Author: Serkadis

It’s not an iSlate, but it is a tablet computer. On Wednesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was in peak form when he introduced what was hyped as one of the company’s most important product launches to date — the iPad.

The tablet with prices starting at $499 won’t be available until March, so it’s too soon to gauge consumer response. But some analysts expect Apple to sell millions of the high-resolution multi-touch devices this year.

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” Jobs said. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Moving Into Kindle Territory

With the iPad, Apple is trying to create a product that naturally fits into a consumer’s life, according to Bryan Gonzalez, a technical project specialist at the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California.

“I think because the iPad is so versatile, different people will use it different ways. Honestly, Apple just needs to have their fan base purchase the product and use it,” Gonzalez said. “Only then will the iPad be put through its paces. And just like the iPhone and iPod, word of mouth, product reviews will speak for the product.”

Apple has done well with appeals to its loyal fan base and the word of mouth that historically follows. Now Apple is moving into a territory dominated by Amazon.com and its Kindle reader. Apple also launched the iBooks app for the iPad along with the iBookstore, which Apple is billing as the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. Will it work?

“The Kindle is designed for one specific task: reading. It has an E Ink screen that…

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Filed under: Humor

Denver-area Apple consultant, trainer, designer, and professional paraglider instructor Tim Meehan surprised me yesterday with the photo you see at right. It was one of a portfolio of pictures he sent to me via email, all of which had me wondering how the heck he had managed to get his hands on an iPad before the rest of us.

At the bottom of the email was the answer: “A little foamcore, an inkjet printer, some spray-mount adhesive, and voila! Something you can send all your friends to make them think you’ve been keeping a big secret from them…”

If you’d like to amaze and confuse your friends in the next 60 59 days, you can either follow Tim’s easy instructions to make a faux iPad, or buy one of ten that he and Andrew McIntosh are selling on eBay.

There’s no word on whether or not Tim has developed mockups of the Keyboard Dock or Camera Connection Kit yet.

TUAWTUAW Brainfark: Build or buy your own iPad mockup and fool your friends originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Glamour has a way of seducing young stars, but Mila Kunis says she’s always had her feet firmly on the ground. The 26-year-old Ukranian star was just 15 when she landed the role of spoiled little rich girl “Jackie” on TV’s That’s ’70’s Show, but the stunning actress credits her mother with keeping her humble. In fact, Mila’s parents insisted the then-budding star work part-time at a local pharmacy – even when she was starring alongside Ashton Kutcher.

“My mother made me work at Rite-Aid, because my parents work full-time. I worked at ‘70’s’ on Laurel & Ventura [in Los Angeles] and I couldn’t drive because I wasn’t 16 yet, so my mother would come on her lunch break and pick me up from work,” Mila told FOX’s Pop Tarts Column on Wednesday.

“….My mother would put me behind the photo or ice cream counter and made me work….My parents did a fantastic job raising me,” the actress recalled fondly. “I cannot even begin to explain the stuff they made me do – they took my keys away, there is so much there. My parents really made me have a regular life.”

Filmgoers can check Mila out opposite Denzel Washington in the new post-apocalyptic tale, The Book of Eli, in theaters today.

Opel acaba de presentar su última furgoneta. Se trata de la Opel Vivaro, un modelo que guarda demasiadas similitudes con la Renault Master (presentada por la marca gala en el día de ayer).

La Opel Vivaro cuenta con un motor 2.3 dCi disponible en 100, 125 y 150 CV. Esta disponible en 4 longitudes y 3 alturas diferentes. Su volumen de carga va desde los 8 hasta los 17 metros cúbicos.

Este nuevo furgón verá la luz en la primavera del 2010. A continuación os dejo con una galería de imágenes oficiales:

Related posts:

1. Opel Meriva 2010
2. Teasers oficiales del Opel Astra
3. Opel Corsa Color Race

George Soros didn’t mince his words when giving his opinion on the yellow metal in Davos to Maria Bartiromo:

Telegraph: Mr Soros, arguably the most famous hedge fund manager in history, warned that with interest rates low around the world, policymakers were risking generating new bubbles which could cause crashes in the future. In comments delivered on the fringe of the World Economic Forum, Mr Soros said: “When interest rates are low we have conditions for asset bubbles to develop, and they are developing at the moment. The ultimate asset bubble is gold.” (See the video interview here)

If ultra low rates are inflating gold, then what will happen as we enter a tightening cycle and interest rates rise?

