The American Internet search giant will escape any fines, however, so long as it pledges not to do it again.

Google Inc. drew international outrage after it emerged that its Street View cars, which take street-level photographs to illustrate the company’s popular mapping service, had also been scooping up emails, Internet addresses and passwords from unencrypted wireless networks.

Scotland Yard recently said it would not launch a criminal inquiry into the breach, which the company has described as inadvertent.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham was recently given the power to levy fines up to 500,000 pounds (about $800,000) for serious violations, but he said in a statement that the “most appropriate and proportionate regulatory action” would be to seek a written assurance from Google that the breach would not be repeated and conduct an audit of the company’s data protection practices.

The company based in Mountainview, California said in a statement that it “was profoundly sorry” for the breach, adding that it had since worked to improve its internal controls.

“We did not want this data, have never used any of it on our products and services, and have sought to delete it as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

Google’s street mapping program has dogged by privacy concerns since its launch, and authorities across the world have mounted a variety of probes into the tech company’s practices. Only last week, Italian prosecutors announced an investigation into the feature for suspected violations, while officials in Spain said that Google faced not one but two probes into the program.

In October Canada’s privacy commissioner said the company WiFi-grabbing practices broke the law, while Street View’s German launch has been delayed by months of wrangling over privacy issues.

Nevertheless, the service remains popular. The British Information Commissioner’s Office invites Web users to locate its address using Google Maps.

On Tuesday, the automaker said it made US$1.7 billion from July through September, a jump of nearly 70 per cent from a year earlier and its sixth consecutive quarter in the black.

The news puts Ford further ahead of its rivals as the U.S. auto industry slowly turns around. Chrysler has yet to make a profit after a stay in bankruptcy last year. General Motors is making money but losing market share — and still partly government-owned.

“They’re in the best shape that they’ve been in for years,” Gimme Credit analyst Shelly Lombard said of Ford.

Among the company’s stars is the F-Series pickup, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. The Ford Edge and Ford Escape are two of the country’s bestselling small utility cars, while sales of the Fusion mid-size car are up 20 per cent this year.

Ford turned a big profit in part because it’s making more money on its highly rated cars and trucks. Buyers shelled out about $30,600 on average for a Ford in September, 10 per cent more than in 2005, according to Edmunds.com.

Ford has also been able to cut back on costly incentives as buyers pay more for premium options. For example, 80 per cent of people who buy the Ford Fiesta subcompact also spring for the Sync in-car communications system, a $395 option.

The Ford brand came in 10th place Tuesday in Consumer Reports’ annual reliability rankings, just behind Lexus and a far better showing than four years ago.

It adds up to a bigger slice of the U.S. market for Ford — 16.7 per cent, up from 15.2 per cent a year ago, according to AutoData Corp. It has switched places with Toyota as the No. 2 automaker, after GM, by U.S. sales, as Toyota struggled with a series of safety recalls.

“The strength of the product is propelling our business results,” Lewis Booth, Ford’s chief financial officer, said in a conference call with media and analysts.

As a result, Ford announced it would hire 500 new workers for a shift at the Chicago plant that makes the new Ford Explorer, its first significant hiring in years. And it has promised millions in new investments at various plants.

Ford got its financial house in order after mortgaging everything down to its blue oval logo four years ago to pay for a huge restructuring. It paid off $2 billion in debt in the third quarter and expects to pay off $3.6 billion more for retiree health care later this week.

The company now expects to end the year with as much cash as debt, reaching the goal a year earlier than it had forecast. It still owes about $22 billion, far more than Chrysler’s $11 billion and GM’s $8 billion. Those two companies shed billions in debt while under bankruptcy protection.

Ford is about to pay off its debt to the United Auto Workers health care trust. The UAW agreed to the trust in 2007, and it began paying health care benefits for 195,000 Ford retirees and spouses in January. Chrysler still owes $3.9 billion to the trust, while GM owes $2.5 billion, plus shares in both their companies once they go public.

Ford’s total obligation to the trust was $13.2 billion.

The company has also offered to convert about $3.5 billion in bonds held mainly by hedge funds and other investors into common stock. Even apart from that, it expects to reduce what it spends on debt interest by $800 million by the end of this year. The debt reductions also could help Ford retain its investment-grade rating, which it lost in 2005.

