IndoPost.com Breaking News and Opinion

Everybody loves iPad, as sales have passed two million units since launch on April 3

The giant mobile gadgets company in the world just announced great news about their popular product iPad as sales have passed two million units in less than 60 days, reported Apple official site.  With weight just only 1.5 pounds and with capability of multi-touch to run 200,000 apps, this little machine has been very popular since its launch during Easter weekend on April 3.  Global launch was started last week as a ton of fans were lining up in major cities in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Britain.

Live MD business is booming in America

As health care costs continue to skyrocket, at the same time many Americans also live in remote locations where it’s hard to find human physicians on the spot.  In today’s technological advances, patients can connect to a doctor thousands of miles away with Internet video. The business of telemedicine, or Live MD, is booming in America.  Live MD technology uses Internet camera to connect patients with an MD doctor locally or internationally.  Citing data from Datamonitor, nytimes.com reported that interactive telemedicine business grows about 10 percent each year with projected over $500 million in revenue in America in 2010.

New and extremely toxic strain of supergerms (Clostridium difficile) found in Arizona hospitals

Health officials in Phoenix, Arizona, hospitals have confirmed that they found a new and extremely toxic strain of supergerms which in medical term is also known as Clostridium difficile or NAP1.  The supergerm has created many illness and deaths to mostly elderly patients since early March.  As reported by a local news in Arizona, this new type of supergerms are resistant to antibiotics. Medical experts warn that the supergerms can cause diarrhea and inflammation of patient’s colon which may lead to severely ill and fatal.

Enterprise users are buying larger number of iPhone smartphones

During a conference at Barclays Capital Communications, Media and Technology this week, Ron Spears, CEO of AT&T for Business Solutions unit said that the giant mobile phone provider sold four out of 10 iPhones to enterprise users, reported computerworld.com.  Wall Street analysts believe most of enterprises buyers use the smartphone for personal tasks and also for work functions including accessing their company’s email system.

Maintain good dental and oral hygiene will reduce heart disease

Using a sample of 11,000 people in Britain, a team of researchers at the Scottish Health Survey found that people who brushing their teeth everyday are less likely to have heart disease, as reported by webmd.com.  According to the research findings, people who don’t brush their teeth frequently could have 70% extra risk of heart disease. 

In the meantime, 71% of the total survey respondents said they brushed their teeth at least twice per day. The latest study found people who brushing their teeth more often will decrease individuals’ chances of suffering a heart attack.

Medical researchers and scientists have long studied the possible link between oral hygiene and cardiovascular health.  Medical scientists believe chronic gum infections could add to the inflammatory burden on people which may increase chances of cardiovascular risk.  Citing the latest study, webmd.com wrote “Oral infections are common, so doctors should be alert to infections in the mouth as signs of increased inflammation, and tell patients to brush their teeth and maintain good oral hygiene…”

Google top 1,000 global websites by unique visitors

Google release a list of top 1,000 websites in the world which was based on the total number of unique visitors per month.  Each website’s user data was collected in April.  The list of 1,000 global websites does not include sex or violent content sites, ad networks, and domain parking.  While websites that load slowly were also excluded from the list.

Google splits the table of the top 1,000 websites into rank, site name, category, users, page views, and whether the particular website has ads or accept ads.

Among websites in the top 10 list is #1 facebook.com (social networks) with 540,000,000 unique visitors per month and follows by #2 yahoo.com (portal) with 490,000,000 unique visitors. 

Other websites on the top 10 list are Microsoft’s properties include #3 live.com with 370,000,000 unique visitors, #5 msn.com with 280,000,000 unique visitors, and #6 microsoft.com with 230,000,000 unique visitors. 

Two of Chinese websites round up the top 10 global websites includes #8 baidu.com with 230,000,000 unique visitors and #9 qq.com with 170,000,000 unique visitors.

Click here to see a complete list of top 1,000 global websites

Googling me, 57% of American adults have conducted search to find out more about themselves

Using a sample survey and phone interviews of 2,253 adults of 18-year-old and older during the month of August and September 2009, pewinternet.org found that 57% of respondents have used a search engine to googling themselves online.  Compared to 2006, there was only 47% had googled themselves.  Majority adults conduct online search to find out more about their name and their digital footprints.

