PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Ben Roethlisberger doesn't sound like a guy who plans on playing against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
The injured Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said Thursday he's still in significant pain from the sprained right shoulder and dislocated ribs that have forced him to sit out Pittsburgh's last two games.
Roethlisberger said "there's always a chance" he could play against the Ravens but isn't sure his injured arm will cooperate. When asked if the issue is pain or arm strength, Roethlisberger said "both."
The Steelers (6-5) are 0-2 since Roethlisberger left in the third quarter of a 16-13 overtime win against Kansas City on Nov. 12. It's unlikely Pittsburgh can catch the Ravens (9-2) even with a win this week, but Roethlisberger said that won't affect the team's decision on whether to rest him another week or not.
___
Follow Will Graves at www.twitter.com/WillGravesAP
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Holiday gift ideas for food and drink lovers. Now, I know that covers everyone because we all eat and drink but some of us care more about what we eat than others.
We are the connoisseurs, or gluttons if you will, or perhaps the wine or beer aficionado who talks incessantly about the new breweries or local wine. Hey, that's me! Anyway, I've come up with a list of ideas for the foodie (I was trying to avoid that word) in your life.
First, I think everyone should be giving gift certificates to restaurants, breweries and wineries with a note attached saying, "We're going together because part of this gift is that we are spending time together and enjoying great food and drink." So, we really could end all this holiday gift quandary right now.
However, if you want something a little bit different, get someone on your list a cooking class at Stages at One Washington in Dover. Chef Evan Hennessey's concept restaurant in the mills there has two or three themed dinners each month and the chef has thrown something new into the mix ? you can take a cooking class that cooks the dishes for a given dinner. Alice in Wonderland? Indulgence? Sounds like a ton of fun. The kitchen is spectacular, I really want to get my hands on some of that equipment and the food will be delicious. www.stages-dining.com
While we're on classes, take a brewing class. At A&G Homebrew Supply in Portsmouth and The Homebrew Barn in Hampton, you can get someone the gift of learning how to brew beer and wine or even cider, vinegar or make cheese. That's something you can do together, too! www.aghomebrewsupply.com and www.thehomebrewbarn.com.
In October I did something that was a heck of a lot of fun. Over at the Lindt Chocolate Outlet in Kittery they have Create Your Own Chocolate Bar set up where you get a tray with melted chocolate, which is just like a Lindt bar (so much so that it actually is a Lindt chocolate bar), and then you go over to the bar where you can festoon it with all sorts of treats like gummy sharks, hot cinnamon hearts, coconut, nuts ? oh about 30 or so fun "toppings" in all colors. Then, the expert there will put it into a machine to harden it, wrap it up and label it and voila! You have a personalized, creative, and delicious gift for someone. This is one of those things your kids can make and give to Grandma and Grandpa (which was always the difficult part at the holidays for me). It's just $10. Now, while I was there, I discovered all sorts of new things about Lindt, including chocolate bars I'd never seen before (the outlet has a vast selection including many made in other countries). They also introduced me to the technique of putting one of those Lindt truffle balls into my coffee. I had a big "hey why didn't I think of that" moment. They have their fun gold foil-covered bears and colorful foil Santas as well as many other chocolate figures this year too. www.lindtusa.com.
I'm also recommending, as did Oprah, the Corkcicle, which you put in the freezer, then your white wine and your wine stays nice and chilled. www.corkcicle.com.
The SodaStream is on my gift list too (you can carbonate vodka!) because you can make your own soda out of an infinite list of flavor possiblities (bacon!). www.sodastreamusa.com.
I'm thinking about getting a juicer too after seeing "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and there are many to choose from at all price points. I love kale and carrot juice, I really do!
There are many great food-related books on the top of my list this year, including "Pastries," by Alison Pray who owns Standard Baking Co. in Portland (co-writer Tara Smith) Down East Books. The book is wonderfully designed and the recipes are easy and tasty.
Timothy Ferriss just came out with "The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life" (Kindle Edition and in hardback from Amazon Books) His whole premise is that you can become a world-class chef in six months or less and he takes us from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world's fastest learners and greatest chefs.
Ferriss uses cooking to explain "meta-learning," a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real "recipe" of "The 4-Hour Chef." You'll train inside the kitchen for everything outside the kitchen. Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, super models, and everyone in between, this "cookbook for people who don't buy cookbooks" is a guide to mastering cooking and life." I'm pretty intrigued by this. He brings you through meta-learning, then the building blocks of cooking, foraging and more before sending you on your way to lifelong mastery of everything.
Wine lovers will like "The Juice," by Jay McInerney. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012). It's a collection of his columns from the Wall Street Journal and you learn about wine through entertaining and well-written stories from his life. He's quite an expert. He'll also be at The Music Hall Loft tonight (Nov. 29) if you can get there.
There is always a great new cookbook from Phaidon press to get, and this year it's "The Lebanese Kitchen," the definitive book on Lebanese home cooking, featuring 500 authentic and delicious recipes that are simple to create at home. Salma Hage is a Lebanese housewife from Mazarat Tiffah, with more than 50 years of experience as a family cook and the recipes are simple and elegant at the same time.
If you know any restaurateurs or anyone who works in a restaurant, get them "The Art of the Restaurateur," which reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world's best restaurants, and celebrate the complex but unrecognized art of the restaurateur. It's by Nicholas Lander who owned L'Escargot in London in the 1980s and is now a renowned food columnist for the Financial Times. It covers everything you ever wanted to know about the highs and lows of the restaurant business, presenting the untold stories of the world's best restaurateurs, from luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants, to bustling neighbourhood bistros, to stylish fast-food cafes.
I also like "Jerusalem" (Ten Speed Press, 2012). This is a collection of 120 recipes exploring the flavors of Jerusalem from the New York Times bestselling author of "Plenty," Yotam Ottolenghi along with Sami Tamimi. You'll explore the vibrant cuisine of their home city ? with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.
Also great is "Burma: Rivers of Flavor" by Naomi Duguid (Artisan, 2012). She tells terrific stories interspersed with 125 recipes and teaches you about the culture through food.
That's all for now! As I find more, I'll post them on my Facebook and Twitter pages so follow Rachel Forrest on both.
Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner who lives in Exeter. Her column appears Thursdays in Go&Do. Her restaurant review column, Dining Out, appears Thursdays in Spotlight magazine. Buy "Maine Classics: More Than 150 Delicious Recipes from Downeast," written by Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier with Rachel Forrest at www.rachelforrest.com. She can be reached by e-mail at rachel.forrest@dowjones.com.
We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Rules. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or fill out this form. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication.Food and drink lovers: Rachel Forrest's 2012 gift guide | SeacoastOnline.com
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If your gift recipients like Lindt chocolate, they'll love making their own giant bar.Andrew Moore courtesy photo
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Holiday gift ideas for food and drink lovers. Now, I know that covers everyone because we all eat and drink but some of us care more about what we eat than others.
We are the connoisseurs, or gluttons if you will, or perhaps the wine or beer aficionado who talks incessantly about the new breweries or local wine. Hey, that's me! Anyway, I've come up with a list of ideas for the foodie (I was trying to avoid that word) in your life.
First, I think everyone should be giving gift certificates to restaurants, breweries and wineries with a note attached saying, "We're going together because part of this gift is that we are spending time together and enjoying great food and drink." So, we really could end all this holiday gift quandary right now.
However, if you want something a little bit different, get someone on your list a cooking class at Stages at One Washington in Dover. Chef Evan Hennessey's concept restaurant in the mills there has two or three themed dinners each month and the chef has thrown something new into the mix ? you can take a cooking class that cooks the dishes for a given dinner. Alice in Wonderland? Indulgence? Sounds like a ton of fun. The kitchen is spectacular, I really want to get my hands on some of that equipment and the food will be delicious. www.stages-dining.com
While we're on classes, take a brewing class. At A&G Homebrew Supply in Portsmouth and The Homebrew Barn in Hampton, you can get someone the gift of learning how to brew beer and wine or even cider, vinegar or make cheese. That's something you can do together, too! www.aghomebrewsupply.com and www.thehomebrewbarn.com.
In October I did something that was a heck of a lot of fun. Over at the Lindt Chocolate Outlet in Kittery they have Create Your Own Chocolate Bar set up where you get a tray with melted chocolate, which is just like a Lindt bar (so much so that it actually is a Lindt chocolate bar), and then you go over to the bar where you can festoon it with all sorts of treats like gummy sharks, hot cinnamon hearts, coconut, nuts ? oh about 30 or so fun "toppings" in all colors. Then, the expert there will put it into a machine to harden it, wrap it up and label it and voila! You have a personalized, creative, and delicious gift for someone. This is one of those things your kids can make and give to Grandma and Grandpa (which was always the difficult part at the holidays for me). It's just $10. Now, while I was there, I discovered all sorts of new things about Lindt, including chocolate bars I'd never seen before (the outlet has a vast selection including many made in other countries). They also introduced me to the technique of putting one of those Lindt truffle balls into my coffee. I had a big "hey why didn't I think of that" moment. They have their fun gold foil-covered bears and colorful foil Santas as well as many other chocolate figures this year too. www.lindtusa.com.
I'm also recommending, as did Oprah, the Corkcicle, which you put in the freezer, then your white wine and your wine stays nice and chilled. www.corkcicle.com.
The SodaStream is on my gift list too (you can carbonate vodka!) because you can make your own soda out of an infinite list of flavor possiblities (bacon!). www.sodastreamusa.com.
I'm thinking about getting a juicer too after seeing "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and there are many to choose from at all price points. I love kale and carrot juice, I really do!
There are many great food-related books on the top of my list this year, including "Pastries," by Alison Pray who owns Standard Baking Co. in Portland (co-writer Tara Smith) Down East Books. The book is wonderfully designed and the recipes are easy and tasty.
Timothy Ferriss just came out with "The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life" (Kindle Edition and in hardback from Amazon Books) His whole premise is that you can become a world-class chef in six months or less and he takes us from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world's fastest learners and greatest chefs.
Ferriss uses cooking to explain "meta-learning," a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real "recipe" of "The 4-Hour Chef." You'll train inside the kitchen for everything outside the kitchen. Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, super models, and everyone in between, this "cookbook for people who don't buy cookbooks" is a guide to mastering cooking and life." I'm pretty intrigued by this. He brings you through meta-learning, then the building blocks of cooking, foraging and more before sending you on your way to lifelong mastery of everything.
Wine lovers will like "The Juice," by Jay McInerney. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012). It's a collection of his columns from the Wall Street Journal and you learn about wine through entertaining and well-written stories from his life. He's quite an expert. He'll also be at The Music Hall Loft tonight (Nov. 29) if you can get there.
There is always a great new cookbook from Phaidon press to get, and this year it's "The Lebanese Kitchen," the definitive book on Lebanese home cooking, featuring 500 authentic and delicious recipes that are simple to create at home. Salma Hage is a Lebanese housewife from Mazarat Tiffah, with more than 50 years of experience as a family cook and the recipes are simple and elegant at the same time.
If you know any restaurateurs or anyone who works in a restaurant, get them "The Art of the Restaurateur," which reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world's best restaurants, and celebrate the complex but unrecognized art of the restaurateur. It's by Nicholas Lander who owned L'Escargot in London in the 1980s and is now a renowned food columnist for the Financial Times. It covers everything you ever wanted to know about the highs and lows of the restaurant business, presenting the untold stories of the world's best restaurateurs, from luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants, to bustling neighbourhood bistros, to stylish fast-food cafes.
I also like "Jerusalem" (Ten Speed Press, 2012). This is a collection of 120 recipes exploring the flavors of Jerusalem from the New York Times bestselling author of "Plenty," Yotam Ottolenghi along with Sami Tamimi. You'll explore the vibrant cuisine of their home city ? with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.
Also great is "Burma: Rivers of Flavor" by Naomi Duguid (Artisan, 2012). She tells terrific stories interspersed with 125 recipes and teaches you about the culture through food.
That's all for now! As I find more, I'll post them on my Facebook and Twitter pages so follow Rachel Forrest on both.
Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner who lives in Exeter. Her column appears Thursdays in Go&Do. Her restaurant review column, Dining Out, appears Thursdays in Spotlight magazine. Buy "Maine Classics: More Than 150 Delicious Recipes from Downeast," written by Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier with Rachel Forrest at www.rachelforrest.com. She can be reached by e-mail at rachel.forrest@dowjones.com.
We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Rules. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or fill out this form. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication.
Many breast cancer patients have their healthy breast removed along with the affected breast despite the relatively low risk of developing cancer in that healthy breast, according to a new study. The findings suggest that fear of the cancer recurring drives many women to have the aggressive surgery. But there is scant evidence that removing both breasts improves most women's long-term survival, some doctors say.
"It is not that that worry is ill-founded. It's perfectly natural for women to worry about their cancer coming back. That is [their] biggest concern," Dr. Sarah Hawley, an associate professor in internal medicine at the University of Michigan and a researcher on the study, told HuffPost. But removing most women's second breast does not improve their rates of survival, she said.
In findings that Hawley and her team will present at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Quality Care Symposium on Friday, researchers analyzed data on 1,400 women with breast cancer who were registered with the National Cancer Institute's SEER program, which collects cancer statistics across the U.S. Approximately 7 percent of the women opted for a "contralateral prophylactic mastectomy" -- the removal of both the breast affected by breast cancer and the healthy breast.
Women who have tested positive for inherited BRCA gene mutations, which increase their risk for developing a new breast cancer in their other breast, are sometimes advised to consider contralateral mastectomy. (Some women with BRCA gene mutations who do not have cancer nonetheless opt to have one or both breasts removed as a preventive measure, which is a different procedure.)
Women with a strong family history of the disease in multiple, immediate family members may also be encouraged to consider contralateral mastectomy, Hawley said. But according to the new findings, 70 percent of the women who opted to have both their affected and healthy breast removed did not have those risk factors.
While most of the beast cancer patients in the study said that they had been worried about the possibility of their cancer recurring when making decisions about treatment, women who opted to have both breasts removed expressed the most worry -- suggesting fear may be a major reason why many women choose that aggressive option, Hawley said.
"It's not wholly unreasonable to have a bilateral mastectomy even if you don't have a [BRCA] mutation, but you need to understand that, most likely, you're not providing yourself any protection against premature death from breast cancer," said Dr. Stephen Edge, breast center medical director and chief of breast surgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. A recent American Cancer Society report states that contralateral mastectomy "nearly eliminates the risk of developing a breast cancer in the second breast," but cautions "there is less evidence that it improves long-term breast cancer survival."
"The risk of recurrence on the breast that had cancer, or [it] coming back elsewhere in the body from that initial cancer, is much higher than the risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast," said Dr. Carla Fisher, a breast surgeon with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. "Treating the primary cancer is the most important thing, rather than treating something that may or may not happen, [which] may or may not have survival benefits down the line."
Nonetheless, recent studies suggest that the number of women in the U.S. opting to have both the affected and healthy breast removed has increased steeply over the past decade. A 2009 study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that the rate of contralateral mastectomy among women who had any kind of surgery on their breast increased by nearly 150 percent between 1998 and 2005. Overall, however, the rate of women choosing contralateral mastectomy is still under 10 percent among women with breast cancer.
"Most people would tell you that they've seen a marked upswing in the number of women asking for it, and the number of women undergoing it," said Edge. "Surgery is not a good treatment for fear," he added.
The "right line," Edge said, is subjective.
One concern is that women who opt to undergo contralateral mastectomy may open themselves up to various health risks associated with having a bigger operation. Those risks include infection, longer hospital stays and more difficult recovery.
For now, Hawley said, there is a pressing need to better understand the reasons why women opt for contralateral mastectomy in order to help make sure that they are adequately informed about the possible risks and benefits by their oncologists and their surgeons.
"We are sure there are a lot of other factors, other than just fear, going into this," she said. "We need to understand what those are."
A couple of years ago, I embarked on a quixotic quest: I gave up the Internet. Surfing, emailing, YouTube-watching?it had taken over my life, eating into time I wanted to be spending with my family, my students, and my work. I documented my four-month Internet fast in a series of articles for Slate, describing the pleasures and challenges of disconnecting. I returned to the Web-enabled world to discover, sadly, that I was no better at resisting the Internet?s siren song. On the plus side, however, I felt rested and inspired and knew I could step away again when I needed to (and not be afraid my life would collapse).
The ?Offline? project also gave me the idea for my new book, Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special!, in which Santa discovers, to his chagrin, that it?s a whole new digital world out there and the only presents children are asking for these days are video games and iTunes gift cards. So Old St. Nick sets out to remind today?s kids about the pleasures of handmade gifts by creating an old-fashioned item?a comic book. He enlists the help of the Magical Cartooning Elf (naturally), and together with a brave knight they search for a story to hold the attention of a generation of Web-addled kids.
Below is an excerpt from the book. (And yes, I am aware of the irony that you?ll be reading it on a screen.) I also realize most kids won?t choose a book over a video game. But what?s Christmastime all about if not hoping for a miracle?
Toni Turner, ?A Beginner?s Guidebook to Day Investing On the internet (2nd version)?