“I think that we are clearly ahead of where we thought we could be on improving our balance sheet and repaying our loans,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally said.

Mulally, 65, who came to Ford in 2006 from Boeing and has been widely credited with Ford’s turnaround, has not said when he might step down. But Ford’s bench is filling with candidates who might replace him, including Asia president Joe Hinrichs, Americas president Mark Fields, marketing chief Jim Farley and product development chief Derrick Kuzak.

Whoever inherits the reins from Mulally will take control of a company in much healthier financial shape. In a note to investors Tuesday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy said the market still doesn’t fully appreciate everything working in Ford’s favour, including an expected recovery in U.S. auto sales, more popular Ford products on the horizon and improving perception of its brands.

Ford stock closed up about 1.5 per cent at $14.36. It has traded between $6.81 and $14.57 in the past year. It fell as low as $1.43 in November 2008, when Ford, GM and Chrysler appeared before Congress seeking bailout money. Ford never did take government cash.

But Ford does face some challenges. A Credit Suisse analyst wrote last month that the automaker’s global pension funds were underfunded by $12 billion at the end of 2009, and that could worsen to $17.5 billion by the end of this year.

Raw materials such as steel have also become more expensive this year. And Booth said Ford will likely incur more charges in the fourth quarter for the shutdown of its Mercury brand, which has cost $290 million so far.

The Mid-Island Science, Technology and Innovation Council (MISTIC) acts as the ‘first point of contact’ for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s), entrepreneurs, students, business persons and researchers seeking information related to knowledge sector industries.

MISTIC’s role is that of catalyst, facilitator and liaison with industry, post-secondary institutes and government to ensure that the region’s potential for growth in the technology sector is realized. MISTIC’s success lies in building partnerships with business, education, financial and other professional institutions, local governments, and with agencies of similar mandates.

MISTIC is one of nine regional councils in the Province of British Columbia and is a member of the BC Regional Science and Technology Network (BCRSTN).

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Welcome to the biggest shift in human capability since the industrial revolution…Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

It’s a new modern world…and if you are not taking advantage of the full utility and opportunities of the Web and social media techniques you are really missing out.

eZABU can help. The eZABU platform is designed to manage and care for all your online content, including creating new social media and blog opportunities, and is expert at fully integrating your business message, products and services successfully with the new communities of the World Wide Web. What’s most appealing about eZABU, unlike other marketing and advertising efforts, is the analytics behind every action of eZABU that report the reach and success in real time of how they are working for you.

If the Social Web has taught us anything, it’s that Business win when they not only have a story to tell, but one that people want to interact with and share. We help Business tell these stories. To learn more about eZABU and the social media business services and web solutions we can provide you and your business, visit our website at these locations: eZABU Home Page | eZABU Get Noticed Page | eZABU Our Clients Page.

eZABU is a powerful web-based platform that is able to connect, integrate and manage your complete on-line presence.  What this means is that our business solution can develop, design, manage and integrate your online presence with a complete social media network package (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all the others!) and produce new interesting dynamic content for your web-presence each and every week.

Ready to take your Business to thousands of people in Campbell River engaged in Social Media? For far less than you think…much, much less than you think!

Contact Us today via eMail or contact Lawrence Lewis directly at 250-203-3787  for all the details.

Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

THE PROBLEM

Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. Although the proportion of crashes that are alcohol-related has dropped dramatically in Think When You Drink signrecent decades, there are still far too many such preventable accidents. Unfortunately, in spite of great progress, alcohol-impaired driving remains a serious national problem that tragically effects many victims annually.

THE FACTS

Most drivers who have had something to drink have low blood alcohol content or concentration (BAC) and few are involved Princess Diana’s car crash photoin fatal crashes. On the other hand, while only a few drivers have BACs higher than .15, a much higher proportion of those drivers have fatal crashes.

• The average BAC among fatally injured drinking drivers is .16
• The relative risk of death for drivers in single-vehicle crashes with a high BAC is 385 times that of a zero-BAC driver and for male drivers the risk is 707 times that of a sober driver, according to estimates by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
• High BAC drivers tend to be male, aged 25-35, and have a history of DWI convictions and polydrug abuse.

