Wednesday, September 15, 2010

6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebo

14th September 2010. The whole social networking phenomenon has millions of Americans sharing their photos, favorite songs and details about their class reunions on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and dozens of similar sites. But there are a handful of personal details that you should never say if you don't want criminals — cyber or otherwise — to rob you blind, according to Beth Givens, executive director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.


The folks at Insure.com also say that ill-advised Facebook postings increasingly can get your insurance cancelled or cause you to pay dramatically more for everything from auto to life insurance coverage. By now almost everybody knows that those drunken party photos could cost you a job, too.

[See 7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook]

You can certainly enjoy networking and sharing photos, but you should know that sharing some information puts you at risk. What should you never say on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site?

Your Birth Date and Place

Sure, you can say what day you were born, but if you provide the year and where you were born too, you've just given identity thieves a key to stealing your financial life, said Givens. A study done by Carnegie Mellon showed that a date and place of birth could be used to predict most — and sometimes all — of the numbers in your Social Security number, she said.

Vacation Plans

There may be a better way to say "Rob me, please" than posting something along the lines of: "Count-down to Maui! Two days and Ritz Carlton, here we come!" on Twitter. But it's hard to think of one. Post the photos on Facebook when you return, if you like. But don't invite criminals in by telling them specifically when you'll be gone.

Home Address

Do I have to elaborate? A study recently released by the Ponemon Institute found that users of Social Media sites were at greater risk of physical and identity theft because of the information they were sharing. Some 40% listed their home address on the sites; 65% didn't even attempt to block out strangers with privacy settings. And 60% said they weren't confident that their "friends" were really just people they know.

Confessionals

You may hate your job; lie on your taxes; or be a recreational user of illicit drugs, but this is no place to confess. Employers commonly peruse social networking sites to determine who to hire — and, sometimes, who to fire. Need proof? In just the past few weeks, an emergency dispatcher was fired in Wisconsin for revealing drug use; a waitress got canned for complaining about customers and the Pittsburgh Pirate's mascot was dumped for bashing the team on Facebook. One study done last year estimated that 8% of companies fired someone for "misuse" of social media.

Password Clues

If you've got online accounts, you've probably answered a dozen different security questions, telling your bank or brokerage firm your Mom's maiden name; the church you were married in; or the name of your favorite song. Got that same stuff on the information page of your Facebook profile? You're giving crooks an easy way to guess your passwords.

Risky Behaviors

You take your classic Camaro out for street racing, soar above the hills in a hang glider, or smoke like a chimney? Insurers are increasingly turning to the web to figure out whether their applicants and customers are putting their lives or property at risk, according to Insure.com. So far, there's no efficient way to collect the data, so cancellations and rate hikes are rare. But the technology is fast evolving, according to a paper written by Celent, a financial services research and consulting firm.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Strong Password Isn’t the Strongest Security

Saturday September 4, 2010, 4:33 pm

MAKE your password strong, with a unique jumble of letters, numbers and punctuation marks. But memorize it — never write it down. And, oh yes, change it every few months.

These instructions are supposed to protect us. But they don’t.

Some computer security experts are advancing the heretical thought that passwords might not need to be “strong,” or changed constantly. They say onerous requirements for passwords have given us a false sense of protection against potential attacks. In fact, they say, we aren’t paying enough attention to more potent threats.

Here’s one threat to keep you awake at night: Keylogging software, which is deposited on a PC by a virus, records all keystrokes — including the strongest passwords you can concoct — and then sends it surreptitiously to a remote location.

“Keeping a keylogger off your machine is about a trillion times more important than the strength of any one of your passwords,” says Cormac Herley, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research who specializes in security-related topics. He said antivirus software could detect and block many kinds of keyloggers, but “there’s no guarantee that it gets everything.”

After investigating password requirements in a variety of settings, Mr. Herley is critical not of users but of system administrators who aren’t paying enough attention to the inconvenience of making people comply with arcane rules. “It is not users who need to be better educated on the risks of various attacks, but the security community,” he said at a meeting of security professionals, the New Security Paradigms Workshop, at Queen’s College in Oxford, England. “Security advice simply offers a bad cost-benefit tradeoff to users.”

One might guess that heavily trafficked Web sites — especially those that provide access to users’ financial information — would have requirements for strong passwords. But it turns out that password policies of many such sites are among the most relaxed. These sites don’t publicly discuss security breaches, but Mr. Herley said it “isn’t plausible” that these sites would use such policies if their users weren’t adequately protected from attacks by those who do not know the password.

Mr. Herley, working with Dinei Florêncio, also at Microsoft Research, looked at the password policies of 75 Web sites. At the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security, held in July in Redmond, Wash., they reported that the sites that allowed relatively weak passwords were busy commercial destinations, including PayPal, Amazon.com and Fidelity Investments. The sites that insisted on very complex passwords were mostly government and university sites. What accounts for the difference? They suggest that “when the voices that advocate for usability are absent or weak, security measures become needlessly restrictive.”

Donald A. Norman, a co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, a design consulting firm in Fremont, Calif., makes a similar case. In “When Security Gets in the Way,” an essay published last year, he noted the password rules of Northwestern University, where he then taught. It was a daunting list of 15 requirements. He said unreasonable rules can end up rendering a system less secure: users end up writing down passwords and storing them in places that can be readily discovered.

“These requirements keep out the good guys without deterring the bad guys,” he said.

Northwestern has reduced its password requirements to eight, but they still constitute a challenging maze. For example, the password can’t have more than four sequential characters from the previous seven passwords, and a new password is required every 120 days.

By contrast, Amazon has only one requirement: that the password be at least six characters. That’s it. And hold on to it as long as you like.

