Author: Serkadis

  • FreeMind – The Challenge of Mapping Your Brain

    Having a map is essential for any new journey. But mapping the mind? What could this possibly be? The ones interested in taking full control over their thoughts and actions have surely found out about this revolutionary concept by now, because it is truly a concept that stands in the center of the latest brain structure and function discoveries. But let’s face the truth: the human brain has been slow to give up its secrets. Until recently the mechanisms that stand behind our thoughts, feelings and perceptions were impossible to examine directly, their true nature being possible to be observed only through their effects.

    Luckily, at present, the latest imaging technique reveals the internal world of the mind in the same way X-rays reveal our bones. The information technology does not lose any time either, as the developers have already brought to light software applications that enable you to organize your learning habits and brainstorming sessions in accordance with the latest mind mapping concepts. FreeMind is an example of such an application. So, if you are passionate about this subject and you want to learn more about the FreeMind’s features and options, please read further.

    The Looks

    FreeMind has a user-friendly interface with a classical and rich-in-options menu. As expected, the File menu lets you open an exi… (read more)

  • Breakthrough documentary “House of Numbers” challenges conventional thinking on HIV, AIDS

    (NaturalNews) Canadian filmmaker Brent Leung isn’t winning any friends in the pharmaceutical industry these days. His breakthrough documentary “House of Numbers” features jaw-dropping interviews with doctors, researchers and even the co-discoverer of HIV himself (Luc Montagnier), all of whom reveal startling information calling into question the “official” explanation of HIV and AIDS.

    An exclusive trailer from House of Numbers is now available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsOlVF_7bRc

    More information about the film is available at www.HouseOfNumbers.com

    The film isn’t publicly available yet, as it’s been screened in film festivals around the world. Check the available screening events at the film’s website: www.HouseOfNumbers.com

    Because of the game-changing statements heard from numerous health authorities in this film, it threatens the very foundations of the HIV / AIDS industry. Pharmaceutical companies are fronting a specific mythology about AIDS that maximizes their profits from AIDS drugs and (failed) vaccines, but that mythology is about to be dismantled when House of Numbers is released in theaters nationwide over the next few months.

    This could be the documentary that shatters Big Pharma’s false paradigms about HIV and AIDS.

    The AIDS testing hoax
    In the film, Brent Leung subjects himself to an HIV test and discovers that a “diagnosis” of being HIV positive has more to do with the answers you provide to lifestyle questions than any specific microbe appearing in your blood. The diagnosis of AIDS — as well as the very definition — is also apparently so wishy-washy that increasing numbers of well-trained scientists are now questioning whether AIDS exists at all.

    “The presently available data does not prove the existence of HIV,” says one health expert interviewed for the film. Another expert says, “The more diseases they could lump into these AIDS categories, the more patients they could catch.”

    “I think HIV totally has turned out not to be the cause of AIDS. HIV has turned out not to be!” says another interviewee.

    “We can be exposed to HIV many times without being … infected,” says Dr Luc Montagnier, the Nobel prize-winning virologist credited with the co-discovery of HIV. “Our immune system creates [antibodies] within a few weeks, if you have a good immune system.”

    The documentary film exposes the sharp contradictions in current scientific opinion about HIV / AIDS. “As I started questioning scientists and delving further into testing protocols and statistical modeling and science, I began to see a lot of the contradictions that they had amongst themselves,” said filmmaker Brent Leung. “One of the things that became apparent to me is how important it is to question everything that we’re told and not automatically accept any fact as truth.”

    One bizarre thing the film exposes is the ever-shifting definition of “AIDS.” In the United States, the official definition has been rewritten three times, and definitions vary widely around the world. AIDS isn’t simply the presence of the HIV virus; it’s a fictitious disease label that’s attached to a list of symptoms that continues to expand as the drug companies attempt to ensnare yet more victims into the AIDS label trap.

    The experts sound off
    House of Numbers is not a “fringe” film featuring dissenting opinions from conspiracy theorists. Rather, it is a lucid, intelligent collection of conversations with some of the world’s top virologists and Nobel prize-winning scientists, including former experts from the CDC, the WHO and UNAIDS. Many are speaking out against the conventional AIDS mythology for the first time on camera.

    Those interviewed for the film include Dr. Robert Gallo, Dr. Luc Montagnier, Dr. Michael Gottlieb, Dr. Joe Sonnabend, Dr. Kary Mullis, James Curran, Dr. Peter Piot, Dr. James Chin, Dr. Peter Duesberg and many others.

    The film has already received “Best Documentary” and other awards from the many film festivals where it has been featured. Momentum is building for the film, and mainstream distribution looks like a healthy possibility for 2010.

    “My main hope is that it educates people about the fact that this isn’t a clear cut issue,” says Leung. “I also hope it empowers people – that it causes them to question not just HIV and AIDS, but all facets of issues which impact our lives. I think we should further explore what we don’t know, and to welcome further discussion, because that will help us to know more and become more informed.”

    Learn more at www.HouseOfNumbers.com

    My take on the film
    I’ve served as the editor of NaturalNews for six years, and in that time, I’ve watched the pharmaceutical industry engage in rampant disease mongering in order to push their high-profit pills. They’ve done it with psychiatric disorders, high cholesterol and many other conditions. I’ve also watched how the cancer industry is based entirely on lies about some search for a “cure” even while most of the industry continues to push mammograms that actually cause cancer.

    The AIDS industry has a lot in common with the cancer industry, in fact. They’re both based on scientific quackery. They both demand the dogmatic worship of a particular set of completely non-scientific “truths” that cannot be challenged, and they both focus on generating pharmaceutical profits at the expense of human health.

