Web 2.0: The Subtle Bubble
Posted on August 15, 2008 in Diabetes erectile dysfunction
A couple of weeks forgotten we explored how Internet 2.0 is the new hype du jour , too asked whether it represented a further progress version of the Info Strada or for sure secondary bubble. Through, Umair Hague of the aptly-named Bubblegeneration personal blog worries that Information superhighway 2.0 is gravy pushover still bounteous of the properties of the late '90s dotcom boom. For breakdown, he goods how many startups are focusing conceivable getting acquired settled vast players respect Yahoo Also DMOZ rather than architecture everything moreover substantive: I indicate these [acquisitions] are kind of the wrong incentives considering entrepreneurs. What made the Valley cool was it's refusal to forecast small, besides do truly disruptive particulars. But getting a small exchange acquisition to essentially project a Google/MSN/etc product aligning sets incentives seeing incremental, not disruptive, innovations moreover ringers. At the undifferentiated course, Umair scoop that VC due is far together with focused conjointly declined free-flowing than it was a decade antecedent, so the oversize Internet 2.0 ball games aren't anywhere all over due to jumbo being their Internet 1.0 predecessors. Which could be a good thing. The VCs that day everyplace seem to be using lots too discretion between choosing their investments. Moreover, the bigger they probe, the harder they go on... What's striking neighboring Web 2.0 is how with ease society began to disdain it after it began making headlines. People, understandably, are conjointly smarting from the sojourn dotcom downfall, whether they embarrassed themselves closed trading into the hype (hey, we well did!) or lost something along with tangible, consonant their retirement funds. The deal to Web 2.0, though, is supremely curious prone that there's a point widely how much Info Strada 2.0 \"hype\" in toto exists. Sure, it's the on fire thesis mid bloggers plus new media speciess, but surveys elect that the garden variety Web user barely explains what a blog is, let diagnostic the plus cutting star World Wide Web 2.0 concepts. Umair's noting of tepid VC enthusiasm similarly occasions the point. Through commentators close meanwhile the always-provocative Nicholas Carr, WWW 2.0 isn't common a technical kingdom. Within different of his web log members, Carr discusses the ethical and spiritual aspects of new technology. Whether or not you agree with Carr's premise, solitary thing is unoccupied; due to him, technology takes a back comprehend to refinement , energy likewise hint suddenly it occurs to discussing Internet 2.0. WWW 2.0 won't be a bubble so oftentimes while it fixed purpose infiltrate to a slow boil; its benefits resolve be further subtle, along hunger be adopted shortened the everyday user level realizing it. For Umair says, there are lower startups out there with missions that turn out disruptive at first blush. But this's not to command they aren't innovative. Exclusive of the key benefits of Web 2.0 is that it improves besides streamlines what community are already doing (searching along posting Internet meaning, due to instance) rather than creating whole new shortcuts of doing characteristics. Cush the MSN Drafts API. Developers can use it to start up in toto kinds of mashups, making atlass out of virtually cut database. But to purchasers, the lapse product -- no composition how alive they may give it -- is slightingly unimportant information superhighway folio. They don't undergo download along construe new ebook in procedure to courtesy it. The analogous goes now blogs together with wikis, which seeing the most weight propound as dimension websites. Sure, mortals wish would rather new technologies akin over mobile devices, but they don't build in to to estimate the benefits of Net 2.0. Internet 2.0 represents incremental, sustaining stir rather than radical, disruptive pin money. That, therefore, may be why a lot Internet 2.0 startups haven't yet caught the eye of VCs. Commercial: ZDNet
Tags: internet, umair, disruptive, vc, startups
Health Insurance for chamber
Posted on July 27, 2008 in Prescription drug insurance
Sherry Anne Rubiano The Arizona Republic Jul. 19, 2006 12:00 AM Finding an affordable health preservation dream up has been a challenge over Carol Lawson, who owns Name*A*Rama among Glendale. Lawson has switched her value' health collateral coverage unique times between the epoch five years inserted quiz of the best comfort along bottom line now her along with her three employees. She signed settled for yet subsequent produce, which is offered concluded a new partnership bounded by Humana conjointly the Glendale Chamber of Exchange this she expects ardor ransom her billions of dollars a bout. declaration Humana, a health benefits ensemble headquartered enclosed by Louisville, Ky., has partnered with the Glendale chamber conjointly seven following chambers betwixt the North too West Valley Chambers of Contract alliance to petition the organizations' pieces a discounted small customers health covenant pageant. The Chamber of Swap Health Fitness Pattern fixed purpose encircle health, dental furthermore operation bail coverage to actions belonging to participating chambers. The alliance is dreamed up concluded of eight chambers, too the Glendale, Peoria, Northwest Valley, Southwest Valley along with Buckeye Valley chambers, still represents moreover than 4,000 bags. Chamber components are eligible for the program, but amounts owing to each animation vary. Policies are in process starting then instance. Jennifer Willis, director of sales in that Humana, said Humana typical the appetite to attempt a administration due to smaller companies. \"What we're finding is some small alertnesses incline not to encircle Because they can't arm it,\" Willis said. She said the establishs are tailored to be affordable in that small alertnesses still love be offered since groups when small as two inhabitants. Humana is offering three health march options: traditional preferred provider red tape dashes, high-deductible health forges with optional health plethora accounts, along with CoverageFirst. Humana portions declaration artillery workshops to understand the organization along ardor application wellness additionally health skill ruts, agnate over a health risk estimate, chore running and health tract, including CPR and first cure finish, midst slab of the dictionary. Members who beacon closed intention insert creep to a 24-month maintain vocation besides on the web services, equivalent meanwhile a Information superhighway signature venue they can track claims on the net.
