Touch is the new thing...

Touch screens seem to be the newest trend in technology. Now days we see phones, ipods, computers, and other similar devices all being operated via a touch screen or pad. Just today, Apple(R) introduced the world's first multi-touch mouse. It will be coming standard with all Apple(R) computers and will also be available to buy separately as an accessory for just under $70.

According to prnewswire.com, "Magic Mouse features a seamless touch-sensitive enclosure that allows it to be a single or multi-button mouse with advanced gesture support. Using intuitive gestures, users can easily scroll through long documents, pan across large images or swipe to move forward or backward through a collection of web pages or photos. Magic Mouse works for left or right handed users and multi-button or gesture commands can be easily configured from within System Preferences.

"The Magic Mouse laser tracking engine provides a smooth, consistent experience across more surfaces than a traditional optical tracking system. Magic Mouse uses Bluetooth wireless capabilities to create a clean, cable-free desk top and its secure wireless connection works from up to 10 meters away. To extend battery performance, Magic Mouse includes an advanced power management system that works with Mac OS® X to automatically switch to low power modes during periods of inactivity. The wireless Magic Mouse is powered by two AA batteries which are included."

Now this device is just the latest in "touch" devices being released by companies throughout the world. What is it about "touch" that is so captivating. From my experience with talking about "touch" phones with my friends, most of them complain about how they suddenly stopped working before they were even a year old. Also they talk about how they loose their sensitivity and make it hard to text sometimes.

Now I have not only heard bad stories about "touch" phones. I also have friends who really love their phones and feel that they are easy to use and very slick. I have never had a "touch" anything. I like to be able to feel the buttons that I am pushing. My latest advance is to get a phone with a slide out full key pad. I do really like this as it creates a mini computer key pad, which enables me to text more rapidly, especially when it comes to numbers as I do not have to change the format I'm in to get numbers, they are already on my key pad.

So what is going to happen with "touch" devices? Are they going to be a trend that suddenly disappears? Or are we going to see more and more devices using "touch"? Personally, I can definitely see more and more "touch" devices. I just wonder what will be next. Are we going to see touch screens being standard in cars for setting cruise control, the radio, heating and air conditioning, lights, etc.? Are we going to see students writing their papers on a computer notebook that transfers the writing to word process, much like some laptop computers are capable of doing? What is next? I am sure we will soon find out...

U.S. President Barack Obama wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama is the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, you heard that right. President Obama did in fact win the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, something that shocked many throughout the world whereas others seem to have seen it coming.

I was definitely surprised to see this awarded to our President as where many of my fellow Americans. In class after it was announced, I was talking to several of my classmates about what they thought about President Obama winning such a prestigious prize. The ultimate question coming off of nearly every classmate's tongue was, "Why?"

I myself even asked that question. I campaigned for President Obama in the previous election, so I would definitely be considered a big supporter of President Obama. Even as a supporter, I still could not help but ask why.

When going through his qualifications, I see that at age 48, he seems too young. Also, I understand that he is working hard to increase world peace, but what has he gotten accomplished so far that is so grand? I cannot come up with an answer to that question.

So after trying hard to figure out why, I decided to see what other people thought was the reason. Some are saying that the Nobel committee will sometimes give the award to someone who they feel is in the process of doing something great. By doing this, they hope to draw more attention to what that individual is doing in an attempt to get quicker more wide spread results.

I can definitely see this being a reason, as President Obama is doing a lot to try and increase the U.S.'s relations with countries throughout the world. I have also heard people who think that he only got it, because he was our first black president. I do feel that just that itself does give U.S. a different look from countries throughout the world, but I cannot see that being the sole reason for his award.

The reason that is published most is that President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." This is according to almaz.com.

No matter what the reason, President Obama receiving this award can have nothing but a positive effect on our country, so everyone put your hands together and congratulate the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, President Barack Obama!

American writers, not good enough for Nobel Prize in Literature, or are they?

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded Thursday, October 8 to Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller. Great for her, but there is something else going on behind the scenes that is to an extent overshadowing this great accomplishment.

Certain members of the Nobel Prize selection committee have very strong opinions on certain areas. Literature is definitely one of them. According to The Associated Press, "Before last year's prize announcement, outgoing permanent secretary Horace Engdahl said the U.S. was too insular and ignorant to challenge Europe as the center of the literary world."