THE SOLUTION

Drunk driving, like most other social problems, resists simple solutions. However, there are a number of actions, each of which can contribute toward a reduction of the problem:

• DWI courts, sometimes called DUI courts, sobriety courts, wellness courts or accountability courts have proven effective in reducing the crime of drunken driving (driving while intoxicated or while impaired). Such courts address the problem of hard-core repeat offenders by treating alcohol addiction or alcoholism. The recidivism or failure rate of DWI courts is very low.
• Automatic license revocation appears to be the single most effective measure to reduce drunk driving.
• Automatic license revocation along with a mandatory jail sentence appears to be even more effective than just automatic license revocation.
• Impounding or confiscating license plates.
• Mandating the installation of interlock devices that prevent intoxicated persons from starting a vehicle.
• Vehicle impoundment or immobilization.
• Expanding alcohol server training programs.
• Implementing social norms programs that correct the misconception that most people sometimes drive under the influence of alcohol.
• Passing mandatory alcohol and drug testing in fatal crashes would promote successful prosecution of drunk and drugged drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated that 18-20% of injured drivers are using drugs and although drinking is on the decline, drugging is on the increase.

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Welcome to the biggest shift in human capability since the industrial revolution…Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

It’s a new modern world…and if you are not taking advantage of the full utility and opportunities of the Web and social media techniques you are really missing out.

eZABU can help. The eZABU platform is designed to manage and care for all your online content, including creating new social media and blog opportunities, and is expert at fully integrating your business message, products and services successfully with the new communities of the World Wide Web. What’s most appealing about eZABU, unlike other marketing and advertising efforts, is the analytics behind every action of eZABU that report the reach and success in real time of how they are working for you.

If the Social Web has taught us anything, it’s that Business win when they not only have a story to tell, but one that people want to interact with and share. We help Business tell these stories. To learn more about eZABU and the social media business services and web solutions we can provide you and your business, visit our website at these locations: eZABU Home Page | eZABU Get Noticed Page | eZABU Our Clients Page.

eZABU is a powerful web-based platform that is able to connect, integrate and manage your complete on-line presence.  What this means is that our business solution can develop, design, manage and integrate your online presence with a complete social media network package (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all the others!) and produce new interesting dynamic content for your web-presence each and every week.

Ready to take your Business to thousands of people in Campbell River engaged in Social Media? For far less than you think…much, much less than you think!

Contact Us today via eMail or contact Lawrence Lewis directly at 250-203-3787  for all the details.

Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

The survey, conducted for BMO Financial Group by Leger Marketing, also examines the confidence level of students in relation to education costs. Three-fifths of students aged 18 to 24 share similar concerns as their parents, with 28 per cent believing they will struggle to pay off post-secondary costs and 32 per cent expecting to be in debt for years to come.

“With the total cost of education increasing every year, the most reliable way to maximize savings for a child’s education is through RESPs,” says David Sharone, Manager, Registered Products, BMO Financial Group. “RESPs offer the benefits of a tax-sheltered investment, and coupled with the federal government’s Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), allow parents to keep on top of rising costs and gives them peace of mind in knowing that they can provide for their child’s education.”

Other Key Findings:

* Only 52 per cent of Canadian parents with children under 18 have contributed to an RESP.

* Of those parents who are not investing in an RESP, 50 per cent do not contribute because they say they cannot afford it. A further 16 per cent say they are either unfamiliar with RESPs or do not have time to set one up.

* When it comes to saving for post-secondary education, one quarter (24 per cent) of Canadian parents with children under 18 are relying on a savings account.

“Getting an early start on smart saving and making regular contributions are key to ensuring parents and students are prepared for the expenses associated with post-secondary education,” says Mr. Sharone. “For example, if you make regular contributions of $150 per month over 18 years, your total investment, including contributions, CESG and earnings, could equal approximately $76,000. However, even if you start investing when your child starts high school, your total investment could total up to $15,000 by the time your child heads out to frosh week. It’s never too late.”

While investment vehicles like RESPs are an essential component of planning for post-secondary education, students and their parents should also work together to establish responsible saving, spending and borrowing practices. To help, BMO developed theSmartSteps for Studentsprogram designed to help students identify ways to minimize banking fees to lower monthly expenses, take advantage of valuable student discount programs and develop realistic budgets that outline how much they need and how much they can actually spend. BMO SmartSteps for Students is available at www.bmo.com/student .

