At the time, an individual who has knowledge of Apples prototype supply chains overseas told me they had seen some large parts floating around that belonged to Apple. This person believed that it looked like the parts could be part of a large Apple television.

I immediately began snooping around, asking Apple employees and people close to the company if a full fledged Apple Television was in the works. Several people, all speaking on condition of anonymity for obvious reasons, told me that nothing was actively being built, but and this was a big but I was told repeatedly that Apple would eventually make a television. Absolutely, it is a guaranteed product for Apple, I was told by one individual. Steve thinks the industry is totally broken.

Mr. Jobs reiterated this sentiment in his biography, explaining to Mr. Isaacson that an Apple television will have the simplest user interface you could imagine.

So what could be simpler than barking commands to your television?

On my quest to learn more about the Apple television project, I learned that executives at Apple knew as far back as 2007 that the company would eventually make a dedicated TV. This realization came shortly after the company released the Apple TV, a box that connects to any manufacturer’s television to stream iTunes content. Consumers did not flock to the Apple TV, and rather than abandon the project, Apple began calling it a hobby.

But that hobby could soon reap astounding financial returns. A recent report issued by Barclays predicted that if Apple made a television set, excluding content deals, Apple could generate an additional $19 billion in revenue a year. This number would not be a stretch either; Barclays said in the report that Apple would only need to capture 5 percent of television buyers to reach this goal.

So wheres the Apple television? The company still has quite a bit of work to do on the project. Apple has perfected ultra-thin, portable devices the Macbook Air, iPhone and iPods, for example but it has not applied this innovation to gadgets that hang on a wall, yet.

The company also needs to wait until the cost of large displays falls. Although some 42-inch LCD televisions from mainstream consumer electronics companies can cost as little as $500, the Apple television would include computer electronics and other technology that may make the price uncompetitive. And as my colleague Nick Wingfield recently noted, technology Apple is no longer the high-priced producer in any category it has entered. The company is now close enough that it could announce the product by late 2012, releasing it to consumers by 2013.

It is coming though. Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when.

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Technology, Schools and a Big Black Bug

I was on a hike in August when one of my hiking companions bent down to the dusty path to examine a thumb-size black beetle. My fellow hiker, Harry Barker-Fost, stared at the chunky insect as it crawled onto his hand and then over and around his forearm for the better part of three minutes.

Could his comfort with nature and his intense focus and curiosity have something to do with the fact that Harry, age 12, rarely uses technology? Thats what Harrys parents think.

Harry attends the Greenwood School in Mill Valley, which doesnt use computers of any kind in class and discourages their use at home. The idea is inspired by Waldorf teaching principals, as outlined technologyin an article we published today.

Harrys father, Dan, wrote a terrific article about Waldorfs relationship with technology, which helped inspire our piece today. Dan is a friend and freelance writer, who has occasionally written for The Times, and recently put out a book about the San Francisco Giants.

His job entails relying on lots of technology — the laptop, of course, the iPhone. “Technology is such a part of life,” he said. “Its like furniture in our house.



But like other parents who send their children to schools built around Waldorf principles, Dan said he didnt worry that he was setting Harry back by keeping the bits and bytes at arms length.

“The devices are so easy to learn now,” Dan said of Harry. “Ive got zero doubt he can function in the high-tech world. I often think about how Steve Jobs and Bill Gates didnt grow up with technology.

By contrast, Dan thinks that Harry learns invaluable early-life lessons by being in an environment that emphasizes engaging with a teacher and being in nature (at his school, classes tend to spend a half-day each week on a field trip in nature, like hiking). Dan thinks Harry tends to take his time, examine his surroundings and the people hes with (or the beetles) and not be so susceptible to switching from one task to the next. Some technology evidence suggests that heavy technology use, for all its extraordinary benefits, can shorten attention span.

Dan does have one worry, though: that limiting Harrys technology use will make the young man crave the forbidden.

Thats not usually the case, but every once in a while, Harry gets hold of a device and digs in. For instance, Dan says hell be driving in the car and hand Harry the phone. “Ill ask him to call his mother to tell her well be home shortly, Dan said. “Hell make the call and hang up and then things will get really quiet in the back seat.

“After a little bit, Ill say, ‘Hey, whats going on back there?’ And Harry will say, ‘Dad, Ive got to show you this cool new app.’

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Phishing attack drill Apple Fans

Security vendors Trend Micro identifies phishing activity (theft of sensitive data) that target the users of Apple products and services. Still the traditional mode used, ie, via email.

