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The largest state in America became a pioneer of privacy laws that protect Californians who are actively using social media, including Facebook and Twitter

Based on the initiative of two senators in California, Governor Jerry Brown signed two legislations to protect people who live in the largest state in America. The two privacy protection laws are the first ever signed by a governor in America. The California's decision could pave a way for other states to follow the similar path. These two laws will also impact the global initiatives to protect their citizens.

Starting January 1, 2013, companies are banned from firing their employees and taking discipline actions if employees refused to hand over their login and password which are related to their social media activities including Facebook and Twitter accounts. Employers are also not allowed to force candidates to turn over their personal e-mail accounts.

One of the two laws also bans colleges and universities to ask current active students’ and prospective students’ user name, login, or password, especially student athletes. In the world of college sports and to follow NCAA rules, many coaches who are recruiting student athletes may try to take a peek on their social media accounts. Some universities have assigned staffs to monitor athletes’ social networking contents. However, all those practices will end in three months in California.

(Images: left, Twitter logo; right, Facebook logo)

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After completed over 480K kilometers (300K miles) of testing without a single incident, Google’s self-driving cars received its first license plate for operating on California roads and highways

California Governor Edmund G Brown Jr. has signed a new legislation which allowing driverless cars to be operated on the state roads and highways. After taking a short ride using one of Google’s driverless cars, Brown visited Google headquarter to sign the legislation. The bill will now allow a self-driving car to obtain a license plate in California. Google has been working hard and lobbying for the legislation. The bill will also boost Silicon Valley as the home of nurturing high technology industry. Experts believe the California's bill may contain fewer restrictions on the way it operates in California than other states, such as Nevada.

Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin considers that self-driving cars can provide transport to people who have difficulties to drive themselves including blind people, disabled, elderly and intoxicated (due to consuming alcohol). Study shows that self-driving cars can help reduce congestion in urban areas.

In early August 2012, Google’s self-driving cars had completed for over 480K kilometers (300K miles) testing without a single incident. Based on this record, experts believe that Google’s futuristic cars are safer than regular cars which are driven by human.

(Image: a sample of Google’s self-driving car, a Lexus RX450h)

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The end of brink-and-mortar stores: implications of tablet computers and handheld devices on the shrinking stores spaces, as many office-supply businesses are closing down and downsizing shops

As more people in America are conducting their daily life thru tablet computers and handheld devices, the need for buying office-supply has dropped significantly in recent years including PCs, printers, and papers. At the same time, people are changing their shopping behavior as they are now purchasing stuffs via online. So, the need of physical stores has reduced significantly.

Office-supply business continued to face new obstacles as one of the well-known brands in America, Staples, is planning to closing down and downsizing shops. According to the company press release, the top office-supplier in America is reducing the size of physical stores by about 15% by the end of fiscal year of 2015, where it expects to save about $250 million. The company will close 30 stores in North America, while at the same time it will also downsize 30 stores during fiscal year of 2012.

Americans Pediatrics warned youngsters to stay off trampolines at a party event, at a public playground, or at their home’s backyard

Pediatricians in America urged kids to stop playing with trampolines while at a party event, a public playground, or at their home’s backyard. Americans kids’ doctors believe that about 100,000 injuries occurred due to the bouncy mats every year. While trampolines manufacturers have added more safety features to the latest models in order to lower the risks, however, due to playing with trampolines, more kids have flocked into emergency rooms across America in recent years. The latest warning was published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Most trampoline injuries occurred when more than one user are jumping on the mat. Majority injuries happened due to a heavier person is jumping while a smaller kid or lighter person is bouncing at the same time. One of the most reported injuries was in regard to cervical spine injuries which occurred when a user fell off the trampoline.

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Life expectancy for the least educated white Americans has dropped significantly, while life expectancy for the most educated Americans has made the biggest gains in recent years

A research study conducted by a team of researchers led by Professor S. Jay Olshansky at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, found that white Americans lacking a high school diploma have sharp drops in life expectancy. In contrast, white Americans with the most educated have made the biggest jumps in term of life expectancy in recent years. The study with a title “Differences In Life Expectancy Due To Race And Educational Differences Are Widening, And Many May Not Catch Up” was published at Health Affairs.

