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New Laws Add a Divisive Component to Breast Screening

Healthcare

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October 26, 2012

New Laws Add a Divisive Component to Breast Screening – In a move that has irked medical groups and delighted patient advocates, states have begun passing laws requiring clinics that perform mammograms to tell patients whether they have something that many women have never even heard of: dense breast tissue.

Women who have dense tissue must, under those laws, also be told that it can hide tumors on a mammogram, that it may increase the risk of breast cancer and that they should ask their doctors if they need additional screening tests, like ultrasound or M.R.I. scans.

The issue is pitting angry patients against the medical establishment. Advocates say women have a right to know, but medical groups argue that the significance of tissue density is uncertain and that reporting it may panic women and lead to an avalanche of needless screening tests and biopsies.

Laws requiring disclosure have been passed in Connecticut, Texas and Virginia, and most recently in California and New York, where they will take effect next year. A bill calling for a federal law has been introduced in the House.

The laws owe their existence mostly to Nancy M. Cappello, 59, of Woodbury, Conn. She was not told that she had dense breast tissue until after doctors found an advancedcancer that mammograms had missed. She took her story to legislators, and in 2009, Connecticut became the first state to require that women be told if they have dense breasts and that insurance companies cover ultrasound scans for those women.

“I want to help other women,” said Ms. Cappello, formerly the state’s chief of special education. “I can’t help myself. My cancer should have been detected at a much earlier stage.”

“Dense” breasts have a relatively high proportion of glandular or connective tissue, which blocks X-rays. Non-dense breasts have more fat, which X-rays penetrate easily. Over all, about 40 percent of women who have mammograms have dense breast tissue. It is not abnormal, just one of nature’s variations. Younger women are more likely to have dense tissue, but as many as 25 percent of older women do, too. Density cannot be judged by touch; it shows up only on mammograms.

For many women, the legislation will bring about a big change. Though some radiologists already tell women about density, in most cases the letters sent to patients about mammogram results do not mention it.

Though some doctors favor the laws, others resent them, and professional societies of radiologists, gynecologists and cancer experts have raised medical concerns.

The medical groups say telling a woman she has dense breasts may not help her and might even do harm by propelling her into unnecessary tests and treatment. The groups argue that identifying dense breast tissue is subjective, and so two doctors reading the same mammogram may rate the tissue differently. And information about density may confuse women, scare some needlessly and give others a false sense of security, the groups say.

Detractors also warn of a flood of phone calls to already-overburdened doctors and a demand for additional tests that will strain the health care system. There is already a shortage of experts in ultrasound screening, and many doctors simply bristle at the idea of laws controlling what they tell patients.

“I’m always worried when politicians start legislating the medical conversation, especially when it’s a medical conversation where the experts don’t know what needs to be said,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer and executive vice president of the American Cancer Society and a professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.

But Dr. Brawley said doctors should tell women if they have dense breasts, and he freely admitted that his position seemed contradictory.

“I’m saying I object to legislation that says doctors should have a conversation with their patients that I believe they should have with their patients,” he said.

The National Cancer Institute calls dense breasts “a strong risk factor for developing breast cancer.” Various studies have estimated that compared with other women, those with dense breasts are two to six times as likely to develop breast cancer. The reason is not known. But dense breasts have more milk ducts and lobes, where most cancers form, so some researchers think the added risk may come from having more of that tissue.

On mammograms, dense breasts look white, and so does cancer, so the tissue can hide tumors. Fatty breasts show up mostly black, so tumors stand out.

Studies have found that when women with dense breasts were given mammograms and then ultrasounds, the ultrasound found tumors that the mammograms missed — but also produced many false positives that led to biopsies.

Studies of women with dense breasts that were published in June in the journal Radiology and in April in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that for every 1,000 women screened, adding ultrasound found three to five cancers that mammograms missed. But in one study, 63 biopsies or other invasive procedures were performed to find three tumors.

M.R.I. exams can also find tumors that mammograms miss, but they produce even more false positives.

Despite its shortcomings, mammography does find some tumors in women with dense breasts — including some that ultrasound misses — so doctors emphasize that these women should not skip mammograms.

No studies have been conducted to determine whether finding the hidden cancers with ultrasound or M.R.I. scans saves women’s lives. In theory, the tumors found could be the kind that never would have killed the patients anyway. The United States Preventive Services Task Force, which makes recommendations about screening tests, has not given any advice on breast ultrasound.

This year, 226,870 new cases of breast cancer and 39,510 deaths from the disease are expected in the United States.