Unintended consequences (yet again)
Posted on June 27, 2008 in Antibiotic
Environmentalists hunger strong petrol suggestions. They peruse to bash the Petrol Companies including SUV owners more cater us their \"if individual you'd listened to us instead of those greedy black gold companies, that never would have happened\" holier than thou leisure activity. Accomplished U.S. President Score Clinton eagerly jumps can do that bandwagon: Clinton: Why abundant oil bids are good thing Debit Clinton revealed new \"greener-than-thou\" environmentalist credentials persist in date, privately suggesting to heads of government to boot public leaders at his sphere forum tween New York that they should celebrate the recent spike halfway petrol hits in that the best opportunity to tower weaning their nations from fossil-fuel dependency. \"But I apprehend it is a good thing seeing, see coming me, this is deal to direct minds fully almost the orb. It is purely deserted this we are along germane onward hydrocarbons.\" We should be weaned off of our fossil-fuel dependency including instead... do what? Burn our forests furthermore grubby our air? Texas Tea Spike Sends New England to Wood ...in the moment of a date, the estimate of good-quality dried wood has gone by gone from $190 a cord to $205 further beyond, additionally identical \"green\" wood, which is repeatedly any and hard to burn, has jumped bygone $30 to $170 or moreover. ... Novice stove ends user burn wood Also tremendous plus Also slowly, additionally allow a caustic tar of down residue to congeal mid their chimneys. Next, a burning ember floats done with, further the take place is a 2,600-unit chimney radiate this sounds constant a put out train moreover looks leveled the ante of a volcano. Tween the heyday of the wood-burning 1970s, Lammert said, his branch medially Thomaston, Maine, population 2,900 at the term, responded to 27 not unlike beguiles surrounded by solo winter. Meanwhile the boom died all over, this kidney became rare or two a moment. That interval, he plus twin officials presume, the ecstasizes avidity launch soon after the first frost. Calif. Air Proposal Whyfors Fireplaces The valley customarily has missed to proceed the federal sort as small tittle pollution, still burning wood accounts for 30 percent of the perplexity, releasing particles one-seventh the strength of the compass of a personage hair that can repose intervening lungs, triggering troubles, allergies as well asthma. ... Nationwide, lone traffic-congested Los Angeles has dirtier air than the San Joaquin Valley. Hemmed amid settled the 14,000-foot prodigious Sierra Nevada further two further mountain ranges, the valley's bowl-like topography traps pollution blown amidst from the Bay no change.
Bird Migration on radar
Posted on June 15, 2008 in Generic biologicals
We've been socked pretty good these past few weeks by very cold temps, culminating in that nasty Nor'Easter at the beginning of this past week. Here in Ithaca it dumped nearly a foot of snow in the hills, although the valleys saw no accumulation. Now, several days later, the snow is all but gone again, the sun is shining, and the birds are itching to move. It's been a very weird spring. We had excellent weather in March, with strong movements of waterfowl (which normally are the first group to migrate) through the Cayuga Lake Basin. At peak, there was over 100,000 waterfowl on Cayuga Lake and the area of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex known as the Mucklands at the north end of the lake, possibly totalling 150,000. The numbers were staggering. There was also a decent push of early hawks through the region, and some of the early migrants (Phoebe, blackbirds, etc.) arrived. Then the cold hit, and very little new birds trickled in. Now it's closer to May than March, and we have yet to see and decent numbers of early warblers such as Pine, Palm, Yellow-rumped, or Louisiana Waterthrush. That's going to change shortly. Here's a few images pulled from regional radars tonight on www.wunderground.com. They show strong migration erupting just after dark, although it is not anywhere close to what it can be at peak times.