Fake emails purporting to come from Apple's admit it in writing to inform the update of data that must be performed by users.

"Trend Micro's security research team, after investigating the email, phishing has proved the existence of action on behalf of Apple," said Trend Micro, in his statement on Friday (11/11/2011).

After the message is opened, Trend Micro, and then compare it with similar email from Apple that the original shipment.

And two emails almost identical at first glance, it turns out one of them is trapped by inputting a link that asks you to enter personal data via the Apple site ID made ​​the phisher who appears to have ads at the bottom of the page.

"And when you get stuck, without realizing it you will be prompted to enter your username and password, which will be stolen by them," said Trend Micro.

One sign is the easiest to identify where the email is genuine or fake from Apple is to look at the email address of the sender.

Because in this case, a fake email claiming to be from Apple, sent from an address via smtp.com do_not_reply@itunes.com. "Gmail also detect that the email was sent using third party email service," Trend Micro stressed. Here are examples of fraudulent emails for Apple fans.

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Teenagers Tell Researchers It’s a Cruel, Cruel Online World

State legislatures across the country have passed or proposed laws against what they call cyberbullying. But how do young people parse bullying from being mean online? And when it happens, what do they do about it?

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center and released Wednesday teases out these complex, often painful threads of teen life on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Two-thirds of the teenagers surveyed said people were “mostly kind to each other on these networks, even as 88 percent said they had witnessed “people being mean or cruel. One in five admitted to having joined in on the cruelty.

Notably, one in five teens surveyed said they had been “bullied, but of those, the largest share said they had been bullied in person, not online. Indeed, online and offline sentiments often merge: one in four said an online squabble resulted in a face-to-face argument or worse.

What do they do when they see or feel the brunt of cruelty online?

The vast majority say they ignore it. Girls are more likely to seek advice than boys. And when they do seek advice, teenagers are more likely to turn to their peers than their parents. Parents are not entirely useless. The survey found that 86 percent of teens said parents advised them on “how to use the Internet responsibly and safely.

Those surveyed expressed a certain savvy in manipulating their online profiles: Close to half lied about their age in order to access a site off limits to children under 13. Most said they tweaked their privacy settings so their posts were not widely visible.

The survey also revealed some of the new anxieties that parents experience. Three out of four parents said they “checked which Web sites their child visited. Pew researchers said that could have been as simple as checking the browsing history on their computers. And among parents who have a Facebook account, 80 percent were on their childrens list of friends.

The survey was conducted by phone earlier this year on 799 children, aged 12 to 17, and their parents or guardians. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points. Nearly all kids in that age group are online, and among them, four out of five use a social network like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. The report aptly calls them “spaces where much of the social activity of teen life is echoed and amplifiedâ€"in both good and bad ways.

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Head of Google’s Public Policy Operations Resigns

As Google faces stepped-up interrogations from regulators and policy makers, Alan Davidson, who runs its public policy operations for North and South America, announced  Monday that he would leave the company this month.

Mr. Davidson’s departure comes as Google faces a wide ranging antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and days after Google’s chairman, Eric E. Schmidt, submitted answers to questions posed by senators on the antitrust subcommittee, before which technology Mr. Schmidt testified in September.

Mistique Cano, a Google spokeswoman, said Google had not named a successor and had no imminent plans to do so. She said Google had “a deep bench” of people handling public policy, including Pablo Chavez, director of public policy in the United States.

Mr. Davidson started Google’s Washington office in 2005 as a one-man operation. He previously was associate director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit group that advocates for an open Internet.

He significantly increased Google’s lobbying efforts, building a robust Washington office and public policy teams in other cities. Google’s operating expenses, a large portion of which go to lobbying efforts, were $3.28 billion in the three months through September, up from $2.19 billion a year earlier.

“After six and a half years, Ive decided its the right moment for me to leave my current role at the company,” Mr. Davidson wrote in an e-mail to Google employees  on Monday afternoon. “Starting later this month, I will be taking a sabbatical to explore other opportunities.”

In a statement, David C. Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said:, “Alan has done an extraordinary job building the team in D.C. and working on the important policy issues facing the Internet and Google. Were grateful for everything hes done and wish him the best.”

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In a Quest for Focus, Google Purges Small Projects

.Since he has taken the helm at Google, Larry Page has aggressively pushed to make new acquisitions and jettison projects that he does not think are working.
One day, the Google engineers developing a new photo-sharing app, Photovine, were dreaming that their app could be Google’s next household name and basking in the glow of the $200 million that Google had paid to buy their start-up, Slide.

