UK News
Facebook addresses more privacy concerns
According to a Friday post on the Facebook and Privacy Page, the popular social network has revealed that it has taken a number of steps of late to address more privacy concerns of the users; and has also warned the employers to refrain from asking their would-be employees for their passwords.
Congress Queries App Developers on Their Data Privacy Practices
In what apparently is an upshot of the high-profile privacy-invading issue linked to the Path social networking app last month, US lawmakers have recently initiated investigations into the privacy policies of developers of third-party apps for the Apple iOS platform.
Robotic surgeon conducts first prostate snip
Robotic surgery removes prostate for a man suffering from cancer and he is the first Briton to have this surgery.
Kymerax is the device that performed this operation on Stuart Ellis, from Cheadle Hulme that removed his prostate as surgeons at Stepping Hill Hospital in Greater Manchester made use of the handheld robotic device.
Conditions that can be handled with this device are gynecological, urological and gastrointestinal. Surgeons at the Stepping Hill state that doctors can be outperformed by the robot that has an articulated tip.
BlackBerry Loses Top Spot to Apple at Home: Corporate Canada
According to the latest statistics compiled by IDC and Bloomberg, Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) is, for the first time, trailing the Apple iPhone in its home market - Canada.
Going by the IDC and Bloomberg data, the Apple iPhone has toppled the RIM BlackBerry in terms of smartphone shipments in the Canadian market; with Apple shipping nearly 2.85 million units of its iPhone in 2011, and RIM shipping 2.08 million units of BlackBerry handsets during the year.
Verizon report: Most 2011 cyberattacks “were avoidable”
In its long-awaited data breach report released on Thursday, Verizon said that a small number of data breaches in 2011 were a result of the activities of hacktivists, and that most of the cyberattacks during the year could have been avoided had the companies not overlooked basic security-related precautions.
Based on an assessment of over 850 data breaches, Verizon's 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report was compiled with assistance from the US Secret Service as well as law enforcement agencies in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and The Netherlands.
A demonstration unit ‘froze’ during Microsoft’s demo of new 'Metro' tablet control system
With a recent demonstration of the new 'Metro' tablet control system on Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 8 operating system leading to a situation in which a demonstration unit 'froze' and could not be resuscitated in spite of frantic attempts, reports are making rounds that the incident was a reminder of some other earlier launches by Microsoft.
According to some reports, the freezing of a demonstration unit during the ‘Metro’ demo indicated that though the Windows 8 OS boasts a new look, it still shares part of the goof-ups associated with Microsoft’s previous launches.
Accidental security blunder puts 8,000 students at risk
In what apparently was an “administrative error,” an employee at Student Finance England inadvertently risked the security of personal information of over 8,000 students, whose emails were made publicly available earlier this week.
The accidental security blunder, for which the agency has extended an apology, resulted in a mass distribution of the emails of students, who have been contacted by the agency and assured that “no other personal” details have been leaked.
Gasoline prices reach above $4 per gallon in six U.S. states
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline has reached above $4 in a total of six states in the U. S., the AAA Fuel Gauge Report revealed.
In California, the average price of gasoline slipped 0.9 cents over the last one week period but it is still above $4 per gallon- at $4.350. The figure is considerably up from $3.969 per gallon a year ago on this date.
The states where gasoline reached above $4 per gallon this week are Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois and New York.
Apple asked to narrow information request for Google, Motorola documents
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has been asked by a U. S. Circuit Court to narrow its request for information on Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
Apple has long been arguing that Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility is greatly relevant to its claims in its patent war against Motorola.
Last Friday, the Cupertino firm accused handset maker Motorola of not complying with its original request for documents, but Motorola objected to the scope of the information requests.
Elderly care getting harmed by low staffing levels
The Royal College of Nursing states that in UK hospitals, the care of the elderly is being compromised and this is happening because the number of nurses is less.
A research was carried out by the union and it stated that care for the dying as well as basic communication was all suffering.
It was stated that for making the standards better, minimum staffing levels should be introduced adding that for every seven patients, one nurse was needed.
Managers however added that care cold be harmed if arbitrary levels were set.
‘Reddit for Fun’ app pulled from Google Play for sexual content
Google has recently pulled a Reddit app - dubbed `Reddit for Fun' - from its Google Play app store; and has, in explanatory e-mail to the developer, revealed that the app has been removed because it contained sexually explicit content.