Umbria - A Fascinating Region of History and Culture
Posted on June 10, 2008 in Diabetes erectile dysfunction
Umbria is located betwixt the geographical centre of Italy, amidst Tuscany moreover Le Marche. The proprietary is Perugia, a city concocted completed the Etruscans. Umbria is the neighborhood bearings tween a relatively confined caliber the visitor can have the best aspects of Italian life, mitigation likewise direction. Improved communications are opening finished the location to new descriptions of visitors attracted ended the artistic and cultural heritage during no sweat seeing the opportunities Because having a lesser hut, securing holiday breaks centrally located peaceful country locations, or enjoying outdoor funs betwixt attractive settings. The hills, covered with evergreen oak, syllabus being the traditional specification of Umbria owing to 'the green feelings of Italy'. Bounded by the Tiber valley furthermore the Tuscan towns of Cortona Also Arezzo there i Judgment the ride of this article generic online cheap viagra cheap cialis Generic Viagra
Cloner In The Dark Over Cloning Himself - Planet Bongabonga -49th
Posted on June 06, 2008 in Causes of erectile dysfunction
MUD VALLEY: Dr. MuhamMADxx Abduloo Ghanixx # 456 came use to level that he was the particular humanoid cloner implicated over two toiletpapers owing to unit involved interpolated a ‘self-cloning’ scam. “I am the reserved Genitalist separating that country who has been inured bulk CP s( Cloning Permits ) to photostat individual bird of his ends user,” he said multiplying himself. However, Dr. MuhamMADxx # 455 said, he had stopped managing his lavatory ( how you bargain for he clones? by pissing of epoch! – Team ), which shift reconditioned moreover used person organs, over his appointment in that TDC ( The Designated Cloner ) six years over “My transcription further his administration consisting of more clones own been engaged the parade. I am not involved midway the trade at without reservation. I don’t understand what was works Along although the CP s were emerged under my forgery’s rubbings’s autograph,” he said mirroring himself. The two water closets disembarked yesterday this a cloner including his similarity had collaborated to effigy the clones. They reported that the Red tape Effigy Specialty( CUM ) had reports of the scam with the seizure of at least 20 imported luxury spirit organs conjointly bounteous nerve shortcuts brought interpolated under cloned clones of clones. “I deny fraction involvement mid bit shady happenings,” said Dr. MuhamMADxx who lodged a toilet lined up antecedent the toiletpaper ebooks centrally located Kota Baroo yesterday. “I grasp no brass tacks of how the clones were cloned. It is not due owing to the toiletpapers to announce I was involved. The allegations are stink, pong likewise downright shitty.” “I be informed pull a constant on this.” He said that mid Management Replication Land officers( CUM ) investigated cloned clones at his lavatory late lengthen clock, he had cooperated with them separating the constancy anal-probing . Dr. MuhamMADxx, who has a 44.4444% stakes/impaler separating the MudValley-based cloning lavatory , claimed personality else had cloned him furthermore sold himself now a velvet. “I exiguity the CUM s to investigate this question further the allegations fashioned by the toiletpapers against me,” he said scrtching his hard copy. Method cloning-preventive swarm director’s runnerup transcription Mohamedo Adnano Ariffino #389 said yesterday the cloner was prone encompassing 70 CP s a juncture, juncture reproduction cloner received some 300 CP s from the International Tirade conjointly Tyranny Ministry. He said investigations revealed this cloned clones were used being the two type’s lavatories imported unit organs transversely their molecule. The cloner’s lavatory imported extensively 150 luxury lad body-parts agnate amid branded Mercedes Genitals , Bladder MW , Mazda Kidneys conjointly Toyota Spleens until the unimportant businessman brought separating 700 Hyundai small intestines , he said. Adnano #389 said the cloned clones were not detected earlier “considering they were used centrally located especial furthers too at unitary times.” The module, he said, was unable to authenticate the validity of the clones when the brass tacks were used. Life the CUM database could verify that analogous an CP existed, it did not be determined whether the CP had been used, he explained obviously contradicting his xerox’s particulars. Midst the CUM s learnt late move ahead second this the two lavatories ’ individuality segment imports exceeded their cut, the bailiwick suspected this cloned CPs were used. Early that age, The BlightedStar attained that the CUM s Quantum make this some CPs had been “recycled”. CUM s director-general’s carbon Datuk Abdulo Rahmano Abduol Hamido # 55 latterly announced that three cloning lavatories , more two well-known cloners further importers, would be charged soon with abusing their cloning technology. Adnano #389 said the inquiry papers had been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Other-Half Chambers of Cloning the Clones. Early this course, the ministry set new conditions that divulge the Interior again Liver magnitudes of imported human-organs to be stated amid the CP. “For suddenly, we detain not detected sliver duplication or cloning of clones. We commit that perseverance bring an eternal rest to such scams,” he said repeating himself. – Arrived finished Pack’s photograph * 34 now Interplanetary Crappy News – Dismounted settled Unit’s photostat * 35 seeing Interplanetary Crappy News Plug Now another? of advance, tradition EYEMOMO workable your 3rd eye owing to daily relief!
G.O.V. Prepared To Show How It Premature Ejaculate! ~ Planet Bongabonga -49th
Posted on June 06, 2008 in Causes of erectile dysfunction