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Gold Is On A Four-Day Losing Streak
• Barrick Gold: Here’s Why We Eliminated Our Gold Hedges, Just As The Marked Started To Peak
• John Paulson Hoarding More Gold Than Several Countries Combined

Filed under: Spy Photos, SUV, Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen

Between patent offices, surreptitious shipping company videos, and Marussias being left uncovered on the back of a truck in a traffic jam, lately we’ve been coming across all manner of ways for new cars to be accidentally revealed ahead-of-schedule. Here’s another: a German model car company has let slip images of what looks like the next Volkswagen Touareg, which is actually meant to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.

The box is labeled “VW Touareg 2010,” but the supplementary text mentions the fourth quarter of this year, and a quick look at the front of the SUV makes it plain that this isn’t the current off-roader. In fact, it looks just like the naked spy shots of the 2011 model taken not too long ago.

The model makes the front end look dramatically reduced in a way we hadn’t picked up from Touareg spy shots, but saw clearly in the spy shots of its sister, the Porsche Cayenne. We’re hoping for plenty of weight loss there to compensate for the loss of those diesel V10 and W12 engines. We’ll see the final thing and take its measure from Geneva in about six weeks.

[Source: AutoWeek.nl (translated)]

Spy Shots: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg revealed in diecast form? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ISIS has released a long-awaited trio of papers on Burma’s very odd nuclear programs.

Burma: A Nuclear Wanabee; Suspicious Links to North Korea; High-Tech Procurements (January 28, 2010)

A look at Burmese high tech illicit procurement efforts, the cooperation with North Korea in the areas procurement and development, and imagery analysis of several suspicious facilities.

Exploring Claims about Secret Nuclear Sites in Myanmar (January 28, 2010)

An analysis of several facilities described by Burmese dissidents as involved in a Burmese nuclear program. More ›

Deep Connections between Myanmar’s Department of Atomic Energy and the DTVE (January 28, 2010)

ISIS traces the links between Burma’s Department of Technical and Vocational Education and the Department of Atomic Energy

Some loyal readers have been writing me about Burma in the past few weeks; I implored them to hold off while ISIS completed what is a lot of grist for the crowdsourcing mill. Have at it.

I just want to make the same point from my Wilson Center talk — proliferation networks still exist, gas centrifuges are a very fundamental challenge to the nonproliferation regime, and there are countries we don’t know about yet that have clandestine centrifuge programs.

Burma may or may not be one of these countries. It may go the reactor route, or no route at all. But we are at the beginning, not the end, of a new wave of nuclear aspirants, enabled my much reduced barriers to entry to the nuclear club. The interesting policy question is whether we can devise solutions that preserve the nonproliferation regime in the face of rapid technological change.

from rawa, 27 January 2010: “One thing that remains consistent over the last 30 years in observing America’s participation in Afghanistan is that mistakes and errors of judgment, no matter how egregious or self-defeating, never seem to get corrected. In fact, in its effort to rationalize a growing culture of war-making from Vietnam to Afghanistan, America has come around to embracing the insanity of the fictional Colonel Kurtz…” more

from rawa, 27 January 2010: “One thing that remains consistent over the last 30 years in observing America’s participation in Afghanistan is that mistakes and errors of judgment, no matter how egregious or self-defeating, never seem to get corrected. In fact, in its effort to rationalize a growing culture of war-making from Vietnam to Afghanistan, America has come around to embracing the insanity of the fictional Colonel Kurtz…” more

This chapter was due for inclusion in The Rough Guide Book of Brain Training, but was cut – probably because the advice it gives is so unsexy!

The idea of cognitive enhancers is an appealing one, and its attraction is obvious. Who wouldn’t want to take a pill to make them smarter? It’s the sort of vision of the future we were promised on kids TV, alongside jetpacks and talking computers.

Sadly, this glorious future isn’t here yet. The original and best cognitive enhancer is caffeine (“creative lighter fluid” as one author called it), and experts agree that there isn’t anything else available to beat it. Lately, sleep researchers have been staying up and getting exciting about a stimulant called modafinil, which seems to temporarily eliminate the need for sleep without the jitters or comedown of caffeine. Modafinil isn’t a cognitive enhancer so much as something that might help with jetlag, or let you stay awake when you really should be getting some kip.

