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All Oral Health News articles

July 2011

Gum disease may mean more than just halitosis
July 27, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
If you've been to the dentist lately, you may have gotten a lecture about tooth care, plaque, gum disease and bad breath. Oral healthcare professionals emphasize the importance of brushing, flossing and using specialty breath fresheners because all of the factors above are interrelated.

Green tea or oral care probiotics: Which is more effective?
July 25, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
When you drink green tea, are you doing your mouth any favors? Are you getting rid of bad breath? Is such a strategy any better than using oral care probiotics?

Tongue scrapers can limit bad breath
July 25, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
If you've ever seen a tongue scraper in action, you may have wondered what exactly is coming off of the tongue when someone uses such a device to clean it. Among other things, halitosis-causing bacteria get removed when people use tongue scrapers.

Gutka, a betel leaf concoction, can cause bad breath
July 25, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
What do betel leaf, areca nut and slaked lime all have in common? They are all ingredients in a product called gutka, a stimulant chew used primarily in India that can cause bad breath, among many other harmful side effects.

What gives kids bad breath?
July 25, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
Kids can get bad breath just like adults do, although their odor occasionally smells unique. Is there anything different about pediatric bad breath? How often do children get it?

Dentists use virtual reality to learn to look for bad breath-causing tooth decay
July 21, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
How do dentists learn to spot oral health problems? If it's bad breath they're looking for, they probably don't require any training in order to detect it. But what about other dental conditions? What goes into learning about the diseases of the teeth and gums?

Bad breath is a miasma of funky molecules
July 20, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
Think you know what makes bad breath stink? According to a study in the Journal of Dental Research, you probably don't know the half of it.

Editorial explores connection between bad breath, periodontal disease
July 20, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
The American Dental Association states that one of the most common symptoms of periodontal disease is bad breath. On the strength of pronouncements like this, thousands of people get dental checkups in order to prevent the disease, as well as to do something about their halitosis.

Bacteria on the tongue are bad breath factories
July 19, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
If you've ever shied away from someone - a coworker, a date, a friend or a family member - because of their bad breath, you were likely offended less by them than by the billions of bacteria on their tongue. After all, microbes in the mouth are responsible for an estimated 90 percent of halitosis.

Dentures may give halitosis-causing microbes a place to hide
July 19, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
Like retainers and braces, dentures can be a source of bad breath. Far from being less likely to cause halitosis than real teeth, dentures entail a significant risk of oral odor, especially when left in overnight.

Can dental appliances cause bad breath?
July 18, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
Dental appliances are big business. At least 3 million individuals in the U.S. and Canada wear braces, and countless more use retainers and mouth guards, according to Colgate. Dentures are even more common, worn by close to 37 million Americans, according to the journal Dental Economics. That means a lot of orthodontia and plenty of bad breath.

'Choose your toothpaste carefully,' bad breath experts say
July 15, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
You may think that fighting halitosis is as simple as picking any toothpaste off the grocery store shelf and using it. While brushing your teeth is definitely important, what you brush with makes a big difference in the battle against bad breath.

What causes canker sores? Do they lead to bad breath?
July 13, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
If you've ever had a canker sore, it was probably hard to ignore for long. These erosions on the inner membranes of the mouth typically cause pain and can lead to halitosis. What causes them? The sores themselves occur due to bacterial infections, but often an irritant or small cut is what opens the door for such microbial growth.

Mouth breathing may cause or worsen halitosis
July 13, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
When you were a child, your parents may have reminded you to chew with your mouth closed, but did they ever ask you to breathe with your trap shut? If so, you know what mouth breathing is, and a recent study published in the journal Clinics confirmed that it can lead to bad breath.

Stomatitis causes bad breath, but what causes stomatitis?
July 12, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
If you've had sores on the insides of your cheeks or lips, on your gums or under your tongue, you may have suffered from aphthous stomatitis, also known as canker sores. This condition can cause bad breath, and unfortunately for people with stomatitis, trying to treat the halitosis can lead to more halitosis.

Can mouthwash treat my bad breath?
July 8, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
It can, and it can't. Using mouthwash is more complicated than you might think, since many common oral rinses used to combat bad breath may also inadvertently cause it. The culprit behind this particular catch-22 is the alcohol found in mouthwash.

For halitosis, antibacterial agent works just fine without detergent
July 7, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
What is necessary in a mouthrinse, toothpaste or specialty breath freshener for getting rid of halitosis? A recent study found that while a common antibacterial and antifungal substance reduced oral odor when combined with a detergent, the latter wasn't necessary for sweetening breath.

Scientists analyze DNA samples from bad breath-causing bacteria
July 5, 2011 - The Science of Bad Breath
When you think about halitosis, do you envision green fog emanating from someone's mouth, or can you almost smell that sour reek of bad breath? In either case, do you pause to think about bacteria?

Why can't science cure bad breath?
July 1, 2011 - Oral Care Industry News
It's an interesting halitosis-related question, considering how far science has come in terms of eradicating more pernicious problems in the U.S., like smallpox or polio. If you worry that maybe researchers have given up looking for ways to zap bad breath, you may take comfort knowing they haven't, not by a long shot.

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Dynamic pricing hits PC market

IBM, Compaq, Dell, HP all trying it

PC vendors are planning to introduce dynamic pricing to shift inventory online.

IBM, Compaq, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are among those "actively investigating" dynamic pricing models, according to a report by InfoWorld.

IBM has already started dabbling - after running a pilot program in Europe it expects to begin a similar program in the US as soon as next month, a source, who asked to remain anonymous, told the magazine.

Big Blue has been using software from California company @themoment, which allows it to automatically switch server prices in real time according to customer demand and product life cycle. The US scheme will involve servers from its Unix-based pSeries and Windows-based xSeries.

Compaq has also been using the idea - with shoppers at its Factory Outlet site acting as guinea pigs. Compaq said that if all went well with the experiment the pricing model would be extended from the Factory Outlook site, which offers excess and refurbished products, to its main site by the end of the year.

And Dell and HP are not far behind. A Dell representative told InfoWorld: "If the price of memory or processors decreases, we pass those savings along to the customer almost in real time." Whereas HP prefers to call its dynamic pricing "contextual pricing", the idea is still the same.

Prices change as customers order multiple items on certain offers. The company is considering extending the method to its whole product line by the end of the year.

All this means that system prices could change constantly, and catching a bargain would be down to surfers' lucky timing.

Last year annoyed surfers when it was discovered to be using a dynamic pricing system it had failed to publicise - the e-tailer used the system to make regular customers pay more than first-time users of the site. ®

Related Link

InfoWorld article

Related Stories

Amazon makes regular customers pay more
Amazon rips off regular customers. Again

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FTC sets Rambus DDR SDRAM royalty rate

After three years, fee falls to zero

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has told Rambus how much the memory technology developer may levy in royalties on SDRAM and DDR SDRAM devices for the next three years, after which the company may not charge any royalties at all. Rambus said it was "disappointed" with the ruling and stated its plan to appeal against the ruling.

The FTC's order marks the latest stage in its epic anti-trust action against Rambus, which it embarked upon in June 2002. Rambus revealed the FTC's order, which demands that the company charge no more than "0.25 per cent for SDRAM products; 0.5 per cent for DDR SDRAM products, SDRAM memory controllers or other non-memory chip components; and one per cent for DDR SDRAM memory controllers or other non-memory chip components".

The order, which unless challenged will come into force in 60 days' time does not extend to DDR 2 products. It won't come into force, of course, because Rambus will challenge the verdict. It said it will ask for the order to be suspended temporarily pending the outcome of its appeal against the ruling.

The FTC formally judged Rambus guilty of monopolising four key memory technologies in August 2006. It said the company had deceived standards-setting body Jedec "by fostering the belief that Rambus neither had, nor was seeking, relevant patents that would be enforced against Jedec-compliant products," the FTC wrote last year.

"Through its successful strategy, Rambus was able to conceal its patents and patent applications until after the standards were adopted and the market was locked in," the organisation said. "Only then did Rambus reveal its patents – through patent infringement lawsuits against Jedec members who practiced the standard."

All of which Rambus denies. Today, it pointed to the findings of FTC Chief Administrative Law Judge Stephen McGuire's three-month Spring 2003 investigation into the FTC allegations, which he later, in February 2004, dismissed in its entirety. However, the FTC's investigators appealed against the ruling and won the right to proceed against Rambus.

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Laptops and Tablets

Confirmed: Apple's MacBook Pros not primed with Optimus

Nvidia GPU but not Nvidia GPU switching tech

The dual GPU system implemented in Apple's new MacBook Pro notebooks is not Nvidia's Optimus technology, it has emerged.

Instead, Apple uses multiplexer (mux) hardware to switch the output to the screen between the processor-integrated graphics core and the discrete Nvidia GPU, we hear.

Like Optimus, the switch is triggered in software by Mac OS X which monitors when frameworks that require GPU acceleration come in to play. At that point, it powers down the IGP and powers up the GPU.

We haven't seen the new MacBook Pros yet, so we can't say if Apple has eliminated the usual screen flicker that takes place when one graphics core's output halts and another's begins to be fed to the display through the mux.

Optimus is a more elegant solution. It abolishes the need - and cost - of mux hardware by feeding the GPU output straight into the IGP's frame buffer. That means it can be switched in at will without screen flicker. The switch takes place automatically according to need, as measured by Nvidia's middleware, which monitors which applications the user is running.