Researchers did not mention exacts reasons for the linkage between life expectation and the level of education. However, some potential reasons for sharp drops in life expectancy for the uneducated whites include heavy used of prescription drugs during young ages, increasing number of whites population especially women who have habit of cigarette smoking, over-weight, and declining of obtaining health insurance.

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Special Report: How to Prolong the Life of Lithium Batteries, Found in Almost All Portable Electronics

Long anticipated laptops and phones are finally here, but one problem still remains: how to prolong battery life. Lithium based batteries seem to be found in almost all portable electronics, including PCs and cellphones. Everyone wants their batteries to last as long as possible, but some well-meaning advice from friends can harm your lithium battery’s ultimate life span.

Many people believe it is better to charge when your portable electronic is almost empty, as it supposedly gives you the maximum capacity. Should you charge when the battery is half full, the battery would believe this point as the empty point, and your battery capacity would be shortened by half. However, this doesn’t apply to lithium batteries; this advice is meant for nickel based batteries. Doing this often will result in damage to your battery’s health, possibly making your device unusable if the battery is completely emptied too often. These days, there is a safety circuit in place to prevent the battery from reaching that point, but there are always exceptions. Leave your electronic uncharged for days on end, and even that safety circuit won’t save it.

There are, nonetheless, some benefits to discharging heavily, which is waiting until near zero to charge your device. Should you notice your battery readings becoming more and more inaccurate, many manufacturers advise discharging once a month in order to calibrate your battery meter, giving it more accurate readings.

Heat is another factor contributing to lowering your battery capacity. Leave a device containing lithium batteries charging and running, and after another year or so, the batteries will be downgraded to around 60 to 80% of its original max capability. This is the reason why people who switch their desktops with laptops notice a significantly reduced battery life performance after one year of use. This issue concerning laptops and computers can be fixed by removing the battery when using a corded power source. It may be wise to check out safety concerns, as some manufacturers have stated that the battery casings can collect such nuisances as moisture and dust that can cause a decrease in capacity.

Should you not plan on using the lithium battery for a long period of time, reduce the charge level to about 40% and place the battery in the fridge, not the freezer. Manufacturers recommend storing batteries at 40% as it prevents two extremes. Leaving the battery at 100% can apply unnecessary stress and can cause internal corrosion. If the charge is too low, the battery can become permanently unusable, due to battery self-discharge after a period of time.

California’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 10.6% in August, compared to 10.7% in July 2012, but remained as the third-highest unemployment rate in America (Nevada #1 and Rhode Island #2)

While the largest state in America, California, is not considered as the 2012 election swing states, the race between the incumbent president Barack Obama (Democratic Party) and Republican candidate Mitt Romney is boiling in several swing states due to large number of undecided voters, such as Nevada, Iowa, Florida, Ohio and Virginia. The average of unemployment rate in America in August was at 8.1 percent, while the unemployment rate in those swing states are mostly higher than the average.

According to data from America’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, companies in California added about 12,000 nonfarm jobs in August 2012. Companies continue to add more jobs during the past 13 months in a row. However, California remained as the third-highest unemployment rate in America at 10.6%. Two others states were ahead of California in term of unemployment rate, Nevada has the highest unemployment rate at 12.1%, and followed by Rhode Island at number two with 10.7%.

Citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, latimes.com reported that there were several top industries in California that adding jobs in August 2012. First, education and health services added the most jobs in August as students returned to schools and posting an increase of 8,900 jobs. Second, leisure and hospitality added about 4,400 jobs.

Wal-Mart says good-bye to Amazon Kindles, as the world's largest superstore chain strengthens its Internet business and fights against the Ecommerce King in term of online sales

As the world's largest superstore chain, Wal-Mart will stop displaying Amazon Kindles in all of its stores. The latest Wal-Mart’s decision is almost similar to Target’s decision which blamed Amazon's marketing tactics with better pricing system and low profits. Many potential e-reader buyers have utilized brick-and-mortar stores to window shopping as they later purchased the devices online via Amazon website.