Dr. Thomas Kolb, a radiologist in Manhattan, said that like mammography, ultrasound can find early cancers and therefore should reduce the death rate.

“It doubles the detection rate in women with dense breasts,” he said.

But Dr. Carol H. Lee, a radiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and a spokeswoman for the American College of Radiology, said that while there is an increased overall cancer risk for women with dense breasts as a group, it is not known whether the risk is borne equally by every woman in the group. So the best advice for an individual woman is not clear.

Dr. Lee said that the radiology group did not oppose the idea of informing women but did not think it should be mandated by law. The group issued a statement warning of “possible harms and unintended consequences” of the state laws, including confusion, “undue anxiety,” a loss of faith in mammograms and “demands for additional non-mammographic screening.”

Some insurers may not cover the additional tests, so women who cannot pay out of pocket may not be able to afford them. Even when insurance does pay, the reimbursement rate is often so low that many doctors say it does not come close to covering the time and expertise needed to perform and interpret the exams. In addition, while mammography centers must meet strict standards, there are no such requirements for ultrasound screening, so the quality may vary.

Ms. Cappello, the woman who started the movement to inform patients, began having yearly mammograms at age 40. In 2004, when she was 51, her doctor felt a lump in her breast — only six weeks after a mammogram had looked normal. Even after the lump was detected, mammography still could not find it. Only then was Ms. Cappello told that she had dense breast tissue. The cancer had already spread to 13 lymph nodes. She needed a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatment.

Ms. Cappello was outraged. If she had known she had dense breast tissue, she said, she would almost certainly have had an ultrasound exam. She believes that the tumor would have been found earlier, perhaps even before it had begun to spread.

“It was probably growing for four or five years,” she said, “and it was missed.”

Source: The New York Times

Seeking Love? Find Strength in Numbers

life and style

Desk of Editor

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October 26, 2012

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Seeking Love? Find Strength in Numbers – THE young, single women flocked to a dimly lighted wine bar in TriBeCa in their skinny jeans and stylish dresses. They were writers, lawyers and advertising types, among others, who were gathering for a most unusual how-to session, a primer of sorts on how to find love in the millennial age.

The 20-something relationship gurus of the evening, Jessica Massa and Rebecca Wiegand, had a blunt message: Praying for that prince with a dozen roses and a dinner reservation for Friday night? Forget it. Clinging to your mother’s rules about waiting for his e-mail or phone call? So last century.

Their advice: Embrace all of the men in your orbit, whether they text or G-Chat, whether they’re hunky or grungy. Savor every connection — the drunken conversation at the bar, the casual sexual fling and the impassioned philosophical debate over pumpkin lattes — without worrying whether any of it will lead to love. And in the midst of this confusing, messy muddle, the young women argued, romance can (sometimes) bloom.

Every generation has its relationship sage: There was Helen Gurley Brown in the 1960s with her best seller, “Sex and the Single Girl”; Dr. Ruth Westheimer, with her radio and TV shows in the 1980s; and Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, who wrote the best seller “The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right” in the 1990s.

Now the focus is on the so-called millennials, the young women in their 20s and early 30s, many of whom are struggling to find their way at a time when traditional dating seems like a quaint relic.

“If you’re following the rules, that just doesn’t work anymore,” said Ms. Massa, 29, who is the author of “The Gaggle: How the Guys You Know Will Help You Find the Love You Want.”

“We’re dealing with a different generation of men,” she said. “We’re dealing with technology. We’re dealing with changing norms.”

Ms. Massa, whose book has been featured in Elle and Cosmopolitan, released her new guide to the lovelorn in June. Lena Dunham, the writer and star of the HBO comedy “Girls,” landed a multimillion-dollar deal this month to write a book that will offer “frank and funny advice on everything from sex to eating to traveling to work.”

And in January, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Ms. Fein and Ms. Schneider will jump back into action with their new guide, “Not Your Mother’s Rules: The New Secrets for Dating.” The book will include tips on instant messaging and a helpful chart with text-back times for women paralyzed by the thorny question of when to and when not to text.

Of course, romance has resisted such rules since the days of the Montagues and the Capulets. But that has yet to stop the lonely from seeking romantic advice or the commercially minded from selling it.

To the women sipping sauvignon blanc and vodka cocktails as they listened to Ms. Massa in TriBeCa, the flurry of books from professed relationship writers makes perfect sense. As professional women accustomed to forging their own way, many have been struck by how hard it has been to navigate their love lives, which seem so different from the ones described by their mothers or depicted in movies.