    Also, both industries depend entirely upon the continuation of the disease they claim to treat. Where would Big Pharma be without cancer, AIDS and vaccines? Profits would fall sharply. So diagnosing as many people as possible with AIDS (and cancer) is an important strategy for boosting Big Pharma’s annual revenues.

    After reading books on AIDS by Dr. Gary Null and others, I’m convinced that the official mythology about AIDS is a cruel hoax perpetrated by the drug companies. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people suffering from very real immune suppression disorders, but I believe it is far too simplistic to explain the root causes as being solely due to HIV. The entire HIV explanation is just a clever way to shift control over AIDS patients into the hands of drug companies where highly toxic chemicals are sold at ridiculous profits to people who are rarely helped by them.

    The collection of immune suppression symptoms typically labeled “AIDS” could be far more effectively treated with naturopathic health strategies, including aggressive detoxification strategies, the removal of heavy metals, the avoidance of environmental synthetic chemicals (in foods, drugs, personal care products, homes and offices) and the addition of powerful immune-boosting herbs, foods and superfoods.

    Essentially, AIDS can be cured in much the same way cancer can be cured: By radically altering food intake and lifestyle decisions to support a vibrant, healthy immune system.

    Remember what Dr Luc Montagnier said in the film: “We can be exposed to HIV many times without being … infected. Our immune system creates [antibodies] within a few weeks, if you have a good immune system.”

    In other words, AIDS exposure is not a death sentence (as Big Pharma would have you believe). It’s like many other viruses: A weakened, suppressed immune system gives it the opportunity to wreak havoc throughout your body, but a strong immune system allows you to overcome AIDS and build up your own immunity in a few weeks.

    Essentially, being labeled “HIV-positive” is a tactic being used around the world to scare people into buying more high-profit AIDS drugs. But HIV-positive isn’t a death sentence, either. With the right immune-supporting solutions in place, even people who carry the HIV virus can live out a full life without any symptoms of AIDS.

    What’s fantastic about House of Numbers is that it has the courage to challenge the status quo with much-needed critical thinking about HIV and AIDS. As such, House of Numbers is a daring yet brilliant foray into the realms of contradictory medicine where myth trumps science… and profits win out against human compassion. For such a powerful film to have been created by such a young filmmaker is remarkable in itself; and for any film to so courageously challenge the broken mythology of the AIDS industry is an accomplishment for which any filmmaker — at any age — should be widely recognized.

    House of Numbers will rock the AIDS establishment and cause a whole new generation of thinkers to start critically questioning HIV / AIDS mythology (and the for-profit corporations that push it).

    The AIDS myth – what the experts say
    To provide more information on this topic, we’ve pulled together a collection of statements about HIV and AIDS from our library of top health books. We’re including a few quotes here, and you can read the full collection (7 pages of quotes) at: http://www.naturalnews.com/027354_AIDS_HIV_immune_system.html

    The renaming of old diseases as AIDS further supports the hypothesis that the AIDS syndrome is never found in anyone without presence of HIV. By definition, there is no AIDS without HIV, regardless how many non-HIV people may die from the very same symptoms. Accordingly, anything that even remotely resembles immune deficiency plus HIV now counts as an AIDS disease, despite the fact that AIDS patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma have been reported to have normal immune systems. It has been argued that wherever there is HIV, AIDS will be the consequence. However, this argument is heavily flawed.
    Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

    He sees AIDS as a sort of catch-all term that “spuriously links 29 (at last count) old and extremely heterogeneous AIDS indicator diseases together with a presumption of HIV infection.” Those who believe in AIDS as a new syndrome, he says, would have a case if, indeed, it were “a serious disease of acquired immune deficiency without preexisting or induced immune deficiency.” The problem is that “in all verifiable cases, demonstrable immune-suppressive disease and/or treatment have always preceded” the onset of AIDS.
    AIDS: A Second Opinion by Gary Null, James Feast

    In fact, he showed that HIV alone could not cause AIDS. Increasing evidence indicates that AIDS may be a toxicity syndrome or metabolic disorder that is caused by immunity risk factors, including heroin, sex-enhancement drugs, antibiotics, commonly prescribed AIDS drugs, rectal intercourse, starvation, malnutrition, and dehydration. Dozens of prominent scientists working at the forefront of AIDS research now openly question the virus hypothesis of AIDS.
    Cancer Is Not A Disease – It’s A Survival Mechanism by Andreas Moritz

    Another report also noted low serum zinc levels in those with AIDS but not other stages of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection. A child with AIDS was found to have all the signs and symptoms of a zinc-deficiency disorder. It is still unclear why these AIDS patients have low serum zinc levels. What is clear is that this aspect of the AIDS problem should be vigorously pursued. These exciting findings justify further clinical trials to determine the effects of supplementary zinc on the immune system and in the treatment of immune disorders such as AIDS.
    The Doctor’s Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia by Sheldon Saul Hendler

    Read the rest of these quotes about the AIDS mythology at: http://www.naturalnews.com/027354_AIDS_HIV_immune_system.html

    Watch the trailer for House of Numbers here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsOlVF_7bRc

    Here’s another fascinating trailer from the movie, which I call the “There’s no profit in nutrition” trailer:

  • The AIDS myth exposed: Why experts are challenging conventional AIDS mythology

    (NaturalNews) Conventional medicine’s explanations of HIV and AIDS are a medical myth at best; and outright quackery at worst. There is no such thing as a virus that “causes” AIDS, since the very definition of AIDS is widely disputed by scientists around the world. (And patients are often diagnosed with AIDS who have no HIV whatsoever.)

    In conjunction with the release of the myth-busting documentary House of Numbers (www.HouseOfNumbers.com), NaturalNews has pulled together a collection of fascinating quotes from top health authors and researchers who challenge conventional thinking about HIV and AIDS. If you’ve been suckered into Big Pharma’s lies about HIV and AIDS, you will find the information here absolutely shocking. What’s said here calls into question the entire basis of the “AIDS industry” with all their (failed) vaccines and patented prescription drugs.

