New simple-to-use, low-cost smart phones

New simple-to-use, low-cost smart phones - Given the dazzle of the Galaxies, Droids, and other star smart phones, it's easy to overlook the many less expensive, less promoted phones on the market.

Some new models in our latest phone ratings are easy to use, easy on the wallet, and even boast a few cool features you won't find on their richer cousins.

Here's a rundown:

Jitterbug Touch (Photo: Kyocera)

Samsung ATIV Odyssey. ($50)

Samsung's first Windows Phone is among several Windows 8 models we've just added to our phone ratings. While the Odyssey lacks a high-resolution display, NFC-managed file sharing, a quad-core processor, and other features that define today's marquee phones, its hardware is more than adequate. It also comes with a decent number of useful apps, and is one of the few Verizon phones that will work on foreign GSM networks. That's a lot of phone for $50 with a two-year contract.

Pantech Discover. ($50)

This Android smart phone, $50 from AT&T, is brimming with top-shelf features, including a large, brilliant 4.8-inch, high-definition display, and dual side-firing speakers for stereo sound without headphones. There's also a 12.6-megapixel camera with time-lapse video recording and a still camera that lets you choose your subjects' best facial expressions from several different photos and "glue" them on one perfect photo.

The Discover also has an innovative and intuitive interface. For example, flicking your finger upward from the bottom of the screen summons a tray of convenient shortcuts for adding apps, widgets, changing wallpaper, and accessing phone settings. And for novices or "cognitively challenged" users, the Discover has an Easy Experience interface that clears desktop clutter to put core functions such as phone, contacts, messages, and camera front and center. It's also easy to increase the size fonts and app icons, and menus present a shorter list of options to simplify use.

Kyocera Jitterbug Touch. ($150)

If only this model, the first smart phone from a carrier aimed at people who find today's cell phones "often too complicated to use," was as successful at simplicity as the Pantech. Costing $150 from Great Call without a contract, this Jitterbug is a pudgy model that measures 4.1 inches x 2.3 inches x 0.7 inches and has a 3-inch touch screen that makes everything displayed on it a tad small for any user, let alone one who finds regular screens "difficult to see," though Great Call promises that its phones address this issue.

It doesn't help that text and images aren't very crisp because the display's resolution is relatively low. And the phone's touch interface is simple, but it buries core features such as phone, camera, photo gallery, and messaging under an Apps tab. On the plus side, there is a slide-out keyboard, with keys that are clearly labeled, logically laid out, and well spaced.

Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II. ($30)

If it's a keyboard you want, a better choice is this Android model from Verizon—which costs even less, at $30 with a two-year contract from Verizon.

As with the original Stratosphere, the keyboard on this model is one of the best we've seen. It's clearly labeled, logically laid out, well spaced, and features five rows—a rarity among phones—with dedicated buttons for numbers across the top row, directional buttons, and buttons for search, accessing the Web, and messaging. Like its predecessor, it has a 4-inch touch-screen display, but it adds more internal memory, a higher camera recording resolution, NFC, and international GSM ability. ( Consumer Reports )

READ MORE - New simple-to-use, low-cost smart phones

Samsung Readies Tizen, a New Mobile Competitor to Google Android and Apple iOS

Samsung Readies Tizen, a New Mobile Competitor to Google Android and Apple iOS - When Samsung hinted at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a few months ago that there is more to the world of smartphones and tablets than Apple's iOS, it was also referring to Google's Android operating system, which runs on Samsung's most popular devices. Now, just days after introducing its newest marquee Android smartphone--the Galaxy S4--Samsung says it will debut a new handset later this year that uses Tizen, an operating system the company has been developing with chip-maker Intel.

Such a move would both support and contradict statements that Samsung Chief Product Officer Kevin Packingham made during a CES panel discussion in January.

Packingham acknowledged that the "jury's still out on how the [mobile operating system] war will play out" and suggested that, given Microsoft's investment in Windows 8, that operating system should not be ruled out as a competitor to iOS or Android. Packingham also said he is often asked why Samsung doesn't make its own mobile operating system. He responded that app developers must, out of economic necessity, write software for the most popular operating systems--typically iOS and Android--while relegating other platforms to the back burner. Besides, he added, "[We] have a good relationship with Google, so [there's] no need to."

Yet Samsung and Intel have spearheaded the development of Tizen--an open-source operating system for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices--since September 2011. And Samsung's newest phone--as yet unnamed--would be the first on the market to use Tizen, Bloomberg reported last week. The world's largest mobile phone-maker, Samsung had previously mentioned Tizen as a possible alternative to Android for lower-end devices, "so the news that it will be also mixed with the latest and the greatest of the device specs certainly warrants some attention," Aapo Markkanen, a senior analyst at ABI Research blogged last week.

Samsung appears to be decoupling itself from Android, despite the device-maker's reliance on Android's hundreds of thousands of apps to sell Samsung gadgets. "The Galaxy series couldn't fly with any other OS, especially given how little Samsung has invested in Windows Phone," Markkanen blogged. "All signs are pointing to Samsung trying to pull off a 'Great OS Escape' within the next year or two."

Android and iOS may be the dominant mobile operating systems today but the continued growth of smartphones and other wireless gadgets depends on new choices emerging, whether it's the emergence of Windows 8, a resurgence of BlackBerry's platform or some other option, said AT&T's Glenn Lurie, president of emerging enterprises and partnerships, during the same CES panel in which Packingham described Samsung's relationship with Google. "When the iPhone launched there wasn't any competition," but it soon lit a fire under Microsoft, Google and others to get into the market, he added.