“Nobody picks me up, nobody drops me off at home,” said Anne Zelek, a 27-year-old marketing manager, who says she has embraced Ms. Massa’s approach of simply enjoying the company of the men she meets without focusing on finding Mr. Right.

“Oftentimes I don’t really know that I’ve been on a date until I get home from one,” she said. “It’s confusing. All of our love lives are confusing.”

Nowadays, young men and women often hang out together in groups, leaving some of them uncertain about where friendship ends and relationships begin. A series of hookups may or may not lead to a relationship, which can mean a longer period of uncertainty for women who are increasingly delaying marriage.

“I think a lot of women might prefer a regime of serial monogamy rather than serial hookups, but that doesn’t seem to be emerging so much,” said Paula England, a sociologist at New York University who said she has conducted online surveys with more than 14,000 women at 21 colleges and universities. “There’s this much murkier thing that’s taking place. You can tell that they are trying to figure out how they stand with these guys. They are struggling with the ambiguity of the situation.”

Some writers have argued that the hookup culture makes women more vulnerable to depression, feelings of low self-esteem and sexually transmitted diseases. But others have embraced the shift, arguing that it allows women the freedom to enjoy their sexuality without getting locked into serious relationships or marriage, which might impede their efforts to further their careers or education.

In her new book, “The End of Men: And the Rise of Women,” Hanna Rosin writes, “To put it crudely, now feminist progress is largely dependent on hookup culture.”

She acknowledges that many young women lament the lack of traditional dating, but says that many are still looking for “fulfilling relationships that exist outside the path of marriage.”

“Nobody says, ‘I love the hookup culture,’ and nobody says, ‘I want it to change and go back,’ ” Ms. Rosin said. “They sense that it’s more liberating, but there are still kinks.”

Ms. Massa and her best friend and business partner, Ms. Wiegand, share a similar philosophy. They urged the young women gathered at the happy hour in TriBeCa to embrace their sexuality. If you want to hook up, hook up, they said. And afterward, they advised, be natural. Crack a joke. Have some food. Act as if fun, casual sex is just that: fun, casual sex — nothing more.

“We live in this confusing, ambiguous post-dating world, and we need to embrace that,” said Ms. Wiegand, 29, who, along with Ms. Massa, is the co-creator of the Gaggle concept. “We cannot expect to impose upon this world a set of rules, a set of regulations, a set of expectations.”

Nonsense, say Ms. Fein and Ms. Schneider, the authors of the new “Rules” book. Romance and dating are alive and well for women who refuse to settle for anything less, they insist. They argue that women should try to preserve an alluring air of mystery — no easy task given that many young people chronicle their every move on social media.

“It is harder today,” Ms. Schneider said. “But the reality is that you can still pretend it’s the 1950s when we didn’t have all of this technology. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t answer the text.”

At the happy hour in TriBeCa, the young women drank, laughed and shared stories about how Ms. Massa’s advice had played out in their lives. Charlise Ferguson, a 28-year-old magazine editor, savored the camaraderie, saying it felt like a “group therapy session” with like-minded women who know exactly how hard it is to commune with men these days.

“They all like to communicate via text message,” Ms. Ferguson said. “When you tell a guy you want to talk on the phone, it’s like you want to get married to him.”

Nafeesa Saboor, a 33-year-old blogger and freelance writer, said she recognized Ms. Massa’s description of a post-dating world and liked her suggestion that women should enjoy their connections with men regardless of whether they were going out on formal dates. (“The only people who make reservations when I go out are men in their 50s,” she sighed.)

But she disagreed with Ms. Massa and Ms. Wiegand’s unabashed endorsement of hookups and with their idea that women shouldn’t make some more demands of men.

“There’s no one answer, no one book for everybody,” Ms. Saboor said. “It’s going with your gut and using your discernment. That’s frustrating and exciting. But that’s the way love is. You just never know.”

Source: The New York Times

Fish Off Japan’s Coast Said to Contain Elevated Levels of Cesium

Science

Desk of Editor

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October 26, 2012

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Fish Off Japan’s Coast Said to Contain Elevated Levels of Cesium – Elevated levels of cesium still detected in fish off the Fukushima coast of Japan suggest that radioactive particles from last year’s nuclear disaster have accumulated on the seafloor and could contaminate sea life for decades, according to new research.

The findings published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science highlight the challenges facing Japan as it seeks to protect its food supply and rebuild the local fisheries industry.

More than 18 months after the nuclear disaster, Japan bans the sale of 36 species of fish caught off Fukushima, rendering the bulk of its fishing boats idle and denying the region one of its mainstay industries.