A short password wouldn’t work well if an attacker could try every possible combination in quick succession. But as Mr. Herley and Mr. Florêncio note, commercial sites can block “brute-force attacks” by locking an account after a given number of failed log-in attempts. “If an account is locked for 24 hours after three unsuccessful attempts,” they write, “a six-digit PIN can withstand 100 years of sustained attack.”

Roger A. Safian, a senior data security analyst at Northwestern, says that unlike Amazon, the university is unfortunately vulnerable to brute-force attacks in that it doesn’t lock out accounts after failed log-ins. The reason, he says, is that anyone could use a lockout policy to try logging in to a victim’s account, “knowing that you won’t succeed, but also knowing that the victim won’t be able to use the account, either.” (Such thoughts may occur to a student facing an unwelcome exam, who could block a professor from preparations.)

VERY short passwords, taken directly from the dictionary, would be permitted in a password system that Mr. Herley and Stuart Schechter at Microsoft Research developed with Michael Mitzenmacher at Harvard.

At the Usenix Workshop on Hot Topics in Security conference, held last month in Washington, the three suggested that Web sites with tens or hundreds of millions of users, could let users choose any password they liked — as long as only a tiny percentage selected the same one. That would render a list of most often used passwords useless: by limiting a single password to, say, 100 users among 10 million, the odds of an attacker getting lucky on one attempt per account are astronomically long, Mr. Herley explained in a conversation last month.

Mr. Herley said the proposed system hadn’t been tested and that users might become frustrated in trying to select a password that was no longer available. But he said he believed an anything-is-permitted password system would be welcomed by users sick of being told, “Eat your broccoli; a strong password is good for security.”
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Sunday, September 5, 2010

How frugal billionaires spend their money


7 Spending Tips From Frugal Billionaires

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Carlos Slim Helu (Carlos Slim), a telecom tycoon and billionaire with well-known frugal tendencies, has a net worth of $60.6 billion, according to Forbes. Assuming no changes in his net worth, he could spend $1,150 a minute for the next 100 years before he ran out of money. To put this in perspective, he could spend in 13 minutes what a minimum-wage earner brings home after an entire year of the daily grind.

Granted, the world's billionaires (all 1,011 of them) are in the debatably enviable position of having, quite literally, more money than they can possibly spend, yet some are still living well below their means, and save money in surprising places. Even non-billionaires (currently 6,864,605,142 of us) can partake in these seven spending tips from frugal billionaires:
1. Keep Your Home Simple
Billionaires can afford to live in the most exclusive mansions imaginable -- and many do, including Bill Gates' sprawling 66,000 square foot, $147.5 million dollar mansion in Medina, Wash. -- yet frugal billionaires like Warren Buffett choose to keep it simple. Buffett still lives in the five-bedroom house in Omaha that he purchased in 1957 for $31,500. Likewise, Carlos Slim has lived in the same house for more than 40 years.

2. Use Self-Powered or Public Transportation
Thrifty billionaires including John Caudwell, David Cheriton and Chuck Feeney prefer to walk, bike or use public transportation when getting around town. Certainly these wealthy individuals could afford to take a helicopter to their lunch meetings, or ride in chauffeur-driven Bentleys, but they choose to get a little exercise and take advantage of public transportation instead. Good for the bank account and great for the environment.

3. Buy Your Clothes off the Rack
While some people, regardless of their net value, place a huge emphasis on wearing designer clothes and shoes, some frugal billionaires decide it's simply not worth the effort, or expense. You can find David Cheriton, the Stanford professor who matched Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to the venture capitalists at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (resulting in a large reward of Google stock), wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the furniture company Ikea, avoids wearing suits, and John Caudwell, mobile phone mogul, buys his clothes off the rack instead of spending his wealth on designer clothes.

4. Keep your Scissors Sharp
The average haircut costs about $45, but people can and do spend up to $800 per cut and style. Multiply that by 8.6 (to account for a cut every six weeks) and it adds up to $7,200 per year, not including tips. These billionaires can certainly afford the most stylish haircuts, buy many cannot be bothered by the time it takes or the high price tag for the posh salons. Billionaires like John Caudwell and David Cheriton opt for cutting their own hair at home.

[Stock Picks From the World's Greatest Investors]

5. Drive a Regular Car
While billionaires like Larry Ellison (co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation) enjoy spending millions on cars, boats and planes, others remain low key with their vehicles of choice. Jim Walton (of the Wal-Mart clan) drives a 15-year-old pickup truck. Azim Premji, an Indian business tycoon, reportedly drives a Toyota Corolla. And Ingvar Kamprad of Ikea drives a 10-year-old Volvo. The idea is to buy a dependable car, and drive it into the ground. No need for a different car each day of the week for these frugal billionaires.

6. Skip Luxury Items
It may surprise some of us, but the world's wealthiest person, Carlos Slim (the one who could spend more than a thousand dollars a minute and not run out of money for one hundred years) does not own a yacht or a plane. (Reducing the amount you spend is the easiest way to make your money grow.)

Many other billionaires have chosen to skip these luxury items. Warren Buffett also avoids these lavish material items, stating, "Most toys are just a pain in the neck."

What We Can Learn
Some of the world's billionaires have frugal tendencies. Perhaps this thrifty nature even helped them make some of their money. Regardless, they have chosen to avoid some unnecessary spending (at least on their scale) and the 6,864,605,142 non-billionaires out there can follow suit, eliminating excessive, keep-up-with-the-Jones style spending. No matter what a person's income bracket is, most can usually find a way to cut back on frivolous spending, just like a few frugal billionaires.
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Friday, September 3, 2010

Malaysian blogger faces jail over satirical post

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 9/2/2010

A Malaysian journalist was charged Thursday over a satirical blog which made fun of the state power firm Tenaga, and faces a year's jail if convicted.