The effect is the same: increased battery life because the IGP is running more of the time than the GPU is. Ars Technica, which spoke to Apple about the technology, notes that, unlike Optimus, Mac OS X powers down the IGP when it's not in use - Optimus can't do this because it uses the IGP as a display controller - and that this boosts battery life.

We'd note, though, that the GPU's power drain is likely to outweigh any advantage from switching off the IGP. The real gain comes from turning off the discrete graphics whenever possible.

Ars does usefully reveal that Mac OS X's monitoring system is triggered by the use of OpenGL, Core Graphics, Quartz Composer and the like. These frameworks are also used by the OS simply to handle the UI, so it would be interesting to learn exactly how Apple distinguishes between software than needs the GPU - a game, say - and software whose graphics and compositing requirements can be satisfied by the IGP. ®

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Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB solid-state drive

Serious capacity... serious price

With two 64-Bit Windows 7 installs on my test rig, I measured the time from selection in the Windows bootloader to a functional desktop. Using the SSD, this resulted in a boot 33 seconds faster - a 69 per cent reduction in boot time! Not only did boot time reduce, but shutdowns became near instantaneous with a 73 per cent time reduction.

Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB

The drive comes with all the accessories you need

As expected, the whole system feels snappier, and heavy duty applications load considerably faster.

As it would naturally be assumed, file transfers within the SSD are also blazingly fast. Those who repeatedly move large numbers of small files in the 2-10MB range should be expecting a time reduction in the region of 83 per cent.

Windows Operation Time Results

Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB
Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB

Time in Seconds (s)
Shorter bars are better

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Parrot takes flight with next-gen quadricopter

RC chopper cherry-picks footage

CES 2012

Parrot spread its wings at CES this week and launched a new version of its popular smartphone-controlled quadricopter, the AR.Drone, adding 720p video capture to the chopper, as well as improving its controls and aerodynamics.

The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 has been upgraded to support resolutions of 1280 x 720, broadcast back to a user's smartphone or tablet.

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0

Using the new AR.FreeFlight 2.0 app, remote-control pilots can record their own videos and upload them to share with other AR.Droners. And they can plot a journey, selecting a series of directions complete with durations, then creating HD video sequences from up high without the need for a cherry-picker.

Users control the Drone from a virtual cockpit with two touchscreen joysticks. The new app enables tilt-to-move control too, although this can be disabled for the more traditional "Relative Flight" mode that those familiar with the chopper will already be used to.

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0

Alongside the new features, the AR.Drone hardware has also been made more aerodynamic

Parrot is preparing to roll out an official SDK for developers too, so keen coders can create their own apps to control the flying things.

The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 will be available sometime this spring. There's no word on prices yet. ®

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Acer set to unleash 15in fibreglass MONSTER

Taiwanese hardware maker to expand Ultrabook range

homeless man with sign

Taiwanese hardware giant Acer is set to continue with its plans to target Intel’s super-skinny laptop segment with the launch of a new 15in fibreglass Ultrabook in the next couple of months.

Unnamed Taiwanese supply chain makers revealed to Digitimes that ODM Pegatron has been producing the machines since mid-March, and is working towards an expected launch date of April or May.

That time frame would see them coincide with the launch of Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors, which are set to propel a second wave of Ultrabooks at a cheaper price point than those seen so far, however there was no confirmation whether this model would sport the new chips.

Acer obviously thinks the new 15-incher will be a hit as Pegatron has reportedly been given orders to churn out 100,000 units a month, far larger than average monthly shipments for Ultrabooks of 30,000-50,000, according to the report.

Acer has made no secret in the past of its love for all things Ultra, claiming that anything from a quarter to 35 per cent of its notebook shipments this year will be of the super skinny variety.

In fact, the firm has already unveiled a 15-incher in the Ultrabook category, the Aspire Timeline Ultra M3, which it claimed to be the first of its kind to feature an optical drive.

Offering more choice at the larger end of the Ultrabook range may even be a ploy to appeal to the consumer on a budget, with some doom-mongers predicting the category may struggle as Europe enters a new age of austerity.

Whatever it is, Acer will be hoping its plans in the Ultrabook space help it to continue the turnaround in fortunes since some rather unfortunate inventory problems cast a shadow over much of 2011.

Acer didn’t immediately reply to a request for confirmation of the report. ®

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FBI offers $10,000 bounty for arrest of laser-wielding idiots

Agency reports 11 aircraft a day are hit by foolish flashers

The two Wicked Lasers fired up

While laser pointers are very useful for presentations and distracting cats, the FBI is fed up with idiots using them to try to blind airline pilots, and is offering $10,000 to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest.

Laser blinding aircraft pilot

Blinded by the light

"Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a serious matter and a violation of federal law," said Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. "It is important that people understand that this is a criminal act with potentially deadly repercussions."

Since 2005 the FBI has been tracking the number of laser strikes on aircraft, which typically occur as aircraft come in for landing, and has seen a thousand-fold increase in reported incidents since then. Last year 3,960 reports were received, amounting to 11 per day, and to date 35 pilots have required medical treatment after being hit.

In an effort to crack down on the practice, the FBI will now give up to $10,000 to informants who can identify the laser flashers, provided a successful prosecution is obtained. The reward program will run for the next 60 days.

"We hope that more public awareness about this issue will lower the instances of laser strikes," said George Johnson, a federal air marshal who serves as a liaison officer with the Bureau on laser issues. "We also want to encourage people to come forward when they see someone committing this felony – one that could have terrible consequences for pilots and their passengers."

Initially, laser flashers were charged with interfering with the operation of an aircraft, a 1961 statute that can earn miscreants up to $250,000 in fines and/or up to 20 years in prison. In 2012 the FAA also created a separate charge of using a laser against aircraft with up to $11,000 in fines and up to five years in prison.

Aside from the dangers involved in blinding a pilot, laser strikes also cause serious disruption to other air travelers. Once a laser flash is reported, FAA guidelines state that aircraft must avoid the vicinity for 20 minutes, which can cause problems at busy airports.

"Shining a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft can temporarily blind a pilot, jeopardizing the safety of everyone on board," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. "We applaud our colleagues at the Justice Department for aggressively prosecuting aircraft laser incidents, and we will continue to use civil penalties to further deter this dangerous activity." ®

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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/02/28/popup_senator_debuts_cellphone_rights/

Popup Senator debuts cellphone rights bill

Number portability

By Andrew Orlowski

Posted in Business, 28th February 2003 00:51 GMT

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has introduced a bill to ensure that your cellphone number belongs to you, rather than your greedy carrier.

It's one of several measures in his "cellphone rights bill", that he unveiled earlier this week.

Right now, the plan is to ensure number portability between networks by November. But Schumer, probably wisely, is concerned that FCC chairman might backslide on this commitment. Powell didn't exactly distinguish himself last week, dissenting from the decision to allow more competition and issuing a hand-wringing plea to leave the poor telecoms pigopolists alone.

The carriers predictably reacted negatively. They worry that it could force them to compete on price, quality and innovation.

Schumer introduced the legislation at the national conference of Winged Watchdogs this week. The Bill also contains other consumer protection measures to avoid price gouging and rate plan trickery.

Telecomms companies are never enlightened at the best of times, but in the United States operate on a level of thuggery barely above the level of nightclub bouncers.

Now I don't know much about the good Senator, but I'm learning fast. His site contrived to serve me up a PopUp Window... in Opera. ®


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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/20/new_hack_in_sadville/

Reg embeds hack in Second Life

An offer we couldn't refuse

By Destiny Welles

Posted in Media, 20th December 2006 06:46 GMT

NSFW We welcome freelancer Destiny Welles to Vulture Central. She will contribute an occasional column from within Second Life: thus we join our colleagues CNET and Reuters with a correspondent embedded in the popular online universe. As a budding young journo, Destiny has already earned a remarkable reputation for hard-thrusting investigative work - Ed.

Destiny Welles

Writes Destiny: When The Register invited me to become their Second Life correspondent, I had no idea what I was getting into. But the concept seemed so totally next, I flung myself at the opportunity like it was a stripper's pole.

I've been asked simply to be myself and report my experiences, so this column is to be my journal. That means I won't always identify myself as a reporter, so I can't use anything people say to me, even if it's news. Only conversations understood to be on the record by all parties will appear in print: nothing else will.

It also means I'll never use anyone's name - not even their alias, unless they knowingly go on the record. This journal will be about my impressions and experiences. But still, you'll learn all about Second Life as I make my "pilgrim's progress" within it.

If you're a newbie, you'll relate. If you've never been to Second Life, this column will offer a taste of what lies in store. And if you're already way ahead of me, feel free to meet me on the grid and offer a pointer toward an interesting future topic.

Now for my first impressions.

Whew, it definitely took me time to get the hang of Second Life, or "SL" as it's called by users (or "residents" as they're called by themselves). Still with me? lol. When I first logged in a few days ago, everything was a mystery. For example, you get clothes when you first configure your avatar, but I thought they made me look like a dork. And yet I saw all these ppl running around in totally fab outfits. I was sooo jealous!

Fortunately, an older gentleman with piles of Linden Dollars (that's what there money is called) spotted me and took me into his care. Let's call him "Max". He was so helpful and patient; and as soon as I enthusiastically expressed my gratitude toward him, I was set for a major shopping spree. It must have been so boring for poor Max, lol, but he took me to the best shops and I tried on scores of custom outfits and scads of expensive jewellery. It's so cool; your bf just gives u the money and you click on what you like and try it on.

