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Brittany Murphy, 32, was pronounced dead upon arrival today at Cedars-Sinai medical center after her husband called 911 this morning around 8 am from the couple's Los Angeles home. Initial reports cite cardiac arrest as the cause of ...
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was interviewed in Toronto by Fox News when they were in Toronto for the Munk Debates (Dec 1) – Nigel Lawson and Bjorn Lomborg v George Monbiot and Elizabeth May (Green Party of Canada leader). ...
1.2000: The (first) Internet bubble bursts. Lots of people made a lot of money, lots of people lost a lot. But the collapse's effect, similar to a forest fire, cleared the way for a lot of new growth and a more mature, more reality-based Web.
2.2000: Craigslist starts its march to national prominence. The San Francisco tech-geek message list started expanding beyond the Bay City, adding nine cities. By decade's end, it not only will have helped you sell your kid's old bike, it will have threatened the very ecosystem of the news media by stripping away classified-ad revenue.
3.2001: The first iPod is introduced. Apple's portable player of music in digital-file format would pave the way for music sales on the Internet (iTunes), challenging the share-with-everyone-but-the-creators model of Napster. iPods also, of course, would lead to the iPhone, which puts the World Wide Web of mobile entertainment, plus a phone, in people's pockets.
4.2000-02: Poltical blogs get going in earnest. Political sites would be the first to prove that writing Web logs wasn't just for hobbyists, that there was money to be made and influence to be wielded. Among the pioneers, both with Chicago roots, were Markos Moulitsas' Daily Kos (2002), and John McIntyre's and Tom Bevan's Real Clear Politics (2000).
5. 2001: Wikipedia begins. What Wikipedia proved was the potential to harvest the Web for massive, nonprofessional collaboration, a lesson that political campaigns would soon take to heart.
6. 2003: MySpace is launched. It would grow within three years to become the most popular social-networking service in the United States. In addition to paving the way for Facebook's growth in more recent years, MySpace demonstrated that many, many Americans absolutely wanted to have personal Web pages and conduct social lives online. The service also became an effective vehicle for music promotion.
7. 2005: The "Saturday Night Live" Digital Short "Lazy Sunday" premieres. Besides being a precursor of short-comedy video sites like Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die," it proves fundamental in establishing the Web for watching video. "The viral expansion of that clip," said Bill Tancer, an executive with the Hitwise Web measurement firm, "was what really allowed ( YouTube) to surpass all of the other video search services."
8.2006: Broadband Internet access takes hold. By mid-2006, nearly three-quarters of Net users were accessing the Web via cable or DSL modem. If people were still using telephone lines to connect to the Internet, the online video revolution wouldn't have been possible.
9. 2006-07: Internet stars flirt with the mainstream, but the mainstream goes home alone. LisaNova, a YouTube performer, has a stint on Fox's late-night sketch show "Mad TV" but doesn't last. Brooke Brodack, another YouTube star, signs a development deal with Carson Daly's company, but nothing of impact has come of it. Amanda Congdon, host of the hit, Internet-based news show Rocketboom, signs with ABC News but, again, doesn't last.
10. 2006: Twitter is created. The site gives everyone from bored journalists to bored celebrities a place to jot and share their micro thought bursts. While it's too soon to know the ultimate impact, the growth curve has been phenomenal.
Encrypted Email and File Transfer Solutions Are Vital for Businesses
Osterman Research White Paper Dissects Key Issues Surrounding Encryption, Mission-Critical Motivation for Deployment
PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the Osterman Research white paper “The Critical Need for Encrypted Email and File Transfer Solutions,” encrypted email and file transfer solutions are becoming a business and legal necessity due to the high volume of sensitive content stored within and delivered via email. With increasing governance and regulatory obligations, the punitive consequences associated with failure to protect sensitive data outweigh the cost of deploying encryption capabilities.
The research also indicates that secure/encrypted email will be a top-five priority for organizational I.T. spending through late 2010.
The report was sponsored in part by Smarsh, the managed service leader in secure, innovative, and reliable email archiving and compliance solutions. Smarsh solutions for data-leak prevention (smarshDLP) and secure messaging (smarshEncrypt) help users meet email encryption obligations and secure file transfer needs, mitigate risk associated with outbound email and facilitate email supervision.
“Email continues to be the dominant communication and file transport mechanism used in business today, and email and attachments are vulnerable to multiple exposures and a variety of associated risks, simply via the nature of the transmission itself,” said Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research. “A growing number of state and Federal statutes mandate that businesses encrypt the transmission of sensitive data. Companies are paying a heavy price for data breaches or content interception. Leaks of confidential corporate data and hardship to consumers carry consequences. Having a secure messaging and file transfer solution, such as smarshEncrypt, as part of a messaging management system is a mission-critical priority for today’s businesses.”