Wow! That is one strong statement. This opinion is shared by other members of the committee as well, but not by all.

"Englund struck a different tone, telling AP Tuesday that in most language areas 'there are authors that really deserve and could get the Nobel Prize and that goes for the United States and the Americas, as well.'" This is taken from an article in The Associated Press.

So what is it? Is American literature good enough or not? Apparently, there are multiple opinions on this issue. Specifically, they discuss the American songwriter, Bob Dylan.

According to The Associated Press, "Dylan is believed to have been nominated several times before, but doesn't quite fit the profile of a Nobel literature laureate. Besides primarily being a songwriter, his mass following could also be considered a minus by the Swedish Academy, which often chooses writers who are unfamiliar to the everyday reader. However, Dylan is considered by many prominent literary critics to be a major poet, his song lyrics worthy of serious study."

Why should the writers by unfamiliar to the everyday reader? This does not make sense to me. Are not Nobel Prize winners people who make a difference in the world through their work? Then, what is the use of their work if nobody reads it? Bob Dylan is being criticized, because too many people like his work? Something is wrong here.

The fact is, although the committee is to be politically neutral, there will always be some politics involved.

AP also wrote, "The last American winner was Toni Morrison in 1993. No writer from South America has won since Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1982. The last North American writer was Canadian Saul Bellow, who won in 1976 and was a resident of the United States for much of his life."

Some serious rethinking needs to be done by some members of the Nobel Prize committee. What is it about American literature that is so bad? Nothing. Open your eyes committee. There are several well deserving individuals who write massively influential pieces of literature that deserve to be recognized for what they have done for the world.

An effective vaccine for HIV might be just around that corner.

For the first time ever, an HIV vaccination has actually began to show some effectiveness in preventing HIV!

According to prnewswire.com, "In the final analysis, 74 placebo recipients became infected with HIV compared to 51 in the vaccine regimen arm. The efficacy result is statistically significant. The vaccine regimen had no effect on the amount of virus in the blood of volunteers who became HIV-infected during the study. More detailed results of this study will be presented next month at the AIDS Vaccine Conference, October 19 through 22 in Paris, France." Those statistics stated before means that the vaccine was approximately 30 percent effective.

The trial was conducted in Thailand and was performed on volunteer men and women ages 18 to 30 years old. It was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
They randomly selected half of the individuals to receive the vaccine and the others received the placebo. None of the individuals knew who had been given the vaccine and who hadn't.

What a break through! Hopefully shortly there will be a press release sent out that tells of how they have discovered a vaccine that is up to 90 percent effective in preventing HIV. Even a vaccine with up to 75 percent effectiveness would be amazing. If this were to occur, there would definitely be a need for a mass distribution of this vaccine in countries all over the world and especially in the continent of Africa where the aids epidemic is continuously growing.

According to avert.org, "Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. An estimated 22 million people are living with HIV in the region - around two thirds of the global total. In 2007 around 1.5 million people died from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 1.9 million people became infected with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic more than eleven million children have been orphaned by AIDS."

Those statistics should shock you. Something obviously needs to be done, and as a country that has the technology to find an effective vaccine, it is our duty to the world to try and help out. It was so exciting to read this press release. I do however feel that this press release needs be taken with cautious optimism.

Also, other steps to prevent the spread should still be enforced or recommended. Individuals in countries that are prone to getting HIV need to be educated on safe sex practices and other forms of protection that will help prevent the spread of HIV. The vaccine won't be a cure all, but it is a great start.

I thought the space age was finished....or not!

On July 20, 1969, the United States landed the first manned mission on the moon. Immediately following that great defeat, U.S. along with other countries in the world began to explore more and more with the intention to eventually land on Mars and beyond. Up through the 1990s, information about various space missions, most unmanned, were continuously in the news, but American citizens seemed to loose interest, so it no longer is in mainstream news.

I have never been really into learning about the space or anything like that. I know the basics like what NASA is, what the International Space Station is, what the solar system is, and where the big dipper is. Other than that, I am usually lost when speaking to space enthusiasts and experts. Other than the reports of work being done on the International Space Station, I have not heard of any other space related news in years!

While looking through Today's News on prnewswire.com, an interesting headline stuck out at me. It read as follows, " MESSENGER Spacecraft Prepares For Final Pass By Mercury." Now I could just be very non-observant, but I thought Messenger was done with Mercury years ago! Well apparently I was wrong.