Max spent a fortune on clothes, jewellery and accessories for me, but we made a pact that I wouldn't wear them for anyone else. So then I was stuck, needing to get decent outfits for banging around SL on my own. Fortunately, I met a young man with no Lindens who knew about getting by without money, and he took me to a fab shop called Free Dove where a girl can get a respectable wardrobe for nothing. You can see the result in my pic (sorry, that's all I can wear for you; only Max gets to see me totally iced out, lol).

Everything I saw at Free Dove was so sexy, and the sales girls there are the best, always ready to help a noob without making u feel like a dork. Alot of the SL designers give away some clothes and accessories, basically to advertise there skillz and products, so it works out great for everyone. And guys, they have clothes for you too! Also, there are lots more places to explore for freebies, but personally I'm staying loyal to Free Dove cos the staff was so helpfull. Real-life companies could learn alot about customer service from the residents here in SL!

Once you've got a wardrobe, well, you've just got to show it off, haven't you? Max took me dancing so I could do just that. Dressed in the wonderful things he'd bought me, I was teh hawtness. Everyone was IM'ing me. I couldn't keep up!

There are dance clubs all over the grid with streaming music. They also have a variety of scripts set up in objects - spheres usually - that you just click on, and then your avatar begins to dance (or whatever, lol!) So there you are, and u can hear the music, and your dancing with all the others. You all chat and enjoy watching your avatars interact at the same time. It's like IRC on steroids.

Many of these experiences are free. Plenty of dance clubs are open to all, and it's a great way to meet people. And of course, each person you make friends with will open up different avenues on the grid for you to explore. I am sooo looking forward to being shown more of it, now that I've had a taste!

Still, just like in real life, some of the best experiences cost money. At least for you men, ha! (As for us girls, well, we just need to show our gratitude in the right way, lol.) Now, Max is stinking rich, so he's opened a quiet world of SL society to me. I'm not at liberty to discuss much of what happens on Max's island, but I can say that our time together involves such activities as shopping, gambling, sailing, and even dinner parties with the movers and shakers of this artificial universe. (And of course, he has some totally wild custom scripts for the things we do after hours!)

Again, like in daily life, free experiences are often rather coarse. And even when they're good, they're confining: penniless residents simply can't access some of what SL offers. If you want real freedom here, you've got to pay, or offer something desirable in return (which I'm always happy to do, lol). It's sad to think there are poor people in the world, but it's not so bad in SL.

Be that as it may, there are thousands of people to meet: you can certainly enjoy an active and varied social life without spending a cent. All your basic needs are free. You pay only for what you want. Unfortunately, there's often a difference in quality of experience between those with means and those without. This is especially evident in what passes for sex in SL, which I'll probe deeply in my next column.

So, my most important first impression is, SL is way more fun than real life. I'm not saying 'better', just way more fun. I could go on and on, but I think I ought to look around some more, and see if this impression lasts. I'll get back to u soon!

Meanwhile, gtg: I've got a date with Max, and after that I'll be free to wander. If I should pop into your corner of the grid, don't hesitate to wave. Byes! ®


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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/06/terracotta_integrates_ehcache/

Terracotta straps on Ehcache speed engine

A veritable Java cluster-fix

By Timothy Prickett Morgan

Posted in Developer, 6th October 2009 22:55 GMT

Terracotta bought Ehcache to get its hands on a widely distributed set of caching APIs to simplify deployment of clusters of servers running Java virtual machines on high-volume web sites.

Two months later the Terracotta JVM clustering and Ehcache caching programs are being delivered as an integrated product.

Amit Pandey, Terracotta's chief executive officer, says the Ehcache integration is bringing two main benefits to the Terracotta JVM clustering software, which had its own caching algorithms.

The first is significantly reduced response times on Java transactions, with response times on retrieving data for Java applications running inside of JVMs falling from 150 to 200 milliseconds as they go out to disks down to something on the order of one to two milliseconds as data is pulled out of main memory, where frequently used data is cached.

This speed is important, since in many cases it allows backend databases to be more lightly configured than they would otherwise be because the data requirements are being met by the cache, which saves lots of money on hardware and software licenses.

While speed and scale are certainly important - that is what the Terracotta JVM clustering software - what Ehcache has brought to Terracotta is a large number of customers who already have applications that have been written to take advantage of the open source caching tool for Java.

According to Pandey, Ehcache, which is distributed under the Apache open-source license, has several hundred thousand production applications already running in conjunction with it, and it has about a 70 per cent market share of Java caching software. Including a piddling amount from Terracotta's own product, which required customers to tweak their code to support it. Obviously, that sort of approach doesn't work well until you are dominant in your space.

This deal really came about, says Pandey, to get Ehcache and its APIs, now called Terracotta for Caching, woven into the Terracotta JVM clustering environment. Some customers had already integrated the two products themselves - which they can do because they are open source products - and were clamoring for tighter integration and official support.

Ehcache does the caching for a single server supporting JVMs in the new Terracotta setup, and the Terracotta clustering software does the same job it did before. That is, synchronizing the in-memory data for Java applications - using locking mechanisms so the data stays in synch across hundreds of server nodes running the cache software - and backing them up onto disk so as data changes, there is a hard copy out there on the iron.

Terracotta for Caching comes in three flavors. The Ehcache DX edition is for standalone and peer-to-peer replicated caches, and this one is distributed for free. The Ehcache EX edition puts the cache on a an array of Terracotta clustered servers and adds a bunch of system management features; support for the EX edition runs to $5,000 per node for a year of support.

The full-on Ehcache FX edition adds data striping to the Terracotta cluster to boost performance and partitioned caches for what Pandey calls "extreme scale." This runs at $8,000 per node per year, in a setup that includes multiple active-active Terracotta servers and spanning maybe 100 to 150 Java server nodes.

Pandey says Terracotta has stress-tested the combined Ehcache-Terracotta clustered Java caches at up to 150 server nodes, something it did at the request of one of its customers. The companies' biggest customers tend to have somewhere between 75 and 100 Java servers, and the average customers tends to have around 10 to 12, according to Pandey.

Having created a Java caching system that can scale to hundreds of nodes, what is next for Terracotta? Well, not PHP.

While Pandey said Terracotta could build a similar setup that would allow for the caching of data for PHP applications and the scaling of those PHP applications, the Java market is big enough for a startup.

The company has talked about revving the product to support Microsoft's .NET languages and their Common Language Runtime environment - something that Pandey said the company could put together in a few months time. ®


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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/21/t_mobile_uk_htc_desire_update_glitch/

T-Mobile UK pushes German Froyo to Desire users

Small price to pay?

By Tony Smith

Posted in Mobile, 21st September 2010 09:50 GMT

Top marks to T-Mobile UK... er... Orange... er... Everything Everywhere, which has just pushed out an update that will take owners of its HTC Desire smartphone to Android 2.2.

And even more marks for ensuring it's the German update.

Yes, punters were this weekend treated to a the latest version of Google's smartphone operating system... and a host of untranslated apps from T-Mobile Germany. Worse, you can't uninstall them afterwards.

To be fair, punters also appear to have gained improved Wi-Fi reception, phone-as-hotspot operation, a better Gmail implementation and more advanced video playback. ®

Thanks to reader Paul Verrall for the tip


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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/05/operation_decoy_file_japan/

Japan hides anti-piracy warning on P2P networks

Latest government plan: shame the pirates into surrender

By Phil Muncaster

Posted in Law, 5th February 2013 04:17 GMT

The Japanese government has complemented its already robust digital copyright laws with the unusual practice of hiding warning notices disguised as pirated content on popular domestic peer-to-peer networks.

The “copyright awareness” files contain a strongly-worded message designed to scare, shame and deter the reader into abandoning their anti-social ways.

The main part of the message has been translated by Japanese entertainment site RocketNews24 as follows:

"A Warning from the Organisation to Raise Awareness of Copyright. Files with the same name as this contain content which is in violation of copyright when distributed over P2P networks such as Winny or Share.

Knowingly downloading and of course uploading files that are protected by copyright law without the consent of the owner over the internet is illegal copyright infringement. Please stop immediately.

Also, from 1 October 2012, downloading content which is known to be available for sale is punishable by a maximum 2-year prison sentence and/or 2,000,000 yen [£13,770] fine.

Our copyright organisation is working to eliminate copyright infringement by file sharing software. In addition to consulting the police to obtain the disclosure of user’s identities, we want to focus on user education."

Operation Decoy File, which was dreamt up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in conjunction with various film and music groups, will run until the middle of this month.

Japan's citizens are far from prolific pirates and the country already has some of the strictest penalties for online piracy on the planet, factors that might make the whole strategy seem unnecessary.

As mentioned in the statement above, Japan’s newly enacted laws could land illegal downloaders with two years in jail, while uploaders could face a whopping ten years and ¥10m (£69,000) fine.

That new legislation was enough to earn the ire of Anonymous, which launched its low orbit ION cannons at various government and political party web sites in retaliation. ®


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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/05/miniduke_early_variant/

Cyber-007 MiniDuke stalked Europe for at least 21 MONTHS

Espionage malware addicted to Twitter since 2011

By John Leyden

Posted in Security, 5th March 2013 12:17 GMT

MiniDuke, the recently discovered cyber-spy malware aimed at governments and their agencies in Europe and elsewhere, has been operating for at least 21 months.

