Treasury secretary may be fall guy in port flap

Some Republican advisers to Hill leaders, angered with the poor handling of the plan to hand over operations at major U.S. ports to a Dubai company, are suggesting that Treasury Secretary John Snow may take the fall for the White House.

Even as administration officials dismissed the suggestion outright, some lawmakers and their aides were looking to pin the blame on somebody other than the president and the White House. They're focused on Snow because he is the head of the group that approves such deals, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. Snow has said he didn't learn about the port deal until it was publicized last week.

While he is still liked inside the White House, it has long been rumored that Snow would be resigning this year. And some conservative opponents of the deal are suggesting that he – and whomever he designated as his representative during the CFIUS review – bow out soon to take the heat off the president.

By Paul Bedard

Medical science fiction becoming reality?

If you're a Star Trek fan, you'll be very familiar with the medical Tricorder - a diagnostic device used in the 'Sick Bay' of the USS Enterprise. The handheld tool was used to measure various vital signs of an ailing patient simply by pointing the gadget at their body. But that was science fiction. Now Winnipeg's Institute for Biodiagnostics - a wing of the National Research Council - is in the process of making the wonder tool of Dr. McCoy and Dr. Crusher into a medical reality…sort of.

"It's not really a Tricorder as such," admits Dr. Mike Sowa, one of the principal researchers. "But it's a small spectrometer." The infrared technology itself is nothing new, but the smaller size and faster speed of the equipment has allowed new advances in medical applications. "You can see, for instance, a place that has been reconstructed in surgery and determine if it's getting healthy or getting worse," he says.

The infrared technology allows the medical team to acquire a good spectra of an area by placing the spectrometer slightly above or preferably on the site of interest. With prompt computational methods, the area can be analyzed very quickly, and a near instantaneous diagnosis can be made of the oxygen levels in the tissues.

Although the prototypes are not handheld, highly sophisticated gizmos like those on Star Trek; Sowa does think the science fiction comparison is not all fantasy. "That was the motivation," he contends, "to see how far you can push science fiction into reality." And now they're slowly getting there, he adds. "We have some fairly conservative targets that we think we can measure non-invasively in a human. I'm sure as we get better at it, we'll be able to analyze more information non-invasively.

For the moment, the Winnipeg team has developed two prototypes of the spectrometer - one to measure whether premature babies are getting enough oxygen to the brain, and the other to determine the success rate of skin grafts in burn victims. Although neither of them is compact in size at the moment, Sowa believes it's only a matter of time. "The initial prototype is actually embedded in a PC but there's no reason why it couldn't be made in a smaller fashion," he says. "That just requires more engineering time and I'm sure any marketer will make it a much smaller unit."

So Star Trek it ain't. But the promise of new applications will likely lead to more innovations - perhaps closer to the medical tricoder than even the biggest Trekkies could have ever imagined. "We actually think there are more applications but we have to go out and do a lot of work to either to extend the applications or find new ones," remarks Sowa. Perhaps the NRC will boldly go where no one has gone before… "

By: Steven Hunt

The Worlds Population is soaring to the 6.5 billion mark!

The population of the world is estimated to reach the 6.5 billion mark this week. According to the U.S. Census Bureau it is estimated that each second 4.1 people are born and 1.8 people die. However it is estimated that the even though the world’s population is growing, it is growing at a much slower rate.

It is estimated that the population is currently growing at a rate of 1:1 percent each year, this is a major change from 2:1 rate from the early 60’s to the early 70’s.

This brings up the question, How many people can the Earth Support? The answer is it depends. There are a lot of factors that part a role such as, is the population still growing in the already crowded cities?, is the population of the les populated areas growth increasing?, and the relocation of people from less crowded to the more populated areas.

It seams that the less developed countries of the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Africa retain the highest growth rates. With the U.S. population still growing at a pretty steady rate (which is believed to be in part to a growing number of people immigrating to the U.S.), the population of the U.S. is estimated o pass the 300 million mark this year. The over all Earth’s population (according to the Census Bureau) is estimated to pass the 7 billion mark within the next 6 or 7 years.

How many people can the planet support is directly related to the supply of arable land, consumption of resources such as food, fuel, water, etc. Agricultural changes and advance technology certainly play a big role in increasing the amount of people the planet can support.