Tizen's emergence may seem like a nonstarter right now, but it does shake up the established order in the smartphone market a bit. Android is open source as well, and most people choose mobile devices based on price, carrier service, the availability of apps and other features. The operating system seems almost incidental. If you want an iPhone, you're going to get iOS along with it. If you like non-Apple mobile phones, chances are they will come with some version of Android or perhaps Windows. Tizen's impact will likely first be felt in China, a country whose rift with Google has caused the company to scale back some of Android's features in that market, making it less appealing to handset-makers like Samsung, according Minyanville Media.

It will likely take five, even 10 years for mobile operating system competition to shake out, said Rajeev Chand, managing director and head of research for equity research firm Rutberg & Co., who moderated the CES panel. Although he didn't specifically mention Tizen, he did add, "I think there's a damned good chance that there will a third and fourth [mobile] operating system."

Galaxy S III image courtesy of Samsung ( Scientific American )

READ MORE - Samsung Readies Tizen, a New Mobile Competitor to Google Android and Apple iOS

Canadian man gets 18 years for credit fraud

Canadian man gets 18 years for credit fraud — A Canadian man accused of masterminding one of the largest high-tech bank robberies in U.S. history was sentenced to nearly 18 years in prison Monday following a years-long investigation into fake debt collection agencies that prosecutors say stole the identities of about 38,000 people.

Adekunle Adetiloye was accused of organizing a scheme to open nearly 600 fraudulent bank accounts and bilk 22 major banks, potentially costing credit card firms and banks up to $5 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Chase in North Dakota, where the case was handled, said the 40-year-old had an "insatiable hunger for other people's money."

Defense attorneys had argued that their client, the only person charged in the case, was a "marginal and minimal participant" whose role was to handle mail and withdraw money from ATMs. But prosecutors and the judge believed he was central to the scheme.

This undated photo provided by the Cass County, N.D., Jail shows Adekunle Adetiloye who was sentenced Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, for his role in what authorities call one of the largest credit card fraud schemes in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson sentenced the Canadian man to 214 months in prison for mail fraud and scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing to discuss returning the nearly $1.5 million in losses to credit card companies and banks. (AP Photo/Cass County Jail)

Investigators said Adetiloye incorporated two different companies in Delaware — Syspac Financial Services and Commet Consultant Inc. — that claimed to be debt collection companies. He gained access to commercial data providers, including large-scale outfits LexisNexis and ChoicePoint that only allow access to law enforcement, financial services and debt collection companies.

With access to those data providers, Adetiloye and others obtained the personal identification information to about 38,000 people, most of whom were medical professionals, and used that information to open credit card, debit and checking accounts, prosecutors said.

Those data providers said it was only the second such breach of that scale.

"Characterizing this fraud scheme as massive, if anything, is an understatement," Chase said in court documents.

Investigators' interest in Adetiloye, a native of Nigeria, was piqued after figuring out he was unemployed and receiving welfare yet living lavishly, complete with a Range Rover vehicle, extended trips to England and an expensive condominium. Then there were two credit cards tucked away in his wallet the each bore different names — Donald Douglas and Vincent Andriole — that seemed to confirm suspicions that he was up to something nefarious.

The complexity of the scheme — which took five years to investigate and litigate — was highlighted in a sentencing phase that has lasted nearly a year and included numerous hearings and briefings, and some 12,000 pages of court documents. The case wound up in North Dakota after U.S. Bank's customer service center in Fargo intercepted calls by Adetiloye and others.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson handed down a 214-month prison term and scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing to discuss returning nearly $1.5 million in losses to credit card companies and banks. The judge has said losses may have been as much as $5 million.

Defense attorney Richard Henderson had asked for a sentence of fewer than 16 years for his client, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges. Henderson said any prison time is more difficult than it would be for American citizens because he has no family in the United States. No decision has been made about whether he plans to appeal, said Neil Fulton, lead federal public defender for North Dakota and South Dakota.

"The sentence imposed today should send a strong message to those who would seek to scam the citizens and businesses of North Dakota and the United States," U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon said in a statement released Monday. "We take the growing problem of foreign financial fraud seriously here and seeking justice for the victims of such crimes is a priority for our office."

Greg Krier, lead credit card fraud investigator for U.S. Bank, testified during the sentencing phase of the case that it was the most complex case he had ever seen. His company, which has its own fraud unit, launched special training sessions focusing on the case in hopes of catching the culprits.

The lead investigator, one of 25 people who worked on the case, put in 2,000 hours, authorities said.

Investigators initially said the operation accessed information of nearly 16,000 people, about 500 of whom had their identities stolen for the purpose of obtaining credit cards. It's alleged that more than 100 commercial mailboxes were opened under false or stolen identities.

But further investigation showed that the scheme actually accessed personal information to some 38,000 people. The government said Adetiloye went so far as to mask his handwriting after a judge ordered a test of his calligraphy.

Erickson, the federal judge, said in court documents ahead of the sentencing that the evidence "indisputably demonstrates" that Adetiloye was a leader or organizer of the scheme. The judge calculated losses to banks at about $1.5 million, but said it could have been as high as $5 million if credit limits had been maxed out.

The trauma cannot be measured, Erickson said.

"The non-monetary harm to the victims was substantial," the judge wrote. "They lost sleep, they lost time with their families, they lost time at work, and they lost their sense of security. Some victims spent hours trying to reclaim their credit record and their identities."

Court documents show that U.S. Bank suffered the most number of tainted accounts, at 130, for a total loss of about $76,000. The companies alleged to have lost the most money were Citibank, at about $271,000, and Discover, at about $248,000.