Creative types have had a long romance with alcohol and other more illicit narcotics. The big problem with this sort of drug (aside from the oft-documented propensity for turning people into terrible bores), is that your brain adapts to, and tries to counteract, the effects of foreign substances that affect its function. This produces the tolerance that is a feature of most prolonged drug use – whereby the user needs more and more to get the same effect – and also the withdrawal that characterises drug addiction. You might think this is a problem only for junkies but, if you are a coffee or tea drinker just pause for moment and reflect on any morning when you’ve felt stupid and unable to function until your morning cuppa. It might be for this reason that the pharmaceutical industry is not currently focusing on developing drugs for creativity. Plans for future cognitive enhancers focus on more mundane, workplace-useful skills such as memory and concentration. Memory-boosters would likely be most useful to older adults, especially those with worries about failing memories, rather than younger adults.

Although there is no reason in principle why cognitive enhancers couldn’t be found which fine-tune our concentration or hone our memories, the likelihood is that, as with recreational drugs, tolerance and addiction would develop. These enhancing drugs would need to be taken in moderate doses and have mild effects – just as many people successfully use caffeine and nicotine for their cognitive effects on concentration today. Even if this allowed us to manage the consequences of the brain trying to achieve its natural level, there’s still the very real possibility that use of the enhancing drugs would need to be fairly continuous – just as it is with smokers and drinkers of tea and coffee. And even then our brains would learn to associate the drug with the purpose for which they are taken, which means it would get harder and harder to perform that purpose without the drugs, as with the coffee drinker who can’t start work until he’s had his coffee. Furthermore, some reports suggest that those with high IQ who take cognitive enhancers are mostly likely to mistake the pleasurable effect of the substance in question for a performance benefit, while actually getting worse at the thing they’re taking the drug for.

The best cognitive enhancer may well be simply making best use of the brain’s natural ability to adapt. Over time we improve anything we practice, and we can practice almost anything. There’s a hundred better ways to think and learn – some of them are in this book. By practicing different mental activities we can enhance our cognitive skills without drugs. The effects can be long lasting, the side effects are positive, and we won’t have to put money in the pockets of a pharmaceutical company.

Link to more about The Rough Guide book of Brain Training
Three excellent magazine articles on cognitive enhancers, from: The New Yorker, Wired and Discover

Filed under: Government/Legal, Porsche, Volkswagen, Earnings/Financials

The Porsche-as-hedge-fund escapade isn’t fully resolved yet. Of course, the biggest denouement will be when Volkswagen finishes integrating the company early next year, but in the meantime, Porsche is still dealing with investor wrath after its stock market foray. A group of U.S.-based hedge funds is suing the Stuttgart carmaker for losses in excess of a billion dollars, claiming those losses came because Porsche misled them about its intent.

Porsche was coy about its stake in VW, and only disclosed its stock holdings in the company as required by German law. German law doesn’t require a company to publicly declare cash-settled stock options as a share in the company. That means Porsche was sitting on shares it controlled that investors didn’t know about, and investors read Porsche’s statements on its intent as not having any interest in taking over VW. This, even though the company was knocking down doors all over Europe trying to get the VW law repealed…

When the extent of Porsche’s holdings were found out, investors expecting VW’s stock to drop had to cover their short positions buy buying a much smaller supply of stocks than expected, which drove VW’s share price to intergalactic levels. And that’s where the massive financial bloodletting happened. Porsche was already investigated and cleared by German authorities, who found that the company didn’t break any disclosure laws. Redress in an American court, where the lawsuit was filed, could be just as difficult to come by.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req’d | Image: Basheertome – C.C. License 2.0]

Report: Investment funds suing Porsche in U.S. for “short squeeze” fraud over VW originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Usually, analyst Dennis Gartman takes on a negative tone about our government in his daily newsletter.

Today, however, Mr. Gartman has shifted tones and notes that the Fed’s FOMC message yesterday is a sign of better things to come.

As for the FOMC meeting everyone knows that the Fed has held policy steady and that it retained the all important “”exceptionally low levels of the London Sales: Donald Berman, Alberdon International funds rate for federal is the most important phrase in this month’s report, as it was in December’s report, and as it was in late October. The language of the first paragraph has changed ever so slightly from what was written previously, noting only that “business spending on equipment and software appears to be picking up” compared to “businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment, though at a slower pace…..”

In December and again this month the Committee went out of its way noting that employers “remain reluctant to add to payrolls.” We take that as a signal that the Fed will absolutely not begin tightening monetary policy until such time as it is clear that unemployment is falling, and probably has been falling for several months.

