Flu Virus Trots Globe During Off Season, Mixes With Other Viral Strains

ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2007)

The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, according to biologists who say the finding settles a key debate on what the virus does during the summer off season when it is not infecting people.

"Nobody really knows why flu is a winter disease in the temperate regions and more continuous in the tropics," says Edward Holmes, professor of biology at Penn State. "The big question is, 'Why is flu seasonal?'"
Flu infections in the Northern Hemisphere typically follow a familiar pattern. Some time before the start of the winter infection season, the virus evolves, changing enough to evade the previously primed immune system. Then, just before summer, the virus disappears, only to resurface the next fall with a completely different genetic makeup, ready to fool the immune system anew.
But little is known about what happens to the virus between two successive winters, or how and where it is able to sustain itself.

Prepare for big flu pandemic economic hit

UN says
10 Jan 2008 11:14:45 GMTSource: Reuters
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Governments around the world need to do more to prepare for the dramatic economic impact of the next flu pandemic, the United Nations influenza coordinator said on Thursday.
David Nabarro said his team had recently collected information from nearly 150 countries to see how prepared they were for a pandemic and the picture was mixed.
“Most countries have now focused on pandemic as a potential cause of catastrophe and have done some planning. But the quality of the plans is patchy and too few of them pay attention to economic and social consequences,” he told BBC radio.
“The economic consequences could be up to $2 trillion — up to 5 percent of global GDP removed,” he said, reiterating previous World Bank and UN estimates.
Nabarro will deliver a lecture at the London School of Economics later on Thursday on the global state of preparedness for any pandemic, which could be triggered by bird flu.
The current H5N1 form of bird flu is mainly an animal disease, but experts fear it might mutate into a strain that could spread easily between people, causing a pandemic which could kill millions. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Mike Peacock)

Publisher's description of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

From AVG Technologies USA:
AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.
Version 8.5 now includes LinkScanner's Active Surf-Shield to check every Web page for threats at the only time that matters--when you're about to click on the link

The most downloaded program ever

DescriptionWhat would your guess be? Which is the most, officially, downloaded program on the web? The first name that probably comes to mind is ICQ, and rightly so since it was the most downloaded program for a long time. On Friday however, all that changed and a new popular champion stands at the top. Reaching 100 million downloads in August, 2002 and then jumping on to 200 million on March 11th, 2003 Kazaa Media Desktop has now reached the staggering 230 million plus, mark which makes it officially the most downloaded free program on the web. All these figures are as measured by Download.com, which is owned by CNET Networks Inc. Sharman Networks have done a good job of convincing users that Spyware, the controversial "funding" mechanism used by Kazaa's previous owners, is out and arranging a variety of licenses for offering legitimate downloads, they seem to have overcome the last hurdles in their way. The greatest hurdle, of course, is still to come and has to do with a little known organization called the RIAA. Kazaa is facing a variety of law suites regarding the use of its service. The news of the record set by Kazaa will certainly strengthen record label resolve to throw everything they've got at Sharman. There is hope for Kazaa however, since Record labels suffered a setback in April when a federal judge decided that similar networks, Grokster and Morpheus, could not be shut, claiming that they had no control over what is traded on them. In order to better place themselves for their time in front of the Judge, Sharman have entered into a partnership with a company called Altnet, in order to provide a variety of content including, music, movies, games and software

Aurora Media Workshop 3.4.26

Aurora Media Workshop is a program that includes all the media tools, all in one. Aurora Media Workshop is such a kind of program that includes prefessional features in Video, Audio, and Compact Disc media. With Aurora Media Workshop you can convert, edit, join, split, between nearly all types of video files, you can extract audio tracks, pictures from video files, can make any favorate pictures and photos to video films with fascinating transition effects and graceful background music. You can record audio from any audio source, and convert audio files between mp3, wav, wma, ogg and you can also ripper and save your favorate music CD albums to disk audio files; you will find it is a very easy thing to store all kinds of audio, data, video files to CDs.