For additional information, try looking around online and seeing what facts you come up with. A good place to take a look at would be “Population Reference Bureau” at http://www.prb.org/

Written by A. Wallace

How To Choose The Perfect Digital Camera For You!

The huge variety of Digital Cameras in the market is a great thing but it is making our buying decision a difficult task. The following buying tips will help you make a better, more educated, focused and rational purchase decision. Please take into account that there is no one perfect Digital Camera that contains all the required features and sells at a low price too, so it will be a compromise like many others we make in life. Do You Really Need a Digital Camera? To answer this compare the price of mid range digital cameras and divide it by the cost of a roll of film. How many rolls of film you need to buy before covering the cost of your digital camera? On average good mid range digital camera cost approximately $ 600. Film will average $ 2. You will buy 200 rolls of films before ever covering the cost of your new digital camera. Think about it, how much time in terms of years would it take to shoot 300 rolls of film X 36 frames? It is almost 11,000 pictures! Shooting ten rolls a year on average would take 30 years to spend $ 600 in terms of rolls of film and if the cost of the camera was only $ 200 then it will take " only " 10 years. Do you start getting the picture here? Don't forget that there is the cost of developing and the cost of the prints, but if you want to get similar quality prints as film camera then you will have to send your digital images to a mini lab printer as well. So please, don't buy into the idea you are saving money here... It is true though that with the digital camera you print only the best shots you like most and not all 36 pictures, so at some point everything begins to balance out. Another point to consider is that, many people don't print digital images, they store it on their computers or over the internet in digital albums, or they make a presentation with background music, burn it on a DVD disk, and share it with family and friends at their living room on TV. The truth is always somewhere in the middle. If it is not necessarily cheaper, does the Digital Cameras give better quality results? The answer is short: NO! Experts may even argue that film quality is better. There is the psychological aspect behind it all. Remember not having to buy film gives you the free feeling of taking as many pictures as you like, with instant satisfaction of seeing results immediately. Secondly, you always have the option to retake shots. Thirdly, people tend to store or print only the best pictures. The overall result is improvement in our recorded memories; we shoot much more, correct and delete bad ones and store or print only the very best. In addition, imaging software enables us to even further improve saturation of colors, Compensate for bad exposures, crop, rotate, make a collage from many pictures, add Artistic Graphics Text and style. To sum it all up, it is not true that the Digital Cameras are saving money, the quality is not higher than Film camera, in general the new better Digital cameras give you more manual control over exposure and shutter speeds. Psychologically we feel relaxed and free to shoot much more pictures. The end result is an overall improvement in recording our live memories. What Do You Need to Look for in a Digital Camera: Examine the Camera at a real store: First I would like to suggest that the whole buying process not be done over the Internet even though it is convenient and tempting. In my view it is very important to see the camera, to hold it in your hands, and most importantly to try it and see the results. The features of many digital cameras look quite similar and it is hard to make a decision merely by feature comparisons. It might be very handsome nice looking camera on the Internet but may be it is too small for your big hands? Did you know that some Digital cameras have up to 3 seconds delay between pushing the button and the actual shutter Movement (Picture taking). In 3 seconds my son is out of the frame already... One warning, come prepared (after reading this article), listen to the salesman but with a critic ear, as objectivity may be obscured and profit margin goals may be at mind. You don't have to buy at the store, If you like a specific camera now is the time to go to the Internet and compare specific model prices. buy only at a reputable and reliable store either virtual or not. Decide on a Certain Budget and Stick to it: Photo gear has a lot of want to haves, nice to haves and let me have that one as well, gadgets. Most camera manufacturers provide a basic memory card of 16 MB, this will be good for only a few high quality pictures, I strongly recommend you will buy a 128 MB or even better yet 256 MB Memory Card. Since Digital Cameras use LCD screen, battery consumption is much higher than what you are use to in film cameras, it is recommended to invest in a battery charger. Allocate a budget for your camera, but make sure it includes the Camera + Memory Card + Battery charger + case and even consider Wide Angel Converter. Skin tone: Test the cameras quality by taking a picture of people, observe the skin tone (face, hands etc'), does the skin tone looks natural to you? Or is it too pale or yellowish? Is it too reddish or pink? Insist