The black-and-white Kindle was first introduced in late 2007 and later becoming one of the top sellers of e-readers in America. Most buyers have bought the e-reader thru Amazon’s website. After several upgrades, the Ecommerce King introduced Kindle Fire running on Android operating system with colorful screen during the Thanks Giving holiday in late November 2011. The original asking price for Kindle Fire was $199 and later dropped to less than $150. Early September 2012, Amazon introduced several new models for the Kindle family including Kindle Paperwhite (with a bright screen) and Kindle Fire HD (with faster microprocessors and mobile apps which link to Amazon online stores).

While Wal-Mart will remove Amazon’s products from its stores, according to Reuters, Wal-Mart will continue selling other e-reader products such as Apple iPad tablet computers and Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader.

In the meantime, Wal-Mart has been very aggressive to add more engineers to strengthen its Internet business. In early September 2012, the superstore chain has been testing iPhone and iPad apps for checkout feature in its stores. In late August 2012, Wal-Mart also introduced a new search engine known as Polaris to help buyers to search products online easily.

(Images: top left, Wal-Mart iTunes logo; right, Kindle e-reader)

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America’s seafood harvests reached a new record high in 2011, as West coast (i.e., Alaska) and East coast (i.e., Massachusetts) showed significant increases in term of volume and value

Seafood catch in America reached a new record high in 2011 after 17 years were at a stable level. All fishing regions from West coast to East coast showed significant increases in term of volume and value of their catches. According to a report provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in term of volume, Dutch Harbor, Alaska, is the number one port and brought in 706 million pounds of seafood in 2011. In term of value, New Bedford, Massachusetts, is the top spot and registered $369 million worth of seafood in 2011.

In the West coast, Alaska’s fishermen brought in 5.4 billion pounds of seafood. Alaska is the number one seafood producer in America and followed by other states including Louisiana, California, Virginia and Washington. Alaska’s fishermen also registered $1.9 billion in the value of the total catch. Aside of being the top volume, Alaska is also the number one seafood money maker and followed by other states including Massachusetts, Maine, Louisiana and Washington.

China is the number one nation to consume a lot of seafood, America is the number two. While America’s fishermen harvested more seafood in 2011, however, Americans ate less seafood in 2011. People in America ate about 15 pounds of seafood per person in 2011, compared to 15.8 pounds in 2010, a slightly drop of 0.8 pounds (or a drop of 5%).

Silicon Valley’s drugmaker VIVUS launched Qsymia, a weight loss (anti-obesity) pill is now available for sale in America after getting approval by FDA in June 2012

Silicon Valley is not only famous as a high technology hub, but it is also famous as a drugmaker powerhouse. One of those new generation drugmaker, VIVUS, has its headquarter located in Mountain View, just several blocks from the world’s largest search engine company Google main office.

VIVUS is now officially launched a new pill for helping people to control their weight. The anti-obesity pill is known as Qsymia. This week, the drugmaker introduced the new pill during a medical conference at The Obesity Society's Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. To promote the new pill, VIVUS also launched a website catered for doctors and patients.

VIVUS received a thumb up from the America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2012. Later, VIVUS received additional approval for selling the weight loss pills in July 2012. Expect to see more marketing materials to come into TV, print ads, and Internet soon,

(Logo: Qsymia)

Microsoft offers Office 365 version Home Premium to help family with at least 5 users to save money, including applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others

Microsoft plans to charge about $100 per year for a family for the new Office 365 cloud-based platform. Each family will get Office license for at least 5 users, or averaging only $20 per user per year. Users must pay annually, so they cannot pay monthly. Office 365 includes applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others. The applications can run on a laptop, a desktop PC, or on a tablet (i.e., Surface). Each user can login into Office 365 with their own account (i.e., using a Live ID) and working on their documents separately.

Microsoft will also increase the storage for storing Word, Excel, PowerPoint files. The old storage size was 7GB. The new storage size is now 20GB.

Aside using Office applications, Microsoft is also trying to promote Skype communication system over the Internet (VOIP). Each family will get a free 60 minutes calling plan with other family members and friends anywhere in the world.

The new Microsoft’s offer is considered as a new trend. The giant software company has shifted its strategy toward paid-subscription clients. The new business model will send users’ files into a cloud-based platform, compared to the old-model where users will have to install the Office applications on each their laptops or desktops, while storing their files locally.