The study cites several examples in which the lack of encryption or other protection of confidential information led to enormously damaging and expensive mitigation efforts. By the end of 2008, 44 U.S. states had enacted data breach notification laws, and 25 countries had adopted similar rules. Relevant state and Federal statutes include:
Nevada and Massachusetts state laws. These states have developed laws requiring the proactive protection and secure transmission of customers’ personal information, and others are expected to follow.
HIPAA. The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires that policies and procedures must be established and implemented to protect the use and disclosure of individuals’ protected health information (PHI). As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the provisions of HIPAA (and consequences of non-compliance) were significantly expanded to apply to business partners (attorneys, accounting firms, etc.) of entities already covered by HIPAA (pharmacies, healthcare providers, etc.).
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) & Regulation S-P. Financial institutions are required to protect sensitive information collected regarding individuals. In accordance with the GLBA, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation S-P requires financial services firms to adopt written policies and procedures that address the administrative, technical and physical safeguards for the protection of customer records and information.
Non-compliance with email encryption mandates certainly carries consequences. At the same time, the report contends that businesses that proactively demonstrate secure infrastructure for their customers’ sensitive data are more likely to build trust, acquire new business and maintain their customers. Banks use encrypted access to data as a benefit for customers, and physicians are answering a demand from patients by communicating via secure messaging.
The white paper also cites the growing interest and dependence on dedicated, secure file transfer systems. Email attachments continue to increase in size, and transmission of the data within merits secure delivery. A dedicated file transfer system can ease the burden on email servers and benefit users by eliminating the impact of email file-size limits. Email-related storage and costs are reduced, as is impact on network bandwidth.
“Email and file transfer encryption does not need to be disruptive to business processes, cost-prohibitive or burdensome for internal resources,” said Smarsh CEO Stephen Marsh. “There are multiple points at which content can be encrypted and multiple models for deployment, and organizations need to find the right solution to meet their specific needs. The first priority needs to be finding a solution that offers peace of mind with data protection. Beyond that, it is important to put an email encryption system in place that is easy to use and administrate, that doesn’t complicate or impede other email system functions like supervision and that can be implemented cost-effectively.”
“The Critical Need for Encrypted Email and File Transfer Solutions” documents important factors for businesses to consider when deploying encryption systems. To access this Osterman Research white paper, visit www.smarsh.com.
Smarsh® is the managed service leader in secure, innovative and reliable email-archiving solutions for message compliance and records retention, proactive litigation readiness and mail server data management. Smarsh solutions for data-leak prevention and secure messaging help users meet email encryption obligations, mitigate risk associated with outbound email and facilitate email supervision.
The SaaS (software as a service) delivery model enables clients to eliminate IT infrastructure costs and minimize operating burden, while benefiting from Smarsh’s expertise and experience in hosting large volumes of mission-critical client data. Customizable solutions fit the needs, budgets and technological infrastructure of any firm – big or small – and are matched with unrivaled customer support and service.
Founded in 2001, Smarsh’s growth has been recognized at both the local and national level. In 2008, the company was named to the “Inc. 500,” Inc. magazine’s annual analysis of the fastest-growing companies in the United States, while The Portland Business Journal recently ranked Smarsh No. 1 in its 2009 growth rankings for the state of Oregon.
Osterman Research was founded by Michael Osterman in 2001. Since that time, the company has become one of the leading analyst firms in the messaging and collaboration space, providing research, analysis, white papers and other services. The core of Osterman Research's capabilities is its market research panel of IT professionals and end users that are regularly surveyed on a variety of topics related to email, instant messaging, spam, collaboration, security, storage, archiving, data retention, compliance and other areas. For more information, contact Osterman Research at 1-253-630-5839 or visit www.ostermanresearch.com.
Marijuana should be legalized for only one reason and that is to be used in the medical profession for patients that need it.
Doctors use marijuana for a variety of medical disorders. It should be noted that marijuana itself is not used but THC, which is derived from Marijuana. Marijuana is only used when patients and doctors harass the government with pressure. Dr. Solomon H. Snyder, Professor of Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Psychiatry at John Hopkins University, informs the public in his book "Uses for Marijuana" that a century ago marijuana was used as commonly for medical purposes as aspirin is used today.
Marijuana could be purchased in any American drug store without prescription and was used to treat medical problems such as ulcers, epilepsy, headaches, excessive menstrual bleeding, tooth decay, glaucoma {A group of eye diseases characterized by an increase in intraocular pressure, which in atrophy of the optic nerve may result in blindness}, in the control of serve nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy, and in severe pain due to the AIDS virus.