English | 2007-01-19 | ISBN: 1593376863 | 288 pages | PDF | 105.five mb
The new breed of trader Composed in an accessible, phase-by-phase way, A Beginner?s Guide to Working day Investing Online, 2nd Version displays how to day trade shares in today?s market.Summary: Teaches about daytrading but not how to daytradeRating: 2I have been a successful place trader for few many years and decided to venture into daytrading to income in on trendless market place periods. What I found out is that being a successful position trader does not necessarily suggest you will be a productive daytrader. As a daytrader you have to make fast selections and pull the bring about with minor delay. This ebook centers on too many specialized indicators that might be helpful in situation investing but not of paramount relevance in daytrading.In essence all they do is delay yor capacity to just take action thus absent your possibility. I have finally been able to become marginally profitable making use of the assist of a daytrader good friend of mine who opened my eyes to the relevance of possessing a complete and profound comprehension of amount II. Even though this book does go over Stage II, it is carried out in a superficial manner with small depth. It is important to know the online games that market place makers and big placement holders participate in to fool you. A single typical ploy used by significant institutions to sell big amounts of stock is to use ECNs. The ECN will only show a little volume of shares even though hiding the rest. The unsespecting daytrader wil see large quantity at the bid and minimal request quantity and think the inventory is transferring increased.The exact reverse normally happens since the ECN at the check with is only exhibiting a tiny quantity of shares they have to sell. Even though they present all the shares they are prepared to acquire at the bid. There are several far more game titles played out by the AXE and many others and my level is unless of course you realize these concerns becoming a effective daytrader will stay a hard objective to achieve.THis e-book will definitely not give this essential informationSummary: This ebook is also fundamental to make you moneyRating: 2While i like Tony as a speaker and believe most her work make sensation, this is a guide is just as well simple. Every thing is so idealized and oversimplified that trust me, it is not likely that you will learn how to make money ? nonetheless, you make discover how to working day trade on-line. For confident you will free money. Now if you just take this and keep on your trip, you will want to eventually study anything by Linda Raschke and Toby Crabel, due to the fact they are the only two hedge fund professionals that i am mindful of that have composed textbooks that are nonetheless buying and selling, managing funds and undertaking what they preach. So i may possibly search via this book, but truly focus not on this creator who tends to make its money from seminars and books, but by reading the true traders ? Linda Raschke and Toby Crabel. Summary: largely simple informationRating: 3If you want fundamental details this is a excellent ebook. It does give a very good survey of what working day buying and selling can be. It does not give a great deal of details on what operates. It?s a very good start off. Summary: Tons of data, without having overloadRating: 5I truly enjoyed this ebook!! It provided simple explanations for some definitely complicated trading concepts. The ebook preserved the ideal pace for a rookie to pick up new ideas, and for a a lot more knowledgeable trader to reference as a ?refresher?. In addition, I appreciated the summary and breakpoints at the end of every single chapter-supplying some much required assistance (inside and outside of the globe of candlestick charts)Summary: My Two CentsRating: 2This book took me extended to complete than expected and it was struggle to get to the conclude. Although a great deal of the simple info in it was helpful, I discovered that the creator received excessively specialized too rapidly. The very first number of chapters have been great, but then in a single chapter there was an avalanche of specialised detail and lingo that was hard to take up all at after. Perhaps if the specialised stuff was disseminated at a slower tempo, I would have figured out a lot far more in this very first move. Numerous chapters will clearly be examine a number of moments in purchase to get it all.
Visit Florida ? the state?s official tourism marketing corporation ? has appointed Will Seccombe as its new President and CEO.
?Seccombe, Visit Florida?s Chief Marketing Officer since 2008, has been serving as the Acting President and CEO since Chris Thompson?s departure to head Brand USA.
?With Will as our new President and CEO, Visit Florida?s future is in great hands,? said Glenn Hastings, Chairman of the Visit Florida Board of Directors and Executive Director of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council. ?In his four years as CMO, Will?s vision and drive to succeed have elevated the state?s tourism marketing efforts to an unprecedented level and have put Visit Florida in a very strong position to pursue our vision of establishing Florida as the No. 1 travel destination in the world.?
During Seccombe?s four years as Chief Marketing Officer for Visit Florida, the organization has transformed into a national model for its highly-effective, public-private, industry-driven tourism marketing efforts.
Since 2008, the Florida tourism industry has experienced record visitation, visitor spending and job creation. Under Seccombe?s direction, Visit Florida has achieved all-time highs on its return on investment of $258 in tourism spending and $15 in new sales tax collections for every $1 spent on tourism marketing.
?For the past four years, Will has been the creative genius behind all of Visit Florida?s ?big ideas? and the bulldog who sees those projects through to their successful conclusion,? said Chris Thompson, President and CEO of Brand USA and former President and CEO of Visit Florida. ?He is a proud and tireless representative of the Florida tourism industry and an innovative thinker who constantly challenges himself to stay on the cutting edge of travel marketing strategy. I have watched Will inspire and motivate the Visit Florida team to perform at the highest level and am confident that the organization and, by extension the industry, will continue to lead the nation with him at the helm.?
Seccombe has over twenty-three years of professional experience including nineteen years in the Colorado tourism industry. After holding executive positions in the ski industry, with the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau and PRACO, LTD, he founded Revolution Communications, LLC, a travel marketing firm based in Denver, Colorado. Since joining Visit Florida in 2008, Seccombe has been named one of the ?Top Twenty-Five Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing? by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International and is included in Social Media Marketing Magazine?s list of the Top CMO?s on Twitter.
His leadership efforts while at Visit Florida have led to numerous award-winning programs, including the ?Your Florida Side Is Calling? advertising campaign, a rebranding of the Visit Florida consumer website, the creation of the unique social media platform ?Florida Live?, the in-state advocacy campaign ?Share a Little Sunshine?, the ?Great Visit Florida Beach Walk? grassroots photo fest and the highly-targeted ?Sunshine Moments? social media campaign.
Seccombe recently announced several new Visit Florida initiatives, including a new advertising campaign launching in January, a Florida lifestyle television show on the Cooking Channel hosted by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, a strong commitment to content through its expanded network of freelance journalists, and a multi-marketing platform for Viva Florida 500 to commemorate the state?s quincentennial in 2013.
?I am incredibly proud of what Visit Florida and the Florida tourism industry have accomplished together and am honored by the opportunity I?ve been given to lead this amazing organization,? said Seccombe. ?The record growth in visitation, our incredible strategic partnerships and the outstanding return on investment that our marketing efforts have achieved are truly a testament to the strength of Florida?s tourism product and the creative and passionate work being done by Visit Florida and our partners statewide. I look forward to building on the momentum and energy that we?ve established so that the Sunshine State truly becomes the No. 1 travel destination in the world.?
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BANGKOK (AP) ? A day before South Korean rap sensation Psy brings his "Gangnam Style" to Thailand, nearly 100 inmates have danced to the hit behind barbed wire and bars in a Bangkok prison.
Seventy out of 4,500 prisoners at Bangkok Remand Prison put on a show Tuesday for the media and corrections department executives after competing in a "Gangnam Style" dance contest last week.
Officials said the program was to relieve inmates' stress and help them keep fit.
Psy's "Gangnam Style" this month became the most watched video ever on YouTube. It has spawned hundreds of parodies and tribute videos, including a popular one earlier this year by members of the Thai navy.