SAMSUNG number one in the UAE with a 27% market share

March 5, 2009- Dubai, UAE: SAMSUNG Electronics, the global leader in consumer electronics and advanced technology solutions, maintained the lead in the Global TV market riding on strong demand for its TV, LCD TV, and FPTV product despite economic recession around the globe. According to the DisplaySearch, SAMSUNG recorded sales of 10.2 million units of TV with revenue of USD 6.73 Billion in the Q4 2008, giving it a market share of 17.7% and 22.0% respectively. This performance consolidated SAMSUNGs number one position in the world market, who consequently recorded the most units sold for the last 10 quarters and has lead in revenue for the last 12 quarters. Statistics showed that SAMSUNG achieved top revenue in the United Arab of Emirates with a 27% market share. SAMSUNG ranked top in Q4 sales revenue share with 22% followed by Sony (14.5%), LG Electronics (11.5%), Panasonic (8.7%) and Sharp (7.6%) and Philips (8.8%). Unit share in the total TV market during Q4 was also led by SAMSUNG with 17.7% followed by LG 13.4%, Sony with 9.2%, Panasonic with 6.8%, and Sharp with 5.5%. Riding momentum from strong demand for LCD TV and FPTV product, the company also achieved number one position in total market share for LCD TV with 19.7% units and 22.7% revenue, additionally FPTV with 20.3% units and 23.1% revenue. In the Middle East and Africa, SAMSUNG enjoys a stronger position and continues this leadership trend by maintaining Triple Crown in the 4Q sales revenue for TV, FPTV and LCD TV with 32%, 38.8% and 40% market share respectively. The company also remained no. 1 position in market share, by volume of 37% in LCD TV and 36.3% in FPTV. Meanwhile, SAMSUNG was the only company that increased its revenue share from the previous year up to 31% among the top four players in the Middle East and Africa market, thanks to the strong growth in the LCD TV market. SAMSUNG ranked top in the total LCD TV market in Q4 with 36% of unit share (10th in a row) and 31% of revenue share (12th in a row). “Despite the challenging market conditions created by global economic uncertainties, sales of SAMSUNG TV’s, particularly LCD sets have continued to show good growth in the Middle East and Africa. This increasing demand reflects consumer preference for SAMSUNGs high quality and innovative product in the region. SAMSUNG will look to gain further consumer trust with the launch of its 2009 TV range, highlights include ultra slim LED LCD TVs incorporating the latest backlighting technology that are setting new bench marks in picture quality around the globe.” said Mr Kyungtae Bae, the president of SAMSUNG Middle East & Africa Headquarters.

Fanless Mini Box Computer - Commercial/Industrial

The Lanner LEC-2204 is designed for flexible deployment in industrial control scenarios. With four COM ports, two USB ports, one LAN port and a Compact-Flash socket, the LEC-2204 provides sufficient I/O for a wide range of industrial control applications in a small, lightweight and fanless package. Combining the advantages of ULV Celeron processors, advanced thermal design and solid connectivity, Lanner industrial control computers provide optimal platforms for energy-efficient, long-lasting, connected solutions for industrial applications

• Durable fanless enclosure


• Slim 36mm case with heat dispersing fins


• neg 20°C to 50°C operating temperature


• Intel Celeron M 1GHz onboard CPU


• 512MB DDR2 memory onboard


• VGA display


• 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN


• COM x 4


• USB x 2, Audio


• CompactFlash Type I/II

Joboshare Video Converter 2.4.2.0407

Joboshare Video Converter is easy-to-use, powerful video and audio converting software, which can convert between all popular video and audio formats. It provides rich profiles for popular multimedia devices such as iPod, iPhone, mobile phone, windows mobile, portable multimedia device etc., enables you to convert audio and video to their respective formats supported. Joboshare Video Converter supports to adjust parameters of audio/video codec and the ID3 editing function of audio formats such as WMA and MP3. With it, you can also extract and convert the audio from a video file, to recopy a music CD.
Joboshare Video Converter support almost all popular video formats, such as AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, RM, MOV, XviD, 3GP, FLV, VOB (the video format used in DVD), DAT (the video format used in VCD, SVCD), and so on. It's an all-in-one video converter including 3GP Video Converter, iPod Video Converter, PSP Video Converter, Zune Video Converter, AVI MPEG Converter, MP4 Video Converter, MOV Converter, MKV to MPEG converter, etc.

Why is Search Engine Optimization Potentially the Lifeblood of Your Online Business?

When you are working on building traffic to your website, search engine optimization is one of the strongest tools that you could use. This technique works around the way that search engines are built to operate and knowing how to do this can help you gain visitors. When someone is running a search on a search engine, they type in certain words called "keywords," into the engine. The search engine will then go out and look for all of the websites which have those keywords. The websites that feature those keywords more often are considered to be more relevant to the search and will appear higher up on the list of results.