Although marijuana was used in the Far East as medicine for thousands of years it was not introduced to America and European cities until 1839. An Irish physician named W.B. O'Shaughnessy, who had discovered it while in India, tested it on over a hundred animals to determine the safety of marijuana. O'Shaughnessy found the drug to be an excellent muscle relaxant, pain-killer, and anti-convulsant.
Hobart Hare, a noted American Professor of Medicine, wrote in his 1982 textbook, "A System of Practical Therapeutics" that "Cannabis is very valuable for the relief of pain, particularly that depending on nerve disturbances; it produces sleep; it gives relief in paralysis and tends to quiet tremors...it is used in cough mixtures and does not constipate or depress the system as does morphine." Cannabis is also widely recommended as a substitute drug when attempting to withdraw from morphine or from any drug containing or derived from opium.
Marihuana is not a narcotic and is not addicting. Can marijuana be addicting, of course. Like anything, chocolate, soda pop, barbiturates, alcohol, or my own personal addiction Mongolian Beef; that is consumed over extensively long periods of time in excess can become an addiction. So if you're sitting on your sofa drinking two whole six packs everyday, you may have a serious issue. One can use mild cannabis such as marijuana in small amounts for years and never suffer any physical or mental deterioration. More potent preparations of cannabis, such as hashish can induce psychedelic experiences similar to those of LSD but hashish is not used for medical purposes.
Some people who smoke marijuana feel no effects; others feel relaxed and sociable, tending to giggle a lot and sometimes lose track of place and time. Smokers of marijuana show in coordination an impaired ability to perform skilled acts, this usually last for a short period of time.
Alcohol can have similar side-effects as marijuana yet alcohol is not illegal. In this writers opinion that does not seem right. Scientific test suggest that a person "high" on marijuana is a much safer driver then a person who has consumed 0.05-0.1 percent of alcohol.
In 1973, the Presidential Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse came to the conclusion that: Alcoholism is Americas worst drug problem; that heroin is Americas second worst drug problem; and that legal use of "downers," mainly by housewives is America's worst hidden problem. Cannabis use is a minor problem compared to other drugs and alcohol. The commission then restated its earlier recommendations that all criminal penalties for smoking marijuana should end, so those people who need it for a medical condition could receive it without having to purchase it illegally.
Alcohol is not used in the medical field yet it is legal. There are lots of drugs that one must use under doctors supervision such as morphine, Demerol, cocaine (Topical Anesthetic), LSD (Migraines and Alcoholism), codeine, and amphetamines all of which can kill. Aspirin causes bleeding and kills over 100 people a year; there are no known marijuana deaths.
Marijuana is currently being tested as an immunosuppressant, potentially of value for the inhibition of rejection of tissue and organ transplants. Marijuana is also being used for the treatment of hypertension, epilepsy, and depression.
Marijuana is a 'potential' drug. This drug could hold the cure for diabetes, cancer, tuberculosis, or even AIDS. Finding out if marijuana can help is not possible as long as it is illegal in all but 13 states. So when someone that is loved gets sick from a disease that has no cure or the painkillers prescribed are no longer working; that person is vomiting constantly, is in severe pain, has headaches, and other ailments are plaguing them; should they not have the right to be able to use marijuana if it can help them? This writer thinks so!
Writes Note: I would like to make it clear that I am in no way a supporter of recreational use of Marijuana. I have had many people in my family suffer greatly from cancer. My grandfather struggled for over a decade with stomach cancer which eventually would result in his death. The pain killers he was on were no longer helping. His doctor, long before Michigan even allowed medical usage of marijuana recommended it to my grandfather as an option to help his pain. He refused because that was the type of man he was.
When my aunt had her kidney transplant we were all very happy to see her doing well and not rejecting the kidney my uncle gave her. A few months ago she fell ill again, her kidneys are failing her and she needs another transplant. If there is any hope for those that suffer we should, in this writers opinion put aside our beliefs and look toward the possibility that marijuana might hold the potential to help or even in some cases cure what ails those we love.
I have Spinal Lumbar Stenosis with degeneration of the nerve endings in my legs. I take no pain killers for my pain even though my pain has never been below a 5 on a scale from 1 to 10. I manage my pain by doing what I always do, taking it one day at a time. The reason I take no pain killers is because I am drug sensitive. Pain killers such as Tramadol, Codeine, Vicodin, and Demerol have caused things like vertigo, nausea, vomiting, amongst others when I have taken them. For me as someone that suffers with large amounts of pain everyday, the whole point of taking a pain killer is to remove the pain so you can function.