Psy will perform in Thailand on Wednesday night ? his first show in Asia outside of South Korea.
There?s no place like home. That?s not a phrase people typically utter about their hospitals, but those were the words on everyone?s lips when we returned to Bellevue last week, after nearly a month of dislocation since the hurricane-induced evacuation at the end of October.
It was a celebratory atmosphere last Monday, when Bellevue Hospital officially reopened its doors. Colorful balloons and ?Welcome Home? T-shirts filled the atrium, as staff and patients streamed in. The relief was palpable as we marked the end of this period, Bellevue?s first sustained closure since 1736.
All was not magically renewed, of course. The damage to the operational innards of the hospital building, caused when Hurricane Sandy flooded the basement with some 10 million gallons of seawater, was such that the inpatient service will not open for months. The medicine, pediatrics and gynecology clinics reopened last week. A handful of the subspecialty clinics opened Monday, but the other clinics and the operating rooms remain scattered in hospitals across the five boroughs, an arrangement that has come to be known affectionately as the Bellevue diaspora.
More than 500 of Bellevue?s doctors and physician assistants, and hundreds of other staff members and medical students, were sent to various local hospitals. Though the evacuation during the hurricane was a dramatic event, the number of inpatients affected (500 evacuated, 275 discharged) was quite small compared with the tens of thousands of outpatients who rely on Bellevue for their medical care.
The doctors of my clinic ? internal medicine ? had set up camp at Metropolitan Hospital, another New York City public hospital, in a tiny concrete-block annex in a parking lot. The experience was humbling and disorienting for us ? perhaps a taste of what life is like for our patients as they navigate the health care system in normal times.
I shared a cubicle with two other doctors and a stretcher overflowing with a dozen winter coats and bags. We three squeezed around an adjustable tray table, the kind bed-bound patients use for meals, where a single laptop for accessing medical records was set up. Ten residents and physician assistants shimmied in and out of the narrow space to discuss cases.
Patients thronged the makeshift clinic, desperate to renew medications, follow-up on X-rays, blood tests and consultations and continue evaluations initiated before the storm. At times the front door could not be opened because of the crush of bodies.
No one was complaining, of course: We were grateful for the space, as were our patients. Our hosts were welcoming beyond expectation, despite the strain. But logistical hurdles were legion.
For instance, electronic medical records. To generate prescriptions or order blood tests, we had to use Metropolitan?s system. This required the cumbersome clerical bottleneck of first registering these thousands of Bellevue patients into it. But we also needed to retrieve the medical records from the Bellevue system to figure out which medications patients had been taking for what conditions, the results of important blood tests, and other information vital to treatment.
So for each patient, we toggled back and forth on our single computer between two medical record systems and two different medical record numbers. The systems were similar enough that ? in a moment?s glance ? it wasn?t always obvious which system you were in, but different enough for reflexive habits to jam up the works. And then there was always the nerve-racking worry that this jiggling back and forth between systems could introduce errors along the way.
On top of this was the confusion of trying to figure out where our various medical services had ended up. Hand-scrawled messages were taped to our cubicle wall: Psychiatry was at Metropolitan; the Cancer Center at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn. Dermatology was seeing patients at Gouverneur Healthcare Services in Manhattan, but only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Rheumatology was available by phone. Dialysis was at Jacobi in the Bronx. The surgeons were divided up between Harlem Hospital, Metropolitan, Gouverneur and Woodhull. Internal medicine was seeing outpatients at Metropolitan and Gouverneur, but also at Elmhurst, in Queens, and staffing two evacuation shelters 24/7. Internal medicine teams were also covering inpatients at nine different hospitals. But many of these were moving targets; each day a few locations were crossed out and new ones added.
Morale, though, was surprisingly buoyant. The Metropolitan staff members were superb and went out of their way to help us. A colleague who was sent to Jacobi sent me a photo of the chief of medicine there handing out welcome bags of snacks to the Bellevue medical residents. The chief made sure the Bellevue team had its own conference room, and installed a water cooler and microwave to make life easier.
The first time I ran into one of my patients at Metropolitan, we practically knocked each other over in a bear hug. We were so relieved to have found each other; it was almost like a family reunion. We commiserated about our respective experiences post-hurricane, living without electricity, water, heat and phone. She was nearly out of her blood pressure medications and worried that she wouldn?t be able to get more.
It has been an exhausting and challenging time for all of the Bellevue staff, but there were also unexpected positives. ?At my age,? confided one of my colleagues who had been posted to Queens Hospital, ?any change is reinvigorating and maybe even rejuvenating.?
Most of us have spent years figuring out the kinks and shortcuts in the complicated warren of Bellevue. Now we attempted to replicate those procedures in unfamiliar hospital buildings, stumbling through new medical records systems and trying to find the point persons for IT, phlebotomy, pharmacy, and how to get X-rays, chemotherapy and coffee.
Despite the generosity of our hosts, most of us felt unsettled throughout this period. The sense of displacement was pervasive and distinctly uncomfortable. But if every change is a learning experience, this was an important one for the medical staff. Feeling lost, confused, unsure what to do or where to go is not too dissimilar to the experience of being ill. Navigating illness ? like navigating a post-hurricane displacement ? is disorienting, frightening and intensely disrupting.
For all the disquieting feelings the doctors experienced, the patients suffered the brunt of the dislocation. By the time we saw them, many had the exhausted look of refugees. It had taken days after the hurricane, sometimes more than a week, to figure out where to find us. Once arriving, they waited hours, navigating a confusing, foreign system. They had missed days of medication during the storm and its aftermath, and were worried about their scheduled colonoscopies, CT scans, cataract surgeries, physical therapy sessions. Would any of these take place? Frustratingly, we did not always have answers for them.
Bellevue continues the arduous cleanup and repair. Complete reconstitution will probably not occur until the new year, and many doctors will remain deployed at their host hospitals until then.
Those of us who were able to return to Bellevue in the first wave were deliriously grateful to treat our first patients ?at home.? But we would do well to hang on to some of the unsettling feeling of displacement. It may prove to be an unexpected gift of empathy for our patients? experiences.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on a New Mexico peanut butter plant that had repeated food safety violations over several years, using new authority to halt operations at facilities that may be producing unsafe food.