The higher up on the list that a website is, the more likely it is to be looked at by a person on the Internet. Therefore, you want to put your website as close to the top of that list as is possible, a tactic that often relies on using keywords as much as possible on your website. This can come from writing specific articles using the search engine optimization techniques to simply including that text in your descriptions or headers.

How Else Does This Work?

Many search engines will also place a great deal of importance on the number of other websites which link to your website. Establishing yourself as a reliable authority on the topic can go a long way toward doing that. Link sharing can also be an important way to gain links as many people will place a link to your website on theirs if you agree to do the same. Taking a smart approach to search engine optimization can help you gain a good place on the results list.

Water-Tight Computer

BIS-6310 is an water-resistant and dust-proof Water-repellent industrial computer met with protection grade IP68. It is developed for the applications of water-tight applications.
With the water-tight duralumin enclosure featuring special ballseat "snap-in", direct conduct cooling, percolate-res..

Cost Effective and Easily Configurable

The LP-E Series is our multiplex transmission Full-2Way remote lighting control system. The LP-E series uses just two ±24 V signal wires for all the switches on a network, and controls lighting using pulse signals. This reduces the number of wires needed compared to conventional remote control wiring. With the LP-E Series Full-2Way multiple transmission, load addresses comprised of channel and load numbers are set up in advance, and the signal is transmitted to the designated addresses that correspond to remote controlled HID relays when switches are operated. The LP-E Series Full-2Way remote control has the cut-in signal circuit method that can control relay at high speed and indicate on the On/Off status.

The LP-E Series lighting control panel is a cost-effective and easily-configurable lighting control system with programming and accessories specifically optimized for office building, factory, school/gymnasium and restaurant applications. The LP-E Series contains centralized monitoring and control of lighting that can handle up to 256 circuits per system. It is logically capable of turning up to 127 groups of lights on and off in an entire section of any application area. The LP-E Series can be programmed up to 72 control patterns to match work schedules or habits, allowing you to effectively use the necessary lights for low energy and cost savings.

The LP-E Series timer control can easily be configured to match a daily schedule for lights to be automatically turned on and off. Passive infrared sensor control is also offered with the system to detect occupancy movement that will enable the lights to turn on and off and can be programmed after a certain period when room light is no longer needed. In addition to the timer control and passive infrared, labor-savings and energy conservation are achieved using daylight sensors that respond to the brightness of their environment.

Custom Thermal Imagers

PhantomIR by ELCAN is a rugged lightweight infrared biocular system that uses the latest in low-power, compact, un-cooled thermal technology.

PhantomIR xr can recognize a man-sized moving target at greater than 2,000 meters. The PhantomIR xr is ideal for: military combat operations, border security, surveillance and targeting applications.

Unlike image intensification night-vision devices that only magnify existing light, thermal imaging cuts through the darkest night and easily separates heat-emitting targets from background clutter. It sees in total darkness, through smoke, dust and most fogs. It cannot be defeated by artificial light or adverse visible conditions. Despite its advanced technology, PhantomIR is surprisingly affordable for large-scale deployment.

ELCAN wins $180 million USD Marine contract to supply PhantomIR xr

Chronic Fatigue Treatment

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immunodeficiency syndrome), is a condition that has become widespread in the United States . Viruses such as Epstein Barr, Cytomegalovirus, mononucleosis, and herpes have often been associated with chronic fatigue. Some people feel that massive immunization campaigns, which are designed to eradicate communicable diseases, have weakened the immune system in some individuals rather than strengthen it, making it easier for viruses to cause diseases. Other causes may be the fungus Candida albicans, chronic mercury poisoning from dental amalgam fillings, heavy metals (e.g., lead, arsenic, and cadmium) from the environment, anemia, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, and sleep problems. All of these conditions can stress the immune system and lower your resistance to disease.

Some symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, night sweats, intestinal problems, anxiety, depression, mood swings, sleep disturbances, memory loss, inability to concentrate, headaches, and muscle and joint pains. CFS is not always easy to diagnose correctly because its symptoms resemble flu and other viral symptoms. Officially, a patient is considered to have CFS if fatigue persists for six months and is accompanied by eleven other chronic or recurrent symptoms. If you have elevated viral antibodies then an underlying viral component is suspected. In this case, antibiotics will not help.
Recommendations for prevention and treatment

1. void processed foods (e.g., as white flour), refined foods (e.g., as white sugar), and stimulants such as coffee, tea, and tobacco as these can all depress your immune system.