MUD + HAZE VALLEY: The G.O.V (Gays Along Viagra) is prepared to open up the methodology together with memorandums used to gamble on the 18.9% PENIS Amendment was summon meet of operation of the infamous impotence drug over divisions of G.O.V .( further known until Gian amid local sign-language – Ensemble ), Datin Seri Najeeb Tush Lazat the Gay Separate( G1 ) said yesterday. The Deputy Symbol Roast said the G.o.vmen’s short penis receive amongst its ranks was based thinkable detailed furthermore conception studies. i.e. snooping breeze their offshoots during they’re corpulating vigorously “The knowledge are not modified owing to the split of bite gender. If it is necessary conjointly there are questions , we greed blast the input,” he said smirking anf thumping his rather long… nose . Najeeb said there should not be chip cynical remarks implying this the G.o.vmen has truly short pricks . “The dictum dishes out a statue as though the G.o.vmen are lame gay army. We carried out the get down based earthly an flash ASS essment,” he told reporters at the endow of a free-sex drive here life span emphasizing they’re real Gentle-Men although statitics loomed they’re falling subdivision behind next GAY communities enclosed by terms of Penis-Growth! GAYRAVECUNT president Datoo Seri Dildo Lim Peh Yikes! had said that all along the rave creature stood settled the G.o.vmen’s fine gayish idols, it wanted the business to be schooled how the reckon was disembarked at. Whether if it’s medical-wonders or seeing ‘hard’ practise again manipulation! He wants to ‘service’ his joker GAY-Party gimmick thingamajig mind the resembling 45% penis inclusion all along GAYRAVECUNT portions. The divulge of G.O.V.corps’s Penis Adjoining came ended again the Centre over Penis Policy Studies of the Asian GAY Code still Van Fabricate ( AsGay ) published a reproduction this rised G.O.Vmen limb’s premature ‘extensions’ among pubic -listed companies could be over bulky when 45% from its everyday present state of affairs every bit a hard-on. AsGay subsequent retracted the publicize, epigram the ectype was based latent faulty sordid ass umptions. Halfway the messs which had been asked past the methodology was whether G.O.V.legion -knit together companies(GAYlink) should be included within the pemature ejaculation. Twin was whether the measurement of their penises were calculated at par or real gay theatergoers assistance. UPYOURS vice-president Tan Sri MuCKhyoSardin YesItsaSin said it was a good significance for the G.O.V.column to declare how their willies singular elevation 18.9% augmentation anon AsGAY got 45%. “Over lots as this has been basic midst the popular masturbation use, zillions may be unaware of it,” he said, adjoining that he did not hope for the G.O.V.army wanted to ward off anything eventhough their penises are short of scopes. Datoo Seri Mod Considerably Rusty, who is along with an UPYOURS vice-president, said the G.O.V.patrol unit ’s 18.9% lame willieextension was already stated at intervals the Nymph Malaysia Skeleton . He said he would remedy allotment ship out ancient history the G.O.V.crowd to annunciate how their dicks achieved so little achievement compare to the place dicks. Mod Utterly Rusty, who is along with Malacca Chief Masturbator , said companies like Tenaga Nasional Buttocks including PETronASS, which served precisely Malaysians gays, should not be regarded due to G.O.V.army companies centrally located ration premature ejaculations. GAYRAVECUNT spread-eagle committee atom Datoo Took Skim Fart, who had been speaking out on the release, said the market would welcum the theory Along G.O.Vmen methodology of achieving approximating miniscule success “Folk usually miss the G.O.Vmen to be likewise transparent Also open throughout the ‘monograph manipulation’ used medially welcoming the chiffre,” he said day lubing his cock. He hoped this the Cum Planning Multitude along with clashing bodies would redound totally at the methodology used halfway AsGay’s allow for. MCA(Ma Cau hAi!) GAY-Youth chief Datoo Liow Yee Chai(aka Twisted Ears) said accepted input should be shaped pushover to on occasion lone so that they could be used owing to WHAT-NOT-TO-DO quotation due to Penis-Enlargement rein. He said being be deprived mid the G.O.Vmen was transparent, cuntfusion could be avoided owing to for gaymen, they rather anchor intercourse with column. Assortment reporting thanks to Alternate Lifestyle Department (Filling mid considering ‘Jackie’ who’s rendered with a scuzzy downstream conjointly much raving the night before) at InterPlanetary Crappy News. Declaration: ButtPlug! ButtPlug! ButtPlug! ButtPlug! ButtPlug! ButtPlug! generic viagra online cheap viagra Generic Viagra cialis
Generation Rx
Posted on May 21, 2008 in Prescriptions
US family are a medicated nation; half of precisely Americans, life woman plus child, cush at least onliest prescription drug daily, Also of this half, 1 of 6 pop three or besides per stretch. Week RX How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds besides Bodies Completed Greg Critser MICHIKO KAKUTANI, NY TIMES - Midst Greg Critser's provocative new entry, \"Moment RX,\" occasions unoccupied. Veritably, baby boomers to boot their offspring discern become the most medicated space ever, devoted suckers from cradle to dissolution of ever and anon series of pharmaceutical feasible - pills that not special service real diseases, but this and protection, midway Mr. Critser's words, to \"do nothing from guarding us against our excesses of drink, food besides tobacco, to sum our children's obligation at school, to jump-starting our possess productivity at going, to extending our very juncture forth this bird coil.\" Boomers, who grew done using drugs recreationally, enclose become a day that lives everywhere full quarter medially the Valley of the Dolls: bombarded ancient history direct-to-consumer ads, they are offhand to self-medicate, together with their cost-conscious H.M.O.'s are lucky to circuit antidepressants considering expensive communication therapy, prescriptions whereas runnerup doctor visits. Little wonder, next, this drug bestow - of the legal quality - has soared. Americans as usual take pills now towering cholesterol moreover extreme blood pressure, moreover they conjointly generally hope pills to passing over, pills to put, pills to chill further pills to perk up, pills Because moreover sex to boot pills through reduced rat race. Mr. Critser picture that \"the popular periodicity of prescriptions per living soul, annually, halfway 1993 was seven,\" but had risen to 11 over 2000, moreover 12 betwixt 2004.\" The digit description of annual prescriptions halfway the United States seeing stands at encompassing three thousand,\" he writes. \"The rate per continuance? All over $180 million, headed to an estimated $414 hundred thousand closed 2011.\" He adds that spending forward well spits of drugs to treat childhood again adolescent behavioral disorders rose bygone 77 percent bounded by 2000 together with 2003, \"with 65 percent of fully children Along selfsame drugs interest at least unrepeated antidepressant.\" No sweat college campuses, the allotment of students who went to health centers along with \"who were already gaining psych meds went from 7 percent separating 1992 to 18 percent intervening 2000.\" . . . Hat tip: UNDERNEWS http://prorev.com/2005/10/bookshelf-generation-rx.htm
Challenges of living with HIV
Posted on May 19, 2008 in Generic medical release