A sample of the software nasty, discovered by researchers at Romanian antivirus firm Bitdefender, dates back to at least 20 June, 2011. Later variants of the spying tool connect to a US Navy server to fetch the latest time and date rather than looking up the current date in China from a neutral server.

The 2011 vintage MiniDuke sample pulls the location of its command-and-control systems from an active Twitter account - a single encoded URL was tweeted on 21 February, 2012 - and lays dormant on infected computers if it can’t connect to Twitter. The Microsoft Windows malware, essentially an executable embedded in a .dll file, installs itself on the infected computer and opens a backdoor allowing intruders to control and snoop on the PC.

Later variants search Google as a backup technique to discover the whereabouts of its masters' command-and-control servers; this functionality is absent in the 2011 sample. All builds of the malware use encrypted channels to communicate between compromised machines and the central command systems, which are assumed to be hacked servers.

The latest 2013 variants of the malware are notable for using malicious PDF files that exploit software security holes by successfully bypassing Adobe's sandbox technology - which is supposed to stop code within documents from harming the underlying system.

Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender, said that all versions discovered so far show that MiniDuke was designed to spy on government targets.

“MiniDuke was clearly designed as a cyber-espionage tool to specifically target key sensitive government data,” he said. More details on early versions of MiniDuke can be found on BitDefender's website here.

MiniDuke has infected government organisations in the Ukraine, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic and Ireland. In addition, a research institute, two think-tanks, and a healthcare provider in the US were also compromised.

Romania’s intelligence service SRI described MiniDuke as a state-sponsored weapon that had an even bigger impact than the earlier Red October attack, a computer espionage mission that targeted Eastern Europe and former Soviet countries.

Both Red October and MiniDuke operated for many months before they were detected by antivirus vendors, a delay that is all too common when "advanced persistent threat" teams deploy malware against US media giants, human-rights activists, military contractors, energy firms, IT companies and other targets. ®


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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/20/ask_santa_to_give_you_our_pricy_certs_for_christmas_says_oracle/

Ask Santa to give you our pricey certs for Christmas, says Oracle

Not-so-jolly red men suggest family crowdfunding campaigns to buy courseware

By Simon Sharwood

Posted in Jobs, 20th December 2013 01:56 GMT

Oracle has suggested that IT Professionals might like to suggest to Santa that popping a certification under the tree is a grand way to celebrate the festive season.

Big O's certification program manager Brandye Barrington has blogged the idea in a post titled “Have You Considered Oracle Certification For Your Holiday Gift List?” that offers the usual “certifications will help you make more money” rhetoric.

But Barrington also goes a little further and writes that “we understand that the price tag on some of the core certifications can be challenging for individuals who are not backed by an employer.”

Her answer to that fiscal problem is setting up a crowdfunding campaign so your friends and relatives can each throw in a few bucks towards your certification.

Here's her logic, verbatim:

Maybe crowdfunding could be your answer. With the holidays nearing, ditch the socks and t-shirts and ask for something that will keep giving for years to come. Although not officially endorsed by Oracle, sites like Indiegogo and Razoo make it easy to set a goal and request support and participation. Your friends and family will be happy to have an answer to the question of what to get you. Contributing to your certification goal is a sound investment in your future and will give them the satisfaction of a gift well chosen.

Oracle has history deleting blog posts it finds distasteful after attention from El Reg, so we've taken this screenshot of Barrington's festive effort to preserve it for posterity.

What do you think, dear readers? Is Oracle Scrooging us all? If a voucher for an Oracle certification emerged from beneath your tree, would the giver be on the naughty or nice list for Christmas 2014? Do let us know in the comments. ®


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the republic logo

Chelsea without suspended John Terry as criticism mounts on captain after poor start to season

MANCHESTER, England — ended last season as still the best center back in the English Premier League.

Three games into the new campaign, the Chelsea captain's stock has fallen to such an extent that critics are questioning how much longer he can cut it at this level.

The 34-year-old Terry has endured a miserable start to Chelsea's title defense: Substituted at halftime against Manchester City. Sent off against West Bromwich Albion. Now suspended for the visit of Crystal Palace on Saturday.

It will be the first time in 17 months that Terry has missed a meaningful Premier League game — he played every minute last season — and leaves Chelsea without any of the so-called "old guard" that has been the backbone of the club's success for the past decade.

Central midfielder left at the end of the 2012-13 season, center forward 's second spell at Chelsea ended in May, and was sold to Arsenal in the offseason. Terry is the last remaining link to the past in a new-look Chelsea team under , but his days could be numbered.

It's not just Terry's form that is putting his place under scrutiny. He is 35 in December so age is not on his side, and Chelsea's pursuit of Everton center back signals that Mourinho is looking to the future. Chelsea has reportedly had three offers for Stones rejected, and is weighing up a fourth potentially worth 40 million pounds ($62 million).

Terry still has much to offer Chelsea and could have two or three more years at Stamford Bridge. But his role could be changing, and good performances by and — the likely center-back pairing against Palace — will give Mourinho some thinking to do over the international break.

By then, Stones may be a Chelsea player, too. He has already put in a transfer request, which was rejected by Everton on Thursday.

Chelsea has had as uncomfortable a start to the season as Terry, with four points from a possible nine leaving the team already five behind Man City. Palace has won two of its opening three games and is a dangerous team away from home with its pace on the counterattack.

Here are more things to know about the fourth round in the Premier League:

's 10-game scoring drought for Manchester United ended with a hat trick against Bruges in a Champions League qualifying match on Wednesday, but he'll need to start netting in the Premier League to get the critics completely off his back.

Rooney has been part of an underperforming United attack that has struggled to create chances, let alone score goals in the league this season. The team has scored two goals in three games, one of them being an own goal.

United visits Swansea on Sunday for a match between two unbeaten teams. Swansea took six points off United last season.

Manchester City will break its century-long record for successive top-flight wins if it beats Watford at Etihad Stadium.

City is the only team with a 100 percent start to the season after beating Everton 2-0 on Sunday. That was City's ninth straight win, matching the club record that has lasted since 1912.

Mario Balotelli completed his season-long loan move to AC Milan from Liverpool on Thursday. It's unlikely he'll be missed at Anfield.

In summer signing , Liverpool has a much more physical and threatening striker than it had last season when Balotelli and failed to shine and was mostly injured.

Liverpool, which hosts West Ham on Saturday, has started the season with two wins and an impressive display in a 0-0 draw at Arsenal on Monday.

Leicester has made the most surprising start to the new campaign, with seven points from a possible nine leaving Claudio Ranieri's side in second place on goal difference ahead of Liverpool and United.

Leicester visits Bournemouth on Saturday, when it's also: Newcastle vs. Arsenal; Aston Villa vs. Sunderland; Stoke vs. West Brom; and Tottenham vs. Everton.

Sunday's other game is Southampton at home to Norwich.

PHOTO: Chelseaâ€™s John Terry leaves the pitch after being sent off during the English Premier League soccer match between West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea at the Hawthorns, West Bromwich, England, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Chelseaâ€™s John Terry leaves the pitch after being sent off during the English Premier League soccer match between West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea at the Hawthorns, West Bromwich, England, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

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PHOTO: Everton's John Stones is seen before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday Aug. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
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New stories

Strautmanis to Leave White House

The Chicagoan with deep ties to President Obama is off to work for the Walk Disney Co.

Michael Strautmanis (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Michael Strautmanis, who's been by President Obama's side since the very beginning of his Senate term, is leaving the White House -- where he's currently deputy assistant to the president and counselor for strategic engagement to Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett -- at the end of next week, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The Chicagoan with deep ties to the Obama administration will be taking a senior executive position with the Walt Disney Co.'s corporate citizenship team. No word yet on who will replace him.

Read more at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.


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6 Steps to Move From College Debt to Financial Success

Building Black Wealth: Following these principles will help college grads build a firm fiscal foundation.

Generic image

Editor’s note: This is part 2 in a five-part series on growing and maintaining wealth. Read part 1.

I grew up thinking that a college degree would be my ticket to wealth or at least entree into the upper echelons of the middle class. After spending most of my 20s digging my way out of $65,000 worth of student-loan and credit card debt amassed after completing a bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degrees in both bilingual education and organizational leadership, I realized that the correlation between a college education and wealth-building was a pretty weak one.

While my credentials positioned me to earn more—my income nearly tripled from my first degree to the third—my degrees did not position me to save more, invest more or improve my credit; only strong money-management skills positioned me to do that. And those skills were acquired over the course of my 14-year journey toward financial freedom.

Here are six wealth-building strategies and principles that I applied to build my financial foundation. Use them to build yours.

1. Get organized and knowledgeable about your student loans. Part of being a college graduate is being responsible and informed about your student loans. Take several weekends to educate yourself on the ins and outs of your student loans. Create virtual and/or real folders to organize the following information.