State media said that Irwan Abdul Rahman, a 36-year-old sub-editor with a Malay-language daily, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to a charge of posting a fictitious comment.

It said he was accused of "intent to hurt" over the posting, entitled "TNB to sue WWF over Earth Hour" which jokingly said Tenaga would take action over the World Wildlife Fund's annual energy-saving initiative.

In an entry earlier this week, Irwan said on his blog http:nose4news.wordpress.com that he was hoping "for cool heads and a developed sense of humour to prevail".

He has deleted the offending item, which he said was merely "a stupid joke that does no one harm".

Malaysia's opposition condemned the prosecution as "not only harsh but ridiculous".

"Does this mean a satire or a joke is now illegal in Malaysia? What has become of our country?" said Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party which is a member of the opposition alliance.

Lim said Malaysia had a great tradition of satire, which was also used in the independence struggle against British colonial rule, and that the government must respect freedom of expression.

Irwan's prosecution has caused a stir because unlike the mainstream press, the web and online media in Malaysia have remained relatively free, despite occasional raids, bans and government criticism.

Major newspapers and broadcasters are closely linked with the ruling coalition, so the Internet has become a lively forum for dissent and debate.

The government in 1996 pledged not to censor online content as part of a campaign to promote its information technology sector.
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Thursday, September 2, 2010

New uses for common bathroom items


An Unexpected new uses for bathroom items partner
by Real Simple Magazine, on Thu Aug 12, 2010
There's magic to be found in the medicine cabinet.
New Uses for Baby Oil
Remove latex paint from skin: Pour a generous amount of baby oil on a cotton ball and scrub.
Untangle a necklace chain: Massage a dab of oil onto the tangled area, then use a straight pin to carefully pull apart the knot.
Peel off bandages: Avoid involuntary hair removal―and extra agony―by rubbing baby oil over and around the sticky parts of an adhesive bandage before pulling it off.
Slip off a stuck ring: Massage oil onto your finger and rotate the ring until you can slide it off.

New Uses for Dental Floss

Unstick a photograph: Slide a length of dental floss under the corner of a photo that's stuck to an album page or another snapshot. Work the floss between the two surfaces to separate them without damaging the picture.
Save a necklace: Rescue a busted strand by threading the beads onto dental floss for a quick, sturdy fix.

Related: 6 New Uses for Toothpaste

Hang a painting: To hang lightweight artwork that's not in a heavy frame with glass, use dental floss in place of picture wire.
String a popcorn garland during the holidays: Just thread the floss through a needle as you would ordinary sewing thread.
Tie your hair back: If you don't have an elastic, use it to hold your hair before you wash your face.
Cut a cheesecake: Use unwaxed, unflavored floss to slice any soft layer cakes, or homemade cinnamon buns from a roll.
New Uses for Antacid Tablets

Clean a toilet: Toss in two dissolving antacid tablets, such as Alka-Seltzer, wait 20 minutes, then brush.
Remove a stain from a vase's bottom: Drop a tablet in a little water and let it sit for several minutes. Wipe and rinse.
Soothe a sting: Dissolve two tablets in a glass of water, then dab on bug bites.
Impress a kid with a fun science experiment: Pour water into a plastic 35-millimeter-film canister until it is one-third full, drop in a tablet, replace the lid, and quickly place the canister upside down on the ground. Stand back. In 5 to 10 seconds, the gas pressure will make the canister pop its lid and shoot several feet into the air.
New Uses for Cotton Swabs

Touch up paint on cabinets or walls: Or use a swab to apply wood stain to elaborate carvings on furniture or scratches on furniture and floors.
Keep your phone charged: Use a swab dipped in alcohol to clean the battery contacts

of a cordless phone, cell phone, or laptop. This will help maintain good battery connections and sustain the charge for a longer time.

Related: The Worst Cleaning Jobs Made Easy
Make a face: Apply Halloween greasepaint with a swab and save your makeup brushes for the good stuff.
Tote touch-up makeup: In a tiny evening bag, rub cotton swabs in concealer and eye shadow, sealing them in a plastic bag, and tucking the bag into your clutch.
Take a shine to your silver: Use a swab to apply polish to crevices in flatware or tea services.
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Saturday, August 21, 2010

10 unknown video stars making six figures


There are 10 independent YouTube stars who made over $100,000 in the past year, according to a study done by analytics and advertising company TubeMogul.

From July 2009 to July 2010, TubeMogul used their viewership data to estimate the annual income for independent YouTube partners, which they define as anyone who is not part of a media company or brand.

Here's how they got their estimates:

* Revenue only comes from banner ads served near content (we ignored pre-roll or overlay since we can't easily isolate by publisher).
* Since YouTube banner ads have a two-second load delay, we estimate 2.59% of viewers click away before an ad loads based on separate research.
* Ads were served near all videos that loaded (since there are partners, this is generally true).
* CPM for the banner ads was $1.50 (Google auctions a lot of this inventory off; we rounded this 2009 estimate down to be conservative).
* YouTube is splitting ad revenue with partners 50-50.

Basically, take their views from the past year, assume a few don't stick around long enough for an ad to load, divide that number by 1,000, multiply by $1.50 and divide that number in half.

Conservative estimates? Sure. But with that math, you get a pretty decent estimate of how much these YouTube celebrities are making from just the banner ads on their channel. So, without further ado, here are the highest earning YouTube stars!