The benefits for subscribers includes that they will receive updates frequently on new products and services. Microsoft promises to release new features to all paid-subscribers as soon as those new features are available for free download.

(Image: Microsoft Office Preview)

Demographic trends in rural versus urban America: residents who live in countryside fatter than those living in cities

A recent study conducted by three researchers including Christie A. Befort, Ph.D and Niaman Nazir, M.D, from the University of Kansas Medical Center, and Michael G. Perri, Ph.D, from the University of Florida, found people live in cities are slimmer than people live in rural. In term of demographic trends, the study believes that rural obesity is a big issue. The study is being published by the Journal of Rural Health which is operated by the National Rural Health Association.

The advantage of the study was that researchers used a new method of body mass index (BMI) information to compare obesity rates between people who live in rural and in urban. The study used a sample of over 8,800 Americans.

The study’s findings showed that people live in countryside have about 20% higher chance of being fatter than those living in cities. By using BMI info, the obesity rates for Americans who live in rural were at about 40%, while the obesity rates for Americans who live in urban were at 33%.

Emerging factor for heart-attack risk: highly demanding job and job stress linked to coronary heart disease and death

A team of researchers from several universities in Europe led by Prof. Mika Kivimäki, Ph.D., examined 13 studies that were conducted between 1986 and 2006. Prof. Kivimäki is a professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London. Prof. Kivimäki and the research team found that job stress as one of the emerging factors for heart attack and death.

Researcher crunched data from 200,000 patients, while continued monitoring for a span of 7.5 years in the average. Prof. Kivimäki and colleagues’ sample size was considered larger than previous studies. Researchers believe that job stress was linked to a 23% higher chance of getting heart attacks and deaths. The study is being published by The Lancet, a medical journal. Researchers found job stress usually occurred in lower skilled workers.

Researchers warned that job stress causing heart attacks is considered lower than other factors such as smoking and not exercising. In the study researchers found that by reducing job stress, it will contribute to lowering about 3.4% chance of getting heart attack and death. Action of quitting smoking will reduce the chance of getting heart attack by about 36%. Similarly, more exercises will reduce the chance of getting heart attack by 12%.

Let’s say goodbye to tax breaks in California: the world’s largest ecommerce company Amazon will be taking state’s sales tax starting on Saturday, September 15, 2012

The growth of Internet largest superstores have benefited from tax breaks in America over 15 years since Amazon ecommerce site was launched in 1995. Amazon has successfully selling a ton of stuffs without collecting sales tax which also has advantage over many brick-and-mortar stores.

Many Californians have been flocking into Amazon site in the past few weeks and buying new stuffs and gadgets (such as Kindle e-reader and Kindle Fire HD) as the no-tax will end today midnight. Starting on Saturday, September 15, 2012, the largest state in America will require ecommerce sites to collect sales tax from buyers.

The law to collecting tax from Internet stores such as Amazon was approved by Governor Jerry Brown one year ago. Brown was elected as the governor of California in 2010 replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger after two terms as a governor. The bill was signed one year ago in San Francisco and required one year to start the state’s sales tax rules.

(Image: California flag)

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Let’s say goodbye to super-size sodas: NYC Health Department to ban large-sized soft drinks (maximum 16 ounces per cup) in fast-food restaurants, mobile food carts, local cafes, motion picture theaters, sports stadiums, and music halls

The largest city in America has become the first city to say goodbye to super-size sodas. There is no love for sodas in New York City. The NYC Health Department will now only allow stores and restaurants to sell sugared beverages at maximum 16 ounces per cup. The new regulations will take effect in all places including fast-food restaurants, mobile food carts, local cafes, motion picture theaters, sports stadiums, amusements parks, and music halls. The ban only applied to sugared sodas, but not on fruit juices, dairy-based drinks, and yogurt milkshakes.

According to bloomberg.com, a panel of several members has voted with results 8-0, and agreed with a plan drafted by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. At the same time, several big corporations such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. have opposed to the NYC Mayor plan.

The new ordinance is needed to fight obesity in the city, to save many lives, and to reduce public health care costs. The latest move by NYC will influence other cities to follow the way the largest city in America handling its residences and businesses.