2. Make an effort to increase your consumption of water. Attempt to drink eight glasses of purified or reverse osmosis water daily.

3. Ensure that your bowels move at least once daily by increasing your fiber consumption in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. Oat bran and psyllium husk are also good sources of fiber. Coffee enemas can be very helpful here, as well as for stimulating liver detoxification via bile production.

4. Check your thyroid function by measuring your basal body temperature. This is done by placing a thermometer under your arm for 10 minutes before arising from bed on two consecutive days. For menstruating women, this is best done at the beginning of the menstrual cycle. The average basal body temperature should be greater than 97.8 degrees. If not, a trial of natural thyroid should be considered.

5. Consider an evaluation for free radical damage from environmental pollutants such as lead, aluminum, cadmium, and mercury. If elevated, heavy metal detoxification therapy is indicated.

6. Supplement with antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, E, Bioflavonoids, and Coenzyme Q10, B-vitamins, magnesium, free-form amino acids, thymus gland, and acidophilus. Consider also using Proteolytic enzymes, DMG, and vitamin B12 injections. Chlorophyll in tablet or liquid (such as barley or wheat grass) is also helpful.

7. Herbal preparations from burdock root, dandelion, echinacea, goldenseal and pau d’arco all promote healing. These can be made in teas and combined or alternated daily.

8. Homeopathic nosode preparations, such as those made from viruses themselves, are particularly helpful. However, these must be obtained by prescription from a homeopathic physician. Other homeopathic remedies known to be helpful in fatigue include Carbo Vegetabilis, Cocculus, Ferrum Phosphoricum, and Phosphoric Acidum. Combination remedies can also be helpful, especially if they contain the substance (e.g, virus) identified as the possible source of infection and/or fatigue. Isode therapy (e.g., preparations made from the patient themselves) can also be very beneficial here.

9. Take sublingual fermented lactobacillus three times daily for immune stimulation.

10. Gentle skin detoxification through a medical spa with steam sauna, infrared sauna, and/or contrast shower.

11. In severe cases, get intravenous solutions for better and more complete response. There should include either vitamin C or amino acids or combinations of both.

12. Intramuscular injections can be helpful for the delivery of energy medicines (e.g., B5, B12, AMP, NADH). These can be given 1-2 times weekly.

13. Subcutaneous energy injections can be administered daily and can include not only some of the products mentioned in #12 above, but homeopathic preparations as well.

Index to vendors/resellers

Acer
Altima,Altura Computers (defunct)
AMS
Aqualine (defunct)
ARM
AST
Astro Research
AT&ampT
Austin
BSI/Broadax
Canon
Chembook
Compaq
Dauphin Technology (defunct)
Dell
DFI
Discount Laptops
Dolch Computer Systems
Dual
EPS
Elite Computer Systems
Ergo Computing
FOSA Computers
Future Technologies
Gateway
Grid
Hewlett Packard
HyperData
IBM
Identity Systems
Impulse Computers
Itronix
Lightspeed Technology
Maximus Computers
MegaImage
Micon Computer
Micron/Zeos
MicroStar
Micro Express
Midwest Micro
MPC
NEC
Olivetti
PC Portable Manufacturer
ProStar
MicroStar
Polywell Computers
Radio Shack
Sager Midern
Samsung
Sceptre Technologies
Swan Technologies
Tandy
Texas Instruments
Toshiba
TwinHead
Unisys
Wedge Technologies
WinBook
Zeos