1. Shane Dawson – $315,000

Shane Dawson is so popular that he is three different YouTube channels. His most popular channel consists of his comedy skits and music video parodies. Dawson created a second channel as a vlog and for a separate series called "Ask Shane," and his third channel only has videos taken from his iPhone.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 431,787,450

2. The Annoying Orange – $288,000

The Annoying Orange is a comedy web series that takes place in a kitchen and is about talking fruit. Dane Boedigheimer is the mastermind behind the series and is also the voice of Orange.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 349,753,047

3. Philip DeFranco – $181,000

Philip DeFranco uploads a new video onto YouTube every Monday to Thursday for his show – The Philip DeFranco Show. His video blogging topics range from politics to pop culture.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 248,735,032

4. Ryan Higa – $151,000

Ryan Higa makes comedy skits and is a video blogger who turned into a viral star with his "How to be Gangster" and "How to be Ninja" videos. Even though he doesn't upload as many videos as his fellow YouTube celebrities, Higa is still the top dog at YouTube with over 2.6 million subscribers.
July 2009 - 2010 Views: 206,979,909

5. Fred – $146,000

Lucas Cruikshank plays "a lonely six year old named Fred" who uses his mom's video camera and posts videos on a YouTube channel. As the second most subscribed to YouTube channel, Lucas Cruikshank's immensely popular Fred character even has a movie coming out backed by Nickelodeon.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 200,656,150

6. Shay Carl – $140,000

As a radio DJ, Shay Carl started making comedy skits and put them on YouTube for the world to see. He claims to have held 20 different jobs before settling down with his DJ and YouTube gigs.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 192,309,247

7. Mediocre Films – $116,000

Greg Benson created Mediocre Films initially for a sketchy comedy TV series called "Skip TV." The show lasted for one season, and now Benson makes low budget comedy videos for the web.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 159,030,703

8. Smosh – $113,000

Smosh is the comedy duo of Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, and with over 1.7 million subscribers, they make up the 5th most popular channel on YouTube. They first shot to viral fame with their "Pokemon Theme Music Video" which became YouTube's most viewed video in Spring 2006. However, due to copyright reasons, the original video was removed from YouTube.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 154,936,876

9. The Young Turks – $112,000

The Young Turks is a political talk show that also airs on Sirius Satellite Radio. Founded and hosted by Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks talk show and their vast viewership has proven that the Internet can be a viable broadcast platform.
July 2009 - 2010 Views: 153,807,362

10. Natalie Tran– $101,000

Under the user name of communitychannel, Natalie Tran is the most subscribed to YouTube user in Australia. Like most others on this list, she is a video blogger and occasionally uploads comedy skits.

July 2009 - 2010 Views: 138,871,829
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Friday, August 20, 2010

New Facebook feature stirs privacy worries


The 411 on Facebook Places and privacy

Facebook just rolled out its take on Foursquare’s "check-in" feature, which lets you tell your friends — or the world, if you like — that you’ve just ambled into a specific venue. The twist? Unlike Foursquare, Facebook Places will let your Facebook pals go ahead and check you into a place, as well — cool if you're a freewheeling social butterfly, but troubling if you're at all protective of your privacy.

Announced and launched last night, Facebook Places is only available to U.S. Facebook users for now (and it hasn't been rolled out to every U.S. Facebook user yet, so be patient), and only on the Facebook iPhone app or on mobile devices with HTML 5-compliant browsers that boast geolocation features.

Here's how it works (this will sound familiar to anyone who's used Foursquare before): If you're out on the town and you want your Facebook friends to know that you've just arrived at the Starbucks down the street, you fire up Facebook on your Places-enabled handheld, tap the Places icon, search for the venue you want to check into (you can add a venue if it isn't listed), and tap the "Check In" button. (You must actually be physically near a place to check in; for example, you can't check into the Louvre if you're sitting at home in Plano, Texas.)

Once you've checked into a place, other Facebook Places users at your location will (for a few hours, at least) be able to see that you've checked in with them, and your check-in will appear in your Facebook news feed.

What sets Facebook Places apart from other Foursquare-like "check-in" apps, however, is that you can check your fellow Facebook users into a place at the same time that you check in yourself, simply by tagging them. So, for instance, if you're strolling into a movie with, say, your friends Pete and Amber, you can check yourself in and check in Pete and Amber as well; all three of you will appear in the "People Here Now" list for that particular theater, and your check-ins will pop up as status updates. (You'll be notified the first time a Facebook friend tries to tag you through Places.)

Now, that could be handy if, say, Pete and Amber want all their pals to know where they are even if they left their iPhones at home for the evening. But what if Pete had a good reason for not wanting everyone to know he was kicking back at the multiplex — like, say, he'd been home "sick" that day, or he'd begged off from dinner at his boss's place — but you'd checked him in anyway? Uh-oh.

The good news is that Facebook has rolled out a series of new privacy controls along with the new Places feature that control who's privy to your check-ins, as well as whether your friends can check you into a given place. The bad news: Even with the new Places privacy controls, your Facebook friends can (of course) always reveal your "20" if they so choose.

If you go to Privacy Settings under the Account tab in Facebook, you'll see "Places I check in" listed under the main "Sharing on Facebook" settings, which you can set to "everyone," "friends of friends," or "friends only."

For more granular control, click the "Customize settings" link. Under "Things I share," there's a checkbox next to "Include me in 'People Here Now' after I check in"; just clear the "enable" checkbox if you don't want friends or those who've also checked in at a given venue to see that you've recently checked in there.

Don't like the idea of Facebook pals checking you into a place? Go to the "Things others share" section, find "Friends can check me in to Places" (at the bottom), and select "Disabled" from the pull-down menu. And even if your "Friends can check me in" setting is enabled, you can still remove a Places tag and/or check-in after the fact, just as you can untag yourself from a photo.