The Fed did change is view on the economy from being “weak” to being “moderate” and that is perhaps a change worthy of note. Too, it appears that the Fed is a bit more confident that household spending is turning for the better, although only at the same “moderate rate” if forecast back in December.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dennis Gartman’s First Prediction For 2010: The US Will Grow Like Gangbusters And Surprise Everyone
• Gartman: Blame Democratic Mayors For Nationwide Poverty
• Gartman: Here’s How To Go Long Gold In Another Currency

Google has unveiled a redesigned Google Books homepage and also introduced a couple of new features to its rather controversial product. The feature themselves are a welcome addition, but the timing of the update is interesting for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, Apple has just unveiled its iPad tablet which has books and magazines as one of it… (read more)

Greek prime minister George Papandreou thinks that it’s not his country’s fault for becoming beleaguered with mountains of debt.

No, instead, some mysterious force has other plans for Greece.

Marketwatch: Greece has been targeted as a potential “weak link” within the euro zone, but remains determined to take painful steps needed to cut its budget deficit and cure a “credibility gap” over the nation’s finances, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum Thursday. “Often a country is being used as a weak link … we are being targeted with an ulterior motive or agenda,” he said.

Greek government bonds were under pressure again Thursday amid worries over the country’s budget problems. Papandreou said Greece would not leave the euro zone and that membership in the single currency has benefited the country.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The 15 Costliest Financial And Political Risks Looming In The Next Decade
• ECB Prepares For Euro Rupture As Greek Crisis Escalates
• Watch How Banks Get Whacked When Greece Goes Bust

One of the major concerns about various “three strikes” laws that kick people off the internet based on three accusations (not convictions) of copyright infringement, is that beyond being a stunningly disproportionate punishment to the action, it also potentially punishes many others: for example, a teenager can be accused three times of file sharing and his parents and siblings all lose their internet access because of it, that does not seem reasonable nor fair. And yet, in a rather odd statement, an IFPI representative, Shira Perlmutter, seems to be claiming some sort of magical ability to just block the single user from accessing the internet, saying to conference attendees that three strikes would only require cutting off “one account.” Perhaps the folks at the IFPI don’t quite understand how the internet works (or perhaps that’s a given) but generally speaking, when you have internet access at your house, you don’t set up separate access accounts for every family member… And if others in the family have access, what’s to stop the “cut off” one from using the other’s access?

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As we mentioned in passing yesterday, there is a controversy raging on XDA-Dev at the moment as to whether the European HTC HD2 in fact does have 576 MB RAM rather than the 448 MB HTC says it does. A leak of the T-Mobile ROM installed on the HTC HD2 appears to “unlock” the extra 128 MB.

Of course many people have tried to prove that this was not just an artefact of installing the wrong ROM on the device, and with some success.   While the controversy is not settled yet, soon many more people will be involved, as XDA’s ROM chefs are releasing ROM’s with the 576 MB ROM hack cooked in.

Do our readers think HTC secretly shipped devices with 128 MB less RAM available than actually in the device?  Let us know below.

Via Pocketnow.com

The zzz-catching TSA guard we posted a picture of on Monday has been put on desk duty pending the results of an internal investigation, after someone forwarded the picture to the TSA. “We recognize that our officers have very demanding jobs that require constant vigilance and hours on their feet,” TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis told the NY Daily News. “But nonetheless, it was completely inappropriate for her to rest in a public area while on her break as opposed to a nearby break room.”

TSA worker put on desk duty after she was spotted sleeping at LaGuardia Airport [NY Daily News]

Currently, Honda is limited to leasing its FCX Clarity fuel cell sedans to drivers in the Los Angeles area because of the city’s hydrogen stations. Hoping to avoid that problem in the future, Honda yesterday began setting up operation of a next-generation solar hydrogen station concept intended for use as a home refueling station for an overnight refill of fuel-cell powered electric-vehicles.

Designed to fit in your garage, the Solar Hydrogen Station produces enough hydrogen from 6-kilowatts of rooftop solar panels made by Honda. It takes the station 8-hours overnight to fill your fuel-cell for daily commuting.

Honda says that its Solar Hydrogen Station is compatible with a “Smart Grid” energy system and would enable users to refuel their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage. The station will also help lower CO2 emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power.

Gotta love green technology sometimes.