Brett Bogan, the security investigations manager at Reed Elsevier, the parent company of LexisNexis and ChoicePoint, told the court that data breaches of this type are extremely rare and knew of only one other case like it. He said the company sent out notices to more than 32,000 people whose personal information was compromised by the scheme.

"With their combined extensive and nationwide perspective, those entities place this fraud scheme at or near the top of their historical lists in terms of size and complexity," Chase said in court documents. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Canadian man gets 18 years for credit fraud

What to Do About a Lost ATM Card

What to Do About a Lost ATM Card - Smart consumers are careful to keep track of their cash and plastic cards that function as money. But suppose a wallet gets lost or stolen with a bank ATM card tucked away, seemingly safe inside. While some people might be tempted to wait and hope the wallet turns up intact, the wiser course is to take immediate action.

Here's what to do:

Report the Loss

The loss or theft of an ATM card should be reported as quickly as possible, according to George Joseph, president and CEO of Dade County Federal Credit Union in Miami. Most banks have a toll-free customer service phone number for this purpose.

"As soon as you know it's missing, you should notify your bank or credit union," Joseph says. "You need to do that immediately."

It's also a good idea to send a follow-up letter, with the account number and an explanation of when the loss was discovered and reported, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Unauthorized withdrawals or transfers also should be reported as soon as possible.

Liability Limits

A consumer's potential liability due to a lost or stolen ATM card depends primarily on how soon the loss of the card is reported to the bank, according to the FTC.

• If the loss is reported prior to any unauthorized activity, the potential liability is zero.
• If the loss is reported within two business days of discovery, the potential liability is capped at $50.
• After two business days, that amount increases to $500.
• If the loss isn't reported within 60 days after the bank sends out a statement, the consumer is responsible for all losses up to the balance of the account, plus the unused portion of any overdraft line of credit.

"Best-case scenario, they're not responsible for anything. Worst-case scenario, they're responsible for everything," Joseph says.

Some banks will reduce or waive a customer's loss as a matter of goodwill, according to Cary Whaley, vice president of payments and technology policy at Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade association in Washington, D.C.

A homeowners or renters insurance policy also may reimburse all or a portion of the loss, up to the policy limit, according to the FTC.

New ATM Card

Most banks offer replacement ATM cards at the local bank branch or by mail. Some provide free replacements; others charge a fee or allow customers a few free cards and then charge a fee for any more.

Customers who want to speed up delivery of a replacement ATM card usually have that option, according to Whaley.

"Almost every bank that I'm aware of has a process to expedite a replacement card. That may be for an additional fee, particularly if it involves something like Express Mail," he says.

Customers who lose multiple ATM cards may be encouraged to use other banking services, such as paper checks or an ATM card that doesn't include a credit or debit capability and carry a higher risk of loss, Whaley says. This type of ATM card could only be used to get cash or make deposits.

In the most severe cases, a customer may be cut off from ATM cards altogether. "It really depends on how much risk the bank or credit union is willing to take and how good of a customer you are," Joseph says.

Registration Services

Private companies known as registration services allow consumers to store and track credit, debit and ATM card numbers for a fee. Some of these companies will report lost cards and request replacements on the consumer's behalf, according to the FTC.

Whether these services are worthwhile is a matter of opinion. Those who opt for such a service should compare offers and read the contract to find out what's included.

Whether a bank will be willing to accept the word of a third party that purports to represent a banking customer is open to doubt.

"If we get a call from someone saying one of our members lost their card and they want one reissued, we will tell them to take a hike," Joseph says. "It's only more of a nightmare for you than to do it yourself."

PIN Protection

No advice about ATM cards would be complete without a warning about PINs, or personal identification numbers. The chief caveat, often repeated and just as often ignored, is to keep the PIN private, even from the bank's employees. Storing a PIN in an online or mobile application is "an absolute no-no," Whaley says. Starting out with a replacement card after a loss or theft is a good opportunity to develop the habit of memorizing the PIN and keeping it safe and secret.

"That's the major security you have, particularly for cash withdrawals," he says. "Don't write it on the back of your card. Don't store it in your online wallet right next to your card number. ... Don't tempt people." ( yahoo.com )

READ MORE - What to Do About a Lost ATM Card

Radiation In Massachusetts Rainwater Likely From Japan

Radiation In Massachusetts Rainwater Likely From Japan -- Health officials said Sunday that one sample of Massachusetts rainwater has registered very low concentrations of radiation, most likely from the Japanese nuclear power plant damaged earlier this month by an earthquake and tsunami.

John Auerbach, the Massachusetts commissioner of public health, said that radioiodine-131 found in the sample – one of more than 100 that have been taken around the country – has a short life of only eight days. He said the drinking water supply in the state was unaffected and officials do not expect any health concerns.

Nevada and other Western states also have reported minuscule amounts of radiation, but scientists say those presented no health risks.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said the in-state sample was taken in the past week, but they did not say where. The testing is part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency network that monitors for radioactivity.

State officials said similar testing was done in California, Pennsylvania, Washington and other states, and showed comparable levels of I-131 in rain.

Massachusetts testing last week of samples from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs showed no detectable levels of I-131, health officials said.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. directed the Department of Environmental Protection to collect additional samples for testing from several water bodies across Massachusetts. Results will be available over the next several days.