While Google has decided to yank the Reddit app for sexual content, the fact is that the Reddit platform does not actually distribute illicit content itself. In other words, the third-party Reddit app's content is not created by the app developer; and it basically comprises content which users browse from news sharing site Reddit.
NetZero offers free Wi-Fi 'teaser' service for 1 year
Joining the likes of Virgin Mobile and FreedomPop, United Online's subsidiary NetZero Wireless has decided to bring about a drastic reduction in its charges for Internet broadband connections delivered over the air; thus giving an attractive option to entry-level wireless broadband users who are wary of the high-priced long-term contracts of wireless carriers.
For one week £20,000 spent to cover doctor
It has been stated that a salary of more than £1million a year was paid to a surgeon by North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust as it spent £20,000 on hiring a surgeon for one week and £14,000 on four days' cover for a gynecologist.
It was added that a doctor was given about £5,667 for doing a 24-hour-shift by Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and this means it was a salary of £1.36million a year if the doctor was paid for a year.
Gluttony gene makes you obese
Your genes might be responsible for your weight. As gluttony gene has been found by scientists that cannot pass the message of being full to the brain.
Rapid weight gain that was due to non-stop eating happened due to mutation on a single gene that broke down communication in the body when it was tested on mice.
In the UK alone, about one out of four adults is obese and the identification of this gene can lead to better treatment for obesity.
The variation in the Bdnf gene in mice was studied by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Centre in the U. S.
Ryan Villopoto wins Indianapolis Supercross
On Saturday night, Poulsbo, Washington-based Kawasaki star Ryan Villopoto achieved his sixth AMA Supercross win in this season's first 11 rounds. The victory, witnessed by a massive gathering of 59,872 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium, came after Villopoto held off Justin Brayton at the event.
Apple’s new Apple TV goes through teardown
According to a post which was first noticed by MacRumors, Apple's new Apple TV has apparently undergone a dissection at the hands of Intrepid forum commenter Aicjofs, an XBMC community member, who has disclosed some noteworthy details about the device.
The teardown of the new 1080p-capable Apple TV by Aicjofs has shown that some of the key `under the hood' components of the new Apple TV include a custom-built A5 processor; 8 GB of flash memory; 512 MB of RAM; and possibly a second Wi-Fi antenna to give a notable boost to the device's online connectivity and speed.
Apple heavily hedged its bets on suppliers of key components for new iPad
In what apparently marks the most recent indication of Apple’s strategy to rein in the costs of key components of the new iPad, as well as eliminate risks for the company, research firm UBM TechInsights has revealed that at least three manufacturers have supplied the key components of the new tablet.
According to the information shared by UBM, a tear-down of a few units of the new iPad – which hit the store shelves on Friday, March 16 – has shown that some components performing the same functions in different tablets had been produced by at least three different manufacturers.
‘This American Life’ to retract the episode about Apple's Foxconn factories in China
In a recent announcement, weekly radio program ‘This American Life’ revealed that it intends retracting one whole episode about the allegedly deplorable working conditions in Apple’s Foxconn supply chain plants in China.
In a statement about the retraction of one particular, hugely popular episode – ‘Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory’ -, the program’s host Ira Glass said that the decision to pull back the episode was based on the fact that it essentially contained details which resulted from “significant fabrications” from playwright mike Daisey.
Increase in NHS car parking charges
According to recent figures there has been a rise in car parking charges and this increase has been in more than a quarter of hospital trusts in England.
Data from 197 hospital and mental health trusts stated that there have been trusts that have reduced the prices but there are some that have doubled these prices.
Between 2010 and 2011, care parking charges were increased by 28 per cent of trusts whereas they were cut down by only 16 per cent of the trusts.
Increase in oral cancer cases
There has been a rise in the number of oral cancer cases and this year these cases have been about 6,200, according to figures from Cancer Research UK show and men have about two-thirds of these cases.
About 10 years back, there were about 4,400 cases.
The rise has been due to smoking, but alcohol misuse and the human papillomavirus, HPV, infection through oral sex are also the prime reasons for the rise.
There were warning signs like mouth ulcers and red and white patches that were in the mouth and were unable to heal.