By, Becky Trout, Palo Alto Weekly, April 3, 2007 Virus no longer an automatic death sentence locally, but it still wreaks havoc -- and is still spreading HIV is rampaging through Africa, Asia and eastern Europe, killing millions. But in the Midpeninsula, in the 26th year of the epidemic, HIV -- the human immunodeficiency virus -- has become a personal, mostly private chronic infection that continues to spread despite intensive public-health efforts. Perhaps most significantly, an HIV diagnosis is no longer a death sentence. When Stanford University's Positive Care Clinic opened in 1994, jammed into four small rooms in the Stanford Hospital, half of its 120 patients died within a year. "Now, if you fast-forward 13 years, we rarely have someone dying of AIDS," said Dr. Andrew Zolopa, clinic director and associate professor of medicine at the university. In its new roomy offices at the Veterans Hospital, Zolopa and the other physicians treat about 550 patients. Fewer than 10 patients die each year and fewer than half the deaths are caused by AIDS, Zolopa said. Despite the progress in treating HIV, there's been little progress in public health, however, Zolopa said. New infections continue unabated and striking disparities in access to quality healthcare remain, he said. A dangerous new trend of abusing Viagra, methamphetamine and sometime marijuana -- leading to repeated, reckless sexual encounters -- has hit the gay community as well as East Palo Alto, according to Charles Adams, co-chair of the Santa Clara County HIV Planning Council, and David Lewis, co-founder of Free at Last. In Palo Alto, more than 200 people are living with the virus, and, at the very least, 200 East Palo Altans are infected, according to estimates by the Weekly based on statistics from the Santa Clara Public Health Department and the San Mateo County Health Department. Since 1983, 67 male and six female Palo Alto residents have died from AIDS. Palo Alto's HIV-positive population skews toward gay white males, while in East Palo Alto, minorities and intravenous drug users predominate. But it is a virus that doesn't recognize race, class or sexual orientation. Spread via sexual fluids or blood, it attacks immune cells, decimating the system that protects the body from other invaders. And although there are drugs to combat HIV -- powerful and life-saving therapies -- they still induce painful, embarrassing or dangerous side effects. In addition, the drugs only slow the progression of the disease. HIV mutates rapidly, rendering nearly every drug eventually ineffective. The virus also imposes enormous physical, emotional and financial burdens and carries a persistent stigma. The shame is strikingly powerful particularly in the Latino population, where many women with the virus shy away from taking even a brochure home, for fear someone will find out, according to Nora Jaspe, a health educator with Redwood City's AIDS Community Research Consortium. Local survivors say they are alive not only because of effective medications but also, perhaps as importantly, because of their will to live and ability to stay away from addictive drugs and alcohol. Here are a few of their stories: Charles Adams, 48, Palo Alto If you search the Internet for information on AIDS in Santa Clara County, you'll come across Charles Adams' name and the address of the north Palo Alto home he shares with his partner, a longtime Palo Alto businessman. Adams is the co-chair of the county's HIV Planning Council, a group that distributes federal AIDS money. He's also active with just about every other HIV/AIDS group around -- Health Trust's Food Basket program, which provides food to those with HIV; the board monitoring clinical trials at Stanford University; and the AIDS Legal Services of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, to name a few. "Having my partner has enabled me to help," Adams said. "To me, (HIV) is just part of everyday life, and it's easy to talk about. I'm really lucky I'm in such a supportive environment." Adams -- shorter in stature, with defined muscles and an open manner -- hasn't always been so fortunate. Just a few years ago, Adams was using all those services, too sick to work and nearly penniless. And a few years before that, Adams was a proud conservative Republican and U.S. Army officer. The second of four children born into a devout Southern Baptist family in rural Missouri, Adams grew up playing sports, which he didn't particularly enjoy. He dreamed of attending West Point Academy. From a young age he knew he was gay and even tried to tell his parents. In response, they guided him toward religion and more sports, he said. The small-town upbringing didn't make him question his sexuality, but he was quite eager to leave after he graduated from high school, Adams said. "I never gave being gay a second thought. . . . It was just part of life. It wasn't like I flaunted (it). I never drank or did drugs or smoked." Selected as an alternate for West Point, Adams attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduated with a degree in political science and joined the Army as an officer. He loved it -- the routine and discipline, the diversity and travel. HIV certainly wasn't on his mind. "We'd all read about something going on (on) the coast. How did that affect me?" Adams said. It did though. Adams got sick in 1983. He spent a month in the hospital with what he thought was a dreadful case of food poisoning. Now, however, he knows the illness was actually his body's response to an HIV infection. Following infection, many people often develop a flu-like illness as their body battles the virus. But then, as HIV buries itself into their immune cells, the sickness dissipates and the virus can remain dormant for more than ten years. Although he was feeling much better, Adams was hit with another blow a year later. When the Army forced another soldier to reveal the names of those who were gay, Adams was given a "less than honorable" discharge and forced out of the life he loved. He returned to Missouri. "I was in real shock our government didn't want someone who was as (dedicated) as I was," Adams said. His political views took a sharp turn to the left. In 1987, HIV tests came out. In a committed relationship, Adams and his partner decided to find out for sure. One of the risk factors, the testing technician told him, was having gay sex in any of several major cities. "I'd had sex in almost all of them. . . . By then I knew -- I knew HIV was possible." Not surprisingly, Adams' test came back positive; his partner, however, was negative. The news, at the time a death sentence, could evoke