In Japan, mounting problems, including miscalculated radiation figures and inadequate storage tanks for huge amounts of contaminated water, stymied emergency workers Sunday as they struggled to bring the country's nuclear complex back from the edge of disaster. Workers were trying to remove radioactive water from the nuclear compound and restart the regular cooling systems for the dangerously hot fuel. ( huffingtonpost.com )

READ MORE - Radiation In Massachusetts Rainwater Likely From Japan

Scammer Allegedly Lies About Cancer

Scammer Allegedly Lies About Cancer. Maryland Woman Allegedly Lies About Cancer, Bilks Friends for Thousands of Dollars. Prosecutor Says Woman in Baltimore Lied About Terminal Cancer to Steal Money. Dina Leone, an uninsured mother of two from Baltimore, reached out to old friends through Facebook telling them she had stage-four stomach cancer and asking for help.

A Maryland grand jury indicted Dina Leone on charges of theft and conspiracy for allegedly bilking thousands of dollars from friends who believed she was dying from cancer. (Vicky Squires)

In daily Internet posts and text messages starting in 2008, Leone, 37, they said, described the pain of treatments and the struggle to pay for chemotherapy, often asking old high school classmates to help pay for doctors' visits or to help in fulfilling dying wishes, like visiting Disneyland.

Friends say they spent countless hours on the phone and visiting Leone in person for more than a year, lending a thoughtful ear and shoulder to cry on. Some apparently sent her thousands of dollars to help pay for her treatment. One even said she flew her to California for a final trip to the theme park.

"Last year, I was laid up in a hospital bed at home for months because of complications from surgery," Leone wrote in an e-mail to Vicky Squires, another cancer patient living in the Baltimore area, whom she found on Facebook. "I had a nurse come out three times a week and friends over twice a [day] to change packing and bandages."

But all of it -- the hospital bed, the surgeries, the nausea from treatment, the hair loss from chemotherapy -- was a lie, according to prosecutors.

After a Baltimore County grand jury indicted Leone in November on charges of theft and conspiracy, officials released her last week on $25,000 bail. A date for a criminal trial has yet to be set for the former real estate agent who admitted to a local television station that she pretended to be sick to friends.

Leone began more than a year ago, allegedly reaching out to old classmates from Dundalk High School through the Internet, telling them she was dying and asking them for money.

"It was just sort of like, 'Oh, my God, we haven't seen you in forever, how are you' type of thing and she's like, 'Oh, I'm not good. I'm dying of stage-four stomach cancer right off the bat,'" former classmate Wendy Vargo told ABC News affiliate WMAR-TV in Baltimore.

During several months, however, the women became increasingly suspicious. Rather than losing her hair slowly in clumps, Leone seemed to have lost it all overnight. She sent a photo of her bald head to friends along with an appeal for money. When one friend offered to write a check to her doctor rather than to "cash," Leone allegedly became enraged and told the woman's friends to stop talking to her because Leone said the woman had made a pass at her husband.

No Evidence of Cancer

Someone alerted police and an investigation began last summer. Authorities found no evidence corroborating Leone's cancer story, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case said.

"She made specific comments about receiving treatment in specific hospitals," Baltimore County prosecutor Adam Lippe said. "We went to every area hospital to see if she was receiving treatment and they all said she wasn't a patient.

"When we executed a search warrant and searched her home, police found no medication or documentation that would indicate anyone living there was suffering from cancer. There was no physical or medical evidence at all," Lippe said.

In recent days, he said, he has been getting "more and more calls from more and more victims who sent her money." But the case for which Leone is being prosecuted is pinned to two women who say they sent her more than $12,000 in total.

One of them is a former classmate and wife of pro-skateboarder Buck Lasek. Jennifer Lasek said she sent Leone checks and paid for her to fly to California, where the couple live, to visit Disneyland.

As a witness in the case against Leone, Lasek is not permitted to comment and calls made to her were not returned.

But there were other alleged victims of Leone's deception, too, who never paid her a dime.

Vicky Squires says she "received a Facebook friend request from [Leone] from out of the blue," saying Leone was a cancer survivor living in the area and looking to share her experience.

Squires, despite being racked by sickness as a result of her own breast cancer and treatment, made an effort to visit Leone, cook meals for her family and provide emotional support.

Now, Squires said, she believes Leone befriended her in order to learn about cancer and use the information to buttress her story.

"We'd send each other texts daily to see how we were feeling," Squires said. "When I was feeling good, it felt good to visit her and know I was taking care of her. I'd take cards and flowers or candy to her. Once I brought her some meds because she said her doctor couldn't call the pharmacy and she was out of medication."

Leone Is Not the First to Be Accused

"It tears me up emotionally that she lied about something like this. I went through seven surgeries, it was hell and I'm still receiving treatment. The worst part is, I'm worried stories like this are going to make people reluctant to help someone who really is in need," Squires said.

Calls to Leone went unanswered. She has changed lawyersmultiple times, according to the state attorney's office, and has no legal counsel at this time.

Leone openly admitted to lying about having cancer in an exclusive interview with WJZ-TV in Baltimore last week.

"I've been pretending to be sick for over three and a half years," Leone said.

She lied about her illness and solicited money from friends because her husband was abusive, she said. Through a lawyer, Patrick Leone has denied the abuse allegations, which a judge dismissed Friday after the woman failed to appear in court to make formal charges against her husband.

It's unclear how Leone will plead when her case finally goes to trial.

Leone is not the first person accused of lying about an illness to take advantage of people's kindness.

In September 2009, a police dispatcher in Napa, Calif., was convicted of grand theft and sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation for lying to people about having ovarian cancer. Danielle Vanderpool had collected about $50,000 from individuals and organizations.