Four-vehicle crash and 17 million angry bees

Many bees got loose after four-vehicle crash in northwestern Minnesota on Monday afternoon.  At the same time, rescue team was also stung by angry bees.  In order to protect the rescue team, crews used firefighter’s hoses to get those angry bees to fly away in the highway.

A medium size trailer was carrying 7,000 bee hives which housed about 17 million bees.  The truck was involved in a fatal car crash.   Local authorities said one person died during the crash and another person was in critical condition, as reported by AP news.

A Chinese man is the wealthiest resident in Los Angeles with a net worth of $7.1 Billion

A special report published by labusinessjournal.com shows that the wealthiest resident in Los Angeles today is a Chinese man.   Billionaire and biotech entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong was born in South Africa in 1952.  Mr. Soon-Shiong is a founder and CEO of Abraxis BioScience and has a majority stakes in American Pharmaceutical Partners (APP).  He has a net worth of $7.1 Billion and grows over 18% annually, as per labusinessjournal.com.  Abraxis BioScience is a biotechnology company which develops cancer treatment and drugs. 

According to labusinessjournal.com, Mr. Soon-Shiong and his wife Michele Chan has pledged $100 million to rebuild Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital in the center of Los Angeles city last November.  The hospital was closed due to current economy turmoil in the Los Angeles county.  In an interview during the $100 million pledge to the city which was quoted by labusinessjournal.com, Mr. Soon-Shiong said “My hope is that this could catalyze other philanthropists to stand up and participate.”

(Photo: AP Images)

In Trojan We Trust: American capital city needs stronger and more-expensive condoms to fight HIV

With 3 percent of American capital city residents have HIV and also young adults (incl. high kids and college-age adults) continue to complain about low quality and too small condoms, the capital city Washington DC officials decided to spend an extra few thousand dollars per year and to offer Trojan made condoms including plus-size variety (i.e., Trojan Magnum), reported washingtonpost.com.  Local government has offered free condoms at over 100 locations such as barbershops, sport activities centers, youth centers, and convenience stores.  Besides providing free condoms at young adults’ hangouts places, local government also post mailed up to 10 free condoms at a time to anyone who lives in the American capital city if they requested via online.

Sexual activity declined for heart attack survivors, but need "sex talk" with their doctors

Heart attack survivors tend to be less active on bed with their partner/spouse after recovering, reported WebMD Health News.  A study based on data collected from 1,184 men and 576 women who survived a heart attack, found that sexual activity dropped significantly for people during the year after a heart attack.  The study found 30% of men reported drop in bed activity, while about 40% of women experienced drop in sexual activity, as reported by WebMD Health News.

The latest finding on heart attack survivors was reported at an American Heart Association meeting in Washington, D.C. this week.  Researchers urged heart attack survivors to have a "sex talk" with their doctors.  As reported by WebMD Health News citing one of the researchers headed by Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, said "We found that one important difference between people who did and did not resume sexual activity after a heart attack was whether their doctor discussed the issue with them at hospital discharge."

Potential side effect of blue pills and hearing loss

Blue pills (Viagra) and similar types (incl. Cialis and Levitra) which were first introduced in America in 1998 for men with erectile dysfunction may have side effect to hearing loss.  A team of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found some evidences to support a link between the blue pills and hearing problems, reported HealthDay News. 

The latest study was based on a dataset collected from 11,500 men who were over 40-year-old between 2003 and 2006.  According to Prof. Gerald McGwin the lead author of the study, cited by HealthDay News, said "PDE-5i medications work in erectile dysfunction patients by their ability to increase blood flow to certain tissues in the body."  Later Prof. McGwin added "It has been hypothesized that they may have a similar effect on similar tissues in the ear, where an increase of blood flow could potentially cause damage leading to hearing loss."

Say Hello to Google TV, a new era in Internet TV and search engine combo

The giant search engine which controls over 70% search market share in America starts a new era in Internet TV with this morning’s announcement of Google TV.  With its innovative search technology, Google offers users fast way to navigate channels, conduct searches, surf websites, utilize apps, and find shows, movies, and video clips online. 