    It seems that the AIDS hoax is about to be publicly exposed. As the House of Numbers documentary explains, “a world without AIDS may be closer than you think.”

    In fact, it may exist already.

    This doesn’t mean that people aren’t suffering from very real immune suppression disorders; it just means the conventional mythology that attempts to explain the causes of this immune suppression is factually wrong. Read more below to learn the details…

    The AIDS myth exposed
    The renaming of old diseases as AIDS further supports the hypothesis that the AIDS syndrome is never found in anyone without presence of HIV. By definition, there is no AIDS without HIV, regardless how many non-HIV people may die from the very same symptoms. Accordingly, anything that even remotely resembles immune deficiency plus HIV now counts as an AIDS disease, despite the fact that AIDS patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma have been reported to have normal immune systems. It has been argued that wherever there is HIV, AIDS will be the consequence. However, this argument is heavily flawed.
    Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

    Two of the 16 patients in the control group developed AIDS. In another study, 10 HIV positive patients without AIDS took 150-225 mg glycyrrhizin daily. After 1-2 years, none developed symptoms associated with AIDS or AIDS-related complex (ARC), while one of 10 patients of a matched control group developed ARC and two progressed to AIDS and subsequently died. The result of glycyrrhizin in HIV-positive and AIDS patients is almost immediate improvement in immune function. In one study, nine symptom-free HIV-positive patients received 200-800 mg glycyrrhizin in vitro daily. After 8 weeks.
    Textbook of Natural Medicine 2nd Edition Volume 1 by Michael T. Murray, ND

    It was obvious that the FTC was not interested in whether Immune Plus helped in the treatment of AIDS; they were only interested in curtailing its marketing. The FTC alleged that Immune Plus was being advertised as a “cure” for AIDS. At no time did True Health or International White Cross claim to have a cure. Test results in the Immune Plus ad were taken directly from the nutritional AIDS test, and True Health sold the exact same formula that was used in their AIDS test to International White Cross.
    Innocent Casualties : The FDA’s War Against Humanity by Elaine Feuer

    He sees AIDS as a sort of catch-all term that “spuriously links 29 (at last count) old and extremely heterogeneous AIDS indicator diseases together with a presumption of HIV infection.” Those who believe in AIDS as a new syndrome, he says, would have a case if, indeed, it were “a serious disease of acquired immune deficiency without preexisting or induced immune deficiency.” The problem is that “in all verifiable cases, demonstrable immune-suppressive disease and/or treatment have always preceded” the onset of AIDS.
    AIDS: A Second Opinion by Gary Null, James Feast

    In fact, he showed that HIV alone could not cause AIDS. Increasing evidence indicates that AIDS may be a toxicity syndrome or metabolic disorder that is caused by immunity risk factors, including heroin, sex-enhancement drugs, antibiotics, commonly prescribed AIDS drugs, rectal intercourse, starvation, malnutrition, and dehydration. Dozens of prominent scientists working at the forefront of AIDS research now openly question the virus hypothesis of AIDS.
    Cancer Is Not A Disease – It’s A Survival Mechanism by Andreas Moritz

    When this happens disease runs rampant, as we see with the immune destroyer known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. People don’t die from AIDS; they die from diseases that their shot immune systems can’t deal with. Ironically, vaccinations are supposed to boost the immune system when, in truth, they undermine it. All the crap they put into vaccines is another attack that the immune defence has to cope with and this reduces its ability to meet other challenges effectively by making the DNA/RNA misfire.
    Infinite Love Is the Only Truth: Everything Else Is Illusion by David Icke, Icke David

    In this study, the immune systems of mice were blocked by infecting them with a retrovirus that causes mouse AIDS and/or feeding them ethanol. They measured certain immune system functions, then gave them Pycnogenol and measured them again. Researchers found out that immune stimulators were increased, immune suppressors decreased, and natural killer cells were stronger. In other words, even when the immune system was barely working, Pycnogenol brought it back. Research in this direction may be very significant for those interested in the AIDS virus.
    The Super Anti-Oxidants: Why They Will Change the Face of Healthcare in the 21st Century by James F. Balch, M.D.

    Another report also noted low serum zinc levels in those with AIDS but not other stages of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection. A child with AIDS was found to have all the signs and symptoms of a zinc-deficiency disorder. It is still unclear why these AIDS patients have low serum zinc levels. What is clear is that this aspect of the AIDS problem should be vigorously pursued. These exciting findings justify further clinical trials to determine the effects of supplementary zinc on the immune system and in the treatment of immune disorders such as AIDS.
    The Doctor’s Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia by Sheldon Saul Hendler

    Formula for Chronic Viral Syndromes (HIV Infection, ARC, AIDS, Herpes, CMV, EBV) Note: By now, virtually everyone has heard of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). What many do not know is that AIDS does not have to be fatal. There are those with AIDS who have survived in relatively good health for several years now. An ever increasing number are surviving longer and longer. The secret is to pay attention to details. These include diet, exercise, stress reduction, use of supplements, immune enhancers, anti-viral agents and taking steps to prevent the diseases associated with AIDS.
    The Doctor’s Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia by Sheldon Saul Hendler

    It is important to note that while all people with AIDS are HIV-positive, not all people with HIV develop AIDS. Most HIV-positive people develop AIDS within eight to twelve years after first contracting the virus, but some develop it much faster, and many others still remain healthy decades after contracting HIV It appears that people who are able to ward off full-blown AIDS are those whose immune systems are the strongest. Therefore, complementary therapies for HIV and AIDS work to bolster the ability of the immune system to fight infection.
    Prescription for Natural Cures: A Self-Care Guide for Treating Health Problems with Natural Remedies Including Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Supplements, Bodywork, and More by James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D.