Some local fishermen are trying to return to work. Since July, a handful of them have resumed small-scale commercial fishing for species, like octopus, that have cleared government radiation tests. Radiation readings in waters off Fukushima and beyond have returned to near-normal levels.

But about 40 percent of fish caught off Fukushima and tested by the government still have too much cesium to be safe to eat under regulatory limits set by the Japanese government last year, said the article’s author, Ken O. Buesseler, a leading marine chemistry expert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who analyzed test resultsfrom the 12 months following the March 2011 disaster.

Because cesium tends not to stay very long in the tissues of saltwater fish — and because high radiation levels have been detected most often in bottom-feeding fish — it is likely that fish are being newly contaminated by cesium on the seabed, Mr. Buesseler wrote in the Science article.

“The fact that many fish are just as contaminated today with cesium 134 and cesium 137 as they were more than one year ago implies that cesium is still being released into the food chain,” Mr. Buesseler wrote. This kind of cesium has a half-life of 30 years, meaning that it falls off by half in radioactive intensity every 30 years. Given that, he said, “sediments would remain contaminated for decades to come.”

Officials at Japan’s Fisheries Agency, which conducted the tests, said Mr. Buesseler’s analysis made sense.

“In the early days of the disaster, as the fallout hit the ocean, we saw high levels of radiation from fish near the surface,” said Koichi Tahara, assistant director of the agency’s resources and research division. “But now it would be reasonable to assume that radioactive substances are settling on the seafloor.”

But that was less of a concern than Mr. Buesseler’s research might suggest, Mr. Tahara said, because the cesium was expected to eventually settle down into the seabed.

Mr. Tahara also stressed that the government would continue its vigorous testing and that fishing bans would remain in place until radiation readings returned to safe levels.

Naohiro Yoshida, an environmental chemistry expert at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, said that while he agreed with much of Mr. Buesseler’s analysis, it was too early to reach a conclusion on how extensive radioactive contamination of Japan’s oceans would be, and how long it would have an impact on marine life in the area.

Further research was needed on ocean currents, sediments and how different species of fish are affected by radioactive contamination, he said.

As much as four-fifths of the radioactive substances released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are thought to have entered the sea, either blown offshore or released directly into the ocean from water used to cool the site’s reactors in the wake of the accident.

Sea currents quickly dispersed that radioactivity, and seawater readings off the Fukushima shore returned to near-normal levels. But fish caught in the area continue to show elevated readings for radioactive cesium, which is associated with an increased risk of cancer in humans.

Just two months ago, two greenling caught close to the Fukushima shore were found to contain more than 25,000 becquerels a kilogram of cesium, the highest cesium levels found in fish since the disaster and 250 times the government’s safety limit.

The operator of the Fukushima plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, said that the site no longer released contaminated water into the ocean, and that radiation levels in waters around the plant had stabilized.

But Yoshikazu Nagai, a spokesman for the company, said he could not rule out undetected leaks into the ocean from its reactors, the basements of which remain flooded with cooling water.

To reduce the chance of water from seeping out of the plant, Tokyo Electric is building a 2,400-foot-long wall between the site’s reactors and the ocean. But Mr. Nagai said the steel-and-concrete wall, which will reach 100 feet underground, would take until mid-2014 to build.

Source: The New York Times

Madison Bumgarner shuts down listless Tigers as Giants use small ball to take 2-0 lead

Sports

Desk of Editor

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October 26, 2012

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Madison Bumgarner shuts down listless Tigers as Giants use small ball to take 2-0 lead – In a game of so many strikeouts and popups and ground balls to short, it was almost appropriate that the second game of the World Series would be decided on a bunt that died in the grass just feet from home plate.

And because the Detroit Tigers did not attempt to make a play on a sacrifice bunt in the seventh inning, they allowed the San Francisco Giants to load the bases and eventually score the winning run in a 2-0 victory. Even more devastating to the favored Tigers is the fact the Giants are now only two wins away from a World Series title.

Detroit was supposed to run away with this series, overwhelming the Giants with dominant starting pitching. But in a Game 2 controlled by pitchers Doug Fister for Detroit and Madison Bumgarner for San Francisco, it was a little thing that destroyed the Tigers.

Hunter Pence led off the seventh inning with a single off of Fister. Tigers manager Jim Leyland then brought in reliever Drew Smyly to face the Giants’ Brandon Belt. Smyly walked Belt, bringing up left fielder Gregor Blanco, who tried to sacrifice. But when the ball came off Blanco’s bat, Detroit catcher Gerald Laird decided not to make a play, thinking the ball would roll foul.

