Archive for July, 2011
How can Silicon Valley companies go from idea to stockmarket darling in just a few short years?
You only have to look to the Oxford English Dictionary to see how much apps have become part of our day-to-day existence.
On all the market leading smart phones, a ready-made store for downloading apps is available to users from the word go. For web apps, there is a reliance on the user to consciously go to a web address.
In an industry that typically relies on recommendations and algorithmic indexing, this is a problem.
As the most widely read business newspaper in the UK, the FT may not have a problem getting its URL to the audience – but smaller operations without advertising budgets will struggle.
Teck Chia, a San Francisco-based developer, thinks he has the solution to this problem with his product, OpenAppMkt.com – a store for web apps.
"We identified two major problems for web apps on mobile," he told the BBC.
"One is discovery, and the other is the easy way to monetize their apps. Both of which were very well supported on the native platforms, but nothing of that sort exists on the open web for mobile."
To all intents and purpose, OpenAppMkt is just like any other app store.
"From the user's point of view, they see us as an alternative app store where they can discover apps that are not found in the Apple app store or Android Market.
"We support paid apps – and the way that people buy apps is very similar to the way they do it on the native app stores. They fill in a credit card once, and after that it's a one click process."
Of the revenue generated, Mr Chia's business takes a 20% share. In-app payments or subscriptions are not shared.
The site, which launched less than a year ago, has served up over one million app downloads, with an average of over 100,000 downloads a month.
Mr Chia concede that the overwhelming majority of apps downloaded are free – and this could pose problems in the long run.
"Every day we sell a few apps here and there – but there are not a lot of good quality paid apps yet."
When asked by the BBC, Apple declined to offer any comment for this article. But its strategy seems fairly solid: the native app is king.
Yet even in Cupertino it has not always been that way.
"When they first launched the iPhone it was all web apps, web apps, web apps!" Stuart Miles from UK-based Pocket-lint.com recalls.
"But then when they launched the iPhone 3G, it was 'you don't want web apps, they're rubbish!
"You want native apps so then we can charge you for them… and we'll take 30%"
For now, that's a business model that works, and makes a lot money.
A third may be a sizeable slice of the developer's revenue, but it gives them access to the biggest pie around – for now.
But on an internet which was built on the spirit of openness and free content, the modest yet solid emergence of the web app as a low cost, featured-filled alternative is a sign that both users and developers may be drifting away from the walled-garden of mobile apps in search of a more liberated experience.
Editor’s note: Dianne Feinstein is California’s senior senator.
(CNN) — Last month, China banned companies from manufacturing, importing or selling baby bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA), a potentially dangerous chemical routinely added to everyday plastic products.
China joins Canada, France, Denmark and the European Union in recognizing that this chemical is linked to a number of harmful health effects like breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, hyperactivity and other disorders.
Unfortunately, BPA is still routinely used in hundreds of consumer products sold in the United States.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates: Toxic America
BPA became widely used in the manufacturing of plastics in the 1950s. Today, in addition to plastics, The chemical is used in countless consumer products, including the lining of canned food containers, cigarette filters, dental sealants, certain medical devices and the coating of the paper on cash register receipts. Recent studies have found that BPA leaches into canned foods — particularly green beans — from the lining of the can.
BPA is a known endocrine disruptor, which means it interferes with how hormones work in the body by blocking their normal function. This chemical is so widespread that it has actually been detected in the bodies of 93% of Americans.
While other countries have banned the use of BPA, the United States, driven by the powerful chemical industry, takes the opposite approach: refusing to regulate BPA until there is strong evidence to prove it is unsafe.
Despite a BPA investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency, and other numerous studies, the United States still does not have a nationwide ban of the chemical. Even though BPA has been linked to so many harmful health effects, it is still used in American products — most notably in infant and children’s feeding products.
Just this summer, the American Medical Association adopted a new policy recognizing that BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical and urged a ban on the sale of these products. The AMA also urges the development and use of safe alternatives to BPA for the linings of infant formula cans and other food can linings.
It wasn’t long ago that we didn’t have much information about plastics. We could easily pour some milk into a plastic bottle, heat it up in the microwave and not think twice. We now know that when plastic heats up, chemicals leach into the milk and are released into the body when the milk is consumed.