    The AIDS hypothesis is more fundamental: the hypothesis that “AIDS” exists in any rationally definable way. “AIDS” was from the very beginning a phoney construct, the product of muddled thinking and hidden agendas. Under the obfuscatory rubric of “AIDS” lies the reality of people who are sick in diverse ways and for diverse reasons. The first cases were identified among gay men. (It was then called “GRID”, which stood for “Gay-Related Immune Deficiency”.) The CDC trumpeted forth the message that the gay men with “AIDS” had been incredibly promiscuous.
    The AIDS War: Propaganda, Profiteering and Genocide from the Medical-Industrial Complex by John Lauritsen

    Duesberg also questions the proposition that the cause of AIDS is the retrovirus HIV. He has referred to the AIDS virus as a harmless “passenger” virus, just another virus among many living parasitically in the human body, and he claims that a positive HIV test is merely a viral marker (and not indicative of the cause) indicating immune system damage. In his opinion, based upon exhaustive research, AIDS is an immune deficiency disorder caused by overuse of recreational drugs and a lifestyle that burns the candle at both ends, including promiscuous sex. Eventually, the immune system collapses.
    Viral Immunity by J. E. Williams, O.M.D.

    These statements may seem bold to the point of being outrageous to anyone who keeps up with the AIDS story by following it in the mass media. However, there is one thing that escalating predictions of the ravages of AIDS conveniently tend to leave out of their reports. That, in many cases, when a report of a sudden increase of AIDS patients is made, it is accompanied by a redefinition of what the disease is. Recall that people only die indirectly of AIDS. AIDS weakens the immune system and then they die of another disease, such as tuberculosis.
    Get Healthy Now with Gary Null: A Complete Guide to Prevention, Treatment and Healthy living by Gary Null

    Abdullah says the discovery has implications for not only infections and cancer, but also for AIDS, in which immune functioning fails. Garlic, he says, might rev up immune defenses in AIDS patients; it also may directly combat the many fungal-type infections AIDS patients fall prey to. Dr. Abdullah is convinced lower doses of garlic boost immunity, too, but he deliberately used a big dose to make sure he got an effect. He is planning tests using garlic on AIDS patients.
    The Food Pharmacy: Dramatic New Evidence That Food Is Your Best Medicine by Jean Carper

    To overpower AIDS, you might have to destroy the entire AIDS-infiltrated immune system; after all, antibiotics, in their attempt to destroy a single specific microbe, indiscriminately kill everything, including resident friendly bacteria. But if you destroy the immune system, you’ve killed the patient faster, even more efficiently than AIDS. If you go after the secondary, opportunistic infections (KS, CMV, Pneumocystis carinii) with strong antibiotics and chemother-apeutics, you may destroy a radically underachieving immune system and the patient as well.
    Physician: Medicine and the Unsuspected Battle for Human Freedom by Richard Leviton

    Numerous studies have also demonstrated that people who suffer from immune-suppressed conditions, such as AIDS, are often deficient in selenium. Exactly how selenium boosts the immune system is unclear. Researchers speculate that the immune stimulation may be due to selenium’s antioxidant activity and its ability to protect important immune-related tissues in the lymph system and the thymus against free-radical damage. Like vitamin E, selenium may also play an important immune-related role by protecting the integrity of cell membranes, thus improving their overall function.
    Off-the-Shelf Natural Health by Mark Mayell

    We might say AIDS in Africa is being overcounted at both ends. To calculate the number of infected people, a fallible AIDS test is used; while to calculate how many people are dying of the immune deficiency disease, a large number of deaths that seem to have been due to other causes are attributed to the illness. Remember this fundamental point: People do not die from AIDS but from associated diseases that take over once AIDS has weakened the immune system.
    AIDS: A Second Opinion by Gary Null, James Feast

    The evidence clearly suggested that AIDS and other immune-related diseases manifested after the immune system had been compromised by a period of insults and debilitation, especially from daily diet. It also gave support to Michio’s larger perspective: that appropriate diet could do much to improve the strength of the body’s immune response. Since 1980, an explosion of information had occurred in scientific understanding of the immune system. Cottrell followed the developing medical literature closely; she also studied the existing research for links between nutrition and immune response.
    The Way of Hope: Michio Kushi’s Anti-Aids program by Tom Monte

    A growing number of medical professionals are pointing toward the rebuilding of the immune power through nutrition and related natural therapies as the key to winning the battle against AIDS. In his book Healing AIDS Naturally, Laurence Badgley, M.D., recounts the stories of eight men who cured themselves of AIDS through a combination of natural therapies to rebuild immune power, focused heavily upon nutrition.
    Reclaim Your Health: Nutritional Strategies for Conquering Chronic Ailments by Anne Frahm, David Frahm

    If HIV were the cause of AIDS, it would have to do this during the two phases of HIV infection where blood levels of HIV are significant: 1. Soon after infection when the immune system produces antibodies. 2. At the very end stage of AIDS when the levels of all viral activity increase because the immune system has collapsed (due other reasons than HIV infection). There is enough scientific data to show that HIV, being and remaining inactive even in AIDS patients, does not kill T-cells and, therefore, cannot cause AIDS!
    Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

    Because of these and other discrepancies, there is much confusion and dissent about what AIDS really is and even if it is accurate to classify it as a disease entity. The common factor that all these disconnected symptoms and diseases revolve around is HIV. If HIV antibodies are detected, these diseases converge as AIDS; if not, then they are diagnosed simply for what they are. In other words, any degree of immune suppression in the presence of HIV is classified as AIDS. But the same degree of immune suppression in the absence of HIV is by definition not AIDS.
    Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition by Larry Trivieri, Jr.