But even if you block your friends from checking you in somewhere via Places, there's nothing stopping them from blurting out, "Hey, guess who's here at the movies with me!" in a regular status update, along with a (tagged) picture of you wearing 3-D glasses — and of course, they could do so whether you're a Facebook user or not. So it goes in the age of Facebook.

For more on Facebook Places and privacy, check out the ACLU's DotRights.org site, which has an exhaustive page covering all the various Places privacy settings.

What do you think of Facebook Places? Planning on using it? Worried about the privacy implications? Fire away below.

The Facebook Blog: Who, What, When, and Now...Where
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

6 Best Foods for Healthy Skin

Sandra Bullock, Rihanna, and Lindsay Lohan: What do these women have in common? They’ve all been embroiled in tabloid-worthy scandals. But what else? They all look good, even when the press isn’t. That’s because they have what so many of us strive for: Perfect skin.
So, what’s the secret? How do some of us achieve the golden hue of Halle Berry while the rest of us get stuck with a scaly patchwork of blotches, pimples, and dry spots? Some of it’s genetic, sure, but that’s not the whole story. If you listen to the conventional wisdom coming from the pharmaceutical companies, you might think the problem is that you just haven’t discovered the right cream, ointment, or alcohol-soaked cleansing pad to clear up your face. But those are solutions of last resort. What you need is a preventive strategy, one that involves nurturing the complex balance of nutrients that feed your skin and nurture your inner glow. In other words, if you want the kind of skin that looks good even through a Hollywood scandal, you’ve got to eat right. Here are six foods that will have you looking your best.

1. SALMON
Salmon is an ideal food for many reasons, but as far as your skin’s concerned, there’s only one that matters: It’s among the world’s greatest sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Those are the essential fats that, along with bolstering the cognitive powers of your brain, concentrate in the walls of your epidermal cells to help lock in moisture. Plus, in one study, researchers supplemented two groups of mice with either omega-3 or omega-6 fats. After two weeks, the skin of the omega-3-fed group exhibited a 20 percent faster recovery rate from exposure to ultraviolet light. That gives salmon two crucial skin boons: keeping your skin from looking dry and helping it battle the dangers of excessive sunlight.

Other omega-3 foods: sardines, walnuts, flaxseed

Bonus Tip: Sushi is one of my favorite ways to eat salmon. Use our Ultimate Sushi Selector to make sure your sushi roll doesn’t turn into a belly roll.


2. CARROTS
Carrots are teeming with tiny orange pigments called beta-carotene, and when you ingest those pigments, you’re inviting them to nestle into your skin, fill in blotches, and give you a healthy glow. And what’s more, research shows that this can actually help prevent premature aging from sun damage. But is the accumulation of orange in your skin going to make you look like an extra from Jersey Shore? Well, hopefully not. But eating excessive loads of carotene-rich foods can lead to a condition called carotenosis, wherein your skin stops looking healthy and starts looking, well, orange. But the conditions is rare, so unless you notice yourself turning into a prison jumpsuit, feel free to chow down.

Other beta-carotene foods: sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, red grapefruit


3. AVOCADO
One study published by The Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that people with higher intakes of olive oil had fewer wrinkles than people with higher intakes of butter. The reason: Butter is loaded with saturated fat, while olive oil is rich in monounsaturates, the same essential fats that make up more than 50% of the calories in an avocado. So why eat avocado over olive oil? Both are good, but avocados have the added bonus of B vitamins, which also help to keep your skin looking vibrant and smooth.

Other monounsaturated-fat foods: olive oil, almonds, peanut butter

Bonus Tip: These foods are only the tip of the super-food iceberg. Click here for 15 more Foods that Cure.


4. BEANS

Legumes, to be more precise. This is the class of plants that includes black beans, chickpeas, lentils, soybeans, and peanuts. And how do these puny pods protect your face? By smoothing out wrinkles. Australian researchers analyzed the diets of more than 400 elderly men and women and found that high intakes of legumes—alongside vegetables and healthy fats—resulted in 20% fewer wrinkles over time. The effect is likely a result of isoflavones—potent antioxidants—concentrated in the beans.

Other isoflavone-rich foods: alfalfa, tempeh, tofu


5. GRAPES
Besides providing protection from heart attack and stroke, antioxidants called polyphenols found in grapes can also help keep middle-aged skin from sagging. That’s because polyphenols improve skin’s elasticity by strengthening collagen, the primary protein in skin’s innermost layer.

Other polyphenol-rich foods: grape juice, blueberries

Bonus Tip: Here’s another easy way to tighten your skin and improve your looks: Lose 5 pounds. Start here: 10 simple weight-loss strategies that work.

6. WATER
Okay, it’s not as fun to drink as wine, but water is the strongest weapon you have against lifeless skin. That’s why they call it “moisturizing”—because you’re trying to lock moisture, aka water, into your skin. To put it broadly, all the body’s processes rely on hydration, so if you’re not sipping throughout the day, you’re likely to have a slower metabolism, groggier head, and, yes, drier skin. One study suggested that it takes a mere half-liter of water to create a measurable increase in the capillary blood flow to your body’s outer layer. That’s just over 16 ounces. Try doing that a few times a day and you’ll have a face like a baby’s bottom in no time.

Other water-rich foods: watermelon, peaches, celery
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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Hefty price to pay for a swimming pool


Taking a Bath on Your Pool

You're probably getting a lot of use out of it this sweltering summer. But how much is it really costing you?

If you don't have one you may be wondering -- are they worth the expense or is a pool just a money pit with floating chairs?