Honda’s Solar Hydrogen Station:

Press Release:

Honda today began operation of a next generation solar hydrogen station prototype at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, Inc., intended for ultimate use as a home refueling appliance capable of an overnight refill of fuel cell electric vehicles.

Designed as a single, integrated unit to fit in the user’s garage, Honda’s next generation Solar Hydrogen Station reduces the size of the system, while producing enough hydrogen (0.5kg) via an 8-hour overnight fill for daily commuting (10,000 miles per year) for a fuel cell electric vehicle.

The previous solar hydrogen station system required both an electrolyzer and a separate compressor unit to create high pressure hydrogen. The compressor was the largest and most expensive component and reduced system efficiency. By creating a new high differential pressure electrolyzer, Honda engineers were able to eliminate the compressor entirely – a world’s first for a home use system. This innovation also reduces the size of other key components to make the new station the world’s most compact system, while improving system efficiency by more than 25% (value calculated based on simulations) compared to the solar hydrogen station system it replaces.

Compatible with a “Smart Grid” energy system, the Honda Solar Hydrogen Station would enable users to refill their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage, which would lower CO2 emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power. During daytime peak power times, the Solar Hydrogen Station can export renewable electricity to the grid, providing a cost benefit to the customer, while remaining energy neutral.

Designed for simple, user-friendly operation, the intuitive system layout enables the user to easily lift and remove the fuel hose, with no hose coiling when the hose is returned to the dispenser unit.

Engineered for an 8-hour, slow fill for overnight refilling of a fuel cell electric vehicle, the home-use Solar Hydrogen Station would replenish the hydrogen for a typical daily driving, meeting the commuting requirements of many drivers. As with the previous generation system, the hydrogen purity from the new station meets the highest SAE (J2719) and ISO (14687) specifications.

Installed at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, the new Solar Hydrogen Station will employ the same 48-panel, 6.0kW solar array that powered the previous system. The array utilizes thin film solar cells composed of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) produced by Honda Soltec Co., Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda that was established for the mass production and sales of solar cells capable of efficient renewable electricity generation. Honda’s unique solar cells reduce the amount of CO2 generated during production as compared to conventional solar cells.

Designed to support the needs of the future owners of fuel cell electric vehicles, the Honda Solar Hydrogen Station was also designed to complement a public network of fast fill hydrogen stations. The Honda FCX Clarity electric vehicle is fast fill capable and offers an EPA-estimated driving range of 240 miles. With fast fill public stations providing 5-minute fueling time for longer trips, and the opportunity of convenient nighttime slow filling at home using a solar station with a Smart Grid connection, the Honda FCX Clarity can cover a wide range of driving demands from the daily commute to weekend trips.

A key strategy in creating a solar hydrogen station for home-use was to create a new lifestyle with convenient, clean, energy-efficient and sustainable home refueling, by addressing the need for refueling infrastructure that can advance the wider use of fuel cell electric vehicles by consumers.

The combination of a fuel cell electric vehicle and the solar hydrogen station could help lead to the establishment of a hydrogen society based on renewable energy, resulting in a major reduction of CO2 emissions and greater energy sustainability.

Honda began operation of its first Solar Hydrogen Station at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas in 2001:

July 2001: 3-unit system with hydrogen storage begins operation.

* October 2003: new 2-unit system with an original Honda electrolyzer and a new solar array utilizing prototype Honda CIGS solar cells offers improved system efficiency.
* August 2008: solar array fitted with mass production CIGS cells from Honda Soltec Co., reducing the size of the array by 20% and further improving photo voltaic (PV) energy efficiency.
* January 2010: new single-unit station begins operation, improving to world’s best system efficiency – increasing the efficiency by more than 25% (value calculated based on simulations) compared to the previous solar hydrogen station system, for a world’s highest system efficiency.

About Honda R&D Americas, Inc.
Honda R&D Americas, Inc. (HRA) is responsible for creating advanced technologies and products in the U.S. that provide new value to Honda and Acura customers. HRA began R&D operations in the U.S. in 1975 with market research activities in California, and has steadily grown its capabilities over the past 35 years to include all aspects of new vehicle design and development, as well as taking a leading role in the advancement of leading-edge safety and environmental technologies.

Today, Honda operates 15 major R&D facilities in the U.S. with more than 1,300 designers, engineers and support personnel engaged in the development of automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment products for North America and global markets.