According to prnewswire.com, "Determining the composition of Mercury's surface is a major goal of the orbital phase of the mission. The spacecraft already has imaged more than 90 percent of the planet's surface. The spacecraft's team will activate instruments during this flyby to view specific features to uncover more information about the planet." Not only is Messenger still flying, but it will continue to fly. It will be entering Mercury's orbit in 2011.

So far, Messenger has completed three-quarters of its nearly 5 billion mile trip. "The trip includes more than 15 trips around the sun. In addition to flying by Mercury, the spacecraft flew past Earth in August 2005 and Venus in October 2006 and June 2007" (prnewswire).

I am currently taking an Astronomy class at Valley City State University, and it has opened my eyes to other missions as well. I had no idea that we were still investigating the universe besides what is done at the International Space Station. Also in January of 2006, probes were sent to investigate Pluto. These will not be back to Earth until July 2015.

It is amazing how much we miss when it is not considered entertaining anymore. When Americans lost their interest in space, suddenly it was no longer in mainstream media, and before you know it, you have more and more uninformed individuals like myself. So whether or not you thought the space age was finished, I recommend that you check out the latest missions that are currently underway. You would be surprised by just how many you did not even know about. The space age is ALIVE!

America's dirty dancer dies

Patrick Swayze dies at 57 after a 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008, but shocked everyone when he planned to continue filming the series "The Beast" on A&E. He managed to film one season while undergoing treatment before he succumbed to the cancer on Monday.

Swayze is most widely known for his role in the 1987 film, "Dirty Dancing." He stole the hearts of women all over the world with his suave, bad-boy look and great body.

Swayze's film career began in 1979 in the movie, "Skatetown, U.S.A." As said before, he continued working up until his death. Besides "Dirty Dancing," Swayze also was in several other movies and TV series including, "Ghost" and "Tall Tales."

Swayze should be remembered for his beauty, grace, amazing looks, and determination. Although very sick in the last year, he managed to continue working. That is something to remember. He obviously had a lot of commitment to his work.

Swayze did have a rough life. He started drinking heavily after the sudden death of his father in 1982, and with that came many other problems. Then in 1994 his sister committed suicide. Alcohol became a problem for many years, but he soon evacuated that image.

I hope that people do not remember him for the tough times. Anyone who has been through that much personal loss can understand what he was going through. He should be remembered as the American heartthrob that captivated the hearts, stares, and desires of so many people both men and women alike.

According to the Fairfield Mirror, "Swayze will be remembered for his brilliant dance-acting and his strength as he battled through his last year."

Rest in peace, Patrick Swayze.

Lending a helping hand.

Vita-Tech International donated one ton of vitamins to Conakry, Guinea, West Africa to support nutritionally disadvantaged populations in polio treatment centers throughout the country, as well as rural villages in the area surrounding Conakry. They have always planned for a shipment in the future, so this is not just a one time deal.

More and more companies should invest in the welfare of other countries in our world that are struggling. As the saying goes, "With power comes great responsibility." Large corporations need to do more things to help out the world. They were given the power by the consumers, and they need to do more to give back what they were given. It sickens me to see CEO's driving fancy cars, going out to fancy restaurants, and buying outrageously priced clothes and other things while there are people in this world that are suffering.

"In Africa, the continent where the polio epidemic has been most difficult to control, efforts at disease eradication often work against a backdrop of civil unrest and war. In some countries, the end of years of fighting has led to a new push for public health measures, including widespread vaccination. Elsewhere, conflict continues to complicate vaccine delivery; temporary cease-fire agreements must be negotiated to allow vaccination and prevent serious outbreaks from occurring. When the system breaks down, the results can be disastrous"(Dove, 1999).

Polio is a very scary disease that has become an epidemic in Africa as was stated by the last quotation.

"Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but affects mainly children under three (over 50% of all cases). The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs)"(Global Polio).

With the help of companies such as Vita-Tech International, more and more lives will be spared in many countries in Africa. More and more countries should take the lead of companies like Vita-Tech International. Even small donations would go a long way to help with the efforts in Africa. We should all learn to lend a helping hand.

Tag: (Dove, 1999), (Global Polio), Vita-Tech International, Conakry, Guinea, West Africa,