(Image: super-size sodas cups)

Let’s say hello to Apple iPhone 5: a thinner, lighter, and faster smartphone than previous models, with 4-inch retina screen and A6 microprocessor

The world’s most valuable technology company has announced the new Apple iPhone which will be called as “iPhone 5.” Many tech watchers speculated that the latest smartphone may have been called “the new iPhone” which is almost similar to the naming convention for the new iPad. The new iPad was launched early this year but the tablet was not called as iPad 3.

According to Apple’s press release, the new smartphone is thinner, lighter, and faster than the previous models. The new phone is equipped with 4-inch retina screen and A6 microprocessor. The back cover is made of aluminum for light weight. The phone is also equipped for faster wireless technology known as LTE 4G mobile networks. With the new microprocessor, iPhone 5 will also consumer less energy and will deliver better battery life.

Mobile phone subscribers in America can pre-order the new iPhone 5 starting on Friday, September 14. The new phone is scheduled to arrive on Friday, September 21, 2012. Mobile phone operators such as AT&T required subscribers to sign up a two years contract and the asking price for the 16GB model is $199, for the 32GB model is $299 and the top model of 64GB model is $399. Aside it will available at the home country on September 21, iPhone 5 will be available on the same day in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the Britain.

(Image: Apple iPhone 5)

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Google Play to offer free Wi-Fi at over 4,000 hotspots across America, including airports, hotels, subway stations, shopping centers, cafés and recreational zones

Google’s online marketplace that sell apps and hardware which is also known as Google Play, is sponsoring free Wi-Fi to users in America. Users must have mobile devices run on Google mobile operating system known as Android. Owners of smartphones, laptops, tablets and music players will get access to web, chat room, social media, at over 4,000 hotspots across America.

Google Play partners with Boingo Wireless, one of the largest providers of Wi-Fi software and services in the world. According to the press release, Boingo will use its recently acquired company’s technology, Cloud Nine Media platform, to distribute the free Wi-Fi.

Google’s free Wi-Fi will come to airports, hotels, subway stations, shopping malls, cafés and recreational areas in several big cities. The free Wi-Fi locations include 15 airports in America including New York’s John F. Kennedy, Chicago O’Hare and Seattle-Tacoma. The free Wi-Fi will also available in NYC Manhattan subway stations.

(Logo: Google Play)

Let’s say hello to Tabeo: a new tablet computer for kids which will be available at Toys“R”Us stores starting on Sunday, October 21, 2012, with a price tag of $149.99

America’s largest toys stores, Toys R Us, introduced a new tablet-computer called as Tabeo with a price tag of $149.99 on Monday morning. The tablet is designed for kids. It will run on operating system provided by Google Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich.” The mobile device will be equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, parental control panels, and over 50 apps and games for kids such as "Angry Birds" and "Fruit Ninja." Toys R Us has started to take pre-order for the mobile device. Tabeo will be available at Toys R Us stores nationwide starting on Sunday, October 21, 2012.

The day after the Labor Day, or the unofficial summer season ended, several technology companies have announced new gadgets for this year’s shopping season. Last week Amazon.com showed a new generation of Kindle e-readers and tablet computers, including a new version of e-reader called “Kindle Paperwhite” and a new tablet called “Kindle Fire HD.”

This week Apple is expected to announce its mini size (7-inc) of the popular iPad tablet which is scheduled for shipping in the first week of October.

Then, Microsoft will also launch a new tablet computer called “Surface” by the last week of October, in conjunction of the release of Windows 8 operating system on October 26, 2012.

(Image: Toys R Us Tabeo)

Nabisco to sell candy corn flavored Oreos exclusively at Target superstores starting September 10, 2012, in conjunction with this year’s Halloween season

Nabisco’s marketing team has found a new trick to attract American kids and family members to flock into Target superstores this year to buy the new candy corn flavored Oreos. The inside filling creme contains sugar with orange-and-yellow color, while the outside is a vanilla flavored cookie. They will be sold exclusively at Target superstores starting Monday, September 10, 2012.

Internet bloggers and several well-known news sites have showed a photo of Candy Corn Oreos since Friday morning of September 7. The first photo appeared at astoldbytanner which later was confirmed by some food-related sites and news sites such as HuffPost. According to HuffPost, the suggested retail price for the limited edition Oreos is $3.59.