"It's definitely not an investment," argues Jim Holtzman, financial planner at Legend Financial Advisors in Pittsburgh. "It's a big liability, if anything."

Elaine Scoggins, a financial adviser with Merriman investment advisers in Seattle, agrees and thinks people tend to underestimate the long-term costs. "They think about a house as a potential money pit, but they may not think about the pool," she says. "I'm not saying don't own a pool, but go into it with your eyes open."

Let's do the math.

First, there's the initial cost. Although this will vary depending on where you live and how big a pool you want, you should probably budget maybe $25,000 to $50,000 for an in-ground pool, say financial advisers.

The "extras" mount up, from the concrete skirt around the pool to the lockable fence. In some states the fence is a legal requirement. Even where it isn't, it makes good sense. (Every year we hear of tragedies involving small children.) There may be landscaping and other work as well.



A heated pool in Rhinebeck, N.Y.

Then there are all the recurring costs -- the ones easiest to underestimate.

Even if you maintain the pool yourself and buy your supplies from a discount supply company like Leisure Living's poolsupplies.com, it's going to cost you. Sales director Sean Corrigan says chemicals may run to $500 a year. Dave cook, group vice-president at Supplies Company Pool Corp. in Covington, La., says it's typically "a range from $500 to $800," but if you live in a northern state and need to open and close the pool at the start and end of each summer, both men said, that may cost you at least another $500.

Then there's the cost of your time and all the hassle of dealing with the pool.

When I was growing up, several of our family friends had swimming pools in their backyard. It always seemed incredibly glamorous. I could never understand why my father refused to get one.

But then I noticed that our friends' pools were almost never in use. "We gotta replace the filters," they'd say, with a shrug. Or: "The pump's broken." I think I saw them spend more time raking leaves out of the water than swimming in it. When we wanted to swim, we'd go to the lake.

Many people save on effort by hiring a pool service company. But then the costs go -- far -- north.

The electric bill for the pumps, heater and so on may cost $100 a month. You may spend thousands of dollars every so often replacing things like the liner and the covers or repairing cracks or leaks.

And you need to check that your household liability insurance covers the additional risks. If neighborhood kids break in when you're away for the weekend and have an accident, you're in trouble.

All in? The financial advisers I spoke to all said that, through long experience, they had learned that pools ended up costing a lot more year to year than you usually expect. Susan Elser, a certified financial planner in Indianapolis ("and a former pool owner," she adds), suggests the ongoing costs can easily run to $3,000 a year, or about 10% of the initial cost. If you hire a pool service company, she says, make that 15%. Jim Miller at Woodward Financial Advisers in Chapel Hill, N.C., says the annual costs can run as high as $5,000 a year.

You may figure that you'll make a lot of this back when you come to sell your home. Advisers doubt it. "I question whether it adds anything to the [sale price]," says Ed Rose, a financial planner at Bayside Wealth Management in Pensacola, Fla. "It may contribute something, but you'll never get your money out of it on the resale." One of his clients recently bought a home with a pool and paid extra to have it filled in. "Many people don't want to buy a house with a pool because they don't want the responsibility," says Jim Miller at Woodward.

Sure, that's going to vary. If you live in the south or southwest, or you are selling a luxury home, some of your potential purchasers may expect a pool. Overall, you should be wary about relying on making some money back on the pool when you sell the home.

Bottom line? If your pool costs $30,000 to install, say $3,000 a year in total running, maintenance and repairs, and you don't get much back when you sell it, how much has it really cost you? Remember you could have invested that $30,000 and earned a return on the money. If you borrowed it, you have to pay interest.

Even if the rate of return is only 5%, that $30,000 pool would actually cost about $4,500 a year in total.

Is it worth it? A pool can be great fun in summer, and maybe it's worth the cost -- if you use it a lot. Up here in the northeast, for example, the summers really aren't reliable enough. Few are like this year. I'm amazed at how many people have an in-ground pool anyway. They could probably make better use of that money. As several advisers pointed out, it may cost a lot less to join a local club with a pool.

In many cases, people get a pool when they have small children, figuring the children will use it. It may not be the right move. "A lot of my neighbors built the pool for the kids," says Elaine Scoggins. "But the kids end up wanting to go to the community pool, because there are more kids there."
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What you should know about Android

For Android newbies: 10 questions, answered

Sure, you’ve heard of Android — as in Android phones, which are multiplying like rabbits and taking the smartphone world by storm, giving even the mighty iPhone a run for its money. But are you still a little shaky on the Android basics? Do you turn into a wallflower when the subject comes up during cocktail parties? Read on.

1. What is Android, anyway?

At the most basic level, Android is an operating system for touchscreen smartphones — it’s the software engine that drives all the menus, windows, home screens and internal operations of any Android-powered smartphone, the same way that iOS powers the iPhone and the BlackBerry OS runs BlackBerry handsets.

Android was developed by Google and first announced in 2007, with the very first Android-based phone — the T-Mobile G1 — arriving in fall 2008. (Nope, not that long ago.)

2. What’s so special about Android?

Unlike the proprietary iPhone operating system (now known as "iOS,"), which is under the complete control of Apple — and the same goes for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS or Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform — Google released Android as an open-source OS under the auspices of the Open Handset Alliance, leaving phone manufacturers (relatively) free to tweak Android as they see fit for a given handset.

That’s one thing that’s special about Android. Another thing is that it just happens to be a really good OS, the first one in the post-iPhone wireless era to really give Apple a run for its money. Android may not be as sleek or polished as iOS (that’s my humble opinion, at least), but it’s fast and powerful, with an intuitive user interface that’s packed with options and flexibility. It’s also being constantly improved courtesy of the big brains at Google, making the Android experience sleeker by the day.