Infants and children, because of their smaller size and stage of development, are particularly at risk from the harmful health effects of BPA. But since BPA is not listed on food or drink labels, we have no way of knowing our daily exposure, or which products to avoid.
In fact, more than 200 studies link BPA exposure to breast and prostate cancer, cardiac disease, diabetes and early puberty.
There is no good reason this country should continue to expose our children to a chemical that is known to disrupt the way our hormones work when there are safe, BPA-free alternatives available for baby bottles, sippy cups, and baby food and infant formula packaging.
Companies have begun to phase out BPA. Sunoco has said it will refuse to sell the chemical without a guarantee that it will not be used in children’s products. Eden Valley Organics now sells beans in BPA-free cans, and Walmart and Toys "R" Us no longer sell baby bottles containing the compound. At least 14 baby bottle manufacturers offer BPA-free alternatives or have banned the use of the chemical.
Eight states have already taken their own measures to ban BPA in some form, and pending the governor’s signature, Delaware will become the ninth. Twelve more states (California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, South Dakota, Kentucky, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee and North Dakota) have considered bills on this issue. This is commendable.
See if your state has passed a ban on BPA
The next step is a change in federal law. A simple first step is to take action to protect the most vulnerable — babies and children — and get this chemical out of baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula cans and baby food containers.
We must not use our kids as guinea pigs with a chemical that may seriously harm their health. Chemicals should not be used in food products until they are proven to be safe. I will continue to fight to keep BPA out of the products we use to feed our babies and children, and I’ve sponsored the Ban Poisonous Additives Act to support the effort.
Until BPA is proven to be absolutely harm-free to our kids, it should be banned from containers used for children. If China can do it, so can we.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dianne Feinstein.
(CNN) — For two years after a hip surgery that didn’t work out as well as he’d hoped, pain shot down Jim Heckler’s leg like electrical shocks. Several doctors, eager to help Heckler feel better, prescribed various narcotic painkillers.
"I was taking whatever they gave me," says Heckler, a 47-year-old businessman.
His doctors were fine with Heckler taking narcotics long-term, but Heckler wasn’t. He sought out Dr. Vijay Vad, a sports medicine specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, where Heckler lives, in hopes of finding a different approach.
Vad suggested Heckler get off the narcotics as soon as possible, lose weight, do back exercises, take up yoga, ride a bike, ice frequently and take fish oil, glucosamine and chondroitin supplements.
Heckler dropped from 240 to 208 pounds, did the exercises, took the supplements and while the pain has never gone away, he says it’s now tolerable enough that he doesn’t have to take painkillers.
Heckler’s experience raises a question hotly debated among doctors: Should patients to take narcotic painkillers long term? The answer has never been more important, as a new Institute of Medicine report says 116 million Americans adults have chronic pain, a number larger than many previous estimates.
A Percocet every day?
"This really is quite controversial," says Dr. John T. Farrar, a neurologist who specializes in pain at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
On the one side are doctors such as Vad who do everything they can to avoid opioid painkillers such as Percocet and OxyContin. He estimates that only 5% of his chronic pain patients take these pills daily.
"The majority of my patients come in with lots of narcotics, and I’m the clean-up guy," he says.
On the other side are doctors, many of them pain medicine specialists, who believe narcotics can be used safely on a long-term basis by patients with problems such as lower back pain.
Farrar, for example, says about 75% of his patients with chronic pain take these medicines. His patients, whose pain is so severe it couldn’t be treated by other doctors, sometimes stay on these drugs for many years.
Vad says he avoids narcotic painkillers for two major reasons.
First, they can be addictive. According to the new Institute of Medicine report, studies show about 3% of chronic pain patients who regularly take opioids develop abuse or addiction, and 12% develop "aberrant drug-related behavior."
His second reason is that the patients become desensitized to the drugs, so they need higher and higher doses to combat the same amount of pain. In time, he says the pills fail to truly mask the patient’s pain.
Farrar, on the other hand, says narcotics have worked well for many of his pain patients, as long as they’re used along with other pain treatments such as physical therapy and the patients are carefully monitored for signs of addiction.
"There are clearly patients where being on narcotics long-term has made their lives better. They can go out and do the things they want to do," he says. "Getting them off opioids will not make their lives better. It will make them worse."
