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Just got a heads up that the T-Mobile BlackBerry 9700 might have been pushed back to a November 16th launch. Not confirmed, though. Pricing is confirmed, however, at $199 with a two-year agreement and $449 for full retail . On the Samsung side of things, we’ve heard the Samsung Behold II running Android will launch on November 18th with a $249 price tag (on a two-year agreement, of course).

We do not understand why IER gets the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) so spun up. Maybe it’s because of our opposition to government subsidies. Maybe it’s because we don’t believe that government mandates forcing people to buy energy from expensive, inefficient sources is good for the economy. Or perhaps it is because of our belief that consumers, not Washington, should choose the sources of energy they think is best for them.

Whatever the reason, we would like to apologize to AWEA. Apparently we compelled them to use ad hominem attacks like “anti-clean energy” to describe our organization and “bogus” to describe our research. We would have preferred that AWEA produce a substantive rebuttal to our recently released report, “Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energies: The German Experience.”

In an October 21^st blog post, AWEA states “IER’s strategy clearly is to discredit wind energy in other countries.” We do not have a strategy to discredit wind energy in other countries. President Obama and top Administration officials are telling us that America must follow Germany’s example with respect to renewables or we will be left behind. Taking the President at his word, we sought to better understand Germany’s experience by commissioning a study by the think tank Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI). The report found the following facts:

• Financial aid to Germany’s solar industry has now reached a level that far exceeds average wages, with per worker subsidies as high as $240,000.

• In 2008, the price mark-up attributable to the government’s support for “green” electricity was about 2.2 cents US per kWh. For perspective, a 2.2 cent per kWh increase here in the US would amount to an average 19.4 percent increase in consumer’s electricity bills.

• Between 2000 and 2010, the net cost of the German government support for solar was $73.2 billion and an additional $28.1 billion for wind. Because the U.S. economy is five times larger that Germany’s, a comparable expenditure in the U.S. would amount to about half a trillion dollars.

• Green jobs created by government actions disappear as soon as government support is terminated, a lesson the German government and the green companies it supports are beginning to learn.

• Government aid for wind power is now three times the cost of conventional electricity.

AWEA lobbies Congress for government handouts and subsidies for wind energy production, so we understand why they would like to these facts to remain hidden.  As the report shows, Germany’s experiment with promoting renewable energy has been expensive, and transplanting that experience to the United States will be expensive.

Apples to oranges, AWEA argues, because Germany is not a good model for the United States.  In their own words:

“The problem is that the United States is not considering a feed in tariff as a means to encourage wind development because it would not work. Instead, the US is considering a free-market based national Renewable Electricity Standard, and numerous studies have shown that an RES would decrease electricity prices.”

We hope AWEA informs President Obama and other top Administration officials that Germany’s feed-in tariff is not a good model for the United States.

We hope AWEA informs Representative Jay Inslee, who is promoting legislation to establish a federal feed-in tariff, that the United States is not considering a feed-in tariff, as it would probably come as a surprise to him.

In a Congressional hearing on September 24, 2009, Representative Inslee explained that Germany’s system of promoting renewables through a feed-in tariff is a better way to go than the Spanish experience.

We hope AWEA informs itself that Germany’s feed-in tariff “would not work” in the U.S., instead of describing it as “similar to a Renewable Electricity Standard” which AWEA strongly supports.  Here’s what AWEA’s website says:

“A distributed generation or “feed-in” tariff ensures that locally owned, small-scale renewable energy systems become significant contributors to the local power supply. A feed-in tariff is similar to a Renewable Electricity Standard (see “Wind energy policy issues” www.awea.org/faq/wwt_policy.html) except that instead of establishing a set quantity of renewable electricity a utility must generate, it establishes a set price at which a utility purchases excess electricity from a renewable generator, such as a small wind system.”

In AWEA’s blog post, they describe a national Renewable Electricity Standard as “a free-market” program. That is not accurate. In free markets, people are free to choose. A Renewable Electricity Standard forces people to buy wind, solar, and other government-approved energy sources. It is a mandate.  Forcing someone to buy your product is not a free-market program by any definition.

Contrary to AWEA’s assertion that a Renewable Electricity Standard would lower energy prices, common sense and real-world evidence suggest otherwise. Wind and other government-approved renewables are more expensive than other forms of energy. Common sense tells us that requiring people to buy expensive and inefficient renewable energy, through a renewable energy mandate, will only increase the cost of electricity. Currently, twenty-nine states have binding renewable electricity mandates and the electricity prices in those states are thirty-eight percent higher than in states that do not have binding renewable electricity mandates.

Lastly, AWEA states that they expect IER “to take on other countries that have successfully integrated wind into their energy mix.” That assumes, of course, that increased electricity prices and billions of dollars in subsidies is a sign of successful integration of wind into a country’s electricity mix. Some would beg to differ, especially those who are footing the bill.

The Administration tells us that U.S. energy policy should emulate countries like Spain, Denmark, and Germany. The facts show that the promotion of renewables in Spain, Denmark, and Germany has been very expensive and has resulted in lower employment overall as an opportunity cost of the lavish subsidies. Of course, it is up to policymakers to ultimately decide whether the United States should follow a similar path, but no one should mislead Americans into thinking that doing so will come without a cost.