    The early medical articles about AIDS cited 1970s articles that associated venereal disease and homosexuality. They came to see male homosexuality as a “medically problematic” situation (Epstein, 1988: 4). In the early 1980s, AIDS was understood by the medical community through two frames, both of which promoted a view of AIDS as a “gay disease.” The first frame, immune overload, saw AIDS as caused by immune deficiencies resulting from gay men’s perceived excessive lifestyle (especially anal sex, multiple partners, and drug use). This perspective had huge public health implications.
    The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders by Peter Conrad

    At the international AIDS conference in Montreal, according to a Newsday article, “several researchers expressed bewilderment about how HTV virus causes the chain of events that results in AIDS.” Luc Montagnier, the discoverer of the so-called “AIDS ‘David Zinman and B.D. Colen, “New AIDS Study Shows 1.2M to 1.5M Victims”, Newsday, 6 June 1989. vims” (aka HIV-1) urged shifting the focus of research away from the virus to the human body’s defense mechanisms. “We need to understand much more basic things about the immune system before we can move forward any further”, he said.
    The AIDS War: Propaganda, Profiteering and Genocide from the Medical-Industrial Complex by John Lauritsen

    And the mathematician Weyer demonstrated that AIDS epidemiology refutes the hypothesis that HIV is the sole cause of “AIDS”. Press coverage of the panel reflected the type of censorship that obtains whenever AIDS orthodoxy is threatened. Stories in the New York Times (22 June 1990) and the Washington Post (22 June 1990) discussed Montagnier’s talk at length, but didn’t even mention Lo or Weyer. Peter Duesberg spoke on “Dissociation of the Epidemiologies of HIV and AIDS” at the Advanced Immune Discoveries Symposium (about which more later) at Le Meridien Hotel.
    The AIDS War: Propaganda, Profiteering and Genocide from the Medical-Industrial Complex by John Lauritsen

  • Organic transplant horrors: Diseased organs routinely implanted into donation recipients

    (NaturalNews) Matthew Millington, 31, was an Iraq war veteran who served in the British army. Suffering from an unspecified “serious long condition”, doctors told him he would be dead in two years unless he underwent a lung transplant. With tens of thousands of people world-wide awaiting organ transplants, the young man was one of the “lucky” patients who soon received his lungs from a donor. The problem was he was given lungs riddled with a fast growing cancer — and Millington died less than 10 months after his operation.

    This is just a horrible, rare, mistake right? Not necessarily, according to a warning just issued by the UK health service. It specifically lists other examples of diseased and damaged organs being inappropriatedly donated for transplantion — in addition to cancer, these include “fatty” organs, which can be caused by a donor’s obesity or alcoholism and result in cirrhosis in a transplant patient, and organs containing cuts and other damage resulting from the organ retrieval process. Most horrific was a report of a donor patient found to be infected with vCJD, the human form of mad cow disease, as well as hepatitis B. In addition, the report notes problems with patient identification errors and incorrectly matched tissue types.

    The British report does not include any information about diseased transplanted organs in the U.S. or other countries. However, it does point out that the quality of transplant organs isn’t always the best, in large part because there is a huge, critical need for transplanted organs. And this organ shortage has hit the U.S., too. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, around 17,000 Americans have received organ transplants this year but another 104,335 are waiting for organs.

    In the UK, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph, information has emerged revealing that donated organs are being accepted from drug addicts because of the critical organ shortage in that country. In fact, an investigative report in that publication found a reluctance by patients and transplant surgeons alike to reject any organs offered unless there are extremely compelling reasons.

    A spokesman for Papworth Hospital, Huntingdon, where Matthew Millington received his deadly transplant, told The Telegraph: “Using lungs from donors who have smoked in the past is not unusual. During 2008/09 there were 146 lung transplants carried out in the UK. During the same period 84 people died on the waiting list. If we had a policy that said we did not use the lungs of those who had smoked, then the number of lung transplants carried out would have been significantly lower.”

    Because of the critical shortage of organs for transplants and the fact more people are needing transplants every year, there is a push world-wide to encourage organ donation. Unfortunately, the same amount of resources and energy doesn’t seem to be directed into preventing the need for transplants in the first place. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists the major reasons for organ failure as being conditions that are almost always preventable or treatable with healthy diets, exercise and other natural measures: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and lifestyle choices ( including drug and alcohol abuse).

    For more information:
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6282248/Alert-over-donor-organs-riddled-with-cancer-mad-cow-disease-and-hepatitis.html
    http://organdonor.gov/reduce_risk/index.htm
    http://www.organdonor.gov/
    http://www.ustransplant.org/national_stats.aspx

  • Nyko unveils Zoom Case for DSi

    Nyko revealed today its DSi-specific peripheral, the Nyko Zoom Case, which will allow owners of the handheld to capture clearer pictures while protec…

  • PixelJunk Shooter targets December Japan launch

     Finally, the underwater version of the popular PixelJunk franchise, PixelJunk Shooters, has been pegged to a more specific release window. Dylan…

  • Astak lauches the Mole social networking webcam

    moleDesigned to work without a dedicated PC, the new Astak Mole was announced today. The Mole is a wireless webcam that can upload video directly to such sites as YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. It can also record directly to an SD card in the camera.

    I’m curious however, exactly who will be using this product, and for what. It can be controlled remotely (even pan and tilt) via a web interface, has 15 LEDs for night time recording, and a two way microphone so the person being filmed can have a conversation with the viewer. The internet feed to the camera comes via either an ethernet port, or an internal wifi card. Recording quality is pretty standard, with the high quality mode set at 640×480. The camera can also be set to a motion sensitivity mode, and capture movement as it happens, and record it for later.