3. Are Android phones called "Droids"?

Not necessarily. "Droid" is a brand name used by Verizon Wireless for its Android-based phones — the Droid X, the Droid Eris, the Droid Incredible and so on. The HTC Evo 4G on Sprint is not a "Droid," per se, but it’s still an Android smartphone.

4. Why would I (potentially) choose an Android phone over an iPhone?

Well, for a variety of reasons — although I should point out that I’m actually a fan of both operating systems. (Sorry to disappoint the smartphone flame warriors out there.)

One reason to go the Google way is that Android phones boast tight integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts and Google Voice — perfect for anyone who uses Google for all their e-mails, contacts and events. Indeed, one of the coolest things about Android phones is that the first time you fire one up, you enter your Google user name and password, and voila: All your Google messages, contacts and other info start syncing into your new handset automatically, no desktop syncing needed.

Android is also far more open when it comes to applications. Whereas Apple takes a "walled garden" approach to its App Store, Google won’t restrict you from installing apps that aren’t featured in its official Android Marketplace. iPhone users, on the other hand, must "jailbreak" their phones if they want to install apps that weren’t approved by Apple for inclusion in the App Store.

Last but not least, because Android is open to all manufacturers, a wide variety of Android phones are available to choose from — big and small, souped-up and pared-down, some with slide-out keyboards (good luck convincing Steve Jobs to put a slide-out QWERTY on the iPhone) and some that are all-touchscreen, all the time. Indeed, in the past few months, a new Android phone has debuted practically every week, while we only get a single new iPhone each year.

5. What are the downsides of Android?

Well, if you ask me, the Android OS isn’t quite as forgiving to wireless beginners as the iPhone is. Setting up your e-mail, contacts and calendar on Android is a breeze (if you’re all about Gmail, that is), but when it comes to, say, your music and videos, you’re on your own with Android, which lacks an official media syncing client for the desktop. With the iPhone, you do all your syncing on easy-to-use iTunes, which also lets you manage your e-mail accounts, contacts, apps and photos. Then again, you can only use iTunes for syncing the iPhone, while Android users have a variety of third-party options.

That’s just one example, but in general, Android gives you more options and choices about how you manage your phone and your mobile content — great for experienced and advanced users, but potentially intimidating for newbies.

On the other hand, while beginners might appreciate the (usually) smooth, user-friendly experience that Apple has devised for the iPhone, advanced users may (and often do) get frustrated by Apple’s tight control over what they can and can't do on the iPhone. It’s a trade-off, plain and simple, and your choice of platform depends on what’s right for you.

6. What’s up with all these different versions of Android, like "Donut," "Cupcake" and "Froyo"?

Just as Apple does with iOS, Google continually updates Android with cool new features, leading to one "point" upgrade after another.

The most recent version of Android is 2.2, code-named "Froyo" (for frozen yogurt, yum), adds features such as native USB tethering (for sharing your Android phone’s data connection with a laptop via a USB cable), mobile hotspot functionality (which turns your phone into a portable Wi-FI hotspot that works with nearby Wi-Fi devices) and — perhaps most important — support for Flash, meaning that Flash-powered videos and modules that (notoriously) don’t work on the iPhone will work on the Android Web browser.

Before 2.2 Froyo, we had version 2.1, which added "live" animated wallpaper, new home screen icons and widgets (tiny apps for the home screen), speech-to-text functionality (for e-mail and text messages, for example), full-on multitouch (for pinch-to-zoom gestures), and an updated photo gallery that hooks into your Picasa Web albums. Android 1.6 "Donut" (someone at Google must have a sweet tooth) added various speed improvements, support for more screen resolutions, and faster camera and camcorder applications. The first major update to Android was 1.5 "Cupcake," which (among other goodies) finally added a native video recorder.

7. So if the current version of Android is 2.2, why are people still complaining about Android phones stuck with version 2.1, or even 1.6?

Ah, well, here’s where we find one of the downsides of Google allowing so much diversity in terms of available Android handsets. Don’t get me wrong: Variety is a beautiful thing, especially when it comes to phones. But it also means that each new version of Android must be certified to work on a specific handset — a long and sometimes drawn-out process that can leave users of a particular Android smartphone waiting weeks or even months to get the latest and greatest features. Indeed, manufactures and carriers may decide that it’s not worth the effort to upgrade their older phones to the latest Android version, leaving users high and dry.

On the other hand, only a handful of iPhones exist, which makes it far easier for Apple to roll out a new version of iOS to everyone, all at once — or at least it used to be easy. Because of the hardware demands of iOS 4, we’ve already seen the original iPhone from 2007 get left behind, while users of the second-generation iPhone 3G have complained bitterly that the new iOS has slowed their handsets to a crawl. So it goes.

8. How many apps are available for Android?

About 70,000 or so, growing by the day — still just a fraction of the 225,000-plus apps in the Apple App Store, but the official Android Marketplace has quite the head of steam, not to mention plenty of goodwill from the developer community given that Google doesn’t give apps the star-chamber treatment.

9. So, how should I go about picking an Android phone?

No question about it: The breadth and variety of Android phones now on the market can be downright bewildering. The easiest way to narrow your choices is pretty obvious: What features and form-factors are you looking for? Do you want a phone with a real QWERTY keypad, or would you prefer one with only an on-screen keypad? Looking for a big screen (like the 4.3-inchers on the Evo 4G or the Droid X) or something that’s an easier fit in your pocket (like, say, the Droid Incredible)? Will you primarily be sending e-mail and text messages (in which case a smaller screen with a QWERTY would work), or are you interested in watching movies and other videos (big display)? Finally, who’s your carrier — or who would you like to be your carrier?