Japan has produced many humanoids in the past years, but making them move in one way or the other is usually a challenge. Kyoto-based Robo Garage has unveiled Ropid [JP] today, a mini robot that runs on two legs and can jump as high as 8cm.

Ropid stands 38cm tall and at 16kg, it’s pretty heavy. The little guy has 29 joints and four gyro-sensors in the body and is powered by a lithium-ion battery. He can react to voice commands, so if you tell him to jump, he will do so. His movements aren’t really elegant but OK.

Ropid (the name is  a mix between “robot” and rapid”) is currently just a prototype, with Robo Garage saying there isn’t a release date set yet.

This video shows how he runs:

This video shows how he jumps:

Via Robot Watch [JP]

Vdopia, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of a pre-app and in-app video advertising platform for the iPhone, has raised $4 million in Series A funding from Nexus Venture Partners. The company also named Rohit Sharma, former principal with Mohr Davidow Ventures, as its new president and CEO.

PRESS RELEASE
Vdopia, the creator of the most consumer-friendly Pre-App and In-App video advertising platform for the iPhone (iVdopia – www.ivdopia.com), has announced that Nexus Venture Partners has invested $4 million in their Series A funding round. Vdopia has also appointed Rohit Sharma as its new President and CEO. Sharma will work with company co-founders to continue to grow revenue and lead the company’s innovative platform to ensure the best user experience and highest ROI for brands.

“Vdopia has the highly motivated, execution-oriented founding team of Chhavi Upadhyay, Saurabh Bhatia and Srikanth Kakani, who have a vision that I am convinced will certainly change digital advertising around the world,” said Suvir Sujan, co-founder of Nexus Venture Partners and a Vdopia board member. “Vdopia prioritizes the user in creating consumer-friendly video and an embedded app-within-an-app advertising experience as part of its iVdopia platform for smartphones. We invested in Vdopia with the firm belief that mobile content and new media markets show a potential for radical growth, and the founding team at Vdopia is accelerating innovation in a new generation of digital media platforms for advertising in traditional online and new media markets.”

A Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Sharma has experience in the venture capital industry and has held technology leadership roles with such companies as ONI Systems. As EVP and CTO of ONI Systems, Sharma created the optical switching technology that paved the way for the foundation of ONI in 1997. Rohit also was a member of the investment team at Mohr, Davidow Ventures (MDV) in the Information Technology area before arriving at Vdopia.

“Rohit brings an entrepreneurial spirit to our business and an appreciation for deep technical innovation,” said Vdopia co-founder Srikanth Kakani. “Our technology was designed to deliver the best experience and higher engagement time for the users. In our network, users watch more than 50 percent of the Pre-App video and the performance is 300 percent higher than traditional online video ads. The proprietary No-Wait Pre-App video ad technology for the first time makes video advertising possible on all iPhone applications.”

“iVdopia platform enables premium brands to reach out to their target audience by utilizing the engaging brand sponsorship Pre-App and In-App video units on iPhone,” added Vdopia co-founder Chhavi Upadhyay. “In fact, Vdopia is the first company to enable Pre-App/In-App video advertising on all iPhone applications through its Brand Advertising & Sponsorship Model.” Vdopia co-founder Saurabh Bhatia commented: “It is worth mentioning that iVdopia premium applications are among the top applications in the Apple Store with a huge reach and higher engagement. Together, Nexus and Vdopia are renewing our commitment and mission to enable brands to deliver the most inviting and inclusive advertising anywhere.”

“I’m excited to join Vdopia, a company that is delivering market-beating results for major brand advertisers through a combination of innovation and a unique focus on the consumer,” said Sharma. “Advertisers are always looking to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers, to respond to emerging technologies, and Vdopia is perfectly placed to lead the way. This investment from Nexus will give us the resources to execute our growth plans and transform the advertising experience for brand advertisers and consumers alike.”

About Vdopia:

Vdopia is the creator of the iVdopia advertising platform – the only smartphone brand advertising solution completely contained within the app – which offers a broad range of integrated advertising formats, including Pre-App video on the iPhone. iVdopia’s brand-focused iPhone advertising network and platform is used by major brands and advertisers to deliver premium advertising campaigns.

Vdopia is a privately held, venture-backed company headquartered in Silicon Valley. The company has sales and development offices in New York City and India.

About Nexus Venture Partners:

Nexus Venture Partners is focused on investing in innovative early to growth-stage companies. It was recently named one of only two firms from India in the Red Herring Top 100 Global Venture Capitalists list. Started in 2006, Nexus Venture Partners is a group of successful entrepreneurs with extensive investing experience. With funds of $320 million under management, Nexus has an active portfolio of over 20 companies. For more details: http://www.nexusvp.com/

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Vitamin Shoppe Inc (VSI.N) priced shares in its initial public offering above expectations and became the first retailer in two years to go public, while home health care provider Addus Home Care Corp’s (ADUS.O) IPO priced below estimates but was increased in size.

Vitamin Shoppe sold 9.1 million shares for $17, more than the expected range of $14 to $16, raising $162.1 million, an underwriter said.

While a number of private equity-backed IPOs launched since mid-September have priced below estimates, Vitamin Shoppe bucked that trend because of its growth, analysts said.