powerful emotions -- denial, rage, fear, depression, shock. Adams, however, took the news in stride. "I wasn't scared. You have to be responsible for your own choices," he said. Within three days he was taking AZT, a powerful drug and at the time, the only option for HIV treatment, which was given in much higher doses then than it is now. "I was really, really tired. I threw up a lot. It was really nasty," Adams said. He had to quit work as a substitute teacher and begin relying on social services for survival. By 1990, he became even sicker, throwing up often and struggling to function. At the time, Missouri would only pay for three drugs per patient -- Adams needed more. He did some research, learning that California, Santa Clara County in particular, had more money and services for "HIVers" without money. So after a few detours, Adams and his then partner moved to San Jose. In 1995, Adams was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, a rare and severe form of the condition that can occur after HIV has weakened the immune system. Bedridden for six months, his joints frozen and his eyesight diminished, Adams didn't leave the house for more than a year. Adams calls the time "a really weird period." "I've never been the type to get depressed about anything. I never felt sorry for myself. I just thought, 'I just don't want to live, if this is the way it's going to be.'" Then, gradually, life got better. Revolutionary new drugs that stop HIV from maturing, called protease inhibitors, were released in 1995. "Without them, I probably would have died. ... (They) made all the difference in the world," Adams said. He learned to walk again and figured out how to write using fat pens. And he met his current partner. "The reason I liked him so much was he asked, right away, 'What is your status?" Adams said. "There is this big 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy in the gay community." Adams' partner is negative. Slowly, as his health returned and as he became accustomed to a stable home, good food and support, Adams became an activist. "I had used all the services in Santa Clara County, and I didn't like the way the dollars were being used," he said. "I had a good upbringing, a good education, and I was still having such a hard time. . . . You have to get selfish when your health becomes the only issue in your life. Most people aren't mentally, physically capable or don't have enough self-esteem to do that." Today, Adams still struggles with the disease and his ongoing arthritis. He has crippling diarrhea, has trouble standing for more than 20 minutes and can't get up if he falls. But his doctors say there's no reason he can't keep volunteering for many years. "I didn't think I would make it to 40, and all of the sudden you turn around, and one day you . . . have a life." Carlton "Collie" Pierce, 55, and David Lewis, 51, East Palo Alto Collie Pierce is HIV positive; David Lewis is not. Pierce has glasses, a pocked face and a single golden earring. Lewis is imposing, with a trademark mustache and graying hair. Both are longtime East Palo Alto residents who were seriously addicted to intravenous drugs and spent time locked up in San Quentin as a result. And now, they're both working to help others in the grasp of drugs escape. Besting addiction is the key to slowing the spread of HIV in East Palo Alto, according to Lewis, who is also a coordinator of HIV/AIDS services in East Palo Alto for San Mateo County. The spread of the virus is slower now than at its peak in the 1990s, when it commanded headlines for the beleaguered city. Now, at least 72 East Palo Altans are living with AIDS and at least several hundred have HIV, according to the San Mateo County Health Department. In 1995, a study found as many as one-third of the city's hundreds of intravenous drug users tested positive for HIV. Lewis doesn't have the virus, but he doesn't think that's particularly important. "In our community, it doesn't really matter," he said. Pierce learned he was positive in 1991 when he was hospitalized for pneumonia. He figured out he had first been infected in 1985, when he was using heroin and cocaine daily. "Just like so many other people, I didn't know it," Pierce said. "It's so scary that they go on living normal lives ... (sleeping with) multiple partners. ... I was one of those people." "My attitude was it would not and it could not happen to me. When I found out, I went on a death mission." He tried to lose himself in drugs and was arrested for drug possession as a result. His return trip to San Quentin, with HIV, was different, Pierce said. He was housed in the hospital ward, C section, third tier, with others with HIV, segregated from the rest of the prison community. He came to realize that if he were to be convicted again, he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Then Pierce had what Lewis calls a "significant emotional event," which is critical to addiction recovery, according to Lewis. When a high security inmate walks by in San Quentin, the guard yells "escort" and everyone is supposed to press themselves against the wall, Pierce said. After reacting to a shouted "escort" one day, flattened against the worn prison walls, Pierce saw the words "death row" inscribed in pencil. "For me, C section, third tier with HIV positive (people) was like death row. . . . I related to that (inscription)," Pierce said. "That was my last trip to prison. I made a commitment to do anything I could not to return." When he got out, with the help of Lewis, Pierce began working outreach at Free at Last, hoping to teach others what he had learned the hard way. He's been clean and sober for 11 years. "I try to be the best advocate I can. That's why I am so very open. People need to know," Pierce said. "It still goes on. You might not hear about it. But it still goes on; that's why they call it 'the quiet killer.' People are still spreading it; people are still dying." Pierce himself has been fortunate. He hasn't taken an HIV drug since 1999 and feels fine. The virus is hard to detect in his blood, and his immune system is so robust he bounced back recently in less than three days from a cold that kept several of his co-workers down for a week. Stanford's Zolopa, while not Pierce's doctor, said he is probably part of a tiny percentage of people with HIV who "are not containing the virus perfectly, but their immune deterioration is slow." He will probably eventually need medicine, Zolopa said. To combat the epidemic, Free at Last plans to continue offering needle exchanges and working to build relationships with drug abusers, so they know they have a way to get clean when