The agency on Monday suspended the registration of Sunland Inc., which is the country's largest organic peanut butter processor. FDA officials found salmonella in numerous locations in Sunland's processing plant after 41 people in 20 states, most of them children, were sickened by peanut butter manufactured at the Portales, N.M., plant and sold at the Trader Joe's grocery chain. The company had announced plans to reopen its peanut processing facility on Tuesday after voluntarily shutting down earlier this fall.
The FDA gained the new authority to suspend companies' registrations in a food safety law signed by President Barack Obama in early 2011, and this is the first time the agency has used it. The ability to shut down the company's operations is a step forward in an FDA effort to stem a growing number of widespread outbreaks like the salmonella illnesses linked to the peanut butter, said Michael Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods.
Before the food safety law was enacted, the FDA would have had to go to court to suspend a company's registration.
"We would have had to go to court and build a case," Taylor said, stressing that the burden will now be on the company to prove it is safe.
Sunland had closed its peanut processing facility after the September outbreak. It planned to reopen this week with hopes of selling peanut butter again by the end of the year. Sunland spokeswoman Katalin Coburn said the FDA's decision to suspend the registration was a surprise to the company and Sunland officials had assumed they would be allowed to resume operations.
The company now has the right to a hearing and must prove to the agency that its facilities are clean enough to reopen. Coburn said Sunland is cooperating with the FDA and company officials hope they can be operating again soon.
Besides organic peanut butter, Sunland also produces many non-organic products. The company recalled hundreds of organic and non-organic nut butters and nuts manufactured since 2010 after Trader Joe's Valencia Creamy Peanut Butter was linked to the salmonella illnesses in September.
In addition to Trader Joe's, Sunland sold hundreds of different peanut products to Target, Safeway, Whole Foods and other large grocery chains. Many of the grocery stores repackaged Sunland products and sold them under their own names.
After the outbreak linked to Sunland and to Trader Joe's, FDA inspectors found samples of salmonella in 28 different locations in the plant, in 13 nut butter samples and in one sample of raw peanuts.
The agency also found improper handling of products, unclean equipment and uncovered trailers of peanuts that were exposed to rain and birds outside the facility.
The FDA said that over the past three years, the company shipped products even though portions of their lots, or daily production runs, tested positive for salmonella in internal tests. The agency also found that the internal tests failed to find salmonella when it was present.
FDA inspectors found many of the same problems, including employees putting their bare fingers in empty jars before they were filled, open bags of ingredients, unclean equipment and many other violations, in a 2007 inspection. Similar issues were recorded by inspectors in 2009, 2010 and 2011, although government officials didn't take any action or release the results of those inspections until after the illnesses were discovered this year.
In a statement issued earlier this month, Sunland's president and chief executive officer, Jimmie Shearer, denied the company knowingly shipped tainted products.
"At no time in its 24-year history has Sunland Inc. released for distribution any products that it knew to be potentially contaminated with harmful microorganisms," Shearer said in a statement posted on the company's website. "In every instance where test results indicated the presence of a contaminant, the implicated product was destroyed and not released for distribution."
A separate peanut butter outbreak in 2009, not related to Sunland, was linked to hundreds of illnesses and nine deaths.
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Online:
http://www.sunlandinc.com/
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Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick
On Nov. 20, 2011, CM Punk emerged with his hands raised in victory after a hard-fought Survivor Series battle against Alberto Del Rio. That match, which was contested with the WWE Championship on the line, marked day one of what would become one of WWE?s most memorable and controversial title reigns. Now, 372 days later, The Voice of the Voiceless remains at the top of the mountain. (Check out Year of Punk photos)
Since that Sunday night more than one year ago, Punk has successfully defended his title against all comers, most recently escaping Ryback and John Cena in a Triple Threat WWE Title Match at 2012?s Survivor Series.
Sunday, Nov. 25, marked the 371st day of The Second City Saint?s Championship reign. For the old-school stat hounds out there, that number should ring a bell ? a historic one, in fact. From March 27, 1988, to April 2, 1989, ?Macho Man? Randy Savage held the highest prize in all of WWE, claiming the title for exactly 371 days. It?s a number that becomes even more meaningful as CM Punk reaches day No. 372 today. (Check out Year of Punk videos)
Punk, a noted Savage fan, has paid tribute to the late, great ?Macho Man? many times over the past year, from striking a familiar pose on the top rope before nailing an opponent with an elbow drop, to donning pink tights in tribute to the WWE icon. (Randy Savage milestone moments)
Today, as Punk passes Savage, The Second City Saint becomes the second-longest reigning titleholder in the past 25 years, behind only John Cena. While ?Macho Man?s? legacy as one of the most beloved Superstars of all time is already etched in stone, Punk?s legacy is still being written and only time will tell when this particular chapter will close on the WWE Champion. ?
We had some 5/8" ply left over from putting up a shed, so the memsahib asked me to cut the largest circles I could get out of them. I figured the easiest way to do this would be with the cheap (29.95) spinsaw I bought at Canadian Tire last year, but the trammel will only do a 12" circle, and I needed 22?".
So, I got to work, went down to the local HD and bought a narrow aluminum metre stick and a couple of flat head ?-20 screws and nuts. Then I cut the ruler off at 18?" so I could cut a 36" circle (or 90cm. if necessary)
Then I drilled a couple of ?" holes to match the existing trammel, which connect to the base of the spinsaw, countersunk the holes,
and put the whole thing together, drilled a hole big enough for a #8 screw, and put it into use.
It works excellently, is much lighter than my router, and I can use it over and over again. I might look for a ?" blade, as I broke two 1/8" ones cutting out four disks.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers have made little progress in the past 10 days toward a compromise to avoid the harsh tax increases and government spending cuts scheduled for January 1, a senior Democratic senator said on Sunday.
The United States is on course to slash its budget deficit nearly in half next year. Closing the gap that quickly, which in Washington is referred to as going over a "fiscal cliff," could easily trigger a recession.
"Unfortunately, for the last 10 days, with the House and Congress gone for the Thanksgiving recess ... much progress hasn't been made," Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told ABC's "This Week" program.