The next day, Google announced that their whole operation was shut down, just one of more than 25 projects that Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, has stopped since taking over in April.

Google has said it has cut projects that weren’t popular enough or didn’t fit neatly into one of Google’s main businesses. “We have to make tough decisions about what to focus on,” Mr. Page told analysts last month. “This prioritization is crucial if we are to really invest in the extraordinary opportunities that are in front of Google today.”

But it is a big change in strategy for Google, which since it was small company has succeeded in large part by letting engineers have free reign to experiment and come up with new ideas. As I technology/googles-chief-works-to-trim-a-bloated-ship.html?ref=technology">wrote about in The Times on Thursday, it’s all part of the changes Mr. Page is making as he takes over the top job.

Some people worry that Google risks squelching innovation if it discourages engineers’ independent projects, and say that these changes in particular have frustrated some employees.

But others say that as Google grew, it became impossible for so many projects to continue unchecked because there were just too many engineers and managers. That is one reason Mr. Page streamlined the management structure, sacrificed projects and encouraged employees to align their work with Google’s big goals.

“It has been somewhat of a change of approach,” Sergey Brin, who founded Google with Mr. Page, said at the Web 2.0 conference last month. “We’ve always run the company as let a thousand flowers bloom.”

But now, he said, “we want to make sure that we really focus on the really great successes that have bloomed from those thousand flowers.”

Engineers, in the name of experimentation, had created so many small products that people were confused about Google’s brand, Mr. Brin said.

Mr. Page, he said, has emphasized “not thinking of it as a hundred independent little start-ups, but really providing a coherent user experience.”

The projects in the Google cemetery include all but one of Slide’s apps, Google Health, Buzz, Google Labs and Google PowerMeter.

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Apple Doles Out Stock to Keep Top Executives

One of the biggest questions about Apple’s future has been whether its top executives would head for the exits after the death of the company’s chief executive and cofounder Steve Jobs. Apple just gave them a big incentive to stay put.

In a series of filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday evening, Apple disclosed a series of huge stock grants to nearly all of the company’s senior executives. Peter Oppenheimer, Bruce Sewell, Philip Schiller, Jeffrey Williams, Scott Forstall and Robert Mansfield all received 150,000 restricted stock units from Apple — worth approximately $60 million each at Apple’s current stock price.

Each of those executive need to stay at Apple for nearly five years to collect the full amount of the grants. Half of the shares in their stock grants vest on June 21, 2013, while the second half vest on March 21, 2016.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for Internet software and services, received 100,000 restricted stock units, worth about $40 million at Apple’s current share price and subject to a slightly different vesting schedule. Mr. Cue, though, received an earlier 100,000 share grant in early September when Apple promoted him.

“Our executive team is incredibly talented and they’re all dedicated to Apple’s continued success,” Apple said. “These stock grants are meant to reward them down the road for their hard work in helping to keep Apple the most innovative company in the world.”

There were only two people from Apple’s senior leadership team for whom Apple did not disclose stock grants on Friday. One is Jonathan Ive, the company’s senior vice president for industrial design, whose position at the company does not trigger S.E.C. rules requiring public disclosure of stock awards.

The other person is chief executive Timothy D. Cook, who received an even bigger stock award in late August after agreeing to take over the top job at Apple from Mr. Jobs. That one million share grant to Mr. Cook is currently worth about $400 million. To collect half of that grant, Mr. Cook needs to stay at Apple until August 24, 2016, and, to get the full amount, he must stay until the same date in 2021.

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Tim Cook Is Thinking Different

For people who are curious about how Apple’s new chief executive, Tim Cook, will compare to the company’s previous C.E.O., Steve Jobs, there’s not a lot to go on yet.
AppleTim Cook, chief executive of Apple.

Mr. Cook took the helm of Apple from Mr. Jobs only in late August. Even then, Mr. Jobs was still chairman of Apple until his death last week at the age of 56. There was, however, one tantalizing clue about how the two men differ at an Apple event to introduce the new iPhone last Tuesday, the day before Mr. Jobs’s death was announced:

Mr. Cook didnt demonstrate any new Apple products.

Instead, he left all of the demonstrations of new technologies like the iPhone 4S to his lieutenants. This may seem like a picayune detail, but it could underscore one of the biggest differences between the two men.