14.1" Rugged Laptop with Core Duo CPU JNB-1401

Processor: Intel Core Duo 1.66 GHz LV processor
Chipset: Intel 945GME, ICH7-M, 667 MHz FSB, 2M cache
Memory: 512MB or above, max. 1G+512M
Onboard Video: Intel GMA950
Display Size: 14.1" XGA (1024 x 768), Sunlight Readable (optional)
Network: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 a/b/g, 1 x GbE, 1 x RJ11
Storage: 80GB or above (SATA Interface)
Media Bay: DVD Combo, 2nd battery pack (optional)
KB/ MS: Waterproof membrane, Waterproof rubber backlight (optional) ;
Touch pad (capacitance type)
Audio: Azalia 32-bits audio digital controller, Speaker-out (2W x 2), 1 x
MIC-in, 1 x Line-out
I/O Interface: 1 x PCMCIA Type II, 1 x Express Card Type II, 4IN1
MS/XD/SD/MMC Card Reader, 2 x serial port, 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x External
VGA, 1 x IEEE 1394B (Mini), Docking port (POGO)
Security: Kensington lock, TCM 1.2 (optional), FingerPrint (USB I/F. for selection)
Power Supply: DC in, Adapter (90W, 100-240V, 50/60Hz), Li-Ion Smart
battery 7200mAh
Dimensions: 328mm x 272mm x 46mm
Weight: 4.25kg
Operating Temperature: -20°C ~55°C
Storage Temperature: -40°C ~70°C
Operating Humidity: 45%~95% RH, non-condensing

FastStone Image Viewer 3.8 Beta

FastStone Image Viewer is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touches the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF, SRF and DNG).

Mini Keyboard Model 9004 Full-Function & Touchpad

Electrone offers an extensive range of full-function mini keyboards available with assorted connectors, features and colors. The small footprint and full functionality of the Model 9004 Mini Keyboard makes it a popular choice in business as well as for personal use.
Only 10.25 inches wide (260mm)
5.75 inches in height (145mm)
1 inch depth at tallest point (26mm)
85/86 silent tactile keys with comfortable 17mm key spacing
12 function keys and an embedded numeric pad
Integral two button touchpad for mouse emulation
USB connection
Foreign language layouts available
FCC /CE certification
RoHS Compliant
Plastic protective keyskins available

Carlson Explorer

Carlson Explorer™ is a low cost, handheld computer with a customized keyboard that optimizes the performance of Carlson SurvCE data collection software. The Carlson Explorer is provided as a bundled option with the powerful Carlson SurvCE data collection softwar.
**Rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride battery or 6 AA alkaline batteries.
**Touch screen.
**Humidity: 5-95% Non-condensing.
**SDRAM: 64MB.
**Internal Compact Flash: 128MB.
**Compact flash card slot.

**320x240 QVGA-TFT color display RS232 serial communications port

Stress Management

Stress affects the mental and physical. It can stem from cold, heat, chemical pollution and noise pollution, or from nervous system responses to pain, emotional demands and more. These stress responses fire neurotransmitters that send signals from the brain to the body's motor centers. The results are seen in many illnesses, including hypertension. Managing stress requires nutrients to help the body maintain and replenish resources when needed most. A number of herbs, vitamins and other compounds help. You'll find them here, ready to combat and neutralize stress-related responses and the physical symptoms that arise from them.

BTC Wireless Multimedia Keyboard w/Trackball (Black/Gray)

Wireless freedom and multimedia functionality can be yours with this BTC Wireless Media Control keyboard. This BTC keyboard features a built-in 1000 dpi Laser Trackball with precision cursor movement and an MCE start button with one button to quickly launch Media Center PC functions. WIth the integrated trackball and built-in mouse pointer working on spreadsheets and surfing the Internet has never been easier! Work without wires at up to 30 feet with an ergonomic design that lets you work in comfort! Use the hot keys to access multimedia applications!
Features/Specifications:
BTC Wireless Media Control Keyboard with Trackball
General Features:
Wireless
Integrated mouse and remote
2.4 GHz RF Technology
Ergonomic design
2.4 GHz RF mini receiver with USB connector with range of up to 30 feet
16 Hot Keys for controlling MCE and multimedia functions
Built-in 1000 dpi Laser Trackball with precision cursor movement
MCE Start Button: one button to quickly launch Media Center PC functions
RoHS compliant
Certified for Windows Vista
Hot Keys:
Play
Pause
Stop
Rew
Fwd
Previous
Next
Live TV
Guide
DVD Menu
Volume +
Volume -
Mute
Back
More
Record
Regulatory Approvals:
FCC
CE
Package Includes:
BTC Wireless Media Control Keyboard with Trackball
Quick Installation Guide
USB Wireless Receiver
Four (4) AA batteries
Additional Information:
Notes:
Model: BTC 9039URF III
UPC: 7 53622 04703 7
EAN: 4 712364 932830
Hot Keys will only work with Windows Vista
Requirements:
Available USB port