Finding the root cause of pain
Taking a narcotic for pain without treating the root cause of the pain is akin to popping a pill for a toothache without fixing the tooth, says Joanne Messenger, a chiropractor in Australia who writes about pain relief.
"The narcotics might help the pain, but if you have a cavity, eventually you’re going to have to get that tooth sealed," she says.
Dr. Loren Fishman, a rehabilitative medicine specialist in New York, says he’s had plenty of patients who come to him having taken narcotics for years and have no idea exactly what’s causing their pain.
"They just know their back hurts, or their stomach hurts, but that’s just about all they can tell you," he says.
When he gets to the root cause of the pain and treats it — or finds another doctor who can treat it — he almost always can get his patients off narcotics.
"I can count my failures on one hand, and I’ve been in practice for 30 years," he says.
Five tips for facing pain without drugs
If you choose narcotics for your chronic pain, Health magazine has tips for dealing with the side effects, such as constipation, nausea and confusion.
Here are five other approaches to use instead of, or along with, narcotic painkillers.
1. Exercise
While it may seem counterintuitive to exercise while in pain, many doctors say in the long run it can help. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has advice for exercising with low back pain, and the Arthritis Foundation has tips for exercising with arthritis.
2. Alternative therapies
The National Institutes of Health, the American Pain Foundation and the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York have suggestions for alternative therapies to treat pain.
3. Sleep
A lack of REM sleep makes you more sensitive to pain, Vad says.
"Let’s say you have a cut on your finger and you’ve had enough sleep, you may say your pain is a 4 on a scale of 1-10," he says. "But if you haven’t had enough sleep, you may say it’s a 7, and it’s the same cut."
The National Sleep Foundation has an explanation for how sleep affects pain.
4. Supplements
Studies show fish oil, Vitamin B, glucosamine and chondroitin can help against certain types of pain, Vad says.
5. Heat and ice
The National Institutes of Health suggests ice for the first few days of a back injury, and then to switch to heat.
(CNN) — When Jamil Macias looked down at his new sports uniform, he felt embarrassed by the size on his tag — he knew it was the largest one on his middle-school baseball team.
Still, Macias’ friends called him a giant "teddy bear," and he had gotten used to being one of the bigger kids.
But by seventh grade, his lifestyle was changing dramatically because of his weight. After years of team sports, he started looking for excuses to skip practice and games. As his interest dwindled, he chose to drop out altogether — first from baseball, then, soccer and finally basketball. From then on, the gain accelerated. As a junior in high school, he weighed more than 300 pounds.
While his peers were trying out the latest Abercrombie & Fitch fads, he was trying to find pants large enough to fit his 44-inch waist.
Have you lost a lot of weight? Tell us about it on iReport
"I felt a little bit isolated from society," he said. "After school, people would get ready for sports practices, and I would go home and do homework."
Yet it wasn’t until Macias vacationed in Hawaii at age 17 that he really grasped the reality of his size.
While looking at the digital photos from the trip — initially intending to show them to friends — he was shocked by his appearance. "I never took very many pictures of myself," he said. "When I looked at them, I was too embarrassed to post them online. … I (thought), ‘Whoa, this is what I look like?’ "
And soon after, during a routine physical, the doctor’s scale showed 313 pounds.
That number, and the Hawaii photos, convinced him that he had to change.
But resolving to lose weight was nothing new — on previous visits, his doctor had talked to him about going on a diet or getting a referral for a dietitian. Throughout high school, he’d sporadically headed to the gym, aware of his expanding size, except the habit never stuck.
But now he had motivation. Macias went home that night and began exercising in his garage to avoid being seen at a gym.
Unfortunately his third session on the elliptical ended badly; the strain of his weight broke the machine almost in half and landed him on the floor. His family wasn’t there to witness it, but he felt humiliated when he thought about going inside to face them.
"I was really embarrassed because I had never thought in my mind that I would be big enough to break an exercise machine," he said.
So he began to work out by walking at night. After the disastrous session with the elliptical, he was careful to keep a cover between himself and any potential stares.
It was on one of his first evening jogs that Macias specifically remembers feeling hurt as teenagers in a truck drove by and called him, "Fatty."
"Stuff like that wasn’t common, but it did happen," he said. "I used that as a motivator to keep going — I wasn’t going to let something like that stop me."