In 2006, Heather Faris, a special education teacher at a Boston-area high school, pleaded guilty to multiple larceny charges and engaging in a gross fraud. She admitted to cheating friends, colleagues and students out of $31,000 while lying for more than two years that she had stomach cancer ( abcnews.go.com )

READ MORE - Scammer Allegedly Lies About Cancer

The greenest way to get rid of old prescription meds

Should You Flush Your Drugs Down the Toilet?. The greenest way to get rid of old prescription meds. I've been hearing a lot about how prescription medications and the other drugs we take end up in the water supply. It got me wondering: What's the most environmentally responsible way to dispose of old pills and cough syrups?

It's true: A wide range of pharmaceuticals have been found in our lakes, streams, and drinking water. Scientists are trying to puzzle out what effects these drugs might have on people and wildlife, but there's still a lot we don't know. Even without hard evidence on the impacts of long-term exposure to trace contamination from our water, most government organizations now recommend that you dispose of old medications in the trash, rather than the toilet. (Of course, that doesn't address the fact that, according to most estimates, the vast majority of pharmaceutical pollution comes through our bodily excretions.)

Sometimes, however, broad environmental risks have to be balanced against more immediate hazards—like the danger that a child or a pet might accidentally consume a toxic drug that's lying in a trash can or that someone might steal a medication and use it illicitly. In that case, flushing may be preferable, since the drug is immediately removed from the home and rendered unusable.

In 2007, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the EPA, and the Department of Health and Human Services issued the first set of federal guidelines for proper disposal of prescription drugs. For the vast majority of medications, the government suggests taking them out of their original containers, mixing them with an "undesirable substance" (such as kitty litter or used coffee grounds), putting the mixture in a Ziploc bag or a container with a lid, then throwing the whole package in the trash.

The guidelines do recommend flushing in a few select cases—such as Demerol, OxyContin, and Percocet—where the risk from accidental ingestion or the potential for abuse is very high. The FDA maintains an ever-evolving list of drugs that should be sent down the toilet.

These federal guidelines aren't binding, and your state or local authority may have somewhat different advice. For example, several states caution patients never to flush any medications, dangerous or otherwise. (Connecticut suggests taking extra steps to keep your meds out of unwanted paws or hands, such as dissolving pills and capsules in water, wrapping blister packs in duct tape, and adding flour, salt, or mustard powder to liquid medications to make "a pungent, unsightly mixture.")

Many organizations also recommend keeping medications in their original containers—after blacking out personal information with a permanent marker or duct tape—in case someone accidentally ingests the contents and the drugs need to be identified. Placing the original container insider another container (like a margarine tub) that's taped shut is sometimes advocated as a further precaution.

"Take-back" programs—in which unused drugs are collected for disposal by pharmacies, community organizations, or government groups—are starting to pop up throughout the United States, though they're often expensive to operate. A law enforcement officer must supervise the collection sites if "controlled substances" (such as Ambien, Vicodin, and codeine) are involved. To see if there's a facility in your area, search the database at Earth911.com for "unwanted or expired medications," or check out this map from the Product Stewardship Institute's Drug Take-Back Network. Sharps Compliance, a Houston-based medical waste company, also operates a mail-in program for unused medications. Drugs collected through take-back programs are generally incinerated.

Finally, there are limited opportunities to donate your unused medications to charity. According to a recent report from the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states have enacted laws allowing individuals to donate various kinds of prescription drugs, typically provided that they're not expired, that the packaging is unopened, and that the person donating can provide proper documentation. These programs are a source of concern for some physicians and pharmacists, who worry about the pedigrees of donated drugs (PDF).

When you finish all your pills, what should you do with your empties? Pharmaceutical packaging—like bottles, caps, and blister packs—uses a fair amount of plastic: 1.2 billion pounds in the United States in 2007, according to industry research firm the Freedonia Group. And this plastic is often difficult to recycle.

Most over-the-counter bottles are made of high-density polyethylene (that's No. 2 plastic), though some may be made of polyethylene terephalate (No. 1). Both types are widely recyclable, but many local curbside programs won't take them, because they're small and can jam up equipment. Meanwhile, amber prescription bottles are usually polypropylene (No. 5), which is rarely accepted by recyclers. The design company Preserve collects No. 5 plastics at many Whole Foods, though, and you can also mail your polypropylene empties directly to the company. Some shelters, clinics, and veterinarians' offices also collect prescription vials and reuse them, so if you've got a whole bunch of them on your hands, it might be worth looking for such a facility in your area. The Lantern likes to use hers as coin containers or carrying cases for earrings and safety pins while she travels.

Meanwhile, if you want to reduce the footprint of your personal pharmaceutical habit, you should also spare a thought at the beginning of the process. Buying in bulk usually makes a lot of environmental sense, but those benefits are undercut if you have to throw away an unused product because it's gone bad. If you know you're not going to consume 500 Advil capsules before the expiration date, go for the smaller bottle. ( slate.com )

READ MORE - The greenest way to get rid of old prescription meds

ECG, endoscopy and gastroscopy

ECG, endoscopy and gastroscopy

ECG

An ECG, or electrocardiogram, records the electrical activity of the heart. It can reveal any problems with the heart's rhythm or beat.

Though it does not provide a complete picture of the heart's condition, an ECG offers background information on various types of heart disease. It can provide clues in cases of:

• Chest pain, fainting, difficulty in breathing or palpitations

• Narrowing of the arteries. This is done with an ECG before and after exercise (an exercise stress test)

• Measuring a person's risk of heart attack.

• Monitoring the effectivess of any coronary drugs.

• A slow or fast heart beat.

The test is painless and takes about a minute. Up to 12 electrodes are attached to arms, legs and chest. Electrical activity is measured and appears on a paper printout.