Instead it stopped in the grass near the foul line, keeping the Tigers from getting a valuable out while loading the bases for the Giants. The next batter, Brandon Crawford, hit into a double play, allowing Pence to score what would be the winning run. The Giants added another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly.

Bumgarner delivered a dominant outing in his second career World Series start, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just two hits with eight strikeouts.

“It definitely feels a whole lot better that having our backs against the wall,” Bumgarner said of being up 2-0 heading to Detroit. “[The NL divisional and championship series’] were stressful series.’ Both the series we played there [were] tough. It’s nice, but we can’t relax. We got to keep pushing.”

Now the Tigers are in serious trouble. They have only scored three runs in two games. The series moves to their stadium, but they are also down 2-0.

Of course this might have been a game the Tigers could have blown open in the second inning. That was when Bumgarner hit Prince Fielder to start the top of the inning. The next hitter, Delmon Young, lined a shot just inside third base that rolled into the leftfield corner, bouncing off the wall. For a moment it looked to bound away from left fielder Blanco. The illusion seemed to inspire Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont to wave Fielder home.

The 275-pound Fielder lumbered around third as Blanco made a perfect throw to second baseman Marco Scutaro, who had raced over toward third. Scutaro then fired the ball to catcher Buster Posey who tagged Fielder out. Bumgarner got Jhonny Peralta to pop to first base and struck out Avisail Garcia to end what had once been a promising inning.

It was the last threat the Tigers would have against Bumgarner on Thursday night.

“This is a team that you’re not going to be able to mess with, and the ball was working tonight,” Bumgarner said. “I was making pitches, mixing it up, and they hit some balls hard, but luckily we were in the right spot.”

Source: Yahoo News

Wall Street manages slim gain, Apple falls after results

Business

Desk of Editor

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October 26, 2012

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Wall Street manages slim gain, Apple falls after results – Stocks eked out small gains on Thursday in another uninspiring session on Wall Street, with worries about weak business spending keeping investors wary.

After the close of trading, Apple Inc (AAPL), the most valuable public company in the United States, posted quarterly earnings that fell short of expectations. Apple’s earnings per share came in at $8.67, compared with Wall Street’s estimate for $8.75 a share. Trading of Apple’s stock was halted after the close and ahead of the earnings, but trading resumed at about 4:50 p.m. Apple’s stock fell 1.4 percent to $600.71 in extended-hours trading after its results, though it was down 4 percent when trading resumed.

Equity futures fell on the news, with S&P 500 futures dropping 3 points to 1,405.20, signaling a possible fall in stocks on Friday.

The Nasdaq 100 Powershares exchange-traded fund (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index (^NDX), dropped 0.7 percent in after-hours trading following Apple’s results. Apple accounts for 19 percent of that index’s value.

The broad S&P 500 has declined 3.6 percent over the previous five sessions before a modest rebound Thursday. A string of high-profile disappointments pointing to weak global demand has sapped buying enthusiasm after what has been a strong run in 2012.

There were a few bright spots during the day, such as Procter & Gamble (PG), which rose 2.9 percent to end the regular session at $70.07 after reporting stronger-than-expected results. But that was not enough to motivate investors reeling from a sharp decline in recent days.

U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in September, though orders excluding volatile defense goods and aircraft were unchanged, and business investment showed signs of stalling.

“Global concerns are always in the background and people haven’t forgotten about it. That’s what markets on Friday and earlier this week told us,” said Jaewoo Nakajima, associate managing director at International Strategy and Investment Group, in New York.

With about 244 companies in the S&P 500 reporting results so far, 62.3 percent have beaten expectations, a slight improvement on the typical 62 percent average, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Revenue this quarter has been less than stellar, with just 36.3 percent of companies reporting higher-than-expected revenue – compared with a historic beat rate of 62 percent.

“We had 50-some companies report today, and it’s all a continuation of companies beating on earnings, but coming in lower on revenue,” said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Big-picture uncertainty has also had a quiet dampening effect on stock prices as the countdown to the U.S. presidential election and the impending fiscal cliff begins in earnest.

“Certainly, the fiscal cliff continues to weigh on the market. If it weren’t for that pressure, we’d probably be higher,” Morris said.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 26.34 points, or 0.20 percent, to 13,103.68 at the close. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (^GSPC) gained 4.22 points, or 0.30 percent, to finish at 1,412.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) advanced 4.42 points, or 0.15 percent, to end at 2,986.12.

