Archive for November 6th, 2009
It’s flu season. And according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), visits to doctors for influenza-like-illness continue to increase steeply and are now higher than what is seen at the peak of many regular flu seasons.
What’s more, the CDC reports, flu-related hospitalizations and deaths continue to go up nationwide and are above what is expected for this time of year.
As of 25 October 2009, worldwide there have been more than 440,000 laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 and over 5,700 deaths reported to the World Health Organization.
Read the rest of my story on aBetterOffice.com.
November 6th, 2009
On Thursday, Google launched a new feature that aims to silence privacy advocates who have criticized the search industry’s data-collection and storage practices. If the initiative appeases the critics, other search engines could move to adopt similar strategies.
The initiative is called Google Dashboard. For Google users who have wondered what data is stored in conjunction with their Google accounts, Dashboard offers a new level of transparency. Google Dashboard lets users see what data the search engine is storing and offers some control over how it’s used. Users can even delete some data.
Google software engineer Alma Whitten, Google product manager Yariv Adan, and Google Vice President of Search Products and User Experience Marissa Mayer made the Dashboard announcement on the company’s blog.
Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
November 6th, 2009
Laptop-toting road warriors who don’t want to commit to a long-term mobile broadband data plan might be interested in a new offering from Verizon Wireless. On Thursday, the wireless carrier rolled out three new mobile data plans as part of the company’s prepaid portfolio.
The plans let customers tap into the mobile broadband speed they need on Verizon’s 3G network with daily, weekly or monthly pay-as-you-go access. The plans will be available beginning Nov. 15.
“As more and more people begin to use these devices in different ways, all of a sudden it’s not just the device. The network and the ability to connect to the network becomes very important,” said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. “Verizon has a very strong reputation for their coverage and connectivity. Prepaid mobile broadband is going to be more important going forward, particularly for people who don’t need it on a daily basis and don’t necessarily want to pay a monthly fee.”
Read the rest of my story on TopTechNews.
November 6th, 2009