“During this economic downturn, they kept their same-store sales and margins at the same levels, while increasing the number of store locations. That’s an impressive achievement,” said Scott Sweet, a senior managing partner at advisory firm IPO Boutique.

Vitamin Shoppe, a North Bergen, New Jersey-based operator of 434 health supplement stores in the United States, became the first bricks-and-mortar retailer to go public since the Oct. 2007 IPO by beauty products chain Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc (ULTA.O).

Vitamin Shoppe grew at an annual clip of 11.3 percent between 2005 and 2008, when it reached sales of $601.5 million. During that time, it opened 171 new stores, according to its prospectus. It has been profitable since 2006.

In its prospectus, Vitamin Shoppe said it estimated it could eventually reach 900 stores in the United States.

Vitamin Shoppe, which is selling 84.3 percent of the shares in the offering, had estimated the IPO would yield net proceeds of $107 million based on a mid-range price of $15 per share. It plans to use the proceeds to redeem preferred shares held by its backers and to pay down some of its debt.

Irving Place Capital Management LP, formerly known as Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, bought Vitamin Shoppe in 2002. It is not selling any shares, and will continue to own 54.5 percent after the IPO.

The 1.4 million shares being sold by shareholders in the IPO were held by the founder’s family and funds managed by the Blackstone Group. (BX.N)

The Vitamin Shoppe IPO is being managed by JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital. The underwriters will have the option of buying another 1.4 million shares from Vitamin Shoppe’s selling shareholders.

Addus HomeCare Corp, an Illinois-based provider of home health care, priced shares in its IPO at $10 each, below the estimated range of between $11 and $13. But the company increased the size of the offering to 5.4 million shares from the 5 million originally planned.

The company said in a statement the IPO would yield it proceeds of $50.2 million. It plans to use the money to pay down debt and make a payment to its chief executive officer, according to a prospectus.

Addus HomeCare’s largest shareholder is private equity firm Eos Funds, whose stake in the company will fall by about half, according to its prospectus.

Its clients include federal, state and local government agencies, commercial insurers and private individuals, according to its prospectus.

In the first half of 2009, Addus HomeCare had sales of $126.8 million, up 14 percent over the same period in 2008, with net income of $12 million.

The Addus HomeCare IPO is being managed by Robert W. Baird & Co and Oppenheimer & Co, which have the option to purchase an additional 810,000 shares.

Vitamin Shoppe is set to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the symbol “VSI”, while Addus HomeCare will debut on Nasdaq under the symbol “ADUS.”

(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; editing by Andre Grenon, Leslie Gevirtz, Toni Reinhold)

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(Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX.N) has opened discussions with lenders to slash up to $5 billion in debt held by its unit Hilton Hotels, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Blackstone is mulling injecting $800 million of fresh equity to buy back the debt at a discount, the paper said.

Blackstone’s $26 billion deal to buy Hilton was struck at the peak of the buyout bubble in July 2007 and was financed with $20.6 billion of debt and about $5.7 billion of equity. Since then, the hotel market has been hammered by the economic crisis as consumers and businesses have cut back on travel spending.

The paper said that Blackstone is also seeking to extend its debt maturity by 3 years to 2016, while converting some portion of its debt into equity.

The $800 million in additional equity would come from funds managed by Blackstone that already have invested in the deal, the paper said.

A Blackstone spokeswoman declined to comment to the paper.

Blackstone could not be immediately reached for a comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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LONDON(Reuters) – British Gas owner Centrica Plc (CNA.L) said on Wednesday it will sell a 50 percent equity stake in three wind farms to the US-based investment management company TCW for 84 million pounds in cash ($138 million).

Centrica is selling the stake in its Lynn, Inner Dowsing and Glens of Foudland wind farms and entered agreements to raise approximately 340 million pounds of non-recourse project finance facilities from a consortium of banks for these assets.

“The refinancing and equity sale of part of our existing wind portfolio underlines the quality of the operational assets and creates a structure for recycling Centrica’s capital and mobilising third party funds efficiently,” Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, said.

The company also said its 270 megawatt (MW) Lincs offshore wind project has received final investment approval. About 725 million pounds of investment is expected.

Construction should begin in 2010 and the wind farm should be generating power towards the end of 2012.

Shares in Centrica closed at 244.20 pence on Monday.

(Reporting by Sharon Lindores; Editing by Paul Hoskins)

($1=.6091 Pound)

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The news of the day again seems to focus on Senate Democrat’s public option as well as the politics, strong-arming and vote-counting that it has caused.

End Of COBRA Subsidy Rattles Newly Unemployed
Laura C. Trueman has spent much of her career promoting affordable health care. Now, she wishes she could find some herself. Laid off from her marketing job at a managed-care company late last year, Trueman was able to keep her health insurance thanks to a provision in the federal stimulus bill that gave furloughed workers the right to purchase their old employer-based coverage at a 65% discount. The subsidies, which last up to nine months, were designed to give workers like Trueman time to get back on their feet (Kaiser Health News).

In Health Debate, Both Sides Vie For Seniors’ Support
Nearly all seniors already have health insurance through the Medicare program, but they are among the most sought-after groups in the political struggle to pass or kill a health overhaul bill (NPR).

Centrists Unsure About Reid’s Public Option
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid’s risky decision to bring to the chamber’s floor a health-care bill containing a government insurance plan was met with skepticism by moderate Democrats, who said they still do not know whether they could support a public option on a final vote (The Washington Post).