    The obvious usage is for home or small business security, this sounds like something that Biggs would be into given his quest for a home monitoring solution. The website suggests that it would also make a good baby monitor, which certainly sounds reasonable.

    The Mole cam will ship early this November for $299.

    [via Electronista]


  • Video: How wood chips or tires are converted into Ethanol fuel


    Ethanol fuel was always a mystery to me. Really, I never took the time to learn about it until I watched this 3:31 video that shows how a Pennsylvania company, Coskata, converts anything that contains carbon into fuel. Yeah, it’s an infomercial for GM, but it always quickly explains the whole waste to fuel conversion process and so it might be worth your time.


  • Photographers Can Do CwF+RtB Experiments, Too

    Michiel Rhoen writes in to tell us about photography instructor and author, Thom Hogan, who has embraced the CwF+RtB philosophy by offering a limited edition deal (only 25 spots available with 4 already taken at the time of writing this) where Mr. Hogan will sit down one-on-one with each buyer for 3 hours. During those 3 hours, Hogan is game for almost any kind of photography consulting, giving his professional advice on camera equipment, portfolio reviews, help with post processing work or just a long chat over a meal together. But that’s not all… The complete Thom Hogan Limited Edition package (US$849) includes:

    • A full normal package for the book, Complete Guide to the Nikon D700 (CD and To Go Guide), a US$49.99 value
    • A full printed version of the main book in black and white, a US$29.99 value
    • A full printed, signed, numbered version of the main book in color, a US$99.99 value
    • All of the above shipped to you via Priority Mail
    • All future updates of the book, if any, delivered free, a likely US$14.99 value or more
    • Three hours of personal, one-on-one time with Thom, a US$750 value

    So this deal is aimed directly at folks who own a very specific camera and who happen to be able to travel to see Hogan when he’s available for the one-on-one time. It’s not exactly going to make Hogan a millionaire (at best, it’s going to make him $21,225 gross). But it’s a great example of how an author can take advantage of actual scarcities (Hogan’s time and expertise) as part of a business. I do find it interesting that Hogan’s limited edition offer is an experiment that might demonstrate the advantages of selling an author’s time over selling content that is already created. I imagine if this package sells out, that Hogan will expand this limited offer to other specific cameras. And I’d bet he’d even be able to crowdfund a new book if enough amateur photographers ask him to create his next “complete guide” for a camera he might not otherwise have reviewed.

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  • DIY: CD-ROM for your Toyota Camry

    vincentb-cdromstereo
    One CD-ROM drive: $18.99
    Some wire and electrical tape: $2.50
    Installing a CD-ROM drive to use as a CD player in your car: priceless.

    Ok, so it’s DIY, but maybe not a DIY you’d really want to do. This little project is certainly a choice, but if you are so inclined and find you have the need, but not the budget, you can probably whip this one up yourself.

    I’m not sure how well this would work though, there’s not much buffering on a drive like this so the slightest bump will probably cause your CD to skip. You’ll also need a IDE drive, since the power connections are different for a SATA. For more of these, shall we say, creative projects, click on over to “There I fixed it“.


  • Toshiba announces new 14.6 megapixel back lit sensor

    toshiba-sensor-2Toshiba just announced their latest advancement in CMOS technology, the BSI (back-side illumination) sensor. The BSI sensor is designed to improve high ISO (or low light) photography by decreasing the amount of noise that appears on images taken under these conditions.

    This is one of the first major innovations in digital photography that we’ve seen in quite some time, and the potential is enormous. At this point of course, we don’t have any information about when we’ll see this tech in cameras or how much it will cost, but the press release does go in depth about how exactly the technology helps with the hgh ISO problem.

    From the press release:

    TOKYO, Japan., October 27, 2009 – Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced the launch of a new CMOS image sensor that will bring 14.6 million pixels to digital still cameras and to mobile phones supporting video imaging. The sensor, the latest addition to Toshiba’s “Dynastron™” line-up, is also the company’s first to integrate the enhanced sensitivity offered by back-side illumination technology (BSI). Sampling of the new sensor will begin in December and mass production will follow from the third quarter of 2010 (July–September).

    BSI brings new levels of responsiveness to CMOS imaging. Lenses are deployed on the rear of the sensor on the silicon substrate, not on the front, where wiring limits light absorption. This positioning boosts light sensitivity and absorption by 40% compared to existing Toshiba products, and allows formation of finer image pixels.

    Toshiba has made full use of the advantages of BSI to realize image pixels with a pitch of 1.4 microns, and to pack 14.6 million of them into a 1/2.3-inch sensor that meets the high level imaging and processing requirement, and that will also bring a new level of image quality to mobile phones. Toshiba will use the new sensor to promote its full-scale entry to digital camera market, and will continue to develop BSI products as a mainstream technology.

    The new sensor will be mass produced at Toshiba’s Oita Operations, on industry leading 300mm wafer lines deploying 65nm process technology. Initial production will be at a volume of 500,000 sensors a month.

    CMOS image sensors are a focus product of Toshiba’s System LSI business. Until now, their main application has been in mobile phones, where Toshiba could leverage its high density integration and low power consumption technologies. With the introduction of BSI CMOS sensors, Toshiba will reinforce the sensor business by expanding application to include digital cameras.

    [via Photorumors]


  • DS homebrew game – Manic Miner the Lost Levels v1.00

    The Headsoft team has ported the classic ZX Spectrum platformer game Manic Miner to the Nintendo DS. This release includes various stages of the Manic…

  • Forecasting Windows 7

    Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, has much brighter prospects than Windows Vista had upon initial release. Its core code, while it comes from Vista, has been improved through several developer cycles; moreover, Windows 7 went through far more extensive beta testing than Vista ever did.