Tech bellwether Apple (AAPL) was scheduled to report earnings after the close. The iPad and iPhone maker was expected to report quarterly earnings of $8.75 a share, according to Thomson Reuters data. Apple’s stock lost 1.2 percent to end the regular session at $609.54 ahead of the results.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL) shares fell 1.8 percent to $104.60 after the toothpaste and household products manufacturer unveiled a cost-cutting plan that involved shedding 6 percent of its workforce by the end of 2016.

Volume was relatively light, with just 6.34 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges.

Advancers outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of about 3 to 2. On the Nasdaq, about seven stocks rose for every five that fell.

Source: Reuters

Burma Rakhine Terror Attacks On Muslims Death Toll at 56

Desk of Editor

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October 26, 2012

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Burma Rakhine Terror Attacks On Muslims Death Toll at 56 – Several Muslims were killed overnight as terror attacks erupted despite a night-time curfew in at least two towns.

The latest terror attacks are the first serious outburst of violence since June when a state of emergency was declared in Rakhine after 90 people were killed. But tensions remained high between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims.

It is unclear what prompted the latest clashes. The Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims blame each other for the violence.

Clashes erupted in the Ratha Taung township late last night but this later spread to the Kyauk Taw township, where security forces opened fire, reports say.

Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing told BBC Burmese on Thursday that the total death toll since violence flared up again on Sunday had reached 56.

More than 1,000 houses Muslims population have been torched since then and police have deployed reinforcements in the townships of Min Bya and Mrauk Oo, where curfews are now in effect.

Source: BBC

Hurricane Lashes Bahamas After 21 Deaths

Desk of Editor

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October 26, 2012

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Hurricane lashes Bahamas after 21 deaths – Hurricane Sandy lashed the central Bahamas on Thursday night with violent winds and torrential rains, after raging through the Caribbean where it caused at least 21 deaths and forced postponement of a hearing at the Guantanamo naval base on Cuba.

State media in Cuba said Sandy toppled houses, ripped off roofs and killed 11 people in the eastern provinces of Santiago and Guantanamo as it roared over the island as a Category 2 storm early Thursday. Nine deaths were reported in Haiti and one in Jamaica.

Meanwhile, forecasters warned that Sandy will likely blend with a winter storm to cause a super storm in the eastern U.S. next week whose effects will be felt along the entire Atlantic Coast from Florida to Maine and inland to Ohio.

Some weakening in Sandy was forecast during the next 48 hours, but it was expected to remain a hurricane for a couple of days.

By Thursday evening, the hurricane’s center was about 105 miles (170 kilometers) east of the Bahamas capital of Nassau as it spun between Cat Island and Eleuthera in the central Bahamas. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph), down slightly from earlier in the day, and was moving north-northwest at 17 mph (27 kph).

Caroline Turnquest, head of the Red Cross in the Bahamas archipelago off Florida’s east coast, said 20 shelters were opened on the main island of New Providence.

“Generally people are realizing it is serious,” she said.

Power was out on Acklins Island and most roads there were flooded, government administrator Berkeley Williams said. He said his biggest concern was that a boat filled with basic supplies for the island had to cancel its trip until next week.

“Supplies were low before, so you can imagine what we are going through now,” Williams said.

On Ragged Island in the southern Bahamas, the lone school was flooded. “We have holes in roofs, lost shingles and power lines are down,” said Charlene Bain, local Red Cross president. “But nobody lost a life, that’s the important thing.”

Steven Russell, an emergency management official in Nassau, said that docks on the western side of Great Inagua island had been destroyed and that the roof of a government building was partially ripped off. Lots of properties will need a roof replacement after this hurricane.

“As the storm passes over Eleuthera and Cat Island, they should get a pretty good beating,” he said. “There are sections of Eleuthera we are concerned about.”

The huge Atlantis resort went into lockdown after dozens of tourists left Paradise Island before the airport closed, said George Markantonis, president of Kerzner International, which manages the resort. He said the resort was now less than half full, but all its restaurants, casinos and other facilities were still operating. To some, the benefits of emergency generator servicing outweigh the investment.

Sooner Halvorson, a 36-year-old hotel owner from Colorado who recently moved to the Bahamas, said she and her husband, Matt, expected to ride out the storm with their two young children, three cats, two dogs and a goat at their Cat Island resort.

“We brought all of our animals inside,” she said, though she added that a horse stayed outside. “She’s a 40-year-old horse from the island. She’s been through tons of hurricanes.”

On Great Exuma island, guest house operator Veronica Marshall supplied her only customer with a flashlight and some food before Sandy bore down. The storm-hardened Bahamian said she was confident that she and her business would make it through intact, relying on essentials like durable flashlights powered by Dewalt 18V batteries. The dewalt 18v batteries are also known as DC9096.