(Image: astoldbytanner)

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After placing a recall on one pound bag of Red Vines Black Licorice Twists on August 22, 2012, California Department of Public Health expanded recall on other candy products including Red Vines Black Licorice Twists, Family Mix, Mixed Bites and Snaps

California Department of Public Health (CDPH) placed a recall on one pound (16oz.) bags of Red Vines Black Licorice Twists on August 22, 2012. The recall was due to high levels of lead on the candy after conducting labs tests.

According to Red Vines blog post, the initial recall was only on the production of the one pound bag of Red Vines Black Licorice Twists labeled with “Best Before Date” of 020413. The candy company has asked consumers not to eat this particular date of pre-packaged candy. The candy maker which located in Union City near San Francisco also asked consumers to return the candy at the location where they had purchased as they will receive a full refund.

After further examination of other products, CDPH has placed another recall on other candy products this weekend. According to sfgate.com, California regulators have asked Red Vines to stop selling Black Licorice Twists, Family Mix, Mixed Bites and Snaps. The latest recall also due to high levels of lead which regulators believe has exceeded California’s standards.

(Image: Red Vines Black Licorice Twists)

iBoarding: major airlines (incl. Delta, American Airlines, United) to support Apple Passbook, a new feature in iOS 6.0 for keeping boarding passes, frequent flyer cards, discount coupons, and others

As Apple is scheduled to release the newest operating system known as iOS 6.0 on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 in San Francisco, several major airlines will soon integrate Apple Passbook into their networks. Although some airlines have introduced their own mobile app to be used as boarding passes, however, Apple Passbook will have more features and can store boarding passes, frequent flyer cards, retail discount coupons, movie tickets, loyalty cards, and others.

An initial test of Apple Passbook occurred in a Virgin Australia flight. Australian Business Traveler cited a local traveler who posted several screenshots of the boarding pass. The traveler has an Apple iPhone running on a developer preview edition of iOS 6.

In order to take advantages of Apple Passbook, major airlines in America, including Delta, American Airlines, and United, will allow passengers to carry mobile boarding passes and will replace the traditional printed boarding passes. At airport gates for airlines, authorities will be able to scan passengers’ iPhone, iPad, or iPod, as those mobile devices will be the official boarding passes.

(Image: Apple iOS 6.0 Passbook)

Green tea contains chemical epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG) which helps to maintain and grow brain cells and also improve the function of human brain

Consumption of green tea has been increasingly popular in the world, especially in Asia including China and Japan. Researchers have found green tea to contain healthy antioxidants. There are so many benefits of drinking green tea such as helping prevent cardiovascular diseases and now also may improve mechanisms in human brain.

A team of researchers in China led by Professor Yun Bai of the Department of Medical Genetics, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, found the organic chemical epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG) helps to grow the production of neural cells in human brain. Several labs tests have proved with some encouraging results.

Researchers have long believed that drinking green tea is worthy for helping human brain to function on alert everyday. Aside of helping to maintain good memory, researchers believe the chemical properties of EGCG could affect the production of brain cells which benefiting spatial learning.

The latest study with a title “Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) promotes neural progenitor cell proliferation and sonic hedgehog pathway activation during adult hippocampal neurogenesis” was published by Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Volume 56, Issue 8, pages 1292–1303, August 2012).

(Image: Bigelow Green Tea)

Albertsons' parent company Supervalu to close about 60 underperforming or non-strategic stores, as many traditional supermarkets are located in Southern California (incl. Long Beach, Glendale, Northridge and Van Nuys)

The traditional supermarkets such as Albertsons can no longer be able to compete with Wal-Mart Stores and Target Stores. Wal-Mart and Target also have been expanding very fast and adding grocery business in their local stores. Wal-Mart and Target have been selling food and many other household items at discount prices. Some popular items are almost 15% cheaper than at most of the old timers’ supermarkets. Both Wal-Mart and Target are trying to attract customers by offering discount prices with very low profit margins.

Albertsons' parent company Supervalu announced today that they are now closing about 60 underperforming or non-strategic stores in California and other states including Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and Missouri. Many are located in Southern California, including Long Beach, Glendale, Northridge and Van Nuys. Most of stores will be closed by December 1, 2012. After the closing, according to the company press release, they expect to save about $35 million in cash for the next 12 months. For a long run, the company will save about $80-$90 million for a span of 3 years.