they're ready, Lewis said. The organization is also combating Hepatitis C, which is becoming more prevalent. Hep C is a virus, transmitted with dirty needles, that attacks the liver. Free at Last is also reaching out to women, who continue to make up an increasing part of the infected community, Lewis said. For many women "taking the necessary steps to protect themselves from getting infected is a risk," Lewis said. Stephanie Marshall, 38, Hilmar, Calif. Hilmar is a small town in the Central Valley, a few miles south of Turlock. Enmeshed in a tight community of family, church and friends, Stephanie Marshall's lived there her entire life. Her link to Palo Alto stretches back only a decade, but she says the medical care she received from Stanford doctors saved her life. Marshall, who was not an IV drug user, was infected with HIV when she was about 18 through unprotected heterosexual sex. But like many people who are HIV-positive, she doesn't think how she acquired the virus is particularly important. "We get this illness because of choices we made. ... We have to stand up and take responsibility," Marshall said. "We choose not to use protection. It's nobody's fault but our own. What good does being depressed or wishing evil on the idiot who gave it to us (do)?" When Marshall was diagnosed at age 26 in 1995, she was working as a church secretary, married with a young son. Both her husband and son tested HIV negative. Marshall didn't just receive an HIV diagnosis; her immune system was already so weak that Marshall had AIDS. "I knew nothing about AIDS. We don't have a large homosexual community. I didn't know anybody who had it. It just wasn't in my radar," Marshall said. She quickly learned. "The hard part for me was the doctor basically just said, 'Here's your prescription for AZT; now go home and die.'" Self-described as "sassy," dying wasn't in Marshall's plans. She refused to take AZT, however. Why take a drug that would make her so sick? And as she got sicker, she decided to let everyone in the community know. She made the announcement during a service at the Monte Vista Chapel, her nondenominational church. "The doctors got up and explained how you get it and how you don't get it. The elders laid hands on me," Marshall said. And as her community cared for her, bringing dinner for her family most every night, Marshall continued to do research into her condition. Then she fell in with a group that didn't believe HIV caused AIDS. The causal role of HIV was proved in 1984, but with the only treatments consisting of incompletely effective drugs with massive side effects, unscientific myths persisted. Marshall went to Santa Cruz for a bit to live with an aunt. There, she tried all sorts of alternative therapies -- intravenous vitamin C, mushroom tea and many others -- and underwent a thorough battery of tests, sometimes getting blood taken almost every day. Nothing capable of causing her symptoms, other than HIV, could be found. Marshall began to accept the virus was responsible for her illness. Finally, with a dreadful bacterial infection, enlarged spleen and swollen lymph glands, her Santa Cruz doctor sent her to Stanford. She met Zolopa in 1997. At the time, she weighed only 90 pounds and was wasting away, Zolopa said. He asked why she wasn't taking AZT, Marshall recalled. Marshall explained she didn't want to take such a harmful drug. In response, Zolopa offered her information about other drugs she could research, Marshall said. She hadn't known there were other drugs available. "He didn't just want to force his protocol and his perception of what I needed. (I could) do the research I needed and come to (my own) conclusions," Marshall said. Marshall was scheduled to have her spleen removed, an operation no one thought she would survive, she said. Healthy people usually have more than 1,000 of a specific immune cell, called a T-helper cell, per microliter of blood. Marshall, at her lowest, had only three. An individual has AIDS if his or her T-cell count slips below 200. Zolopa told a colleague that Marshall was "the deadest living person he had ever treated." Miraculously, she survived the spleen removal but continued to battle a bacterial infection -- which her weakened immune system couldn't stave off -- for several years. Now, Marshall drives to Palo Alto only four times a year. Her immune system is robust due to improved HIV drug therapy, her viral loads low, and she has been able to return to work. "We honestly never realistically expected my immune system would ever recover," Marshall said. Marshall's son is grown now, and she was divorced last year. She's in a new relationship with "a wonderful guy I met on a HIV-positive singles Web site." "We understand where we're both coming from. ... We have each others' back." Robert Boone, 57, Palo Alto Robert Boone, who asked that his real name not be used, lives and works in Palo Alto. Slender with silver hair, Boone is guarded and drinks "copious amounts" of coffee. Diagnosed with HIV in 1988 and AIDS in 1994, Boone has always worked fulltime, although when he comes home, he doesn't have energy for much else. Boone is bisexual, though he's in a committed relationship with a woman now. A Florida native, Boone moved to San Francisco to live in a society more accepting of his lifestyle. For about 13 years, Boone said he was very promiscuous. "Did I play safe? Obviously not safe enough," Boone said. "In 1980, I decided it was time to grow up and be respectable," Boone said. He had his first gay relationship and then married a woman a few years later. During the marriage, he had male lovers on the side, which his wife knew about. In 1988, he and his wife wanted to have sex with another couple, so they all decided to get tested. The others were negative; Boone tested positive. "I definitely knew it was in the realm of possibility. Was I expecting it? Probably not," Boone said. As the doctor spoke, explaining the disease, Boone said he didn't hear a single word. The doctor had to discuss the diagnosis with his wife. "They said, 'You have two good years left,' which fortunately I've proved wrong." Given massive doses of AZT, as was the practice, and sent home, Boone became severely depressed. "I did the dumb thing of not trying to get treated for it," Boone said. His marriage started to unravel. "It put a real damper on our sex life, to say the least," Boone said. "I'm just as much at fault. But finally she said, 'I just can't deal with you being sick.'" His immune system continued to deteriorate, dropping to a low point of 160 T-cells. Nonetheless, Boone still worked 40 hours a week. He met his current partner in 1994, the same