Democrats Struggle To Find Unity On Health Plan
Democrats are still struggling to find a strategy that will let them push a health care overhaul through the Senate and fulfill President Barack Obama’s goal of signing a bill this year (The Associated Press).

Democrats Divided Over Reid Proposal For Public Option
Senate Democrats voiced deep disagreements on Tuesday over the idea of a government-run health insurance plan, suggesting that the decision by the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, to include a public plan in major health care legislation had failed, at least initially, to unite his caucus (The New York Times).

Reid Hopes To Sway Enough Senators On ‘Public Option’
Faced with opposition from Sens. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) over inclusion of a government-run insurance program in the Senate healthcare bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has intensified negotiations with a handful of Democrats whose support is crucial to passing the legislation (Los Angeles Times).

Reid Doesn’t Have Health Votes – Yet
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is short of enough votes to pass a Senate healthcare bill with a government-run health insurance option with only Democratic support (The Hill).

Public Option, Private Strong-Arming By Reid
– A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would put a public option into the health care bill he sends to the floor, it was clear he had not yet found consensus on the legislation’s most divisive issue (The Boston Globe).

Defections Have Some Democrats Casting About For Plan B
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s appeals for party unity landed with a thud Tuesday with the very group he needs for his public-option push to pay off: centrists who hold the key to health reform (Politico).

Public Likes Public Option For Healthcare. Joe Lieberman Doesn’t.
The public generally supports the public option. This may be one big reason that Senate majority leader Harry Reid surprised many in Washington by including a proposal for government-run insurance – also known as the “public option” – in the Senate’s version of healthcare reform legislation (The Christian Science Monitor).

The Lineup: Reid’s Toughest Votes
Just after he announced Monday that the Senate Democrats’ health care bill would include a public option with an opt-out provision, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Sen. Olympia Snowe to say he hoped she’d get behind the plan. Good luck with that. Asked Tuesday what Reid would have to change in his bill to get her vote, Snowe said: “the whole thing” (Politico).

House Dems Seek To Grab Momentum Created By Senate Public Option
House Democratic leaders on Tuesday sought to capture some of the momentum created by the inclusion of a public health insurance option by locking down as many members as possible on which public option they could support in the House healthcare bill (The Hill).

The Influence Game: Doctors’ Lobby In Tricky Spot
Does the AMA matter in the health care debate? Congress is beginning to have its doubts, despite the medical association’s deep pockets and platoons of lobbyist (The Associated Press).

Delicate Dance For 2 Lobbyists On Health Bill
One is a smooth-talking former congressman from Louisiana — “the Swamp Fox,” constituents called him — who relishes his image as a rascal, a charmer and a Cajun raconteur. The other is a fireman’s daughter from working-class Rhode Island, strait-laced and studious, who mastered the arcane world of health policy as an analyst for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. (The New York Times).

Proposed Long-Term Insurance Program Raises Questions
As congressional leaders haggle over the shape of a proposed government-run “public option” in health-care reform legislation, a quiet revolt is brewing against a different public insurance program — a plan to create government insurance for long-term care (The Washington Post).

Health Care Pools: Let Youth Jump, Or Push Them?
The rules for how health insurers use age to set premium rates vary widely from state to state. Some states require insurers to charge all residents — young and old — the same price (NPR).

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Don’t be surprised if Google’s sites and services become inaccessible to people within China.  The search giant has gotten in trouble with a newspaper called the People’s Daily, and said publication just happens to be the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China.

Not too long ago, the People’s Daily ran articles that were critical of the Google Books scanning project.  They touched on some of the same issues other people have raised, alleging copyright infringement and the like.  The trouble was that Google then stopped allowing searchers to access a portion of the newspaper’s website.

According to Liang Chen, searchers could just see a warning that stated, "This website may have malicious software, which might damage your computer."

The People’s Daily did not take kindly to this.  Chen continued, "[T]he channel posted a news story at the top of its Web page Monday, quoting a person in charge of the channel as saying that ‘Google has maliciously blocked the channel in retaliation.’"  A special, separate page was created, too.

Now, access has been restored, and Google’s chalked the malicious software warning up to an automated mistake on the part of StopBadware.org.  Still, this episode could hurt Google’s reputation in China, and it’s not at all unimaginable that the government would take action and do a little (more) censorship of its own.

Related Articles:

> French Case Over Google Books Begins

> Kai-Fu Lee Talks About Quitting Google

> Top Google China Exec To Leave

With the new effort by newspaper folks who are unable to come up with a business model to blame news aggregators with big time executives from media companies insisting that aggregators “steal” from them by sending them traffic, it’s time to brush away that myth. Take, for example, the excellent tech/social media blog ReadWriteWeb, who recently had an article about Eric Schmidt’s predictions for what the web will look like in five years. Soon afterwards, the Huffington Post “aggregated” that story and posted the opening on its own site with a link to the full article. For over a year now, we’ve been hearing mainstream publications complain about this sort of thing by the HuffPo, with the NYTimes digital boss Martin Nisenholtz complaining about this activity just last week.