  • The type and number of loans that you have. Do you have subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans? Do you have federal loans, private loans or both? Keep the name and number of your lender or lenders in your phone, on an Excel file on your computer, and as a hard copy for easy access.
  • The exact cost of your loan(s). You need to know how much money you owe and the amount that is accrued monthly to the penny so that your efforts to eliminate debt are grounded in accurate numbers instead of approximations.
  • Your options for loan repayment. Have you educated yourself on the various federal loan-forgiveness programs, the Pay As You Earn repayment plan, or the discounts applied to student-loan payment agreements that elect automatic withdrawals from your checking or savings accounts? Researching these options can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on your student-loan payments.
  • The life of the loan in years. How long will it take to repay your loan if you only make the minimum payment? How long do you want to carry this debt? There are opportunity costs for prolonging the repayment process; extending the life of your loan or loans can delay the purchase of your first home, starting a family or new business, paying for a wedding, or quitting a job.

2. Live at home for as long as you can. Without the burden of high rent prices, you can start to build a six-month emergency fund, save to buy your own home, make a big dent in your college loans and allow for more risk taking. With this safety net, you can say yes to low-paying, high-passion opportunities, entrepreneurial ideas, internships and travel opportunities, thus preparing you for bigger, greater and more meaningful long-term gains.

On the other hand, if living at home is not an option, scout out neighborhoods and cities that will eat up less than 30 percent of your total take-home pay. This may mean having to share your space with roommates to keep your costs low and shop sparingly for home furnishings.

3. Understand that everything has diminishing returns, including education. This may be a hard pill to swallow, especially, since we, as African Americans, have been historically and systematically locked out of access to higher educational opportunities, but pursuing graduate studies for the sake of pursuing graduate studies or “enriching” your life is a waste of money if you are not clear about the financial returns on that investment and if you are already knee-deep in debt.

If you are committed to lifelong learning, consider a certificate course, self-study or one of the many low-cost or free online opportunities that some of the most prestigious colleges and universities offer, until you are 100 percent certain that you need that second or third degree.


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Caterina Harris

Wanna know a pet peeve I have with our Divine Nine organizations? We’re great at listing all of the notable achievers from the era when television was broadcast in black and white, but we’re terrible at spotlighting current members who are breaking barriers in HD. Sure, we all know that so and so did this and that in order to make sure that we no longer have to sit in the colored section, or be called colored for that matter. But the question often asked is whether we’re still nurturing achievers today. I say yes, and that’s why I’m launching a series called You Should Know This… where I’ll profile Divine Nine members who are making their mark today. And today’s subject is Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member and Mary Kay National Sales Director, Caterina Harris.

Now for full disclosure, I’ve known Caterina like forever, and when I say she’s my sister, I don’t just mean in the Alpha/AKA way. She’s my stromie, my gurl, and is even responsible for introducing me to my wife over two decades ago. So I always take great delight in dropping her name to any random Mary Kay consultant I run into.

“Do you know Caterina Harris?” I’ll ask casually. “She’s my friend, you know.”

The consultant’s eyes will inevitably widen and their mouth will drop, as though I’d told them that I was President Obama and I’d like them to come to the White House for dinner. You see, Caterina is sorta a big deal. A really big deal in Mary Kay.

“It all began when I was looking to make some money for grad school at USC,” Caterina remembers. “I met a Mary Kay recruiter while I was working for a non profit youth program.”

That was over twenty years ago, and this five-foot dynamo rapidly rose through the ranks of Mary Kay, becoming first a consultant, and then a director, and now, the first black National Sales Director west of Texas. With only 300 members, National Sales Director is this highest rank in Mary Kay. And again, that makes Caterina a big deal.

For those unfamiliar, Mary Kay is a multi level cosmetics company founded by Dallas entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash, who started the cosmetics company in 1963, after having been passed over for a promotion because she was a woman. In the era of Mad Men, Mary Kay Ash’s idea that any woman should be able to own a business was revolutionary at the time, and is what attracted Caterina.

“I found that my niche in life is to empower women, particularly black women,” Caterina said, a graduate of Mills College in Oakland, an all women college that stresses empowering women. “Women work in Mary Kay for a season, a reason, and therefore a lifetime. In the past twenty years, I’ve help thousands of women, and helped train on the corporate level. I think my secret is that I don’t particularly have a knack for sales, but I’m comfortable in my own skin.”

With millions of pink clad Mary Kay consultants around the world holding skin care classes and operating their own Mary Kay businesses, Mary Kay annually sells over $2.5 billion dollars worth of cosmetics and skin care products.

Caterina, who is deeply religious, believes that she’s doing God’s work by fulfilling her potential in Mary Kay. Her priorities are God, Family and then Mary Kay. And she feels that you only get where you want to go by helping others reach their goals.

“Give me one year with a part time consultant and you may end up like me, hanging out 20 years later,” Caterina said. Right now, she has over 1000 Mary Kay consultants and directors under her tutelage. “But even if it’s just for one year, I can guarantee that you’ll be more driven and focused toward your career, financial and personal goals.”

Oh, and what about those famous pink Cadillac’s Mary Kay is known for giving their top producers?

“I’ve had twelve and right now I’m driving my pink Cadillac XRL,” she laughs. “In April, I’ll get lucky number 13, a pink Cadillac Escalade.”

Pink seems to suit this AKA, and the green that comes with a successful career ain’t bad either.

Contact Lawrence Ross on Twitter: @alpha1906

Contact Lawrence Ross via email:

Want the updated Divine Nine?  Get it here!


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As if older Americans didn’t have enough to worry about with their investments tanking, their future social security checks in limbo, and fears over their health care the Supreme Court has decided to heighten their stress levels even more.

Yesterday, in a 5-4 decision the court ruled employees bringing federal age-discrimination claims bear the burden of proving their age was a primary factor in their dismissal by an employer.

The majority opinion, which fell along ideological lines, has dealt businesses an easier path to deflecting claims from older workers who allege they were discriminated against because of their age.

Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote: “The burden of persuasion does not shift to the employer to show that it would have taken the action regardless of age.” Thomas noted this legal rule applies “even when a plaintiff has produced some evidence that age was one motivating factor.”

Writing the court’s dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the majority was engaging “in an unabashed display of judicial lawmaking” – claiming the vote overturns earlier employment-discrimination precedent and disregards 1991 changes in federal civil-rights laws.

This court ruling can only boost fears of older Americans already placed in an awkward position in this recession. Older Americans are being increasingly laid off for many reasons, though most stem from senior workers commanding higher salaries and being closer to retirement age than younger applicants.

To that end, some companies have forgone the adage “last one hired, first one fired” and instead opt to lay off longtime employees in an effort to save money by paying younger employees less.

With the court now placing the burden in proving wrongful job dismissal due to ageism on the worker, it seems like yet another loss for the older and often loyal American worker.

Older readers, have you become increasingly fearful that your age may lead to your dismissal at work?

I’d love to hear from you.

Please leave your comments below or email me at

Michael Arceneaux hails from Houston, lives in Harlem and praises Beyoncé’s name wherever he goes. Follow him on Twitter.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.


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Windward Reports 4.1 released

News: Windward Reports 4.1 released

  1. Windward Reports 4.1 released (3 messages)

    Windward Studios has announced the public availability of Windward Reports 4.1, with new Hebrew and Arabic support, a mechanism to make generating reports easier with AutoTag, full OLE object support (even on non-Windows platforms), and metafile support to preserve image dimensions in print. Of less interest to Java programmers, the new release also introduces a .NET version of the reporting engine.

    AutoTag is an add-in for MS Word (with OpenOffice support coming soon) that makes it easy to put data tags in a document. Windward Reports does not have it’s own report design tool, using a word processor instead, which means less training for users.

    Windward Reports 4.1 also now fully supports bi-directional languages (Hebrew & Arabic). With this addition Windward Reports now supports every language in use on the planet. (And it should be able to handle Klingon too, making Windward possibly the only reporting product that supports a galatic range of languages. If anyone uses this dialect... we'd like to know.)

    The new version also provides support for OLE objects. If an OLE object is displayed in the template, that image will be placed in the output report as a bitmap (except for the text format which does not allow images). Now reports can include the output from the Word equation editor, drawing program, or any other OLE enabled application, even if Windward Reports is used on a platform that doesn't natively support OLE.

    Metafile support means that images printed will preserve the original dimensions of the image, regardless of the output resolution.

    Threaded Messages (3)

  2. Windward Reports 4.1 released[ Go to top ]

    hmm, looking at the demo. I see demonstration of AutoTag only how about some working sample of windward reports in java.
  3. Windward Reports 4.1 released[ Go to top ]

    Please go to and there are 9 samples using java. There is no vide for calling it form java because it is very simple.

    thanks - dave
  4. AutoTag is very impressive. Great idea and seems to be implemented real nicely.

    Good job, guys!


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It’s Never As Hard As It Seems

Yesterday, I had a long IM conversation with a reader (that I’ll call Joel) who was asking for advice on how to invest some extra money for retirement. I suggested that they open a Roth IRA with Vanguard, pointed to some of my articles on Roth IRAs and Vanguard, and then helped them walk through it.

After some discussion followed by about ten minutes of filling out some simple forms online, Joel had himself a Roth IRA set up with some conservative investment choices and an automatic investment plan.

He was done with it, and he was relieved – and even excited. He planned on printing off some information about the account to show his wife – to demonstrate he had finally been proactive in setting up some sort of additional retirement savings.

I asked him why he had put things off so long, and he had a very simple and straightforward answer:

It seemed way too complicated. Every time I had a question, I found fifty different answers from fifty different places and most of them tried to make it seem as hard and confusing as possible.