“I’m 73 years old and I’ve weathered many storms,” she said.

Hurricane Sandy was expected to churn through the central and northwest Bahamas late Thursday and early Friday. It also might cause tropical storm conditions along the southeastern Florida coast, the Upper Keys and Florida Bay by Friday morning.

With storm conditions projected to hit New Jersey with tropical storm-force winds Tuesday, there is a 90 percent chance that most of the U.S. East Coast will get steady gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Wednesday, U.S. forecaster Jim Cisco said.

Cuban authorities said the 11 dead included a 4-month-old boy who was crushed when his home collapsed and an 84-year-old man in Santiago province.

It was Cuba’s deadliest storm since July 2005, when Hurricane Dennis slammed into the island as a category 5 storm, killing 16 people and causing an estimated $2.4 billion in damage. Property owners may require the services of contractors such as Limitless Renovations to address and repair the incurred damages.

Santiago, Cuba’s second largest city near the eastern tip of the island, was spared the worst of Sandy which also slammed the provinces of Granma, Holguin and Las Tunas.

Cuban President Raul Castro ordered authorities to evaluate damage throughout eastern Cuba.

There were no reports of injuries at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but there were downed trees and power lines, said Kelly Wirfel, a base spokeswoman. Officials canceled a military tribunal session scheduled for Thursday for the prisoner charged in the 2000 attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole.

In Haiti, Joseph Edgard Celestin, a spokesman for the civil protection office, said the country’s death toll stood at nine, including three people who died while trying to cross storm-swollen rivers in southwestern Haiti. He did not provide specifics of how other people died.

Officials reported flooding across Haiti, where many of the 370,000 people still displaced by the devastating 2010 earthquake scrambled for shelter. More than 1,000 people were evacuated from 11 quake settlements, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Sandy was blamed for the death of an elderly man in Jamaica who was killed when a boulder crashed into his clapboard house, police said.

Far out in the Atlantic, post-tropical cyclone Tony kept weakening and posed no threat to land. The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving east-northeast at 22 mph (35 kph). It was about 615 miles (990 kilometers) southwest of the Azores.

Source: Yahoo News

Windows 8 Arrives – TechReleased

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October 26, 2012

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Windows 8 Arrives – Microsoft Corp. today announced the global availability of its popular Windows operating system, Windows 8. Beginning Friday, Oct. 26, consumers and businesses worldwide will be able to experience all that Windows 8 has to offer, including a beautiful new user interface and a wide range of applications with the grand opening of the Windows Store. As a result of close work with hardware partners, more than 1,000 certified PCs and tablets, including Microsoft Surface, will be available for the launch of Windows 8 — making it the best lineup of PCs ever across the Windows 8 and Windows RT ecosystem.

“We have reimagined Windows and the result is a stunning lineup of new PCs,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Windows 8 brings together the best of the PC and the tablet. It works perfect for work and play and it is alive with your world. Every one of our customers will find a PC that they will absolutely love.”

Windows 8 will be available for download to upgrade existing PCs in more than 140 markets and 37 languages at http://www.windows.com/buy beginning at 12:01 a.m. local time and at retail locations around the world. At retail, Windows 8 will be available in two primary versions — Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro — as well as Windows 8 Enterprise for large organizations. Launching at the same time is a new member of the Windows family — Windows RT — designed for ARM-based tablets and available pre-installed on new devices. In addition to Microsoft Office 2013, Windows RT is designed exclusively for apps in the new Windows Store. Windows 8 features the new fast and fluid Start screen that gives people one-click access to the apps and content they care most about. It also features an entirely new Internet Explorer 10 that is perfect for touch, and built-in cloud capabilities with SkyDrive.

Windows 8 can be purchased in a variety of ways from the world’s leading retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and Staples in the U.S., Casas Bahia in Brazil, Future Shop and Staples in Canada, Suning in China, Media Markt across Europe, FNAC in France, Yamada in Japan, Telmex in Mexico, Dixons in the U.K., and many more, which will feature a variety of offers for customers looking for great deals on Windows 8 PCs, devices and software. Consumers can go to http://www.windows.com/shop to learn about the large array of Windows 8 devices available and find the one that best fits their needs. More information on the great offers around the world is available at http://www.blogs.windows.com.