But, of course, all this sort of activity does is bring in tons of traffic. The Huffington Post gets an awful lot of traffic and a link from the site drives traffic. Marshall Kirkpatrick, from RWW, noted that the single HuffPo link drove 10,000 page views in just four hours, and basically begged HuffPo to “steal” more content like that. Indeed, it’s still really difficult to understand why mainstream publications are so up in arms over other sites helping to promote their articles and send them traffic — even to the point of looking to pass laws to stop such activity.

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Imagined some sort of alternative way on how Solid Snake’s final days went? If you can’t picture it quite all too clearly, not to worry. TheFineBros o…

How long till the PS3 gets maxed out, you ask? If Insomniac senior community manager James Stevenson nails it right on the head, it won’t be till two …

 Here’s some nifty Halloween week treat for you all Call of Duty: World at War (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii) fans. The Map Packs will be offered at a…

Back in July, we commented on the Significant Objects project where 100 authors are writing up 100 stories involving 100 various trinkets — and then selling those stories along with the associated items on eBay for a tidy profit. (The project originally struck me as an experiment to see if the one red paperclip stunt could be mass produced in some way as a sustainable publishing business.) Now, just a few months later, Slate has teamed up with the Significant Objects folks with a contest for Slate readers to submit their own 500-word stories about a cheap tchotchke — a BBQ sauce jar bought at a thrift store for $0.75. The contest attracted over 600 stories to be judged by Slate and the Significant Objects founders, and the winner gets the honor of being picked as well as the proceeds from its eBay auction — which has a current bid (and profit) of about $20.

This contest is brilliant in that it not only highlights the concept that every product is a bundle of scarce and infinite goods, but it also demonstrates that content can be used to engage with an audience as a form of entertaining advertising. For the price of a bauble and some editorial judging, Slate connected with its fans and gathered a bit of demographic information on its readers who sent in a story (submissions had to be accompanied by an email address and location). Imagine if Slate had instead put a banner ad on its website with a form to fill out for personal information, the response rate for that would likely be much much lower. But with this contest, the cost of the BBQ jar was negligible, and Slate editors spent their time reading stories and got a peek into the creative minds of its readership. Okay, the drawback is that the submission judging process is actually not a trivial task, especially when there are more than a handful of entries (and more than a couple judges). Even Google hasn’t exactly figured out how to judge its own Project 10¹⁰⁰ contest. However, the search giant opened up the judging to let anyone vote on winners to help narrow down the selection. (And there are other examples of crowdsourced judging processes like Threadless’s tshirt designs.) So I envision the next generation of advertising contests reaching out to audiences, calling upon more volunteers, and trying more and more creative campaigns to produce scarce goods out of thin air.

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(NaturalNews) In the wide world of supplements, vitamin D is the superstar. For the last few years, this humble nutrient has been featured prominently in allopathic and alternative circles alike. It has basked in the rays of media publicity, and has survived an onslaught of scientific scrutiny. And while such widespread publicity is often good cause for skepticism in the realm of health and medicine, vitamin D appears to be the real deal. Whether we`re talking about heart disease, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or Alzheimer`s disease, the “sunshine vitamin” delivers benefits unseen before our time (1).

Given the remarkably powerful benefits of vitamin D, many find themselves wondering how to actually go about obtaining it. We know that vitamin D is good for us, but how much do we need, and where do we get it? Most people know that sunlight is somehow involved in vitamin D production, but is sunlight alone sufficient to produce the incredible results demonstrated by recent vitamin D research? What about supplements? There are so many different preparations – with doses ranging from 400 IU to 50,000 IU – that it can get a little confusing. Are such supplements necessary, and if so, how much should we be taking?

Everyone is Different

One might suppose that this question is as easily answered as saying, “Everyone needs to spend 15 minutes in the sun every day.” Or, “Everyone needs to take x amount of vitamin D per day.” But it`s not like that. Not at all. There are a multitude of variables unique to you that determine how much vitamin D is required on a daily basis (2). And because there are so many individual variables, it really is impossible to recommend a single amount for everyone. Fortunately, however, there are many circumstantial clues to look for that will suggest whether you need to be paying better attention to your vitamin D status. Furthermore, personally optimizing your vitamin D level is fairly easy and inexpensive.

Are you at risk for vitamin D deficiency?

-How much sun exposure do you get every day?
-Where do you live? Above or below the 35 N latitude line? (3)
-What is your age? Over 40?
-Is your skin light, dark, very dark?
-Are you overweight?
-Do you have a chronic illness?

How do each of these factors affect vitamin D status?

Sun Exposure: Catching some rays each day is definitely desirable, and healthy young people can usually get the vitamin D they need from around 10 to 30 minutes of sun exposure per day – depending on their location and the time of year. Most adults in today`s modern world, however, do not even attempt to get this much sun exposure – much less achieve it. But even if they did, would it matter, or are there other variables standing in the way?

Location: Vitamin D is produced in the skin from a cholesterol derivative when we are exposed to UVB radiation from the sun. However, because of the axial tilt of the earth, the further north one lives, the less the sun`s UVB rays will be able to activate vitamin D in the skin. So sun exposure does not necessarily equal optimal vitamin D status if you`re living in the wrong location. Living down south is better, of course (south of the 35 N latitude line seems to be the best), but there is still more to consider.