Joel’s absolutely right. There’s a lot of money to be made in making something seem very hard and complicated. When something seems hard and complicated, you need help getting through the murky waters, right? And, of course, that help is going to cost you money.

I think this Charles Schwab ad is illustrative of what I’m talking about.

Here’s a link to the ad for those who can’t see the YouTube embedding.

Obviously, the point here is that high brokerage fees are a bad thing and the implication is that Schwab’s fees are lower, which is a reasonable claim.

However, the entire commercial assumes that you should have a broker managing your money. The ad portrays a normal guy who makes it seem completely normal to have a stockbroker managing your money for you.

The question isn’t whether you can manage your money yourself – of course not. Your money’s too complicated, right? It’s something that needs to be left up to a broker.

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense. Money management, just like most other things in life, is something you can do yourself. Even more important, once you do it, you realize that it’s not complicated at all.

This concept isn’t just limited to money management, either. There are countless relatively simple things in our lives that we’re told are just too complicated and that we should leave to “experts” – which come with a mighty fee, of course.

How about changing your oil, for example? A person can do this in their driveway in about fifteen minutes, but many people are told it’s too complicated and take their car into an auto repair shop, where they vigorously try to upsell you on other repairs you don’t really need (hot tip: stick with that automotive maintenance schedule in your car’s owner’s manual, and do as much of it yourself as you can).

Another example is basic home repair. Most of the tasks a person needs to do are actually quite simple and not difficult at all, but many people convince themselves that it’s scary. One of my closest friends wound up calling an electrician because an outlet in her home wouldn’t function. Instead of attempting to do a basic investigation herself, she decided that throwing a breaker, turning a couple of screws, twisting a few wires, and using a tester was too complicated, so she hired someone to do it for her. Of course, she devoted more time to waiting for and watching the electrician than doing it herself, and it certainly cost her more money.

Here’s my suggestion. If you’re convinced a task is just too hard for you to do, step back and go to a very simple do-it-yourself guide. Figure out for yourself how to do it, and give that plan a reasonable attempt. If you succeed, great! You learned something new in the process. If you fail, at least you learned that it actually was complicated.

In either case, you still win, because you swept away the clouds of mystery around something and learned more about it for yourself. You’re more prepared to tackle similar things in the future, and you actually know whether or not you can tackle a common task. Even better, you can apply what you’ve learned to help out others in a pinch.

The harder something seems to be, the more money others can make by doing it. Don’t fall into that – give it a serious try yourself before calling in the help. You’ll save yourself money quite often and always learn something in the process.

If you enjoyed reading this, sign up for free updates!

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  1. L says:

    This is so true. I thought I needed a new dryer when the plug for my dryer wouldn’t fit into the outlet in my new house. I’m so thankful I asked the appliance salesperson at lowes, who explained how to change the cord. It took 5 minutes, and only cost a few dollars!

  2. michael says:

    Best post ever, Trent. Very few things that we hire professionals to do actually require professionals. Yes, you’ll get a few responses to this post saying, “But she could get electrocuted! You’re being irresponsible!!” Nonsense. Find the instructions on a reputable website, follow the instructions, use some common sense, and you’ll save a bundle.

    But people who’ve decided that minor home/car/computer improvements are too dangerous or too complicated to do themselves are — in a way — a godsend. After all, I’d be a lot poorer if the friends and neighbors who hire me to help them fix (sometimes unbelievably) minor problems spent the 5 minutes or so needed to learn to do it themselves.

  3. Steve says:

    “Here’s my suggestion. If you’re convinced a task is just too hard for you to do, step back and go to a very simple do-it-yourself guide. Figure out for yourself how to do it, and give that plan a reasonable attempt. If you succeed, great! You learned something new in the process. If you fail, at least you learned that it actually was complicated.”

    Ah, where is my copy of “Eye correction laser for idiots”. Here it is right next to my copy of “Heart surgery for dummies”.

    “Honey, are you doing anything for the next 2 hours? No but you have to leave at 3 for the optometrists? OK, be a dear and come in here with my dissection kit please – I should be able to get that sorted for you”

  4. Steve says:

    On the other hand, sometimes doing something yourself is more effort in the end. In theory changing my car’s oil myself is simple, and takes less time and money than waiting for it to be done somewhere else. In practice by the time I clean up all the oil I spilled all over the place I spent more time and money (on cat litter, paper towels, and wasted oil). I used to change my own oil all the time when I was in college, but when I graduated and got a real job I was sure glad to give that up.

  5. Anne says:

    Along the same lines, another question. Vanguard currently has a $3,000 minimum for Roth IRAs. $3k is a lot right now given my need to keep building up an emergency fund and paying down debt. Would you recommend

    1) …putting off investing for a longer period of time but going with the Roth at Vanguard (my preferred investment house).
    2) …going with another firm that I’m not as sure of but that offers lower Roth minimums.
    3) …starting with Vanguard STAR mutual fund ($1000) minimum and going from there.

  6. deepali says:

    I think the problem is sometimes finding a “reputable” guide, when there are so many NON-reputable ones out there…

  7. djc says:

    I did this a couple of weekends ago, when I replaced my Powerbook hard drive with a larger one, and restored my files from the Time Machine backup I’d taken just prior. I needed some special sized screwdrivers, and found the instructions on the web at It took most of a Sunday afternoon, because I took my time, but it was a very satisfying job to do.

  8. With the trusty Internet, people have to realize that almost ALL knowledge is available to do almost anything! Want to learn to play better tennis? The Internet can show you how. Want to learn how to build a tree-house? The Internet is there.

    Why people are so scared to at least attempt to do something is beyond me. That is half the fun in life!

  9. Onaclov2000 says:

    I drive a nice car, and rather then let the shop do all repairs on it, they just did an inspection did some of the “major” stuff that I didn’t want to have to try to do such as replacing a seal and some other stuff, but I was able to buy the parts and am replacing a few of the other things so rather then a $1500 dollar bill, I got away with a $1000 bill.

  10. Ron, that is so true. The internet has a vast wealth of information just waiting to be used.

    As to why some people don’t try…I think some of it is just a lack of confidence. My siblings and I were raised with an, “Of course you can do this new/hard thing! Go ahead!”, and as a result we are all very confident people. Some people haven’t been so blessed and are much more cautious about their abilities.

  11. Lurker Carl says:

    I think many people are afraid of taking responsibility for their actions. Hire a professional and it becomes someone else’s fault if it doesn’t turn out right. I try to learn as much about something before hiring someone, then I know if the pro is truly a professional or a scammer. Most jobs we hire out can be easily done ourselves provided we have the time, appropriate tools and some basic skills.

    Beware of relying on the internet alone, it contains at least as much misinformation as it does fact. Just like with doctors, seek multiple opinions.

  12. michael says:

    Roth IRAs all follow the same rules, so there’s no need to prefer any one company over another.

    Just open a Roth IRA at Scottrade and, if you like, purchase Vanguard funds that way. This allows you to get around the minimums set by Vanguard — you can buy a single share of VFINX, for example, if you like (although I wouldn’t recommend buying less than $1000 worth at a time, to avoid having brokerage fees eat away at your returns).

  13. Andie says:

    I like the DIY approach, but I also recognize that time is money. If I take something on myself, often I’m already interested in learning it and I anticipate that the time won’t be overwhelming. However, I don’t take on everything because there are somethings that I’m not interested in learning about or the amount of time I anticipate it will take to learn enough is quite high or the amount of upfront costs for tools is too high for something I may never do again, or in my case I also have limited storage space for tools in my apartment.

    So yea, DIY. But there are legit reasons to not.

  14. Nick says:

    @michael #9

    I have a Roth IRA at Scottrade and it is very easy to do. I actually prefer it to Vanguard as you have the option to buy other funds/stocks if you like. You can of course just by vanguard though if that is your cup of tea.

    One correction though on your recommendation. The minimums from Vanguard are there no matter what. You cannot buy just a single share of VFINX. Scottrade, or any brokerage, still makes you adhere to the minimums set by the fund. I’m 99% sure that is the case unless they changed something since the last time I bought a fund which was less than a year ago.

  15. Jillian says:

    Yesterday I completely ruined a whole bunch of curtains by washing them without checking the care label. When I went to the store and compared the price of ready-made curtains vs. the equivalent amount of fabric, I rapidly came to the conclusion that I was going to be doing a crash course in curtain making!

    A little bit of research plus 3 hours of sewing and I have a room full of brand new curtains for the price of a single ready-made set. Plus, now I know how to make curtains. And how not to wash them.

  16. Todd A says:

    As a guy who spent an entire year finishing his basement, and, more recently, the Labor Day holiday making wooden property signs (instead of paying roughly $30/each for them), I generally agree with the DIY mindset. That being said, though, I think it is equally important to know your limitations. We recently had a lot of exterior work done on our house, which included some stone work around the garage. Of course, that meant new exterior light fixtures. After a few hours of planning, picking up materials, and wrenching my body around in unnatural positions, a thought occurred to me; “Even if I do manage to get this to work, there are aspects of the installation that will cast a doubt in my mind every time I throw the switch.”.

    And, at that point, understanding my limitations, I hired a professional. And, I love to throw the switch now !