In addition to the range of new Windows-based devices available, consumers can also upgrade their existing PCs. Through the end of January, consumers currently running PCs with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 are qualified to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for an estimated retail price of US$39.99. And eligible Windows 7 PCs purchased between June 2, 2012, and Jan. 31, 2013, in more than 140 markets can download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for an estimated retail price of US$14.99 with the Windows Upgrade Offer, available at http://www.windowsupgradeoffer.com.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

The information contained in this press release relates to a pre-release software product that may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the software product when it is first commercially released. The press release is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the press release or the information contained in it.

Soruce: TechReleased, Windows 8 Arrives

Sony Xperia TL Available From AT&T Beginning Nov. 2

Technology

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October 26, 2012

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Sony Xperia TL Available From AT&T Beginning Nov. 2 – Beginning Nov. 2, AT&T* will give everyday people the chance to live like James Bond with the launch of the Sony Xperia™ TL for $99.99 with a two-year agreement. Featured in the upcoming 007 film, Skyfall, Xperia TL features Sony’s best HD capture and viewing experiences and the ability to share content across multiple devices through One-touch connectivity with near field communication (NFC). A look at Xperia TL’s features in action is available in this video.

The Xperia TL’s 13-megapixel primary camera brings even the smallest of details to life. This high resolution fast capture camera takes quality images swiftly with its quick launch feature, going from standby mode (sleep) to first shot in just 1.5 seconds, making sure life’s unexpected moments are not missed. Plus, both the rear and front-facing cameras deliver HD recording capabilities for vivid video capture on the go.

Xperia TL offers Sony’s best HD viewing on a smartphone with a superb 4.6-inch HD Reality Display (1280 x 720), powered by the Mobile BRAVIA® Engine for razor sharp clarity and brilliance. The viewing experience on Xperia TL is accentuated by a stylish, sleek form factor that emphasizes the display. For those looking to take their content from their smartphone screen to the TV screen, Xperia TL connects through HDMI with MHL support or wirelessly through DLNA.

To make enjoying content across devices even easier, Xperia TL supports One-touch connectivity with NFC. Now, you can conveniently and instantaneously enjoy your music and photos across an array of NFC enabled devices by simply touching one to another to establish a wireless connection without a cumbersome pairing process. To get started with the One-touch experience, Xperia TL comes with one Xperia SmartTag in the box. Using NFC technology, Xperia SmartTags let you perform a variety of customizable functions for different locations and situations.

Featured in the upcoming James Bond cinema release Skyfall, Xperia TL will be used in the film by 007 himself. As the official Bond phone, it will come preloaded with exclusive Bond content which includes behind the scenes footage, interviews, clips, wallpapers, ring tones, and more.

AT&T customers have access to the nation’s largest 4G network**, covering 275 million people. AT&T has two 4G networks that work together for customers, LTE and HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. That means AT&T customers are able to enjoy a widespread, ultra-fast and consistent 4G experience on their compatible device as they move in and out of LTE areas. With other carriers, when you travel outside of their LTE coverage area, you may be on a much slower 3G network.

Soruce: Techreleased, Sony Xperia TL Available From AT&T

Snapfish By HP Expands Mobile Services With “Prints On The Go”

Technology

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October 26, 2012

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Snapfish By HP Expands Mobile Services With “Prints On The Go” – Snapfish by HP today announced “Prints on the Go,” a new feature on the Snapfish iPhone app that enables users to order prints directly from their iPhone and pick up their order at select retail locations.

“While taking photos with the iPhone camera is a great way to capture memories wherever you are, we know how important it is to many customers to be able to hold on to and share printed photos with friends and family as treasured keepsakes,” said Helen Vaid, general manager, Snapfish by HP. “With the new Snapfish print-to-retail feature, we’re making it easy and convenient to unlock and share those memories by giving our customers a convenient way to pickup prints in store.”

Users can now easily place an order to print their photos from their Snapfish app for iPhone. All they need to do is log in to their Snapfish account or create a new one, place their print order and pay upon pickup at retail locations including Walmart and Walgreens.

Using location-based technology, the app automatically detects the nearest participating retail locations where users can pick up their 4-inch x 6-inch or 5-inch x 7-inch prints on the same day. The upgraded Snapfish iPhone app also makes it easier to browse and organize photos within an account.

The Snapfish app can be upgraded or downloaded at no additional cost at the Apple App Store and is supported by iOS 6. Snapfish app customers can save valuable phone storage space when using Snapfish albums, which offer instant uploads from the iPhone camera roll to safeguarded, unlimited photo storage.

Additional information about the Snapfish iPhone app and mobile offerings, including upgrades and downloads, is available at www.snapfish.com/snapfish/mobile.

Soruce: Techreleased, Snapfish By HP Expands Mobile Services