ERCP or endoscopy

ERCP, or endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography, is an x-ray of the pancreatic and bile ducts combined with the injection of a dye to make them show up. The bile ducts drain bile from the liver while the pancreatic duct drains pancreatic juice from the pancreas. Both open into the first part of the small intestine (the duodenum).

It detects any diseases in the bile or pancreatic ducts: cancer, gall stones, infections, and so on, or any unexplained pain in the area. It checks for blockage to the bile ducts, which can cause jaundice. An ERCP can also remove gall stones from the bile ducts.

You will be asked to fast for six hours before the x-ray. When you arrive at the x-ray department, your throat will be treated with an anaesthetic spray. You will be given a sedative to make you relax and then you'll be given an endoscope, or narrow fibre tube, which you will have to swallow.

The endoscope is threaded through to the duodenum and into the ducts which lead to the gall bladder and the pancreas. The dye is injected down the tube and the X-rays are taken.

If the x-ray detect a stone in the bile duct, this can be removed by enlarging the lower end of the duct and dragging it out.

Recovery time is usually a few hours for the sedative to wear off. If a stone has been removed, you may need to stay in hospital overnight.

The ERCP is safe, but in a small number of cases, the dye causes irritation. Pregnant women are not advised to take the test.

Gastroscopy

Gastroscopy is an examination of the inside of the gullet, stomach and duodenum. It is performed using a flexible fibre-optic instrument called a gastroscope or endoscope, which can take photographs of the area and transmit them to a TV monitor. It is fast replacing the Barium meal (an x-ray using dye) as an investigation tool.

It studies the stomach, gullet and duodenum for irritation, wounds, or tumours. It is often used to investigate cases of persistent indigestion and ulcers. Also, increasingly, it is used to obtain biopsies from the top of the small bowel for signs of a condition called coeliac disease.

Your throat will be treated with an anaesthetic spray. You will be given a sedative to make you relax and then you'll be handed the gastroscope to swallow. Sometimes the doctor will need to pump some carbon dioxide into your stomach to give a clearer view of the organs.

The examination should usually take about 15 minutes. Recovery time is usually a few hours for the sedative to wear off, but you should not drive for a day afterwards. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - ECG, endoscopy and gastroscopy

Can we really be addicted to the internet?

Can we really be addicted to the internet?. The news that China’s parents are resorting to electro-shock therapy in an attempt to ‘cure’ their children of internet addiction is nothing short of terrifying.

According to The Sunday Times: “Chinese teenagers hooked on the internet are being subjected to electro-shock therapy at a clinic that claims they will be “reborn” free of the obsession.”

What strikes me most about this report is not the draconian treatment of these teenagers (which is frightening to say the least) but that: “An official study two years ago claimed that almost 10% of the nation’s young people were “addicted to the web”.” While I’m willing to accept that “the country has more than 300m internet users”, I find it hard to believe that such a high proportion of Chinese youngsters are genuinely addicted to the internet.

Historically, there has been little consensus over what constitutes internet addiction. Although there is a healthy body of academic research which sets out to understand it, differences in criteria have made it difficult to present a definitive picture.

For me the idea of being addicted to the internet is conceptually flawed. The internet is not a homogenous ‘place’; computers and the internet facilitate a multitude of activities and behaviours. If an individual is addicted to anything, it’s these activities and not the act of being online. People are addicted to gambling with or without the internet. It makes gambling easier but take the computer away and they’ll be back to the bookies. The same stands for addiction to pornography and gaming. In this sense, the term ‘internet addiction’ is almost too generic to be meaningful.

In the book, Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Implications, Professor Mark Griffiths, a specialist in gambling and technological addictions and Laura Widyanto from Nottingham Trent University assert that: “if internet addiction does indeed exist, it affects only a relatively small percentage of the online population.”

So assuming that it is possible to be addicted to ‘being online’ how then is internet addiction identified?

Contrary to popular opinion, the amount of time someone spends online is not an indicator of internet addiction. According to Griffiths, for someone to be considered an internet addict they must show evidence of all seven components of what is known as a “technological addiction”.

Technological addictions in turn feature the core components of chemical addictions (drugs, alcohol etc). These components include: salience (the internet becomes the most important thing in someone’s life); mood modification (using the internet literally makes someone high); withdrawal (when people stop they experience shakes, moodiness or irritability); conflict (with friends, family etc); tolerance (the need to use the internet more and more to achieve former mood modifying effects) and relapse (repeat reversions to earlier patterns of use).

Although it’s possible that individuals who use the internet may experience one or another of these components, only evidence of all seven constitutes an addiction and this, at present, is incredibly rare.

There is also a very clear distinction between healthy but excessive use of the internet and actual internet addiction. For most of us high levels of computer and internet usage now constitute a normal part of life. Indeed, the recent rise in internet enabled mobile devices means that we no longer have to ‘go online’ for long periods of time any more. The internet is not something other or separate; it is embedded in our everyday lives.

As the division between our lives on and offline continues to blur, how much longer can the notion of internet addiction endure? For the sake of China’s youth, let’s hope the answer is not long. ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - Can we really be addicted to the internet?

Top 10 Cruel Things Women Do to Men

Top 10 Cruel Things Women Do to Men. Women can be cruel, and they often do cruel things to men. Despite their reputation as the fairer sex, when it comes to relationships, sometimes women can be downright nasty.

It seems like a reverse sexism started to take hold as the feminist movement came about and equality for women began gaining ground. Some women use their girl-power solidarity to come to a consensus on what’s socially acceptable for women to do to men in a relationship. They’ve agreed among themselves that these behaviors are perfectly justifiable regardless of how they play with a guy’s emotions or ego.

With that, we’ve compiled a top 10 list of cruel things women do to men.

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Is the woman in your life driving you crazy?