Nope, it’s not rocket science.

Once you’ve zeroed in on a phone, find out which version of Android it’s running on. Is it the latest and greatest? (For now, only the Motorola Droid 2 is shipping with Android 2.2, although a 2.2 update for the HTC Evo 4G has finally arrived.) If not, ask when — and whether — an update is on the way. Finally, read some reviews (start here and here).

10. What are the hottest new Android phones out right now?

Well, earlier this summer we got the HTC Evo 4G, which supports Sprint’s budding, next-generation WiMax data network and boasts a 4.3-inch display — the same size as the screen on the Motorola Droid X, another eye-popper of a phone, except it’s on Verizon instead of Sprint. Samsung is in the midst of releasing a series of what it calls its Galaxy S-class Android phones: They’re thin and light, they all have high-contrast 4-inch "Super AMOLED" screens, and they’re available (or will be soon) on all four of the big U.S. carriers. If you’re looking for an Android phone with a slide-out QWERTY, consider the new Motorola Droid 2 on Verizon or the upcoming Samsung Epic 4G for Sprint. There’s also the older, cheaper ($99 with contract) Samsung Moment (Sprint).
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Five money problems that doom marriages

Don't Let Money Problems Ruin Your Marriage partner

There’s no right way for married couples to manage their money. But there are plenty of wrong ways. “Financial issues are the primary reason for 90 percent of divorce cases I handle,” says John Thyden, a prominent Washington, D.C., divorce attorney. “But it isn’t necessarily the amount of money a couple has that tends to trip them up. It’s the differences in their spending habits and especially their lack of communication.” Here are some issues to watch out for. And while you're at it, try adopting these habits of the happiest couples.

1. Relationship Neglect
Pssst...sometimes arguments about money are actually about not paying enough attention to your marriage (do this to stop having the same fight), rather than your financial situation. When spouses feel neglected, they may resort to spending cash on items they can't afford or bring up their partner's buying habits as a way to retaliate for deeper issues. Examine the root of your fights and determine whether your fiscal concerns are actually a by-product of hurt feelings. Then, if necessary, get started on a marriage makeover.

2. Love Is Blind
At the beginning of a relationship, money often isn't an issue. Love can be intoxicating, and some spouses express their emotions by lavishing their partner with exorbitant spending sprees, jetting off to exotic vacations, and other costly pursuits (don't make these money mistakes). Then reality sets in, and couples have to worry about their rent or mortgage, kids and living expenses. A financial planner can help you get your finances back on track and develop a budget that you can stick to. Plus, set out some financial rules to follow as a couple

3. When Women Are the Breadwinners
Women are the breadwinners in one out of three dual-income families today. Although earning more money can be beneficial, it also challenges traditional gender roles,
so that wives may feel guilty about putting less time into mom duties while husbands may feel like they've failed somehow. Set up equal spending rights with your spouse so that you're both on the same page

4. Keeping Up with the Joneses
It can be easy for couples to become envious of other couples' spending habits and
feel like they need to live beyond their means just to keep up. However, this can lead to debt and put a significant amount of stress on a marriage. Do some digging with your spouse and work together to diminish these insecurities.

5. A Lack of Open Communication
Not knowing exactly where your money is going each month can spark resentment. Have an honest conversation with your partner where you both break down the spending in your household. Discuss your priorities and decide together if you need to cut back or add to a specific category.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New superbugs spreading from South Asia

Plastic surgery patients have carried a new class of superbugs resistant to almost all antibiotics from South Asia to Britain and they could spread worldwide, researchers reported Wednesday.


Many hospital infections that were already difficult to treat have become even more impervious to drugs thanks to a recently discovered gene that can jump across different species of bacteria.

This so-called NDM-1 gene was first identified last year by Cardiff University's Timothy Walsh in two types of bacteria -- Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli -- in a Swedish patient admitted to hospital in India.

Worryingly, the new NDM-1 bacteria are resistant even to carbapenems, a group of antibiotics often reserved as a last resort for emergency treatment for multi-drug resistant bugs.

In the new study, led by Walsh and Madras University's Karthikeyan Kumarasamy, researchers set out to determine how common the NDM-1 producing bacteria were in South Asia and Britain, where several cases had turned up.

Checking hospital patients with suspect symptoms, they found 44 cases -- 1.5 percent of those screened -- in Chennai, and 26 (eight percent) in Haryana, both in India.

They likewise found the superbug in Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well 37 cases in Britain, where several patients had recently travelled to India or Pakistan for cosmetic surgery.

"India also provides cosmetic surgery for other Europeans and Americans, and it is likely that NDM-1 will spread worldwide," said the study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

NDM-1 was mostly found in E. coli, a common source of community-acquired urinary tract infections, and K. pneumoniae, and was impervious to all antibiotics except two, tigecycline and colistin.

In some cases, even these drugs did not beat back the infection.

Crucially, the NDM-1 gene was found on DNA structures, called plasmids, that can be easily copied and transferred between bacteria, giving the bug "an alarming potential to spread and diversify," the authors said.

"Unprecedented air travel and migration allow bacterial plasmids and clones to be transported rapidly between countries and continents," mostly undetected, they said.

The emergence of these new drug-resistant strains could become a serious global public health problem as the major threat shifts toward a broad class of bacteria -- including those armed with the NDM-1 gene -- known as "Gram-negative", the researchers warn.

"There are few new anti-Gram-negative antibiotics in development, and none that are effective against NDM-1," the study said.

NDM-1 stands for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1.

Johann Pitout from the University of Calgary in Canada said patients who have medical procedures in India should be screened for multi-resistant bacteria before they receive care in their home country.
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