    In addition to these points, our newest GigaOM Pro research report from Kevin over at jkOnTheRun, “Windows 7 Forecast: Mostly Sunny With a Chance of Showers,” takes a balanced look at one of Microsoft’s most important product releases in many years. Here are some of the highlights from Kevin’s analysis.

    It’s Headed for Netbooks. As Kevin notes in his report: “Netbooks sold with Windows 7 ought to help tremendously with adoption rates, as that market is one of the few computer hardware categories showing signs of growth -– simply pre-installing Windows 7 on netbooks should give rise to a noticeable boost in the adoption rate while buffering against losing market share to other solutions.”

    Fewer Hardware Problems Than Vista Had. Windows 7 goes to great lengths to overcome the hardware driver challenges and performance issues that plagued Windows Vista. And it reached more users during its beta testing phase than Vista ever did — which was a deliberate move on Microsoft’s part, compared to its past beta cycles.

    New Types of Devices Targeted. The report also discusses how Windows 7 is positioned to be used on new types of touchscreen devices. These should come in many form factors, and could take Windows in directions it hasn’t gone toward before.

    You’ll find these and many other topics discussed in our latest Pro research report. Subscribe for $79 to check it out here.


  • Finance Bill’s Fine Print May Cause Sticker Shock For Some Consumers

     

    Members of U.S. Senate Finance Committee. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

    Proponents of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill say the legislation will limit the amount that lower- and middle-income people must pay for health insurance to a maximum of 12 percent of their incomes.

    But there’s a catch: The fine print shows that, over time, the premium costs could rise well beyond those caps. That’s because the cost of coverage would shift from a percentage of income to a percentage of the premium, no matter how high the premiums go.

    Related Document

    America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 (.pdf)

    Because premiums generally rise faster than wages, consumers getting subsidies would pay a larger percentage of their incomes toward premiums over time. But the provision means slower-growing subsidy costs for the government. That trade-off reflects the difficult balancing act lawmakers face as they try to hold down the bill’s overall price tag while also trying to provide financial help to millions who will be required to have coverage, but may not be able to afford it.

    The first year the legislation would take effect, people getting subsidized coverage would be required to pay from 2 to 12 percent of their incomes for insurance. The government would pick up the rest of the tab. People with lower incomes would pay less and those with higher incomes more.

    But in the second year, it changes. From then on, it is based on a percentage of the premium that was paid the first year, no matter how far premiums rise.

    For years, health insurance premiums have risen faster than wages, and the trend is expected to continue.

    “People are going to have to keep paying more and more,” says Judith Solomon, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan Washington research group that looked at the effect in a recent paper.

    The way the subsidies are indexed, she says, has so far taken a back seat to a larger debate among lawmakers, budget hawks, consumer advocates and others that is more focused on the size of the subsidies – and how much of their income people should initially be forced to put toward coverage.

    How It Would Work

    Solomon’s paper offers an example of a family of three making 220 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $40,282. In the first year, the family would be required to pay 8 percent of its income for premiums, or $3,223. That amount represents 29 percent of $11,083, the average 2009 cost of high deductible family coverage offered by employers.

    Let’s assume in subsequent years that the family’s income kept pace with inflation and they remained at 220 percent of the federal poverty level. They would continue to pay 29 percent of the cost of the premium. But because premiums are likely to rise faster than inflation, Solomon’s analysis found, the family’s cost would soon rise above 8 percent of their income.

    Since 1999, insurance premiums have jumped 131 percent, while wages increased 38 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is a program of the Foundation.) This year, the average premium for all family policies rose about 5 percent, to $13,375 annually, the foundation reported, while workers’ wages rose 3.1 percent.

    Robert Laszewski, president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates in Arlington, Va., says the indexing makes it harder for Congress to meet President Barack Obama’s goals of providing affordable coverage. “The president has promised health insurance security for the middle class, but there are … problems with that,” he said. “The first is the size of the subsidies to start with. And apparently, the way that Senate Finance has structured the plan, the subsidies as a percentage of income will dwindle each year.”

    All the major bills before Congress have subsidies for people under 400 percent of poverty, which is currently $73,240 for a family of three. They all link the amount people getting subsidies would have to pay to a percentage of their income in the first year.

    The Finance Committee provision (.pdf) would help hold down the amount of federal subsidies needed, by shifting more of the growth in costs to consumers over time. Already, subsidies represent about $450 billion of the estimated $900 billion price tag of the legislation over 10 years.

    “They did this to make subsidies a little cheaper,” says Karen Pollitz, director of the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University. “But it means that if you’re [a low-income policyholder] struggling in the first year, it will get harder and harder … unless we have some massive breakthrough in cost containment” and the growth of premiums slows.

    A policy paper by Elise Gould and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, says payments by low- and middle-income families should be based on a percentage of income, not premium costs so that “subsidies do not become grossly insufficient over time.”

    Employers Follow Similar Model

    Still, linking how much people who qualify for subsidies pay for their insurance to a percentage of their premiums is similar to what many employers do.

    On average, employers pay 73 percent of the cost of family coverage, with workers picking up the rest, the Kaiser survey shows. If premium costs rise, employers often pass along to workers that same share of the increase. So, if a premium rises by $600 for the year, the employer would pick up $438 and the worker would pay the rest.

    “Worker premiums have been going up faster than earnings and they’re seeing it cut into their take-home pay,” says Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute. “It sounds like the way this legislation is structured, it will continue that” for those with subsidies.

    Economist Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton says it would be better to limit the amount paid by lower income families to a percentage of income, even if it required more federal money for subsidies.

    “That way the risk is borne by the taxpayer,” says Reinhardt. The way the legislation is written, he added, “the risk of the premium increase is borne by the low-income family.”

    Solomon says although this issue has not generated much debate yet, it could if enacted.

    But the growth over time of how much people pay toward premiums “will be one of the things to look at once implementation goes forward,” Solomon says. “It gives at least the feeling that there is a real stake in keeping [premium] growth down.”