10. They don’t pick up the phone

You convinced her to give you her number and you’re feeling good about yourself. Your charm and good looks have obviously made an impression on her. Unfortunately, when you try to call, she doesn’t pick up or, worse yet, she’s given you a fake number. Some women will give you their numbers because it’s easier than trying to tell you why she’s not interested. What’s more, in the age of caller ID, it’s easy for her to avoid your calls. At least the women who give you a made-up number are being more obvious about the fact that they have no intention of talking to you again.

9. Use men for free drinks

Some women go out never planning to spend any of their own money on drinks at the bar or club. Instead, they count on their feminine wiles to convince guys to shell out for their libations. Some of these women will take the opportunity of a guy buying a drink for her to begin to get to know him, but others (the cruel and heartless ones) will take that drink, flirt a little and move on to the next sucker with money to burn.

8. Use men as placeholders

Maybe you’ve been in a relationship for a while and you notice that her eye is starting to wander. She’s starting more fights with you or not bothering to fight at all anymore. Her friends get quiet when you walk into a room. She’s avoiding your phone calls. Her things are disappearing from your place. The AM article Breakup Warning Signs talked about all these hints that she’s thinking about putting an end to your relationship and, well, they’re cruel things.If she is a decent person, she’ll just get it over with and dump you already, but if she’s cruel, she’ll hold on to you for a while until somebody new comes along.

These girls don’t like to be alone and without a relationship, so instead of putting you out of your misery and ending it, she’ll string you along until she meets someone to replace you. If she’s really cruel, she’ll start things up with him before she’s finalized the breakup with you.

7. Emotionally manipulate men

Men don’t like to see women cry and some cruel women will take advantage of this fact and use it to get what they want. In general, women are much more emotional than men and it’s easy for some women to use a man’s complete incomprehension of female feelings to get something out of him. A few well-placed tears or a temper tantrum and most men will do anything to get it to stop.

6. Use physical violence

Men are usually raised with the idea that hitting girls is a major no-no. Unfortunately, there are some cruel women who use this aspect of a man’s personality to gain power over him. In the minds of some women, it’s perfectly acceptable to slap a boyfriend across the face when he says something to piss her off. Knowing that he would never hit her back, this type of woman feels like she can inflict any kind physical pain on him without fear of repercussion. A man is also less likely to tell someone about suffering physical violence at the hands of his girlfriend if he believes he’ll be thought of as weak or pathetic.

5. Criticize their men in public

A growing trend in television shows and commercials is that of depicting men as bumbling idiots, while their wives and girlfriends are intelligent, in control and flawless. This may contribute to the real life practice of cruel women who criticize and humiliate their men in public places. Women can get away with this in ways that men would never be allowed to. When a woman pokes fun at her man or even soundly debases him, the group surrounding them is more likely to laugh than to be appalled.

4. They don’t disclose their relationship status

You’ve pulled out all your best moves and you seem to be making progress with the cute girl you’ve just met. When you finally get to the point when you feel you can safely ask for her number, she smiles and says: "I have a boyfriend." That information would have been nice to have at the beginning of the conversation. It’s certainly not the worst thing a woman could do to a man, but it is annoying when she lets you assume that she’s available so that she can enjoy your flirtation and flattery.

3. They withhold sex

This is a time-tested, and frequently used, cruel thing for women to do to men. For most men, sex is as important as breathing, so withholding it in order to get something she wants or simply to punish her man for his transgressions is a pretty awful thing to do, even if it is effective.

2. They test their men

You’re all ready to go for a night out with your friends, when your girlfriend calls and asks you to change your plans to be with her instead. She doesn’t have any particular reason; she just wants to see you. She knows that you had plans to meet up with the guys, but if you really loved her, you’d come over to her place instead. If her request comes with an "if you really loved me," then it’s a test. If you choose anything other than immediately rushing to her side, you’re going to fail. This kind of testing in a relationship is indeed cruel and petty.

1. They flirt to inspire jealousy

Maybe she’s feeling underappreciated, maybe you’ve just had a big fight or maybe she just enjoys the tortured look on your face. For whatever reason, girls who flirt obviously with other guys in front of their boyfriends are immature and manipulative. ( askman.com )

READ MORE - Top 10 Cruel Things Women Do to Men

Limp reception for female 'libido drug'

Limp reception for female 'libido drug'. A drug that boosts women's libido may have come a step closer after apparently successful trials.

Inevitably dubbed a "female Viagra", such drugs are objects of desire for the pharmaceutical industry, which sees them as a potential gold mine. However, flibanserin's effects are modest, and the results have reignited the debate over whether "hypoactive sexual desire disorder", which the drug claims to treat, is a real medical condition or a variation of normal human behaviour.

HSDD, defined as the persistent and distressing lack of sexual desire, is recognised as a form of female sexual dysfunction by clinicians, researchers and the drugs industry, but some doctors and therapists question it.

Flibanserin's manufacturer, German firm Boehringer Ingelheim, reported this week that women with HSDD taking the drug increased the average number of times they had "satisfying sexual experiences" from 2.8 to 4.5 times a month.

Placebo effect

However, this compares with an increase for those on placebo to 3.7 times a month. And unlike treatments for male impotence, which are immediate, flibanserin must be taken once a day and takes up to four weeks

to have an effect.

Lih-Mei Liao, a clinical psychologist specialising in women's health at University College London, says it is "very debatable" whether the results represent a useful improvement. "An effect that's statistically significant may not be clinically meaningful." Furthermore, she says the definition and assessment of sexual disorders such as HSDD "could be overly subjected to the influences

of the pharmaceutical industry".