Interested in starting or contributing to an RESP? Here are some tips to get you started:

• Start early and make regular contributions – Even if your child’s education will not begin for many years to come, it is beneficial to start making regular contributions as early as you can.
• Speak with a financial professional – RESPs can hold several different types of investments. Speak with a financial professional to determine the investment options that best suit your needs.
• Forego the daily splurge – Small expenses, like a fancy coffee or expensive lunch, can really add up. Aim to put the money saved towards your regular contributions.
• Inspire alternative gift-giving – RESP contributions make great gifts for special occasions. Let friends and relatives know that you are receptive to receiving contributions for your children. RESP accounts can be opened by anyone, and a child can have multiple accounts.

The survey was completed with 1,528 Canadian adults and was conducted using Leger Marketing’s Web panel between September 7 to 9, 2010.

The discovery published in the taxonomy journal Zootaxa was made by Drs. Indraneil Das and Alexander Haas of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, and Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum of Hamburg, respectively, with support from the Volkswagen Foundation. Dr. Das is also leading one of the scientific teams that is searching for the world’s lost amphibians, a campaign organized by Conservation International and IUCN’s Amphibians Specialist Group.

“I saw some specimens in museum collections that are over 100 years old. Scientists presumably thought they were juveniles of other species, but it turns out they are adults of this newly-discovered micro species,” said Dr. Das.

The mini frogs (Microhyla nepenthicola) were found on the edge of a road leading to the summit of the Gunung Serapi mountain, which lies within Kubah National Park. The new species was named after the plant on which it depends to live, theNepenthes ampullaria, one of many species of pitcher plants in Borneo, which has a globular pitcher and grows in damp, shady forests. The frogs deposit their eggs on the sides of the pitcher, and tadpoles grow in the liquid accumulated inside the plant.

Adult males of the new species range between 10.6 and 12.8 mm – about the size of a pea. Because they are so tiny, finding them proved to be a challenge. The frogs were tracked by their call, and then made to jump onto a piece of white cloth to be examined closer. The singing normally starts at dusk, with males gathering within and around the pitcher plants. They call in a series of harsh rasping notes that last for a few minutes with brief intervals of silence. This “amphibian symphony” goes on from sundown until peaking in the early hours of the evening.

Amphibians are the most threatened group of animals, with a third of them in danger of extinction. They provide important services to humans such as controlling insects that spread disease and damage crops and helping to maintain healthy freshwater systems. Teams of scientists from Conservation International and IUCN’s Amphibian Specialist Group around the world have recently launched an unprecedented search in the hope of rediscovering 100 species of “lost” amphibians – animals considered potentially extinct but that may be holding on in a few remote places.

The search, which is taking place in 20 countries on five continents, will help scientists to understand the recent amphibian extinction crisis. Dr. Das is leading a team of scientists who will search for the Sambas Stream Toad (Ansonia latidisca) in Indonesia and Malaysia in September. The toad was last seen in the 1950s. It is believed that increased sedimentation in streams after logging may have contributed to the decline of its population.

“Amphibians are quite sensitive to changes in their surroundings, so we hope the discovery of these miniature frogs will help us to understand what changes in the global environment are having an impact on these fascinating animals,” said Conservation International’s Dr. Robin Moore, who has organized the search on behalf of IUCN’s Amphibian Specialist Group.

To follow the search for the lost amphibians visit: www.conservation.org/lostfrogs .

The new analysis, which has been undertaken for World Water Week, identifies that the worrying decline in many of the world’s turtle species is evidence that humanity’s management of vital freshwater ecosystems is causing deep and damaging environmental impacts that will affect people and wildlife alike.

Dr Peter Paul van Dijk, Director of Conservation International’s Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program said: “The key problems these animals are facing are changes to their habitats – in particular because of the damming of the rivers where they live for hydro-electricity, on top of hunting for food and a very lucrative trade in rare turtles as pets.

“More than 40 per cent of the planet’s freshwater turtle species are threatened with extinction – making them among the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Their decline is an indicator that the freshwater ecosystems that millions of people rely on for irrigation, food and water are being damaged in a manner that could have dire consequences for people and turtles alike.”

