Make It Classic

Although cell phones have transformed our lives greatly by providing us with a more convenient way of reaching people quickly and efficiently, they have also introduced problem that we have never had to deal with before. Cell phone users are getting younger and younger. In Japan, a third of sixth graders have cell phones, and in the ninth grade, sixty percent of the students have cellular devices. They are spending more and more time one these advanced machines, emailing each other and using the many other features and applications. Parents should be concern with the amount of time spent on these phones and the dangers that exist.

Except for the U.S. and a few countries in the Far East, Global System for Mobile Communication or GSM is the international cell phone standard which is used by almost all of the countries in the world. It is possible to carry one GSM cell phone and use it almost anywhere if a U.S. service provider has roaming agreements with foreign service providers and if the phone is world, tri or quad band.

There may be a need to switch the frequency of the phones when one arrives in a foreign country, using the menus that will make it work, although most phones do this automatically now. Roaming applies and callers must call a U.S. number to reach a phone whose SIM card has not been changed. A new SIM card can be purchased so that the phone will have a local telephone number thus all calls to and from the cell phone in the country of purchase will be local calls.

Over the past few years, individuals all over the world have started to use their cell phones more and more often to make their phone calls, even when they are near a landline. This may be because cell phone call rates have gone down drastically, and because most people have many free minutes. It no longer pays for them to use their landlines. Another reason for this change is the fact that cell phones now have much better battery lives than they used to. This means that one can talk on their cell phones as much as they want and wherever they want.

Since most people always have their cell phones with them, either in their pocket or in their handbag, it is just easier to pull it out and make a call, even if the landline is in the other room. That is why landlines are going dead. They will probably become “extinct” sometime soon, and only used for emergencies.

Clinical care, consultation and education delivered via communication technology or the world of telemedicine opens up unlimited opportunities in medicine. The possibilities range from the commonplace, such as consultation by e-mail or the far-fetched telesurgery on a patient in another country or even in space. The middle-ground possibilities consist of radiology consults on home computers, lectures broadcast in real time by satellite, home health care by videophone, centralized intensive care monitoring, travel-free prison health and late-shift international sourcing.

Real-life happenings such as an infectious disease specialist providing HIV care by videoconference to a prison population and an urologist who does hospital rounds by remote-controlled robot and perform robotic telesurgeries, are very much encouraging. Physicians can develop their own programs once guided by a reliable technical resource.

The concepts of telemedicine or providing medical care at a distance are not easily acceptable to both the medical practitioners and patients who feel that there is nothing better than actual physical consultation. There are also those who do not have access to such technology or those who are simply technologically-challenged.

One of the main challenges in telemedicine is connecting physicians to technology and program opportunities. There may be a need to push the limits of conventional thinking on clinical care. There is also a need to have a resource that will assist physicians with their telemedicine programs and ideas. Sharing of experiences, resources and information seems to be financially and programmatically sound at this time so that everyone would not need to start constantly from zero. Domestic regulatory and health insurance reimbursement requirements are some of the other obstacles in the area of telemedicine.

Traditionally, telemedicine has been defined as the practice of medicine at a distance with the use of videoconferencing, computer and communications technologies. Two other terms, telehealth and e-health, were later coined to signify the inclusion of allied health, distance education and Internet applications. In reality, telemedicine incorporates telehealth and e-health concepts and uses any of the available applicable electronic means to extend health care services and health sciences education to where and when it is needed.

When distance separates the medical professional from the patient, telemedicine is tapped using electronic communication and information technologies to provide health care. Health care professionals can use “connected” medical devices to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients in other locations. The key components of telemedicine include specialized application software, data storage devices, database management software and medical devices capable of electronic data collection, storage and transmission.

DNA technology has exhibited its potentials thus there is definite interest in improving it to better address the purposes for which it has shown its strength. For the past years, DNA research has focused on several areas that could possibly increase its potency in solving crimes.

Some of these are the development of a DNA chip technology that makes use of nanotechnology to improve speed and resolution of DNA evidence analysis; the development of more robust methods in the analysis of degraded, old or compromised biological evidence; advanced applications of various DNA analysis methods; the use of animal, plant and microbial DNA to provide links to DNA found on human perpetrators or victims; technologies that will enable DNA identification of vast numbers of samples as triggered by mass disaster or similar situations; and technologies that permit better separation of minute traces of male sexual assailant DNA from female victims. There is no doubt that there is much to be gained if all these are accomplished.

Compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs are bound to be the successor of the incandescent light bulbs which has served humanity for the longest time. It was invented by an engineer of General Electric but was shelved due to the high cost of building new factories to produce them. The design eventually leaked out and was copied by others. CFLs turned out to be a very important development in energy conservation. It uses between one-fifth and one-quarter of the power of an equivalent incandescent lamp.

The use of Compact fluorescent lamps reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants specifically in countries where electricity is largely produced from burning fossil fuels. Its use can also help reduce negative impacts from radioactive waste, hydroelectric plants or other sources.

First, change came in the way books were bought. Now, change comes in the form of how books are being read. A new wireless electronic book reader has recently been launched by a US-based web retailer. Aptly called the Kindle, it hopes to evoke a sense of igniting knowledge. This is the latest device among many that have come before that aims to deliver an electronic consumer gadget that allows users to download, store and read digital books.

This new technology opens up a new avenue of possibilities and opportunities for authors and publishers alike as they venture on experimenting with electronic books. The Kindle is battery-operated thereby eliminating the need for a computer. It is loosely being compared with the iPod digital music player that went on to radically change the music industry.