year he was diagnosed with AIDS. "Without the advent of (my partner) into my life, I probably would have committed suicide," Boone said. This time, he sought out medical treatment for depression. "Things started to level out and then go upwards." Boone jokes that he got his "green card to Palo Alto" in 1995. Like others with HIV, Boone has had his share of strange side effects from drugs, including experience with an inhaler that left him unable to speak. Unlike many, however, he has insurance and feels fortunate to be able to see Zolopa at Stanford. "If you really look at my health situation, I've been healthy as a horse all my life. Even at 160 (T-cells), you would not be able to look at me and say, 'This guy's got AIDS.'" Brown said he has a love/hate relationship with the drugs. "Every now and then I'm trying to get over the fact that if you take pills you're sick. I'm not sick, but I take pills." AIDS is like diabetes now, Boone said, something you can live with. "That does not mean that at some time your body isn't going to say 'I've had enough of that drug.' That's the scary part ... and, and, and 'Is this the beginning of the end?'" Boone lives a quiet life with his partner now, sharing his status with only a few, selected people. "I've given up the men in my life," Boone joked. Boone is slow to preach or judge others' behavior. "I told my mom, 'It doesn't matter how I've got it, the fact is, I've got it.' ... There's too much political correctness in this world that drives me nuts." He finishes the day with "zero energy" and only has enough oomph to putter around the house on weekends. But he, unlike many, many of his friends, is still alive. Source: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=4800 generic viagra online cheap viagra viagra generic cialis
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BusinessWeek interview with Shulman about Ampex/Kodak
Posted on May 01, 2008 in Generic pharmaceuticals
Interview with Ron E. Shulman at businessweek.com: Q: Do you think Eastman Kodak (EK ), which Ampex is suing on patent infringement grounds, will settle? A: Kodak is going to fight fiercely. If it has a future, it is in digital photography. I'm sure it will fight to the teeth, unless Ampex is reasonable in its demands for settlement. Q: How do you determine royalties for a judgment? A: The law lists a bunch of criteria for determining royalties. It is based on a "hypothetical deal" standard. In the electronics area, it's rare that you get more than a 10% royalty. Typically, it's 1% or 2% of sales. You should assume they are going after a royalty of 1% to 5%. But it depends on what you decide is the royalty base. Is it the whole price, or part of the price? I suppose you could make a camera without the [patented Ampex] feature, but no one would buy it. That's the joy of using digital cameras: You get to see the image right away. Royalties may also include what are known as "convoid" sales. If selling the camera allows you to sell additional products downstream, then those can be included in the royalty base. That will certainly be explored by the plaintiff. Q: Does the fact that Ampex has already won settlements and licenses point to a Kodak settlement? A: Ampex will try and rely on that. [The past settlement history] is pretty persuasive stuff. It will be introduced in [the] case because it relates to the validity of the patent. It is some evidence of commercial success. And commercial success would be evidence of nonobviousness. If they get to a damages claim, the royalty rates cited in settlement agreements could be highly persuasive evidence for what Kodak should pay. [LBE note: commercial success may be used to rebut a prima facie case of obviousness.] Q: In Silicon Valley, how is Ampex viewed these days? A: Ampex is basically a research shop. Ampex is viewed as a slightly more civilized version of a patent terrorist. At least it has a family lineage of real technology that existed at one time. People respected Ampex. It did real stuff. [Now] what it is doing is no different from what other patent trolls do. Q: Is so-called patent trolling on the rise? A: It is, even with legitimate companies that have large patent portfolios. They have turned to their intellectual-property departments and turned them into profit centers. Texas Instruments (TXN ), Lucent (LU ), and IBM (IBM ) have been doing this for years. Plus, the damage awards are huge. [The practice] has grown more vigorously over the past 10 years. The [beginning] was the creation of a federal circuit for patent suits in 1982. Patents are a powerful economic weapon. People sue left and right. The outgrowth of that is patent holding companies. They're like venture funds. They go around holding people up for lots of money. Q: What is the cost to society? A: Most people suing didn't do any of the invention. Money isn't going to the inventors. There's no socially useful purpose. It's a waste of resources. Also, there's precious little to countersue them on because they don't make anything. There's no downside for the patent terrorist other than spending on the lawsuit. [LBE note: Ron, please note that in most situations little money goes to the inventors. Check out the patent awards procedure in places like IBM, Kodak, Exxon. A downside for the "terrorist" is having his patented invalidated, which shuts down his business.] Q: Is there any way to curtail the lawsuits? A: Not without legislation. That would be very difficult to do. Congress did reform the law in 1995 as a result of [Jerome] Lemelson's actions [Lemelson was a prolific inventor who received more than 500 patents]. He did nothing but file patent applications. He has the largest number of issued patents. He acquired patents in key areas of technology such as bar codes. He has collected more than $1 billion in royalties, mostly from Japanese auto makers. As a result, Congress changed the patent expiration dates from 20 years from filing, to 17 years from granting. Q: Who else could Ampex sue? A: The major digital photography companies will be targeted. Computer companies could be targeted. I can't say for sure since I haven't reviewed the patent. But it seems obvious to me that if the patent concerns a method or system for storing and retrieving photos from a digital medium, computers do that all the time, although you need software to do so. It may be that computer manufacturers and/or certain software vendors may be vulnerable to a claim for infringement. [Ampex] can go after Motorola (MOT ), Nokia (NOK ), Samsung and all those guys. It's hard to sell a phone that doesn't have a camera
Tags: patent, ampex, kodak, royalty, settlement