Technology, product design and marketing were among Mr. Jobss abiding passions. The level of attention he paid to all three areas was unusual for the chief executive of such a large company. While Mr. Jobs sometimes delegated new product demonstrations when he was chief executive, he invariably showed off the most important products for the first time, like the iPad, iPhone and iTunes.

Mr. Cook, in comparison, is a sales and operations guru who whipped Apples supply chain into an efficient machine over the past 14 years. At the event, Mr. Cook said he loved Apple and considered his career at the company the privilege of a lifetime. He let a trio of Apple senior vice presidents with stronger product credentials — Eddy Cue, Scott Forstall and Philip Schiller — show off Apples new toys.

Van Baker, an analyst at the research firm Gartner, was at the Apple event and said he thought Mr. Cook was wise to avoid trying to seem Steve-like. I think one of the things Tim did was to, in essence, put a stake in the ground and say Im not Steve, dont expect me to be Steve, he said.

In the end, it may not matter much if Mr. Cook can effectively delegate the responsibilities Mr. Jobs previously held as de facto editor in chief and chief pitchman for Apple products. The change in style certainly hasnt hurt Apples products yet, despite the grumbling from some quarters about Apples decision to leave the new iPhone largely unchanged on the outside from its predecessor. Apple sold one million iPhone 4Ss in the first 24 hours after it became available for online ordering, compared with 600,000 in the same period for the iPhone 4.

On Sunday though, the venture capitalist and former Apple executive Guy Kawasaki posted a list of lessons he learned from Mr. Jobs, including one he titled: Real CEOs demo. Mr. Kawasaki asked why, in contrast to Mr. Jobss hands-on approach, do many chief executives call on their underlings to do product demonstrations.

Maybe its to show that theres a team effort in play, Mr. Kawasaki wrote. Maybe. Its more likely that the CEO doesnt understand what his/her company is making well enough to explain it. How pathetic is that?

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Snubbed by Apple, T-Mobile Looks Beyond the iPhone

T-Mobile must feel like the only kid in the class who didnt get invited to the party of the year.

Its the only one of the nation’s four major wireless carriers that wont be selling the iPhone 4S, the new Apple device that officially goes on sale Friday and has already generated record numbers of pre-orders. The other big domestic carrier that was previously left out of the iPhone party, Sprint Nextel, finally struck a deal with Apple to carry the iPhone, joining AT&T and Verizon Wireless.The T-Mobile model won’t be pitching an iPhone.
T-Mobile is performing a balancing act in responding to the snub. The carrier is clearly disappointed it doesnt have the iPhone. Its chief marketing officer, Cole Brodman, wrote a blog post addressed to its customers last month that said the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that wed like to add it to our line-up. T-Mobile executives say the decision is up to Apple, not the carrier.

But T-Mobile is also gently thumbing its nose at Apples star product. It began selling two new smartphones on Wednesday — the HTC Amaze 4G and Samsung Galaxy S II — and its executives say both of them outclass the new iPhone in a couple of different areas.

Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president of marketing at T-Mobile, said the phones, both of which are based on Googles Android operating system, have bigger screens and better cameras than the iPhone 4S. While the first claim is indisputable, Apple has also boasted of greatly improved photo-taking in its new iPhone, and Mr. Sherrard said he hadnt yet had the benefit of a hands-on evaluation of the iPhone 4S.

He also said the T-Mobile 4G wireless network will deliver faster network speeds than the iPhone will enjoy on rival networks.

Mr. Sherrard said T-Mobile planned to market really aggressively against the new iPhone, as it had in the recent past. Since last year, the carrier has been running television commercials that send up Apples well-known Mac vs. PC advertisements, with the part of T-Mobiles myTouch 4G phone played by a perky young woman in a dress and Apple and its carrier partners represented by bumbling men.

T-Mobile also says it has a wireless family plan that offers a cheaper monthly bill than rival carriers offer for the iPhone. But its two new phones are actually more expensive than the iPhone 4S. The Samsung device costs $230 and the HTC phone is $260, both with two-year wireless contracts, while the new iPhone 4S starts at $199.

People want to make an investment in a phone and keep it for years, Mr. Sherrard said. Even at that price, they will choose to get a higher-quality product.

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The Big Business of Big Data

GE Appliances & Lighting, via Business WireA GE data center.

Is Big Data a Bubble?

In case youre in a hurry: Of course it is. And that is good.