Age: Say you do live close to the equator, or are significantly below the 35 N latitude line. That`s a good thing, and it probably helps. If you`re around 35-40 years old or above, however, you`re likely losing the ability to activate sufficient levels of vitamin D in your skin, even in the unlikely event that you`re getting adequate UVB sun exposure (4).

Dark Skin: What if you have dark skin? If you have a lot of pigment in your skin, this is going to shield you from the UVB radiation you need, and you`re probably deficient in vitamin D.

Weight: Vitamin D requirements are also relative to body weight. If you`re overweight, your body requires more vitamin D than if you are not overweight. If you get a lot of sun, but are on the heavy side, you`re probably still not getting enough vitamin D.

Chronic Illness: Chronically ill? Have cancer? The body demands more vitamin D when you`re sick, and is probably using it up faster than you can get it from the sun.

When one considers that many Americans are victims of not just one but many of the above drawbacks, it becomes readily obvious as to why there is such a widespread vitamin D deficiency epidemic. Not getting enough sun is bad enough, but lack of sun exposure combined with being middle-aged, overweight, and chronically ill is an absolute disaster – and it is the devastating situation that many (most?) Americans find themselves in today.

Is Sun Exposure Really Not Enough?

Yes, sun exposure is a good thing, but too often, it`s simply not sufficient to achieve the kind of levels necessary for disease prevention and treatment. This applies even in places like Hawaii, where individuals get plenty of sun exposure, and the latitude is around 21 (5, 6). The role of sunlight should not be downplayed too much, however. If you`re healthy, young, and live in a subtropical region, then you might have sufficient vitamin D levels. In fact, some young people in the subtropics who get sun exposure all day long have levels between 80-100 ng/ml. This is incredible, and it means that sun exposure really does work provided the conditions are right.*

The point being made in this article is simply that not everyone is young, not everyone is healthy, not everyone lives in Houston, and not everyone gets enough sun exposure every day. It is those people who need to supplement with vitamin D. This also happens to be most people.

Blood Testing is Crucial

How do you know if you`re getting enough vitamin D, and how much is enough? The only way to know is by testing your blood. Fortunately, testing vitamin D, as far as blood testing goes, is pretty cheap. You can set this up with your doctor, order tests online and get blood drawn at a local lab, or order a vitamin D home test kit, whereby you simply order the test, prick your finger, send in the blood, and wait for the results to come back to you.

Here are some basic guidelines:

-Make sure you are getting the right test. You must test for 25(OH)D, not 1,25(OH)D. They look similar, but 1,25(OH)D is a measure of kidney function, and is not the test you want for measuring vitamin D levels.

-Ideally, your blood level should be around 60-80 ng/ml, as this allows the body to have some vitamin D in reserve, and it duplicates the higher levels found in young, healthy individuals who spend a decent amount of time in a sun-rich environment.

-Begin taking vitamin D at least eight weeks prior to being tested. This will help you customize your dose once you receive your test results. To determine a basic, starting dose, it has been suggested, as per Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council (7), that you take 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight. A person who weighs 150 pounds, for instance, would take 6,000 IU per day as a starting dose (150/25 = 6. 1,000 x 6 = 6,000). Do this for at least eight weeks, and then test. Perhaps this dose will put you in the ideal range, but there`s no guarantee since we are all so different, and have unique vitamin D receptor genotypes. The idea is to hopefully get somewhere in the ballpark with this method and then tweak your daily dose once the test results come back. If your results are still suboptimal, Dr. Cannell has estimated that each 1,000 IU increase in supplemental vitamin D will generally produce a 10 ng/ml increase in the vitamin D blood level (8). For example, if you have been taking 5,000 IU per day for 8+ weeks, and your results come back at 40 ng/ml, you would want to increase your dose to at least 7,000 IU (2,000 IU = ~20 ng/ml rise in blood level) to achieve a minimum of 60 ng/ml. Again, keep in mind that this is necessarily generalized, and additional blood testing every several months is recommended to further customize the dose appropriate to you.

What Kind of Supplements Should I Use?

In order to achieve consistent and predictable results, it is important to use the proper carrier form of vitamin D supplements. The absolute best form is an oil-based vitamin D preparation. Dry preparations, like tablets and capsules, should be avoided. Vitamin D is fat soluble, and needs to be taken with fat in order to be properly absorbed – hence the oil-based recommendation.

Oil-based versus dry preparations aside, there are two common types of vitamin D: Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). You will need to avoid supplementing with vitamin D2 (9), which is a synthetic product made by exposing certain plants to ultraviolet radiation. D2 is not what the human body naturally uses, and compared to D3 it falls far short in terms of efficacy (of course, D2 happens to be what many vitamin D prescriptions are made of). D3 is what your body uses and prefers. No prescription necessary.

You can buy D3 in oil-based softgels, or, if you don`t like taking pills or have trouble doing so, you can get it in liquid drops.**

Summary

Vitamin D status is important year around, but whenever fall and winter are upon us, the importance of evaluating this vital nutrient is even more urgent. In summary, here are the steps you should take if you are wanting to optimize your vitamin D level:

1) Start taking oil-based vitamin D3 according to your body weight, as explained above.

2) After at least 8 weeks, have your blood tested by a good lab. There are home finger-prick test kits that are also very good.

3) Remembering that the goal should be blood levels of 60-80 ng/ml of 25(OH)D, adjust your vitamin D3 dose to achieve this level. Each 1,000 IU increase will generally lead to a 10 ng/ml increase in blood levels.