The analysis identifies a number of turtle species that are particularly threatened, and Dr van Dijk has listed ten he considers are severely at risk (images are available from the link below):

1. Red River Giant Softshell Turtle,Rafetus swinhoei– With only four individuals remaining alive in the world, this may be the most threatened of all turtles. Two long-term captive animals in China were brought together three years ago and have produced eggs, but these failed to develop. One lone animal confined in Hoan Kiem lake in downtown Hanoi is revered as symbol of Vietnam’s independence. And the last animal remaining in the wild – also in Vietnam – became the reluctant subject of a hostage drama when his home reservoir burst its dam in November 2008, was washed downriver, and was caught by a fisherman who only released it back to conservationists after protracted negotiations; the day ended well for all involved, particularly the turtle who was released back into its native wetland late that night.
2. Red-crowned River Turtle Batagur kachuga,– historically widespread throughout the great rivers of northern India, Bangladesh and Nepal, intensive egg collection, capture of adults for consumption, dams, and river pollution impacted it so badly that there’s only a single viable population left, in the ‘unholy’ Chambal River of central India. Males remain much smaller than females and colour spectacularly for courtship season.
3. Myanmar River Turtle Batagur trivittata,– ‘Sibling species’ of the B. kachuga, feared extinct from 1935 until rediscovery in 1993, this species once occurred in large numbers in the Irrawaddy river system of Myanmar (Burma) until its populations shrunk to under a dozen mature animals in the upper Chindwin river as a result of egg collection, hunting and habitat degradation including dams and gold mining. The eggs of these last animals have been protected in recent years and the juveniles are being raised at Mandalay Zoo for re-introduction.
4. Roti Snake-necked Turtle Chelodina mccordi,– discovered on the small Indonesian island of Roti in 1994, it was immediately in great demand for the pet trade in America, Europe and Japan, and the species was collected into near-extinction by 2000. Captive breeding for re-introduction is slow and a long-term prospect at best.
5. Southeast Asian Giant Softshell Turtle Chitra chitra,– One of the largest turtles in the world (weighing up to a quarter ton), it is restricted now to scattered individuals in two rather small rivers in western Thailand and Java (Indonesia), where they continue to be under severe threat from hunting for consumption, egg collection, and pollution and damming of these rivers.
6. Yunnan Box Turtle Cuora yunnanensis,– considered extinct until a few individuals were found in 2005 at a location still kept secret in China’s Yunnan province, these animals are the nucleus of a hoped-for conservation breeding program for the species. Black market prices in the pet trade may exceed USD 10,000.
7. Central American River Turtle Dermatemys mawii– a big, vegetarian turtle, primarily found in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, the last species of a group that traces its ancestry back to the time of the dinosaurs, with no obvious changes in appearance. Its meat is highly prized in Central America for Lent, Easter and other religious celebrations, making it so valuable that collectors charter planes to fly into remote wetlands, collect these turtles, and fly them out.
8. Bog Turtle Glyptemys muhlenbergii, – A tiny (4 inch shell length) turtle of the foothills of the Eastern USA, it is a habitat specialist living in spring meadows and other small marshes, where it digs tunnels like a mole to hunt for worms, slugs and grubs. About 98% of its habitat has been converted to agricultural lands, with just scattered small populations remaining from New York to Tennessee.
9. Annam Pond Turtle Mauremys annamensis,– a species restricted to marshy wetlands of central Vietnam, it was intensively collected to supply the Chinese food trade in the 1990s and only a handful of animals remain in the wild. There are good populations in captivity, which breed well, and repatriation to Vietnam as a first step towards re-introduction of the species has already occurred.
10. Coahuila Box Turtle Terrapene coahuila,– All other box turtles (so named because the two halves of the lower shell can raise up and close off the shell like a box) are mostly land-living, but this species from the semi-desert of northern Mexico has gone back to living permanently in freshwater – in its case the springs and marshes of Cuatro Cienegas, a desert oasis complex under significant threat from desiccation through groundwater pumping for agriculture and residential use, as well as agricultural land conversion within the Cuatro Cienegas basin.

Dr. Tracy Farrell, the leader of Conservation International’s Freshwater team added: “It’s time that the international community recognized that we need a holistic approach to managing our freshwater ecosystems. Failure to protect the source, flow and delivery of freshwater in an interconnected way, results in a loss of benefits to species and people. We have already lost half of our wetlands and dammed two thirds of our major rivers . Damming in one place can have dramatic consequences downstream, and if we don’t consider the whole of a system we threaten not only important populations of animals – like turtles – but also human populations that rely on these waterways for food, irrigation, drinking water and even transport.”