Longer version: Last week there were several events that convinced me that one of the great tech bubbles inflating right now is around what people have agreed to call Big Data. Basically the term reflects the fact that its now so easy to digitize and put on the Internet all kinds of information — things as diverse as the measurements of passive sensors,  most or all the worlds books, 200 million tweets a day and most of the worlds significant financial transactions — that the data is growing enormously.

Big Data is really about, however, the benefits we will gain by cleverly sifting through it to find and exploit new patterns and relationships. You see it now in things like Facebook ads, which are put in front of you because the posts you have read and contributed to (which Facebooks algorithms get to examine as the price of this free service) indicate you might be ready to buy the advertised good.

Other companies look at air and soil data to write insurance about crop production. Further out, people want to seek patterns in raw medical data for possible causes and cures for disease, bypassing much of the old hypothesis-experiment model; this article from Wired tells of how the Google co-founder Sergey Brin used this in Parkinsons research.

Last weeks gathering of the tech tribes, the Web 2.0 conference, focused heavily on the benefits of the ubiquity of Big Data — ad placement at Google, Coca-Cola vending machines that develop a personal relationship with the buyer, or what Facebook algorithms are doing to the cultivation of our souls. Microsoft held a one-hour session for developers on all the big, reliable databases it would offer them to make new products.

Sometimes there were overreaching conclusions.

In a memorable 10 minutes, Alex Rampell, the chief executive of TrialPay, made a case that credit card companies should not charge their 2 percent fees on a transaction, since the value of the transaction isnt in the fees, its in the data that is generated. When you know what someone has purchased, you can make a case of what ad to put in front of them next. Citing Amazon.coms relentless upselling approach (people who bought X also bought Y), Mr. Rampell said, Theres an Amazon.com for everything, its called Visa, its called American Express.

Mr. Rampell may be right, but there was no proof in his admittedly brief talk that this is actually true. Is it really easier and better to move a 2 percent business, with relatively fixed costs of technology and insurance, over to a much more variable ad-based business? If all advertising heads toward this model, and we dont purchase particularly more stuff, doesnt the value of the technology start to diminish, and simply turn from a competitive edge into a must-have?

This is not to pick on TrialPay, but to point up a common problem in the Big Data proposition: Often people wont know exactly what hidden pattern they are looking for, or what the value they extract may be, and therefore it will be impossible to know how much to invest in the technology. Odds are that the initial benefits, as it was with Googles Adwords algorithm, will lead to a frenzy of investments and marketing pitches, until we find the logical limits of the technology. It will be the place just before everybody lost their shirts.

This is a common characteristic of technology that its champions do not like to talk about, but it is why we have so many bubbles in this industry. Technologists build or discover something great, like railroads or radio or the Internet. The change is so important, often world-changing, that it is hard to value, so people overshoot toward the infinite. When it turns out to be merely huge, there is a crash, in railroad bonds, or RCA stock, or Pets.com. Perhaps Big Data is next, on its way to changing the world.

Another Web 2.0 speaker was Josh James, who founded Omniture, a Web click-tracking and ad placement service that is now part of Adobes Big Data play. Mr. James, a somewhat pragmatic Mormon who lives in Utah, far from Silicon Valley, has started a company called Domo. Rather than search for new patterns in the big piles of data, Domo will focus on delivering to a top executive simple existing data, like how large a banks deposits are on a given day, or how many employees a company has, that are still hard to locate. Everyone is saying that the team with the best data analysts will win, he said.

We have all the data we need. The focus ought to be on good design, and telling the vendors the simple things you really need to see.

Big Data is clearly big business, adding a new level of certainty to business decisions, and promoting new discoveries about nature and society. That is why over the past two years I.B.M., E.M.C. and Hewlett-Packard have collectively invested billions of dollars in the field. This past week, Oracle bought Endeca, a company to manage and search through large volumes of things like e-mail, for a rumored $750 million. H.P. paid $10.3 million for Autonomy, which does a much bigger version of the same thing. The first H.P. products with Autonomy technology, along with pattern-finding algorithms from an outfit called Vertica, which H.P. bought earlier this year, will most likely be out next month.

There are an uncountable number of data-mining start-ups in the field: MapReduce and NoSQL for managing the stuff; and the open-source R statistical programming language, for making predictions about what is likely to happen next, based on what has happened before. Established companies in the business, like SAS Institute or SAP, will probably purchase or make alliances with a lot of these smaller companies.

Expect to see a lot more before it all gets sorted out.

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