Serious negotiations are expected to resume this week. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been trying to convince the public - and financial markets - that they are willing to compromise and can reach a deal before the end of the year.
Durbin indicated Democrats might accept a reform of the government's Medicare health insurance program for the elderly that would make higher-income seniors pay more for their care.
Democrats traditionally oppose limiting Medicare benefits according to income, a practice known as "means testing." Durbin said Medicaid, a public health insurance program for the poor, also could be overhauled.
But Durbin said Social Security, the federal government pension program, needs only small tweaks to ensure long-term solvency rather than major reforms.
A deadline looms over the talks. Without action by lawmakers and President Barack Obama, roughly $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts will start to hit households and companies in early January.
'TEST OF POLITICAL COURAGE'
Republicans are averse to Democrats' plan to raise income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, which Republicans say would hurt job creation.
Republicans also want to cut spending on social programs more than Democrats say they will accept.
House Speaker John Boehner has called for a short-term plan to avert the fiscal cliff to pave the way for Congress and the White House to agree to work during 2013 on comprehensive tax reform and longer-term spending cuts.
But Republican Senator Bob Corker said both sides need to show "political courage" and reach a bigger $4 trillion deficit reduction deal that includes both increases in revenues and cuts in spending by the end of the year.
"Kicking the can down the road ? setting up a process for token deficit reduction today with the promise of more reforms later ? is misguided and irresponsible and shows a total lack of courage," Corker wrote in an editorial in the Washington Post.
TAX REVENUES
A growing group of Republican lawmakers are loosening their ties to Grover Norquist, the anti-tax activist famous for getting elected officials to sign a pledge that they will vote against any tax increases.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Republicans will allow tax revenues to rise as long as social spending programs are reformed. "I will violate the pledge - long story short - for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform," he told "This Week."
Graham said he supported boosting revenues by closing tax loopholes rather than by raising tax rates.
Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said last week he "cared more about the country" than a 20-year-old pledge. On Sunday, Republican Representative Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told NBC's "Meet the Press" he agreed with Chambliss.
While income tax breaks have attracted the most scrutiny, lawmakers also need to come to terms on a host of other tax incentives that are set to expire at the end of the year, including an estate tax break.
Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a key player in fiscal cliff talks, told a newspaper in his home state of Montana that he wants to preserve the estate tax break, which is important for farmers who want to pass down land worth millions of dollars to their children.
Baucus also said he hopes to preserve the production tax credit for wind energy, he told the Great Falls Tribune.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Todd Eastham and Bill Trott)
If you had any doubts that social media is playing a growing role in consumers? shopping habits, a new study from Research Now should help dispel them. The survey, conducted by ConsumerSearch.com, looked at what influences consumers to buy when they?re shopping for holiday gifts.
Some 62 percent of respondents report that they regularly use social media to get gift ideas. However, while you might think of social media as simply sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, it also included online reviews and wish lists shared by friends and family. Of all the social options, online reviews were the most popular social source, used by 41 percent of people seeking gift ideas.
That doesn?t mean you should give up on other marketing methods. The study found traditional methods of getting gift ideas were still slightly more popular than social media, with 64 percent reporting they look to ads, company websites and emails from businesses to get ideas for gifts.
While consumers are doing a lot of research before they buy gifts this year, more than one-third (37 percent) report that they rely equally on online and in-store research before committing to a purchase. One-fourth (24 percent) prefer to both research and shop online, and 17 percent prefer to both research and shop in physical stores.
What does it mean for your business this holiday season? To capture your share of the average $500 consumers will spend on gifts this year:
Create an integrated marketing plan that incorporates the methods most likely to reach your customer, whether that?s email, online advertising, offline advertising, social media or some combination of the above.
Some 65 percent of respondents say they rely on word-of-mouth to get gift ideas?so make it easy for customers to share your marketing messages, whether by encouraging them to ?forward this email to a friend? or posting deals and offers on social media. Consider creating ?tell a friend? or ?bring a friend? shopping discounts and deals.
Make sure your products and your store can be found on ratings and review sites. Build your presence online by encouraging your customers to review your store.
Image by Flickr user ivanpw (Creative Commons)
The views expressed here are the author's alone and not those of Network Solutions or its partners.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under Marketing, sales process, Small Business, small business, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top prize in the Powerball lottery will reach a record $425 million after no one won Saturday's drawing, a lottery official said on Sunday.
Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said the jackpot was $325 million for the drawing late on Saturday. Powerball has not had a winner for two months.
The $425 million record jackpot could be raised before Wednesday's drawing since big payouts tend to spur sales, Neubauer said.
"We'll watch sales to see if an adjustment upwards needs to be made," she said. The cash payout will be a record $278.3 million.
The previous top Powerball prize was $365 million, won in 2006 by ConAgra slaughterhouse workers in Nebraska. The Powerball lottery is held in 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In March, three winning tickets shared the largest U.S. lottery jackpot, the $656 million Mega Millions drawing
The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday were 22-32-37-44-50, and the Powerball was 34.
In a positive sign for the U.S. economy, shoppers took advantage of deep discounts?both online and in?stores over the?Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Black Friday?online sales topped $1 billion for the first time, according to?comScore, which measures online behavior.
Amazon.com was the most-visited retail website on Black Friday. Wal-Mart's website was second, followed by sites run by Best Buy, Target and Apple, comScore noted.
E-commerce accounts for less than 10 percent of consumer spending in the United States. However, it is growing much faster than bricks-and-mortar retail as shoppers are lured by low prices, convenience, faster shipping and wide selection.
More brick-and-mortar stores were open on?Thanksgiving this year, with retailers such as Target, Sears and Toys R Us joining in, while others including Wal-Mart and Gap either extended their operating hours or had more stores doing business.
Traditionally, stores had waited until Black Friday, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, to make their big push. ?
U.S. retailers' sales over the four-day holiday weekend increased an estimated 12.8 percent, according to?a survey from the National Retail Federation.
More than?35 million Americans visited retailers? stores and websites Thursday ? up from 29 million last year,?according to the?survey. Despite concerns that the early?Thanksgiving hours would cut into Black Friday results, nearly 89 million Americans still shopped on Black Friday -- up?3.1 percent over the 86.2 million who shopped that day last year.