4) Recheck blood levels every several months to make sure you are still in the optimal range and taking the proper dose.

*It is beyond ironic that for quite some time now, everyone has been encouraged by the “authorities” to avoid the sun in order to keep from getting cancer, yet it is that very sun exposure that would help in avoiding cancer in the first place! “Avoid midday sun, or you`ll get melanoma!” we`re told. But melanoma is mostly triggered by UVA rays from the sun – not UVB. When is cancer-causing UVA exposure the lowest? Right around midday. When is UVB exposure the highest? Also right around midday. A high UVB:UVA ratio (high UVB and low UVA) is the best for creating vitamin D in the body, and this occurs when the sun is highest in the sky – exactly the time (ironically) that is often suggested to be avoided.

**Supplementation is not recommended for everyone. Certain conditions, such as sarcoidosis and some lymphomas, can produce excessive amounts of vitamin D, and in these instances, one should move forward cautiously under the supervision of a healthcare professional.

References

(1) (PDF) http://www.grassrootshealth.net/media/download/disease_incidence_prev_chart_101608.pdf

(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19302999

(3) http://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm

(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2997282

(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17426097

(6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16602611

(7) http://www.vitamindcouncil.org

(8) http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2008-may.shtml

(9) http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/84/4/694


About the author
David Rostollan is a graduate of Clayton College of Natural Health and works as a private natural health and wellness consultant. His primary interests and areas of focus include heart disease prevention, chronic illness support, and diet and lifestyle coaching. He can be reached through www.reforminghealth.com

(NaturalNews) The yellowish orange Indian spice turmeric, used to flavor curries, contains a remarkable phytochemical known as curcumin — and this natural substance is the target of feverish research across a spectrum of medical disciplines. The reason? Curcumin has shown remarkable promise in helping the human body in a wide variety of ways. For example, as NaturalNews has previously reported, it may prevent Alzheimer’s Disease (http://www.naturalnews.com/026861_curcumin_vitamin_D3_disease.html) and type 2 diabetes (http://www.naturalnews.com/024644.html) as well as fight breast and colorectal malignancies (http://www.naturalnews.com/020527_cancer_curcumin_brst_cancer.html). Now research just released at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) annual meeting in San Diego shows curcumin may block nicotine-induced head and neck cancers, even in people who smoke.

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the majority of head and neck cancers start in cells that line the mucosal surfaces such as the mouth, nose, and throat. Normal mucosal cells viewed through a microscope look like scales (squamous), so head and neck cancers of this type are labeled head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). However, some head and neck cancers begin in other types of cells; adenocarcinomas, for example, originate in glandular cells. In all, the NCI web site states, head and neck cancers account for three to five percent of cancers in the US, with about 40,000 new cases diagnosed each year. The vast majority, approximately 85 percent of these cancers, are linked to tobacco use.

In a study presented at the AAO-HNSF meeting, researchers pointed out that HNSCC is a serious problem, taking the lives of about 13,000 Americans annually. What’s more, even if the cancers are successfully treated initially, they often recur because many people continue to smoke. While nicotine itself has not been shown to directly cause cancer, the scientists noted it can trigger the process that turns normal cells into cancerous ones. So the researchers looked for a safe food compound that could be used as a bioactive agent to both prevent cancer and to also block the harmful effects of nicotine.

They investigated the effects of curcumin on malignant growths by using a variety of head and neck cancer cell lines. The HNSCC cells were pre-treated with curcumin in the laboratory and then exposed to nicotine. The results showed the curcumin stopped nicotine from activating cancer-causing cells.

Additional curcumin research is also in the news. Scientists from the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas in Mexico City published a review in the journal Liver International recently pointing out that along with documented anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer properties, curcumin also appears to have the ability to heal liver injuries. And researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta just reported in the journal Breast Cancer that curcumin “could provide a novel, non-toxic therapy, which could lead to improved survival for patients with triple negative breast cancer.” Currently, this type of breast cancer is only treated by traditional western medicine with cytotoxic chemotherapy — and when this treatment fails, as it often does, no other mainstream therapy is available.

For more information:
http://www.nutrientreference.com/curcumin.html
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/head-and-neck/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19811613?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

(NaturalNews) Swine flu infections have peaked out in the USA, even before drug companies could get their vaccines injected into everyone. According to CDC findings announced recently in Atlanta, one in five U.S. children have already experienced the flu this month, and most of those were likely H1N1 swine flu cases, the CDC says.

This comes from a survey of over 10,000 U.S. households conducted by the CDC.

Meanwhile, flu vaccine shipments are way behind schedule. There have been supply problems from the start, and as of right now, relatively few Americans have yet been injected with the swine flu vaccine. (Many have stood in line for hours trying to be injected, but were told to go home with the vaccine ran out.)

Out of nearly 14,000 suspected flu cases tested during the week ending on October 10, 2009, 99.6% of those were influenza A, and the vast majority of those were H1N1 swine flu infections. (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/) This is a very strong indication that swine flu infections have peaked during October, 2009.

Further supporting that notion, researchers from Purdue University just published a paper in the October 15 issue of Eurosurveillance (a science journal about communicable disease) in which researchers stated that the H1N1 swine flu epidemic would peak during “week 42” (the end of October). Week 42 just passed. It’s over.