  17. Alex H says:

    I just started my Roth IRA with Vanguard last Friday. I had all of this extra money laying around for years but I had no idea what to do with it and no matter how many books I read I couldn’t build up enough courage in any one thing to actually do it because of the reasons outlined above. Thankfully, I stumbled onto “The Simple Dollar” about 5 months ago and ever since then I have learned more than I ever did from reading finance books. I have also convinced my girlfriend (and future fiance) to invest her extra savings into a Roth IRA with Vanguard too. Thanks so much for the help! Keep up the GREAT work.

  18. Jen says:

    Okay, I tried the DIY route with a motion-sensing floodlight above the garage. I bought a fixture at Lowes. Got the electrician to come out and run a wire from an existing outlet to the eaves over the garage door (no attic access). Light kinda worked for 1-2 years inconsistently, burned through $7 light bulbs quickly, then died. No prob! Went to Lowe’s, bought a new fixture, flipped the breakers, installed it (despite really badly written instructions), and it worked. Not bad! Patted myself on the back. Two days later, wouldn’t work. Called home warranty handyman-type. Charged $50 to push reset button on outlet. Argh. Canceled home warranty in disgust, waste of money anyway. The light worked well for 2 more days. Called original electrician, no longer under warranty, of course! Turns out, I installed the light sensor upside down, allowing it to fill with rainwater and it was shorting out. He installed a new fixture, and $90 later, I have a light over the garage that clicks on when I pull into the drive. Lesson learned: keep your day job and let the professionals do what they know how to do, because even though I did such a great job, I thought, when instructions are poorly translated from Chinese, you can’t tell there is a right-side-up! :)

  19. Anne says:

    @ michael #9

    … I totally did not realize it worked like that. And I thought I was doing so well. Proof that maybe I need a little more than Suze Orman and a few Motley Fool articles. I think perhaps it’s off for a few more articles and maybe a trip to the library. Many thanks :)

  20. James says:

    Commercials like that are a little irritating, but to be fair, it’s reasonable for Chuck to imply you should be using his services in an ad for Chuck. And as you point out, at least it raises a good point about watching fees (haha, though I haven’t done any research to see if Chuck has the right to make that claim). But have you seen the Edward Jones commercial with the man sitting in his kitchen with a knife talking to his surgeon on the phone about how to perform a surgery? Then the man asks “shouldn’t you be doing this.” The implication in that one about doing your own finances being as insane as performing open heart surgery on yourself makes me absolutely irate.

  21. neilo says:

    The funny thing with DIY car repairs is that confidence breeds confidence. My father-in-law talked me through a basic oil change, then brake pad replacements. I asked his advice when a rear shock failed (about replacing them as a set). A few months later, I’ve replaced the front shocks myself, oil changes are routine on both cars, I recently replaced the brake pads and discs, and I’m seriously thinking about doing the next automatic transmission service myself.

  22. Matt @ SF says:

    I couldn’t agree w/ you more Trent. I can’t count how many times I’ve done this for family, friends, friends of the family, and on and on. I always compare people and their investments to kids jumping off the high dive for the first time… you kinda want to b/c all your friends are doing it, but a nagging voice in your head keeps you from trying it yourself. In many cases (just like Joel), they’re afraid to even step up to the diving board.

  23. tadeusz says:

    Just one thought came to my mind about IRAs. All the investment options are about assessing risks the investor is willing to take. 401(k) and Roth IRAs have one more risk that hasn’t been mentioned on this site.

    In my country (Poland, member of European Union) there are two common options for government-regulated retirement investmenst:

    OFE (IRA-like, compulsory, banks invest your capital only in government bonds and local stock exchange market)

    IKE (optional, quite exact copy of american Roth IRA, weaker tax protection than in USA).

    Recently the government decided, that the only possible way to withdraw money from OFE is via government agency ZUS (Social Security Office). You will be paid annuity, minus any handling fees, minus any capital gains (who heard of compound interest?!?). Not a chance for your grand-children to inherit a cent. Forget about buying beach house on Bahamas, too.

    More fun: ZUS already is on the verge of collapse. It needs *half a billion USD a week* of extra tax-payers money just to stay afloat and keep on paying state pensions (for which everybody in the work force is to pay (insufficiently?) big tax).

    The chances for people our age to get any (better than pathetic) state pension: 0.0%. The chances of getting any capital accumulated in OFE: maybe twice as much? ;)

    The second investment vehicle – IKE – will be robbed as OFE rather sooner than later.

    The moral is: investing in IRAs is a bet that for the next 30 year there will be no incompetent morons and bandits in the government. I pass the chance despite capital gains tax.

  24. I’m not from America so 410k doesn’t mean a thing to me.

    But today I set up a high interest online savings account which is earning me about 8% per year.

  25. GettingThere says:

    One of the biggest mistakes we make is to assume others share our same abilities. We’re all different, and one man’s “no problem” is another person’s nightmare.

    Trent, I’m glad home and auto repair is simple for you. It’s not for me. I’ve tried a bit of it and rapidly (and expensively) learned it’s just not one of my skills. It’s not a moral failure if you can’t rewire an outlet; the failure is in assuming that everyone should be able to do all the same things.

    Yes, people should give it a try. If it doesn’t work for them, however, call for help. I’m not going to drill my teeth, or take out my appendix, or represent myself in court. It’s not what I do. However, when you need a sermon preached (I’m a minister), a hand held, or even a corporate marketing plan developed (I’m also an MBA-toting management consultant) I’m your woman.

    To each their own gifts; to each their own experts.

  26. On Scottrade and Vanguard Roths: I started with Scottrade and once I had enough money to buy the funds I wanted in Vanguard I switched over and it was very easy. I actually left some of the shares I wanted to own (Berkshire Hathaway) with Scottrade because owning shares with Vanguard would be too expensive for me. I didn’t know you could have two Roths like that, but you can.

    As for the “trusty” internet — I know what you mean. It’s trusty to us, but most people feel the opposite about it. They still see the Internet as a bunch of nobodies posting intentionally fake information online. They think blogs are online diaries instead of actual, valuable information.

  27. Rebeckah says:

    Thank you for this thought provoking article. I appreciate the information you share each day. You are a blessing to many people.

  28. mjukr says:

    Re: the Schwab ad… the power of presupposition is indeed a juggernaut!

  29. Kevin says:

    This blog’s comments are a perfect example of information and misinformation. Anne @ 2:52 asks a question about Vanguard Roth IRA minimums, then micheal @ 4:17 gives her an incorrect answer that all Roth IRAs are the same.

    They are not the same. Vanguard has a $3,000 minimum on certain funds, where other firms do not. For example, my wife had a T. Rowe Price account that let her invest $50 min each month with no other minimum investment. When that account was large enough, we transferred it to Vanguard so all our funds are in the same place.

    Hope that helps Anne.

  30. O says:

    Before the internet exploded, I taught myself to bake bread using a children’s library book. The adult books seemed too overwhelming, but the kid’s book broke it down to very simple steps and explanations. That doesn’t work for highly complex “adult” tasks (eg. fixing a computer) but still might be a step to comtemplate for some activities.

  31. randy says:

    “but many people are told it’s too complicated and take their car into an auto repair shop, where they vigorously try to upsell you on other repairs you don’t really need”

    i love your web site and i visit often. 99% of the time i agree with your every opinion. i am bothered however by this very broad and negative opinion of auto technicians.

    my family owns a repair shop and has for years. prior to working with my father, i worked in two automotive dealerships and then managed a import repair shop in my town. i can honestly say that in my years of having been in the business, the dis-honest technicians i encountered i could count on one hand. i now work as a tech in the HVAC field (just about to open my own place – yeah!) and i can say the same for the people in this field.

    if the shop(s) you frequent are trying to sell you things that your vehicle doesn’t need, then one of two situations exist. either you actually do need (or will, possibly prior to your next time in the shop) whatever the repair is or you need to find yourself a mechanic you can trust. the public is smarter than your giving them credit for here and as a result, most dishonest persons in ANY field can have their intentions exposed if common sense is used in dealing with them.

    there is plenty of legitimate work to be had out there. never once, ever have i ever attempted to sell work to someone that wasn’t needed and in the customer and their vehicles best interest.

    and there is plenty more like me than not.

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Tom Cruise - My Fake Diary

Friday, 6 July 2012

Dear Diary,

I am shocked that so many people truly believe that the reason why Katie (Holmes) is divorcing me is because I am shorter than her. That is just not true. I mean it is true that I am shorter than her, but that is not the reason why she filed for divorce.

Some are saying that the reason is because of a text message that she found on my cell phone that was from John Travolta. Again that is not true. Johnny does not have my cell phone number.

The real reason why Katie has decided to divorce me is because she told me that she is extremely embarrassed at my role as Stacee Jaxx in the movie Rock of Ages, which by the way bombed big time.

She said that everywhere she goes people point and say look there goes Stacee Jaxx's wife.

Tom Cruise

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Ambulance workers in South Yorkshire call off strike action

Ambulance staff in South Yorkshire were set to strike.

Ambulance staff in South Yorkshire were set to strike.

Have your say

Ambulance workers in South Yorkshire have called off a planned strike over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Members of the trade union Unison, which has around 1,500 members at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, were set to strike for six hours from 3pm to 9pm on Sunday.

They were also due to work to rule continuously from just after midnight on Thursday. The industrial action was part of a row over working practices which Unison said left staff ‘feeling undervalued and underpaid’.

But the strike was cancelled this afternoon following talks between union leaders and trust bosses.

Bryn Webster, Unison branch secretary, said: “We didn’t want to take action because it meant patients could have come to harm.