Peter Paul van Dijk added: “If we don’t act now to protect the habitats that support these creatures and take stronger action to tackle both the international and domestic markets in these animals for pets and food we stand a very real chance that we will lose them forever.”

1. Encourage physical activity. The Childhood Obesity Foundation of Canada suggests that children have at least 1 hour of physical activity each day. This could be as simple as playing an organized sport, or just running around and playing in your backyard or neighbourhood park. Be a good role, model and be active with your kids as much as possible.

2. Prevent obesity early: The best way to fight obesity is knowing how to prevent it. Encourage healthy eating and physical activity including: consuming less sugary food and drinks, watching less TV and spending less time on the computer, and encouraging at least 1 hour of physical activity each day.

3. Encourage healthy eating: Encourage your children to eat 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. The easiest way to do this is to include 1 fruit or vegetable in each meal. Make it fun for the kids so they enjoy eating it.

4. Take multi-vitamins: Make sure your kids are getting enough essential vitamins and minerals. Now-a-days chewable multi-vitamins come in well-known cartoon character shapes, like the Flintstones or Scooby-Doo! Get chewable vitamins in their favourite cartoon characters and it will encourage them to take them every day.

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Welcome to the biggest shift in human capability since the industrial revolution…Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

It’s a new modern world…and if you are not taking advantage of the full utility and opportunities of the Web and social media techniques you are really missing out.

eZABU can help. The eZABU platform is designed to manage and care for all your online content, including creating new social media and blog opportunities, and is expert at fully integrating your business message, products and services successfully with the new communities of the World Wide Web. What’s most appealing about eZABU, unlike other marketing and advertising efforts, is the analytics behind every action of eZABU that report the reach and success in real time of how they are working for you.

If the Social Web has taught us anything, it’s that Business win when they not only have a story to tell, but one that people want to interact with and share. We help Business tell these stories. To learn more about eZABU and the social media business services and web solutions we can provide you and your business, visit our website at these locations: eZABU Home Page | eZABU Get Noticed Page | eZABU Our Clients Page.

eZABU is a powerful web-based platform that is able to connect, integrate and manage your complete on-line presence.  What this means is that our business solution can develop, design, manage and integrate your online presence with a complete social media network package (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all the others!) and produce new interesting dynamic content for your web-presence each and every week.

Ready to take your Business to thousands of people in Campbell River engaged in Social Media? For far less than you think…much, much less than you think!

Contact Us today via eMail or contact Lawrence Lewis directly at 250-203-3787  for all the details.

Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

“I think the important thing for parents and others to hear is that the conclusion, at this point in time, is that the wireless communications systems do not pose a public health risk,” said Dr. Arlene King.

There are always reports or studies that differ from the majority of the literature on any given item, but relying on recognized authorities like the World Health Organization and Health Canada is the safest route for the public, added King.

“It is understandable that people are sometimes confused about where to go for the right information,” she said.

“We look not just at individual studies and their quality but the overall weight of the literature in order to come to a conclusion about whether or not there are public health risks associated with a specific entity or exposure.”

Some Ontario parents who formed the Simcoe County Safe School Committee believe Wi-Fi transmitters in schools may be responsible for a host of symptoms their kids show — from headaches to an inability to concentrate — all of which disappear on weekends.

There’s no evidence to support their claims, said King.

“I have been advised by the health unit in which the concerns about the children have been raised that they are not aware of any illness in the community that could be traced back to the use of wireless systems in schools,” she said.

Health Canada said Wednesday there was “no convincing scientific evidence” that Wi-Fi in schools is dangerous to children.

However, professor Magda Havas of Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., who researches the health effects of electromagnetic radiation, said Health Canada’s data is outdated and incorrect.

“If they’ve read the papers I’ve read, they couldn’t come up with a conclusion that there’s no convincing evidence,” said Havas.

“I’m totally convinced.”

The Wi-Fi transmitters, cellphones and even new smart meters for electricity are based on the same technology with the same microwave radiation, and can cause the same symptoms, said Havas.