  • Whatever happened to the Klingons, anyway

    There was one race conspicuously missing from the J.J. Abrams Star Trek film: the Klingons. They were filmed, but the scene with them questioning Nero was cut for whatever reason. The good news is, in this day and age deleted scenes rarely stay deleted for long. Case in point, SpikeTV just revealed a deleted scene where we do get to see the Klingons, and they ain’t happy with Nero. This is of course a marketing ploy, since there’s a special edition coming out on two DVD’s and Blu-ray this November 17th.

    [via Movieweb]


  • History of Information Technology and System

    • Four basic periods
    Characterized by a principal technology used to solve the input, processing, output and communication problems of the time:
    1. Premechanical,
    2. Mechanical,
    3. Electromechanical, and
    4. Electronic

    A. The Premechanical Age: 3000 B.C. – 1450 A.D.

    1. Writing and Alphabets–communication.
    1. First humans communicated only through speaking and picture drawings.
    2. 3000 B.C., the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (what is today southern Iraq) devised cuniform
    3. Around 2000 B.C., Phoenicians created symbols
    4. The Greeks later adopted the Phoenician alphabet and added vowels; the Romans gave
    the letters Latin names to create the alphabet we use today.
    2. Paper and Pens–input technologies.
    1. Sumerians’ input technology was a stylus that could scratch marks in wet clay.
    2. About 2600 B.C., the Egyptians write on the papyrus plant
    3. around 100 A.D., the Chinese made paper from rags, on which modern-day papermaking is
    based.
    3. Books and Libraries: Permanent Storage Devices.
    1. Religious leaders in Mesopotamia kept the earliest “books”
    2. The Egyptians kept scrolls
    3. Around 600 B.C., the Greeks began to fold sheets of papyrus vertically into leaves and bind
    them together.
    4. The First Numbering Systems.
    1. Egyptian system: The numbers 1-9 as vertical lines, the number 10 as a U or circle, the
    number 100 as a coiled rope, and the number 1,000 as a lotus blossom.
    2. The first numbering systems similar to those in use today were invented between 100 and
    200 A.D. by Hindus in India who created a nine-digit numbering system.
    3. Around 875 A.D., the concept of zero was developed.
    5. The First Calculators: The Abacus.

    One of the very first information processors.

    B. The Mechanical Age: 1450 – 1840
    1. The First Information Explosion.
    1. Johann Gutenberg (Mainz, Germany)
    Bulleted List – Invented the movable metal-type printing process in 1450.
    2. The development of book indexes and the widespread use of page numbers.

    2. The first general purpose “computers”
    – Actually people who held the job title “computer: one who works with numbers.”
    Slide Rules, the Pascaline and Leibniz’s Machine.
    – Slide Rule.

    Early 1600s, William Oughtred, an English clergyman, invented the slide rule
    – Early example of an analog computer.


  • Twitter Banning Satirical ‘Fake’ Versions Of Politicians?

    It’s certainly become popular on blogs and on Twitter to create “fake” satirical versions of various famous people. These are usually humorous (or they try to be) over-the-top representations of these celebrities. Usually, they are quite obvious, even to the point of saying that they are “the fake so-and-so” or clearly stating in the bio that this is fake. There should be no confusion around such things. However, a journalist in India who created a “fake” satirical Twitter profile for Indian politician Shashi Tharoor has found herself banned from Twitter without any explanation or chance to appeal. Now, obviously it is Twitter’s right to decide whether or not to shut down certain accounts, but you would think with such an obviously fake profile that the company might be a bit more careful and, at the very least, communicate with the account holder about the issues with the account before just shutting it down.

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  • Cisco’s Starent Purchase Faces Opposition

    Cisco Systems’ $2.9 billion purchase of wireless networking equipment maker Starent might be in trouble: The Law Offices of Brian M. Felgoise, P.C. , a law firm in Pennsylvania thinks that the wireless equipment makes is taking the lowball offer and not striking a hard enough bargain. Cisco’s $3 billion purchase of Tandberg is also facing opposition from shareholders who own 24 percent of the company. I wonder if Cisco might have to raise its offering price on these deals.


  • Concept and History of Information Technology



    INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
    Information technology is a manifestation of public & private investment in science & engineering (S&E) that is enabling broad and significant changes in society. Many observation, compare the rapid development and expansion of information technology to the industrial revolution in terms of its potential scope & impact on society. Few other modern advances in technology have the capacity to affect so fundamentally the way people work live, learn and govern themselves. As with the industrial revolution, both the time and direction of many changes are difficult to predict.
    The relationship between IT& science & engineering has two aspects. In addition to being a product of science and engineering, IT enabling change in S&E. IT has become on important part of the Indian economy for example S&E make extensive use of computer modeling & simulation and large share of database advances in networking facilitate global collaboration in research and product development, implement the results of academic research and conduct significant amounts of applied R&D, IT also influences the pipeline for S&E through its affects on the demand for people with technical skills and through its use in education at all levels.
    Information technology reflects the combination of three technologies, digital computing, data storage and ability to transmit digital signal through telecommunication network. Rapid change in semiconductors technology, information storage & networking, combined with advance in software, has enabled new application, cost reduction and widespread diffusion of IT. The expanding array application makes IT more useful & further fuels the expansion of IT.

    CONCEPT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
    Information is a resource which has no value until it is extracted, processed and utilized. Information technology deals with information system, data storage, access, retrieval, analysis and intelligent decision making. Information technology refers to the creation, gathering, processing, storage, presentation and dissemination of information and also the processes and devices that enable all this to be done.
    Information technology is affecting us as individual and as a society. Information technology stands firmly on hardware and software of a computer and tele-communication infrastructure.