“Fortunately we had such a good result that the trust agreed to sit down and talk to us, and revert to the agreed policies and procedures.”

The union said staff were waiting too long for meal breaks, faced excessive end-of-shift overtime, and that bosses were not sticking to a previously agreed ‘workforce plan’.

Members voted 82 per cent in favour of a strike earlier this month.

Ian Brandwood, executive director of people and engagement for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “We do not feel that industrial action will help us respond to the challenges we face and following extensive discussions with Unison we are pleased to report that they have agreed to withdraw their planned action.”

Mr Brandwood added: “We remain committed to continuing to work with Unison to address some of the concerns raised and our focus, as always, remains on the well-being of our staff while continuing to provide high levels of patient care.”

Meanwhile, members of the Unite union have also been involved in a long-running dispute with the trust, and sparked controversy for striking over the Tour de France weekend in July.

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Published: Sunday August 24, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Sunday August 24, 2014 MYT 8:24:37 AM

Tough life for new graduates

Many young Chinese with degrees are finding it hard to get suitable jobs amid stiff competition.

CHINESE graduate Wang Xiaoqing, 23, earns barely 2,000 yuan (RM1,027) a month at an environmental services firm and has no savings.

A recent marketing graduate from the Northwest University of Politics and Law in Xi’an, the capital of northern Shaanxi province, Wang even relies on his parents for handouts occasionally.

“I sent my resume out to more than 10 firms over the past three months before I got a job,” he said.

“I knew it would be hard, but now I worry about how I am going to get married or buy a house in the future.”

While the rapid expansion of higher education in China has led to a sharp rise in the number of unemployed and underemployed graduates over the past few years, the situation has gotten worse this year.

Just 14% of graduates had found work by June, the month of graduation, the lowest in a decade.

China’s growing ranks of fresh graduates like Wang are struggling to find jobs becasue of a record 7.3 million graduates this year ‑ more than seven times the number 15 years ago.

A survey by Peking Univer-sity states that more than a third of fresh graduates continue to live off their parents.

This comes as no surprise, considering that starting monthly salaries for graduates this year in 68 Chinese cities averaged just 2,443 yuan (RM1,255) — about the cost of half an iPhone in China, but the issue has raised concerns beyond just bread and butter worries, experts say.

As frustrations among this large group of overqualified and underpaid educated young Chinese simmer, they could serve as a source of instability in the event of an economic crisis.

Beijing is also worried that graduate unemployment could trigger unrest of the kind that led to the bloody 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on protesting students.

Prof Joseph Cheng of the City University of Hong Kong estimates that 30% of fresh graduates might still be jobless by the end of the year.

“While we are not seeing this group becoming a source of instability as yet, there are certainly grievances accumulating,” he said.

But the mismatch between graduates and the country’s economic boom is not a new problem, with China’s trade and investment-led growth model producing insufficient white-collar jobs.

Already, the term “ant tribe” was coined to describe the plight of China’s post-1980s generation of low-income graduates who often lived in cramped and squalid conditions in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

China Youth Development Foundation estimates that more than 160,000 “ant tribe” members live in Beijing alone, about a third of whom have graduated from prestigious universities.

Zhao Chen, 26, is one such example. He graduated two years ago and now earns about 3,500 yuan (RM1,790) as a freelance computer programmer.

He lives with five other people in a three-bedroom apartment.

“Life has been tougher than I imagined when I was in college. I thought a degree might help, but everyone has one nowadays,” he said.

The Education Ministry has said it will turn 600 universities into polytechnics, providing more technical and employment-related courses, rather than academic courses.

But Renmin University education expert Cheng Fangping said China should also give its graduates more support, such as giving them loans to start businesses and making the competition for jobs a level playing field, rather than based on connections.

“Many graduates want to become civil servants or white-collar workers, but they should be encouraged to pursue paths that can create wealth instead. The distinction between white- and blue-collar workers doesn’t need to be so clear. As long as you work hard, you should be able to win the respect of society,” he added. — Asia News Network

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Published: Saturday May 5, 2012 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Sunday May 26, 2013 MYT 7:11:45 PM

Getting ready for Wesak Day

KUALA LUMPUR: The Buddhist Maha Vihara Temple's usually serene and quiet atmosphere at Brickfields was broken by the hustle and bustle of monks and devotees preparing for Wesak Day.

Celebrated today in commemoration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, weeks of planning have gone into the event so that everything will go perfectly.

Event organiser and devotee Rupavathy De Silva, 68, beamed as she gestured towards the beautiful procession float, which will be making its rounds on the streets with its 3,000 bulbs shining brightly.

The float's designer, Sri Lankan Leelasena Garanduma Kamburugamuwa, 68, was giving a final coat of paint to the elaborate design yesterday.

“Everyone has chipped in and contributed what he or she can. Those who can cook will cook for around 10,000 people while those who can do craftwork and design helped with the float,” Rupavathy said.

She said there would be dharma talks, meditation sessions and free food and drinks for the public today.

The Wesak Day procession will be a grand event, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak scheduled to make a stop at the temple in the morning.

Tents have been set up in and outside the temple compound, ready to offer devotees food and drinks, as well as religious merchandise and materials.

Several devotees, all clad in pure white to symbolise purity, also took the chance for personal reflection and meditation on the eve of Wesak.

Emily Pereira, 87, said she has been coming to the temple for over 50 years and regularly observed the eight Buddhist precepts.

“I made a vow to observe the eight precepts when my children fell sick,” she said after a short meditation session at the pagoda.

She said the eve was a great time to wind down and purify her thoughts in preparation for the celebration.

Long tents lined the main road outside the temple grounds as traders set up shop in anticipation of the huge crowd.

Ti-Ratana Welfare Society volunteer Wong Tee Liang, whose booth was filled with small pots of colourful chrysanthemum flowers and candles, said Wesak Day was very special for Buddhists.

“The flowers have been sponsored by florists and we will sell them at RM5 per pot for devotees to place on the altar. The money will be donated to the society,” he said.

Related Stories: Leaders send their greetings

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Published: Saturday March 8, 2014 MYT 12:51:00 PM
Updated: Sunday March 9, 2014 MYT 7:02:12 AM

Missing MAS flight: Vietnam official denies detecting Malaysian missing plane’s signal

HANOI: A Vietnamese rescue official denied that the signal of the missing Malaysian plane has been detected, China's Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

Pham Hien, director of the Vietnam's maritime search and rescue coordination centre zone 3, told Xinhua Saturday that the information that the signal of the plane has been detected at some 120 nautical miles southwest of Vietnam's southernmost Ca Mau province is incorrect.

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Published: Thursday August 7, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Thursday August 7, 2014 MYT 7:07:49 AM

‘We don’t have enough raw water’

PETALING JAYA: A second water rationing exercise for Selangor has become necessary as the state government cannot rely on the usual intermonsoon rainfall expected in September, said the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer).

President S. Piarapakaran described the state government’s meeting today to decide on whether water rationing should be implemented for the second time this year as better late than never.

“It is a pretty straightforward situation.

“We clearly do not have enough raw water to supply to the four major treatment plants that produce water for about 60% of consumers in the state.

“It is also unwise to rely on the rains during the intermonsoon period next month because we cannot say for sure if there will be a stable rainfall pattern or if the rainfall amount will be high,” he said when contacted.

Malaysian Water Association president Syed Mohamad Alhabshi said the water industry had expected to see such problems occur here after the delay of the Langat 2 water treatment plant.

“Why have we allowed ourselves to be in this situation? We saw this coming four years ago,” he said, when met by The Star.

He said those who advised the state previously that there had been enough water would “get away scot-free”.

Syed Mohamad also warned that the rationing might continue again next year and after that, until the Langat 2 plant was completed.

“It will be a yearly event,” he said.

Many consumers in the state were subjected to water rationing between February and March this year when the Sungai Selangor dam, which supplies water to over 60% of households, dropped to near critical levels.

When the last rationing exercise was imposed between February and March, the level at the Sungai Selangor dam was 37%. It is now 32%.

However, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had repeatedly assured Selangor consumers that there would be no water rationing yet. He added that there was enough raw water to last for the next few years.

Tags / Keywords: Utilities, Nation, water, rationing, awer, sg selangor

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'Change is apparent' in Ferguson, Missouri: Police Captain

Police say calm is returning to Ferguson following the funeral of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen shot and killed by a white police officer. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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Opinion / Readers' Letters

Drawing conclusions on nukes

Re: Dusan Petricic cartoon, Insight Feb. 10

Dusan Petricic cartoon, Insight Feb. 10

The cartoon by Dušán Petricic resonated strongly with me. In the part depicting two lists under mushroom clouds, with “good” and “bad” countries, he listed the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China on the “good” side, while the “bad” column had North Korea and Iran.

In recent years we have heard a lot of angry rhetoric about Iran’s program of nuclear research, mostly from Israel, but also from the hysterical sections of public opinion in the U.S.

I note that Mr. Petricic omitted Israel, India and Pakistan. Presumably, the first two would be on his “good” list, with the third on the “bad” side of the ledger.

We would all be immeasurably better off in world without nuclear weapons, but, realistically, it’s impossible to reverse that situation. But the question nags away at us — why is it OK for some countries to have nuclear weapons, and bad for others?

And, lest we forget, only one country has ever used nukes in anger — the United States.

Keeble McFarlane, Scarborough

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