I will share with you a story about why I wrote this article. Why I think it is important that we use everything available to us to help those that are suffering. I was diagnosed over 6 years ago when I started to notice that it was getting harder and harder to walk. Where before I would go jogging or walking almost everyday, I got to the point were I could not even walk 15 minutes without being hunched over in pain. As time progressed it was no longer my walking being effected. I was not able to carry a laundry basket any longer; I would have to do dishes while taking breaks after a couple, cleaning the house became like running a marathon. Just to walk around the grocery store to get groceries would put me in bed from pain afterwards.
These are things that people who do not suffer from pain take for granted. Imagine everything you do in your day, from playing with your children or picking up your baby, playing fletch with your dog, working on your car, riding your horses, mowing your front yard, working in your garden, working. Whatever it is you do in your day picture it, and then picture yourself not being able to do it for more then 5 minutes or not being able to do it at all. You can not pick up your 2 year old daughter and carry her to her bed, you can not walk down your stairs to do the laundry, or take your tire out of the trunk to fix your flat.
This is my life and the life of many who suffer from pain. I was prescribed lots of different things that did not seem to work until I was prescribed Tramadol. This stuff was fantastic, the only problem with it was once I took it I could not do anything anyways. Oh to be certain my pain was long gone but the vertigo that transfixed me was so bad I could not stand up without feeling dizzy.
The whole point of taking painkillers is so you can function and many people that take them still can not do the things they want to do. I am currently on no medications at all and no I do not smoke marijuana for those wondering. I have decided that for me the best thing I can do for myself is to push past the pain. Do things in moderation even if it means it takes me an hour to fold the laundry. This was the right thing for me, but for someone else it might be to use marijuana to help with their pain. That should be their right.
I would never tell anyone what they should or should not do with their bodies. Actress, Susan Somers, refused chemotherapy for the treatment of her cancer. That was her choice and she made the right one for her because she survived. Patrick Swayze chose to starve his cancer which had dire consequences, again that was what he thought was right. My humble opinion aside, in the end we only want what is best for our loved ones and we should explore all possibilities and research them thoroughly, making an informed decision, and that includes the ones involving marijuana for medical purposes. Don't just take your doctors word for it, look into it, whatever treatment it is they want you do, make sure you are informed.
Sources Taber's Online Goggle Books Wikipedia
Police Discover World's Most Expensive Marijuana?
Posted 9/25/2009 9:40 AM MDT on CNJOnline.com
$6,000 an ounce? Lol!
Police in Texas just made a remarkable discovery that could potentially turn the domestic marijuana industry upside down. Although a recent drug raid only turned up a single marijuana plant, officers determined that it is the most valuable marijuana ever reported. According to Sheriff Thomas Kerss, this type of marijuana has a street value of $6,000 per ounce! window.onload=WorldNowRenderEmbedVideoPlayer616844 That's some very impressive pot. According to the government's own data, collected by the National Drug Intelligence Center, high-grade marijuana prices top out at around $7,500 per pound in high-value markets. That's around $470 an ounce. Similarly, the marijuana magazine High Timesestimates the average price of high-grade marijuana at $428 per ounce in August 2009.
As you can see, the marijuana just discovered in Texas is more than 12 times as valuable as anything currently on the market. Even the hippies at High Times have never heard of anything like this, but maybe that's because the police are doing such a good job keeping it off the streets.
***** Or maybe the police lied about how much it's worth. After finding only one little pot plant in a big dramatic drug raid, they wildly inflated the value of their drug seizure in order to make newspaper headlines. It's happenedbefore, although this is by far the most laughably outrageous marijuana price ever claimed by police in the three years I've been documenting this behavior.
At $6,000 an ounce, that would mean one little joint costs $200. A dimebag would be invisible to the naked eye. It just doesn’t make sense, which is why I refuse to believe it's an honest mistake when cops say stuff like this. Narcotics investigators buy drugs all the time so they can arrest people for selling to them. They know the market well and if their estimates come out all crazy, it's because they're trying to impress people with the fruits of their filthy labor.
But the stupidity doesn’t end there. Lying about the value of marijuana rather obviously encourages people to grow it. If these guys really gave a heck about "winning" the war on drugs, they wouldn’t be running around in the middle of an economic crisis telling people you can make thousands of dollars from a single marijuana plant. Nonsense like that could quickly blow up in your face.
Unless, of course, the people who get paid a good salary and benefits to bust marijuana growers actually want more people to do it. Say it ain't so.