HRA’s major centers include the Los Angeles Center (Torrance, CA), responsible for market research, concept development and styling design; the Ohio Center (Raymond, OH) responsible for complete product development, testing and support of North American supplier development; and a dynamic test facility in Ohio; and the North Carolina Center (Swepsonville, NC) responsible for power equipment R&D.

Yes, it’s Thursday, and that means it’s PSN day, when the online Stores get updated with fresh new content and special offers. For starters, the Uncharted 2 PlayStation heroes skin pack is on this batch. And as

The American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) applauds the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for issuing a consent order that prohibits the Indoor Tanning Association (ITA) from making false health and safety claims about indoor tanning.

The Academy raised its concerns about the false statements being made by the ITA with the FTC in 2008 after the ITA launched an advertising campaign designed to portray indoor tanning as safe and beneficial.

The Academy and several of its leading members cooperated fully with the agency’s investigation into this important public health issue.

The FTC is the federal government agency that works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.

“The American Academy of Dermatology commends the FTC for its investigation into the false and deceptive health and safety claims about indoor tanning being perpetuated by the indoor tanning industry,” said dermatologist David M. Pariser, MD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“The scientific facts are clear: exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation – either from the sun or from artificial sources such as indoor tanning – increases the risk of developing skin cancer, including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer,” said Dr. Pariser.

“This action comes at a particularly opportune time because many individuals may be using indoor tanning facilities during the winter months under the false impression that this is a safe way to generate their bodies’ production of vitamin D as has been claimed by the industry in its advertising,” said Dr. Pariser.

“The Academy hopes that this action will persuade individuals to rethink this choice and stop using or avoid indoor tanning altogether.”

This year, more than 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States — exceeding the incidence of all other cancers combined.

It is estimated that there would be about 121,840 new cases of melanoma in 2009.

Studies have found that use of indoor tanning by persons younger than 35 increases the person’s risk of melanoma by 75 percent. Melanoma is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common form of cancer for adolescents and young adults 15-29 years old.

Melanoma is increasing faster in females 15-29 years old than males in the same age group. In females 15-29 years old, the torso is the most common location for developing melanoma, which might be due to high-risk tanning behaviors.

Nearly 70 percent of tanning salon patrons are Caucasian girls and women, primarily aged 16 to 29 years.

Under its settlement with the FTC, the ITA is prohibited from making the misrepresentations challenged in the complaint, from misrepresenting any tests or studies, and from providing deceptive advertisements to members.

The settlement also requires that future association ads that make safety or health benefits claims for indoor tanning may not be misleading, must be substantiated, and must clearly and prominently disclose that exposure to ultraviolet radiation may increase the risk of developing skin cancer. The FTC consent order also requires the ITA to notify its members of the consent order and request that they immediately cease and desist from using all advertising materials previously provided to them by the ITA, including the advertising materials distributed by the ITA for its 2008 campaign.

The American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA), the Academy’s sister advocacy organization, opposes indoor tanning and supports a ban on the production and sale of indoor tanning equipment for non-medical purposes. Additionally, the AADA urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action that will ban the sale and use of tanning equipment for non-medical purposes.

Unless and until the FDA bans the sale and use of tanning equipment for non-medical purposes, the AADA supports the following requirements for indoor tanning facilities:

• No minor should be permitted to use tanning devices.
• A Surgeon General’s warning should be placed on all tanning devices.
• No person or facility should advertise the use of any ultraviolet A or ultraviolet B tanning device using wording such as “safe,” “safe tanning,” “no harmful rays,” “no adverse effect,” or similar wording or concepts.

The American Academy of Dermatology (Academy), founded in 1938, is the largest, most influential, and most representative of all dermatologic associations.

A sister organization to the Academy, the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA) is the resource for government affairs and practice information for dermatologists, and plays a major role in formulating policies to enhance the delivery of quality dermatologic care.

With a membership of more than 16,000 physicians worldwide, the Academy is committed to: advancing the diagnosis and medical, surgical, and cosmetic treatment of the skin, hair and nails; advocating high standards in clinical practice, education, and research in dermatology; and supporting and enhancing patient care for a lifetime of healthier skin.

For more information, contact the Academy at 1-888-462-DERM (3376) or AAD.org

Editor’s Note: Information about the FTC’s complaint and settlement with the Indoor Tanning Association can be accessed at: FTC.gov/opa/2010/01/tanning.shtm.