Macias pushed himself further each night, progressing from walking to running, in addition to eliminating fast food and replacing processed, sugary foods with fruits and vegetables. His family — especially his mother — was supportive, keeping track of the number of pounds lost right along with him.
"I did the research on my own," he said. "I never followed a specific diet or book. … I explored other (food) options that I knew were better substitutes."
He starts out breakfast with protein-rich dairy, such as cottage cheese and yogurt. Lunch and dinner always include salad and vegetables in addition to an entrée that’s high in protein.
"I didn’t have a set amount of how much I wanted to lose — I just wanted to keep going until I felt good about myself," he said.
After about three years, Macias had dropped nearly 130 pounds and weighed in at 185 in September 2010. "I felt really good," he said. "It took me awhile to really understand my body and know what I can do to it, change it, help it grow and become stronger."
Moving forward
Every day of the week at 5:30 a.m., Macias, now 22, wakes up to hit the gym, usually running for about half an hour on the treadmill and then lifting weights.
Since graduating from college in April, Macias has gained 10 pounds of weight from training to build up muscle. He ran a half marathon in February and is training to run another in August.
"We can all make time to exercise," he said. "You have to stay motivated and positive and pretty much eliminate the excuses."
Besides his physical appearance, Macias said, his lifestyle changes have affected how he interacts with people.
During high school, he would have described himself as reclusive — shy and unengaged.
But thanks to a healthier lifestyle, Macias said he feels a higher self-esteem and — if placed in a group — would immediately identify himself as the leader, filled with confidence he once lacked.
"That was really the theme that kept me going — I wanted to be more engaged in life, and I knew that (losing weight) would help me do it," he said.
Thrombosed hemorrhoids are defined as, hemorrhoids where in the swollen arteries are filled with clotted blood. The explanation of thrombosis is: the growth of a blood clot on the inside of a problematic artery. This blood clot limits blood flow through the problematic artery, in that way constricting the oxygen and a number of other essential ingredients for example lactic acid. In cases where a thrombosed hemorrhoid experiences increased pressure it might just break. If it does, the anus will begin bleeding and here the hemorroid is named a bleeding hemorrhoid.
If you notice soreness or itching directy on your anus you likely have hemorrhoids. If you encounter bluish lumps directy on your anus they are in all probability thrombosed. The bluish tint is a result of blood clots which have hardened blocking the blood from flowing and are constricting the oxygen. Generally they feel hard to the touch on account of the clotting . You can’t always notice thrombosed hemorrhoids. Many hemorrhoids are on the inside of the rectal canal.
Whether or not you might have internal or external hemorroids, whether you really should get them cured immediately. Thrombosed hemorrhoids in some cases turn into bleeding hemorrhoids which will get infected which will, on uncommon occasions, trigger blood poisoning which is sometimes lethal. Although external hemorrhoids are usually a lot more debilitating, bleeding hemorrhoids which are internal are much more harmful. An external infection is somewhat uncomplicated to get rid of. An internal infection is far more hard to notice and consequently a lot more hard to get rid of.
Some good study online for hemorrhoid treatment choices should uncover lots of different kinds of hemorrhoid treatment tactics. For more extreme cases you may prefer to opt for surgical removal. In most circumstances however, your body system can get rid of the abnormal condition naturally with Just a little bit of help from you. Individual hygiene, a well balanced diet and physical exercise are by far the most reliable hemorrhoid treatment remedies obtainable to get rid of your hemorrhoids and to assist stop future hemorrhoids. You’ll want to keep your anus nice and clean because that is a hemorrhoid treatment . Use topical antiseptics on it fairly often Consume lots of fiber, in particular fruits and vegetables which have a lot of vitamins in them. Walk a few miles every day or persue a sports activity that needs strenuous physical movement. Drink lots of fluids but steer clear of alcohol. You could apply topical creams and salves to your anus to assist decrease the discomfort and itching accompanied by them. Just recognize that these are temporary relief rather than hemorrhoid treatment solutions. Not even surgical removal is a hemorrhoid treatment that can permanently remedy hemorroids. The only way you’ll be able to genuinely cure hemorrhoids is by altering your life style.