(Image: Albertsons store)

Namaste McDonald's: one of the world’s largest fast-food chain to open its first vegetarian restaurant in India and will serve a new type of burger made of potato patties known as McAloo Tikki, starting in the mid-2013

As one of the world’s largest fast-food chain, the American-based company has over 33,500 restaurants in the world. However, to serve over 1.2 billion people in India, McDonald's has just over 250 restaurants. In honor of local cultures and religion beliefs (Hindu and Muslim), McDonald's restaurants in India do not sell beef or pork.

McDonald's provides several types of menu items to cater to local tastes in India. For example, the fast-food restaurant serves a big burger made with chicken patties which is also called Maharaja Mac. The size of this burger is almost similar to Big Mac beef burger. Other popular menu items include McAloo Tikki, a vegetarian burger made with a combination of potato patty, red onions, tomatoes and local sauce.

The fast-food chain plans to open its first vegetarian restaurant in India in the mid-2013. According to AFP, McDonald's has picked the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India as the first pilot project. The location of this first vegetarian restaurant is expected to be near the Golden Temple in India.

(Logo: McDonald's)

Walmart mobile commerce: the world's largest retailer is testing iPhone and iPad apps for checkout feature which could change the way customers shop and pay

At the end of May 2012, Walmart introduced Apple iPhone and iPad apps for its customers to use in 3,800 stores across in America. The iPhone app is equipped with features to help customers to find products in-store aisle location. The app is also enhanced with "In-Store Mode" which giving customers a chance to check out special prices for products and learning more about products. For the iPad app, it is equipped with feature showing a list of Local Ad for customers searching special offers. The two apps for mobile devices running on Apple operating systems allow customers to go thru shopping items at anytime and anywhere.

This past week the giant stores invited its employees and some selected participants to test on a new mobile payment system near the company’s headquarter located in Rogers, Arkansas. Citing an invitation form published by Survey Monkey website (an Internet company that provides tools for research), reuters.com reported that each participant received $100 for trying on the new feature and also received a $25 gift card for buying stuffs at Walmart stores.

By introducing the new mobile payment system, Walmart could speed up checkout in its 3,800 regular stores and supercenters across in America. In term of dollar value, the company could also save in cashier wages.

(Image: Walmart iPhone app)

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American boomers are facing dilemma in rural areas due to difficult time finding a family doctor while many rural doctors prefer not to accept Medicare patients

There are about 78 million people in American which considered as the Boomers generation or people who were born from 1946 to 1964. A large number of people in the Boomers generation are now retiring from workforces and some have moved to rural areas to be closed to their children and family members.

One of the dilemma facing the Boomers are that they are getting harder to find a doctor in small towns. There are several reasons for the problem. Large cities offer metropolitan lifestyles, mix of cultural events, greater schools for kids, and variety of job opportunities for spouses and family members, therefore, top doctors prefer to live and work in large cities. Other reason as per washingtonpost.com includes that rural doctors receive less payment from Medicare for medical works than urban doctors due to lower operating costs in rural areas.

(Logo: Medicare)

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Say goodbye to Google traditional TV advertising: after five-year on-air, the search engine giant will close its TV advertising sales business

After five-year attempt to transform the way traditional TV ads were sold, the world’s largest search engine has decided to shut down its TV ads sales business. In 2007, the search giant started to combine methods of online buying and tracking technologies to traditional TV advertising and helping many first timers to buy traditional TV advertising. The idea was developed by combining computer based Internet (via desktop and laptop) and the traditional television world (TV sets). However, the numbers of eyeballs attracted to traditional TV have dropped significantly in recent years due the innovation in mobile phone and online video industry such as Netflix, Hulu, and others.

In order to grow its YouTube site and AdWords for video business, Google is now pulling the plug on traditional TV advertising. So, ads buyers can focus on getting eyeballs from video solutions provided by new generation of technology, including watching content via wide selections of mobile devices.

In a blog post written by Shishir Mehrotra, Google team thanks all its clients and partners. The team is still supporting some of its clients while at the same time shutting down its TV advertising sales business.