The new Google TV operating system is built on its popular open platforms Android OS.  In order to take advantage of all features by switching between TV and websites, including conducting search, websites browsing, photos & music sharing, users must installed their devices with Google Chrome.

No more soda vending machines in San Antonio’s city facilities

As one of the top tourist destination in the Southern part of America, San Antonio which is also famous for its basketball team the Spurs, will soon ban sodas in its city facilities.  San Antonio’s city manager Sheryl Sculley has asked its staff to remove 250 soda vending machines in the city facilities.  Ms. Sculley believes soda contains high-calorie and too much sugar which is unhealthy for city employees, as reported by local news chron.com. 

The decision to ban sodas in the city facilities received many supports.  As reported by chron.com and citing Camille Miller, president and CEO of a local public policy think tank, said  “My hat is off to a government employee saying that a government facility shouldn't make it easy for people to be unhealthy.”

The side effects of pesticides on children include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

The present study was conducted by a team of researchers at Harvard School of Public Health.  Researchers used a sample of 1,139 children at 8-year-old to 15-year-old in America.  They found a group of children that closed to pesticides could have developed a high risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  As reported by reuters.com citing the research team leader Marc Weisskopf said "There is growing concern that these pesticides may be related to ADHD."  In order to reduce risk, researchers urged parents to wash fruits and vegetables before consumed them.

Too early to call links between mobile phones and brain cancer

Using a sample of 13,000 cell phone users for duration of 10 years, a study conducted by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found that too early to call links between mobile phones and brain cancer.  Citing Christopher Wild, director of IARC and later published by reuters.com, "The results really don't allow us to conclude that there is any risk associated with mobile phone use, but... it is also premature to say that there is no risk associated with it."   Mobile phones industry experts welcome the latest study, and many said that the industry needs more research regarding the side effect of mobile phone usages especially for heaviest users.

The rise of peanut allergies among kids in America

A study based on 5,300 households in 2008 conducted by Jaffe Food Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that 1.4% of children in America has allergies to peanuts, as reported by WebMD Health News.  Using the same study conducted in 1997, there were only 0.4% of samples has peanut allergies.  In the meantime, kids with allergies to any type of nuts increased to 2.1% in 2008, compared to 1997 which was only 0.6% of all samples.

Google to stop selling Nexus One smartphone online

While Google Android operating system (OS) continues to capture global mobile market share, however Google has failed to operate its online store. Google online store will stop selling Nexus One smartphone soon as consumers prefer to buy it via retail stores.  As Google blog wrote "Once we have increased the availability of Nexus One devices in stores, we'll stop selling handsets via the web store, and will instead use it as an online store window to showcase a variety of Android phones available globally."  Mobile phones users prefer to have a hand-on experience before decide to buy them. 

Google Nexus One was introduced in early January and has attracted a small number of users so far.  At the same time, mobile phone providers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint also offer a similar type of phone running on Google Android OS.  In recent months, Verizon Droid Incredible made by HTC is one of the most popular smartphone running on Google Android OS in the market, with a retail value of $199.

Not so time-sensitive materials in a Northeast Philadelphia postal office

An American postal worker in Northeast Philadelphia had kept over 20,000 unopened documents and letters inside his garage since 2007.  Some of those mails were time-sensitive materials.  However, some mails (incl. paychecks, college acceptance letters, IRS letters, etc.) just arrived to the receivers this week, as reported by cbs3.com. 

The finding occurred recently when the postal worker was off from work for several days, and local postal officials went to his home to investigate the situation.  According to cbs3.com, investigators are now searching for the mailman and will further announce the identity of this postal carrier.

Chinese astronauts love dog meat while in outer space

In order to have a full stamina while circling the earth, Chinese astronauts ate dog meat while in outer space.  The menu on-board of a Chinese spacecraft was recently revealed by Yang Liwei who is the first man in space, reported telegraph.co.uk.  Yang Liwei wrote about the menu in his new autobiography, The Nine Levels between Heaven and Earth.  According to the book, the high calories and nutritional dog meat was purchased from a local eatery in Huajiang county in Guangdong.  Chinese legends believe dog meat is a very important part of traditional Chinese medicine.

(photo: Yang Liwei by reuters.com)