Bleeding hemorrhoids can be awfully daunting sometimes. Hemorrhoids are a affliction where veins in the anal area are inflamed, and when ever they rupture internally or on the surface, it is regarded as being a bleeding hemorrhoid. Considering that this kind is a good deal more serious than standard hemorrhoids, you need be evaluated by a medical professional asap, to be sure you procure most suitable hemorrhoid treatment. You can find a few hemorrhoid treatment types that you could possibly use for your bleeding hemorrhoids.
In the event that you are enduring bleeding hemorrhoids, it’s quite possible you are going to be getting surgery. That is why you really need to get rid of this affliction as soon as you can to avoid further complicating your affliction . Hemorrhoid surgery is known for extreme post surgery discomfort, and it more often than not takes a while to remedy.
One hemorrhoid treatment technique for bleeding hemorrhoids would be the stapled hemorrhoidectomy. This hemorrhoid treatment is not going to bring very much physical pain, since it uses a circular stapler to minimize the bleeding of the inflamed veins. This hemorrhoid treatment technique is used to treat prolapsed hemorrhoids, but works well on almost all cases of bleeding hemorrhoids. Another well-liked hemorrhoid treatment is referred to as hemorrhoidal artery ligationThis process makes use of a proctoscope and a Doppler transducerto identify and ligate the veins which isresulting in the bleeding of your hemorrhoids. With the ligation of your veins , the pressure would be a great deal diminished. This solution is fairly painless and safe. It is a preferred alternative than some other hemorrhoid treatment types.
Though a medical professional is certain to recommend an operation to mend your bleeding hemorrhoids,you may be able to cure bleeding hemorrhoids through alternative hemorrhoid treatment remedies. You can use ointments and creams to alleviate the itching and pain. You can administer a ‘sitz’ bath also. Basically, if you can make yourself eat fruit and veggies as well as fiber that could help lots. Try not to apply too much pressure on your lower pelvic region, particularly when going to the bathroom. If you are currently pregnant or heavy be particularly careful to not rush the process. Hemorrhoids, can, and typically do, remedy if you’ll simply attend to them.
Given you feel you have got hemorrhoids you’re most likely aiming to learn what your most reliable hemorrhoid treatment alternatives are. As you may thought, there are many distinct hemorrhoid treatment possibilities . If you have got hemorrhoids which are not awfully problematic you can in all likelihood get them healed with one of the many numerous hemorrhoid treatment homemade remedies. Conversely, if you have got problematic hemorrhoids, which usually means, thrombosed hemorrhoids and-or hemorrhoids that have started bleeding you need to look into surgical treatment as a hemorrhoid treatment option.
Not all hemorrhoid treatment medical operation possibilities are alike. In reality a great many of them are known to be relatively painfull.In addition to that they usually take quite a while to heal. Happily, a number of the more recent solutions tend to be not as painful, but they are just as valuable as a treatment to remedy hemorrhoids. If you happen to be considering surgical treatment as a hemorrhoid alternative then you are most likely aiming to learn what varieties of surgical treatment are available to you. This information was penned to show you a summary of the individual varieties of surgical treatment that are obtainable to remedy hemorrhoids.
A commonly used technique for hemorrhoids is ‘Rubber Band Ligation’. Simply put, a specialised sort of tool is used to place a very little rubberband snugly over to the base of the hemorrhoid. The rubber band chokes off the the flow of blood to the hemorrhoid. Using this method the hemorrhoid withers and later on drops off anal opening or inside rectum wall.
You might want to look into laser medical operation. Laser surgery treatment requires making use of a lazer beam to burn the hemorrhoid off. The surgical treatment requires a very brief time and thus you can go back home on that day. this is an out patient hemorrhoid treatment. Laser surgical treatment should not carry the normal potential risks that normally come with surgical treatment , especially bleeding because the laser gun cauterizes the resultant injury.
There exists a kind of hemorrhoid treatment which involves stapling the hemorrhoid with a unique kind of circular staple. This is referred to as a Stapled Hemorrhoidectomy and is very renowned . It often times applied to get rid of any sorts of bleeding hemorrhoids but mostly prolapsed hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoidal Artery Ligation Operation sometimes known as HAL is a most recent kind of hemorrhoid treatment that involves surgical treatment. It is gaining popularity given it will not likely induce very much pain. Generally speaking the surgery involves finding all the veins that will supply the hemorroid with blood. Whenever the veins are selected they are stitched to hinder the blood supply to the hemorrhoid. Because of this the hemorrhoid withers and falls off leaving a little scar..