The AJC is also reporting this week that swine flu is “retreating” in Georgia, where hospital visits from the flu are markedly down (http://www.ajc.com/health/swine-flu-levels-off-174477.html) and fewer illnesses are being reported in schools, too.

Even the WHO is reporting a downward trend in many areas, saying, “In tropical areas of the world, rates of illness are generally declining, with a few exceptions. …In tropical Asia, of the countries that are reporting this week, all report decreases in respiratory disease activity.” (http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_10_23/en/index.html)

Meanwhile, even as the swine flu infection peaks out, the shortage of swine flu vaccines means few people have yet been vaccinated. The shortage is causing “chaos” in clinics across the country, news reports say, and flu vaccination events have been cancelled due to the non-arrival of expected vaccines.

And what, exactly, is causing this shortage of vaccines? According to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, they’re being caused by “production failures” at the drug manufacturing facilities.

Too little, too late
Is she serious? People are lining up to be injected with chemicals made by companies that are suffering “production failures?” If these companies can’t meet the production targets they already promised, how can we expect them to meet the safety targets they promised?

The bigger point, though, is that by the time vaccines are available for everyone, most people will have already been exposed to the H1N1 virus and therefore won’t even need a vaccine. There’s also evidence that previous exposure to seasonal flu may confer some natural immunity to H1N1, meaning that vaccines may be redundant from the start (http://www.naturalnews.com/027337_H1N1_viruses_natural_immunity.html).

Delivering vaccines to the public after the pandemic peaks and wanes is sort of like putting on your seatbelt after a head-on collision. (This metaphor assumes, just for the moment, that swine flu vaccines actually work. Even though they don’t.)

Through the coming holiday season, we’ll all get to watch the CDC, the FDA and drug companies desperately try to push vaccines onto people, most of whom are already immune to H1N1 because they were exposed during the peak of the pandemic. This will be quite entertaining to observe because you’ll get to watch health authorities in action, attempting to fabricate an emergency when the pandemic threat has already faded. To maximize vaccinations (and therefore Big Pharma revenues), they’ll need to keep pushing the pandemic fears through the winter months while hoping that no one notices the H1N1 pandemic has evaporated.

Predictably, the big push at that point will be based on the following logic: “Even if you were already exposed to H1N1, getting a vaccine shot can’t hurt. Might as well get one!”

The CDC, which once promised 150 million vaccines by mid-October has pushed its prediction to year’s end. Unless some new H1N1 mutation is released into the population by some bioterrorist group, it’s fairly obvious that the swine flu will have fizzled out by the time Christmas rolls around.

How to dispose of a hundred million doses of a useless vaccine…
So what will all these clinics do with all the millions of doses of vaccines that nobody really needs at that point? It might seem prudent to dump them down the river, except for the fact that their chemical additives and preservatives make many vaccines qualify as “hazardous waste” according to EPA regulations. It’s illegal to toss them into rivers or even dump them down the drain… it’s perfectly legal, though, to inject them into the body of a six-year-old.

Why don’t they just save the vaccines for next year? They’ll be useless, of course, but no more useless than they already are this year. Just save up all the vials and unleash another swine flu scare next fall to get rid of the inventory! (Don’t laugh. These people might actually take the idea seriously…)

You gotta love the pharmaceutical industry. After forty years of research into cancer (and tens of billions of dollars spent on it), they have yet to find a cure for any cancer at all. And with the swine flu fiasco, they almost managed to come up with a vaccine, but the human immune system — combined with a nation full of sneezers and spreaders — beat them to it.

It must really be depressing to wake up one day as a pharmaceutical company executive and realize you’re irrelevant… and that your “lifesaving” products are obsolete before they even hit the streets. Of course, the ridiculously high pay might make up for some of that, and if you get really depressed, you can always take your own company’s pills if you’re willing to brave the suicide risk. But in the end, the simple fact is that human beings would be better off of the drug companies didn’t exist.

The fact that H1N1 swine flu has already peaked out before the bulk of the vaccine shipments have even arrived proves, once again, how utterly pathetic and medically useless flu vaccines are in the first place. There is nothing a flu vaccine can do that simple vitamin D can’t do better, and the sad truth is that the entire flu vaccine industry is built on medical quackery and marketing propaganda.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9BG9NOG0&show_article=1

The CDC weekly flu update
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/20/study-swine-flu-vaccine-too-late-to-help-most/

The Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-27581-H1N1-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m10d22-H1N1-vaccine-shortage-as-flu-cases-are-rapidly-increasing

US News
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/10/22/production-problems-plague-delivery-of-swine-flu.html

CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/23/h1n1.vaccines/

One of the most spectacular booths at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo (which ended Sunday) was the one of the Yoichiro Kawaguchi lab at the University of Tokyo. Their so-called “world’s first spherical bumpy display” can be touched by viewers to feel the surface moving and morphing.

The lab says their display is perfect to present “embodied” 3D CG, but it’s actually a piece of art itself. And the thing is pretty large, too.

Just have a look at those videos I took at the expo.

Video 1:

Video 2:

 Last month, we caught word about From Software’s 3D Dot Game Heroes slated for a November release in Japan. Those of you who liked the quirky, a…