“The children in these schools are complaining of headaches, which is one of the early symptoms. They’re complaining that they can’t concentrate, which is also one of the symptoms,” she said.

“Some of them feel weak, which is also a symptom, and the one that disturbs me the most is a number of the children are having heart palpitations.”

The Trent University professor is about to publish results of a study she did on the effects of a cordless telephone on the heart rate of adult volunteers. She found just plugging in a wireless telephone in the room sent heart rates rocketing up to as high as 150 beats per minute, she said.

“When we plugged it into a dead outlet, which the subjects couldn’t tell, their heart rate instantly returned to normal,” said Havas.

“We did it again (with a live outlet) and instantly the heart rate jumped up to 120 again. The levels of exposure were .3 per cent of our federal guidelines.”

Radio-frequency energy levels from Wi-Fi must meet Health Canada’s safety guidelines, and the agency said wireless is safe for kids as long as exposure in schools is below established limits.

But critics point out Health Canada’s code also includes a cautionary note about not applying to all new technologies: “In a field where technology is advancing rapidly, and where unexpected and unique problems may occur, this code cannot cover all possible situations.”

Ontario’s opposition parties said the government has a responsibility to look into the parents’ concerns about Wi-Fi in schools instead of claiming the issue is a federal responsibility.

New Democrat France Gelinas wrote to King asking for her guidance after “so many cases of anecdotal evidence” about school kids getting sick from Wi-Fi transmissions.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Canada’s largest teachers’ union, debated the issue Tuesday but rejected a call from members in Niagara for a ban on Wi-Fi in classrooms.

However, the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said enough concerns were raised by teachers that boards will begin monitoring the issue of technology and children’s health.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Welcome to the biggest shift in human capability since the industrial revolution…Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

It’s a new modern world…and if you are not taking advantage of the full utility and opportunities of the Web and social media techniques you are really missing out.

eZABU can help. The eZABU platform is designed to manage and care for all your online content, including creating new social media and blog opportunities, and is expert at fully integrating your business message, products and services successfully with the new communities of the World Wide Web. What’s most appealing about eZABU, unlike other marketing and advertising efforts, is the analytics behind every action of eZABU that report the reach and success in real time of how they are working for you.

If the Social Web has taught us anything, it’s that Business win when they not only have a story to tell, but one that people want to interact with and share. We help Business tell these stories. To learn more about eZABU and the social media business services and web solutions we can provide you and your business, visit our website at these locations: eZABU Home Page | eZABU Get Noticed Page | eZABU Our Clients Page.

eZABU is a powerful web-based platform that is able to connect, integrate and manage your complete on-line presence.  What this means is that our business solution can develop, design, manage and integrate your online presence with a complete social media network package (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all the others!) and produce new interesting dynamic content for your web-presence each and every week.

Ready to take your Business to thousands of people in Campbell River engaged in Social Media? For far less than you think…much, much less than you think!

Contact Us today via eMail or contact Lawrence Lewis directly at 250-203-3787  for all the details.

Download Our “Get Found Online” Guide

A study conducted at McMaster University has found it’s possible for individuals to reach a similar level of muscle building using weights that are lighter.

But while they may be reducing the weight, that doesn’t necessarily mean the same for the workload.

According to the research findings, published in the Public Library of Science, individuals may use lighter weights, but the key is to pump up until reaching muscle fatigue.

“Rather than grunting and straining to lift heavy weights, you can grab something much lighter, but you have to lift it until you can’t lift it anymore,” says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in a release.

“We’re convinced that growing muscle means stimulating your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time accumulates into bigger muscles.”

The small study included 15 men who performed four sets of unilateral leg extension exercises. They used light weights representing a percentage of what the subjects could lift.

Heavier weights were set to 90 per cent of a person’s best lift, while light weights were set at 30 per cent of what they were able to lift.

Phillips says the 80 per cent to 90 per cent range is usually something people can lift between five and 10 times before fatigue starts to set in.

Lead author and senior PhD student Nicholas Burd reported that, at 30 per cent, study subjects said they could lift that weight at least 24 times before feeling fatigued.

Phillips says the findings could have practical significance for gym enthusiasts, but more importantly for those individuals with compromised skeletal muscle mass, including seniors, cancer patients or those who are recovering from trauma, surgery or even stroke.

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