After years of belt-tightening in a tough economy, Americans this year were?apparently in the mood to shop.?An estimated 139.4 million adults visited U.S. stores and websites from Thanksgiving through Sunday, up from 131 million last year, according to?the National Retail Federation. Total spending for the weekend rose to $59.1 billion from $52.4 billion last year.
?From green beans to great deals, millions of Americans found time this Thanksgiving to make the most of retailers? promotions and enjoy a special family holiday,? said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.?
When accounting for people who shopped on more than one day, the total number of visits to stores and websites was 247 million, up from 226 million last year. Shoppers also spent more --?$423 compared to?$398 last year.
The survey, conducted Nov 23-24 by BIGinsight for NRF, polled 4,005 consumers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percent. The number of shoppers for Sunday is estimated.?
Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.?
?There?s no question that millions of people were drawn to retailers? aggressive online promotions this weekend, making sure to research and compare prices days in advance to ensure they were getting the best deal they could,? said BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow in a statement. ?However, with shopper traffic increasing at department, discount, and clothing stores over the weekend, it?s clear that consumers still recognize Black Friday as one of the biggest shopping days of the year, as they have for decades.??
It's not clear yet whether strong Black Friday sales will weaken growth on Cyber Monday, which has been the biggest e-commerce day in the United States in recent years.
"Cyber Monday will be a big day, but not as much of a big day as it has been in the past," said Mia Shernoff, executive vice president for Chase Paymentech, a payment-processing unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. "Faster broadband Internet connections in the office used to drive this. But now many consumers have faster connections at home and smart phones and tablets -- they don't have to wait."?
Information from Reuters was included in this?report.?
If you're planning a cocktail party, prep your home with must-have spirits, cocktail ingredients and garnishes to make sure you have everything you need to keep drinks flowing and guests entertained. When throwing a cocktail party, it's essential to prepare you home bar. Here's advice on how to make sure your bar is well stocked and ready to serve:
Shop for your Cocktail Party a few days before your event date.
Follow your taste buds to the produce section of your local grocery store or farmers' market, and experiment with new fruits and vegetables in your favorite classic cocktails
Find a signature drink to serve at your party and find out the history of that cocktail and share it with your friends. All bartenders are story tellers.
Make cocktails in batches. To serve a crowd, break the drink recipe into cups for a pitcher. A pitcher typically serves 20 drinks that are 4 ounces each. Multiply your ounces by two and turn into cups. Always make sure to taste as you batch for quality control.
Buy enough beer and wine. While special cocktails can be a hit, beer and wine are often what people reach for at a cocktail party. A few tips to keep in mind when shopping for wine and beer:
Each guest drinking beer with likely consume one 12oz bottle per hour for the duration of the party. Try buying a mix of domestic brews and local micro brews. Each guest drinking wine will consume one 5 oz glass of wine per hour for the duration of the party. There are approximately five glasses of wine per bottle.
Have fun with your home bar. Cocktails are meant for celebrations to create good memories with your friends and family.Know you guests and ensure your bar is stocked with what they like to drink. Make them special and taken care of.
Buy enough ice, Have you ever tried to drink a cocktail and it's only got two half melted ice floating on the top and is?barely?cold. It tends to ruin a great thing. You should have 2.5 pounds of ice for every person at your party. If you plan to have an ice bucket or nice stainless buckets filled for your white wines and beers to keep chilled buy enough extra ice to fill those as well. Remember your ice bucket and displays will sit out and melt don't forget to account for that.
Try this drink recipe for a signature cocktail for the night:
Orange - Cranberry Gin & Tonic
5oz ice
1oz Gin
1.5oz OJ 3.5oz Tonic Garnish with a few frozen cranberries and a twist of orange rind.
Dexetra, the company behind?the Siri-like Android app Iris?and the activity-tracking app Friday, is merging the two apps to work together more seamlessly on Android devices. Giving Siri a run for its money, Iris users can now search the data archive generated by the Friday app, following the recent updates to these mobile applications rolled out over the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S.
With the world progressing each day, the reliance upon technology is one of the notable turnarounds. In which outlasts all other technological accessories or systems. Internet these days is not only a place to entertainment, but it has exploded to a huge industry where massive business is done on daily basis. With this industry progressing there are certain loop holes created. That is we all know are cyber crimes, which is the illegal access into other systems, with the thought of destroying or taking over the system. But how all these loop holes are created? Well according to a cyber security specialist, it?s all due to the lack of knowledge among the website owners many of them until now do not about the cyber security in comprehensive manner.
Furthermore, the cyber security specialist says that there are a number of people from eastern Europe wake up in the morning and go to the work for carrying out this type of vulnerable activities. So, now cyber crime have become a part of regular work routine for many people and a source of income too. This has made cyber crimes lot more professional and sophisticated, which has made a lot more harder for them to be combated.
According to another cyber security specialist, providing security to the online systems these has been really difficult these days because for hackers tend to find something vulnerable in the systems quite easily and they are also able to beat the programs to combat them because they know what they are made for. This has made Internet a difficult place to setup your business. But, cyber security labs has some how find a way to get to the pace of the hackers. They are now working with professional hackers to provide the system a full combat against cyber attacks. The implementation of this strategy was done when Knowbe4 a security firm worked with a professional hacker Kevin Mitnick ( who has hacked Nokia, Samsung,?Siemens?and other leading firms systems) to produce?programs?that can combat cyber attacks. ? ?
UC Davis computer security lab is one of the leading cyber security labs for combating cyber attacks and working on new programs?for shielding computer programs. They have been combating a number of high-profile systems one such US military system. Their strategy for combating the system is straightforward they look upon the vulnerabilities within the system and just remove them. According to them, security programs?are less worthwhile for protection as they need regular updates. They also provide cyber security education and look forward to remove cyber crime fully and they have a team working day and night for the combat of online systems. So, by the looks of the above discussion cyber crimes have upper hand over the cyber security, but in future this trend might change.
If you had any doubts that social media is playing a growing role in consumers? shopping habits, a new study from Research Now should help dispel them. The survey, conducted by ConsumerSearch.com, looked at what influences consumers to buy when they?re shopping for holiday gifts.
Dexetra, the company behind?