Since the runaway success of Viagra and other drugs to treat male impotence, the pharmaceutical industry has put considerable resources towards producing a drug to increase women's libido. The two are not strictly comparable, though: Viagra-type drugs are designed to treat erectile dysfunction by increasing blood flow to the penis and do not increase desire.

Complex mix

By some estimates, around 40 per cent of women are dissatisfied with their sex life. But many sex therapists argue that women's lack of desire is usually caused by a complex mix of personal, relationship and societal factors, so a pharmaceutical fix is the wrong approach.

It's not clear how flibanserin works, though in animals it seems to alter levels of three signalling molecules in the brain, increasing dopamine and noradrenalin and decreasing serotonin. Boehringer Ingelheim was originally investigating the drug as an antidepressant when female testers reported raised libido.

This week the firm presented results from four large trials involving 1378 women at a meeting of the European Society for Sexual Medicine in Lyon, France.

While the increase in sex was small, the effect is worthwhile, according to one of the doctors who conducted the trial. John Dean, a sexual health specialist at Newton Abbot Hospital in Devon, UK, who has also been a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, says: "I have seen women have significant improvements in their sexual interest."

If the drug is granted approval, it may go on sale in one to two years. ( newscientist.com )

READ MORE - Limp reception for female 'libido drug'

Contact lenses to get built-in virtual graphics

Contact lenses to get built-in virtual graphics. A contact lens that harvests radio waves to power an LED is paving the way for a new kind of display. The lens is a prototype of a device that could display information beamed from a mobile device.

Realising that display size is increasingly a constraint in mobile devices, Babak Parviz at the University of Washington, in Seattle, hit on the idea of projecting images into the eye from a contact lens.

One of the limitations of current head-up displays is their limited field of view. A contact lens display can have a much wider field of view. "Our hope is to create images that effectively float in front of the user perhaps 50 cm to 1 m away," says Parviz.

His research involves embedding nanoscale and microscale electronic devices in substrates like paper or plastic. He also wears contact lenses. "It was a matter of putting the two together," he says.

Fitting a contact lens with circuitry is challenging. The polymer cannot withstand the temperatures or chemicals used in large-scale microfabrication, Parviz explains. So, some components – the power-harvesting circuitry and the micro light-emitting diode – had to be made separately, encased in a biocompatible material and then placed into crevices carved into the lens.

One obvious problem is powering such a device. The circuitry requires 330 microwatts but doesn't need a battery. Instead, a loop antenna picks up power beamed from a nearby radio source. The team has tested the lens by fitting it to a rabbit.

Parviz says that future versions will be able to harvest power from a user's cell phone, perhaps as it beams information to the lens. They will also have more pixels and an array of microlenses to focus the image so that it appears suspended in front of the wearer's eyes.

Despite the limited space available, each component can be integrated into the lens without obscuring the wearer's view, the researchers claim. As to what kinds of images can be viewed on this screen, the possibilities seem endless. Examples include subtitles when conversing with a foreign-language speaker, directions in unfamiliar territory and captioned photographs. The lens could also serve as a head-up display for pilots or gamers.

Mark Billinghurst, director of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is impressed with the work. "A contact lens that allows virtual graphics to be seamlessly overlaid on the real world could provide a compelling augmented reality experience," he says. This prototype is an important first step in that direction, though it may be years before the lens becomes commercially available, he adds.

The University of Washington team will present their prototype at the Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCas 2009) conference at Beijing later this month. ( newscientist.com )

READ MORE - Contact lenses to get built-in virtual graphics

Cellphone app to make maps of noise pollution

Cellphone app to make maps of noise pollution. CELLPHONES could soon be used to fight noise pollution - an irony that won't be lost on those driven to distraction by mobile phones' ringtones.

In a bid to make cities quieter, the European Union requires member states to create noise maps of their urban areas once every five years. Rather than deploying costly sensors all over a city, the maps are often created using computer models that predict how various sources of noise, such as airports and railway stations, affect the areas around them.

Nicolas Maisonneuve of the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris, France, says that those maps are not an accurate reflection of residents' exposure to noise. To get a more precise picture, Maisonneuve's team has developed NoiseTube, a downloadable software app which uses people's smartphones to monitor noise pollution. "The goal was to turn the mobile phone into an environmental sensor," says Maisonneuve.

The app records any sound picked up by the phone's microphone, along with its the GPS location. Users can label the data with extra information, such as the source of the noise, before it is transmitted to NoiseTube's server.

There the sample is tagged with the name of the street and the city it was recorded in and converted into a format that can be used with Google Earth. Software on the server checks against weather information, and rejects data that might have been distorted by high winds, for instance. Locations that have been subjected to sustained levels of noise are labelled as dangerous. The data is then added to a file, which can be downloaded from the NoiseTube website and displayed using Google Earth.

Currently the software works on only a handful of Sony Ericsson and Nokia smartphones as it has to be calibrated by Maisonneuve's team to work with the microphone on any given model. "We are currently working on a method to automatically calibrate microphones," he says.

The project is drawing interest from various agencies around the world. "NoiseTube could provide an extra tool to noise experts and decision makers in environmental noise management," says Andrea Iacoponi of ARPAT, an environmental protection agency based in Pisa, Italy. "It can be used to improve the accuracy of European Directive strategic noise maps."

Amrit Kaur of the Awaaz Foundation, a non-governmental organisation based in Mumbai, India, that is fighting noise pollution in the city, agrees. "NoiseTube has empowered us to offer citizens a real tool to bring a change in their living conditions," she says. ( newscientist.com )

READ MORE - Cellphone app to make maps of noise pollution