on a good natural result. How Many Mega Pixels? The very basic " Point & Shoot " models can start with 2 Mega and can give very good results but I recommend you choose 3 mega or even 4 Mega for prints of up to 5 x 7. If you don't need many enlargements it is high quality and sufficient. There are compact models with even 7 Mega pixels but for all practical reasons it is an over kill, I would invest in wider aperture lens and longer range zoom. Don't think if your neighbor bought a 7 Mega camera that his camera is better, It's not. What Aperture Lens: The smaller the number the better, it is always marked with "f", for instance aperture range: f2.8 - f4, if it is constant on the entire zoom range, let's say f2.8 on all zoon range - excellent, the longer the zoom range the harder it is to produce a small aperture number, for instance a zoom range of 36mm - 420mm (12 X) if it is f2.8 on all the range it is impressive. a camera with Aperture range of f2 - f3 Very good. Higher aperture than f5 will produce less desirable results. Zoom Range:(Optical) The longer the range the better, you can catch a distant object, make nice close ups and portraits, it gives you more accessibility, flexibility and creative options. A long 420 mm (12 X) is excellent range BUT, you need to understand that the longer the zoom range the bigger the amplification of any hand shaking with the camera, therefore it is recommended to hold your breath, be as stable as you can with your hands and body but even better yet to use a Tripod. I would even compromise a bit on the range to be 370 mm (10 X) " only ". Important feature on a long-range zoom is an Anti-Shake or Image stabilizer. These features compensate approximately one f stop or more on movements. I referred here to Optical zoom, there is a digital zoom in addition but usually the quality of it is very low, some salesmen tend to confuse the customers by multiplying the optical zoom by the digital zoon and claiming the camera to be 12 optical x 4 digital = (48 X)! Ignore such statements, refer just to Optical zoom. In the old Film cameras a long zoom range meant a very long bulge, in the current modern Digital Cameras it extends less than an inch and stops, all the rest is done internally by the Cameras optics. Wide Angel: Most Digital Cameras do not have wide angel! It is one of the their biggest shortcomings, 36 mm or even worse 37 mm is not a wide angel zoom, as a result when taking pictures indoor you will notice you cannot catch a better part of the scene or only part of the room, when shooting outdoor you will notice that only part of the landscape can be included in the frame. Not to worry, there is a solution! Wide Angel Adaptor, it is an add on which is placed over the existing lens. It can be (X 0.75) = 28 mm, it can be (X 0.66) = 24 mm which is excellent. There is an additional charge for adopters as they are produced either by a third party or the original manufacturer of the camera. Adaptors give small Distortions so as a rule of thumb it is much better to have the original manufacturer adaptor as it matches optically much better. There is even Macro ad on Adaptors available. LCD Screen: The bigger the better, average size is 1.8", but there are models with 2" and even 2.5", another feature is a swivel (flip-out & twist) LCD screens, you can show your kid His picture in real time, and it can help you take a difficult angel and access shots. The LCD screens have one big problem, that is, under sun light and outdoor conditions it is very difficult to see the picture on them. Therefore, if it has Anti Glare feature it's better. The more pixels the better. ISO Rating: This one is important to actually check in the store and observe the results carefully. The wider the range the better, both on the low and high sides of the scale. If it is less than 100 it means you will get very good results in bright day light sunny conditions (Iso 50 or 80 ), if it is Iso 400 and up it means you will get excellent results on low light conditions. Some of Digital Cameras don't perform well in Iso rating of above 200, (e.g. you will see a lot of noise and snow flakes), this is why I recommended verifying it. Optics: The quality of the Glass Optics is Important, some of the Manufacturers wave with their Optics Brands well known producers like: Leica lens Carl Zeiss lens Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens Nikkor Lens Canon Lens Etc? Additional points: Auto Focus - The more points the better - (9 Points is very good). External Flash options via hot shoe a plus. Lens Protective Hood - Better Light input + physical protection of the lens. Who is the Camera manufacturer? Most of the Digital cameras are designed in Japan, it is very important to choose a reliable producer with strong and experienced knowledge of Cameras, with a large variety of models and commitment to service and excellence. Always think who is the manufacturer, is he coming from the film field, Printers producer, and electronics or has he dealt with cameras from day one. Summary: The economy of the Digital Camera is not cheaper than Film Cameras. The overall result of using Digital Camera is improvement in our recorded memories, we shoot much more, correct and delete bad ones and Store only the very best. Examine and test the Camera at a real store only then compare prices in the Internet, buy only at reputable store. Decide on a Budget and stick to it, Take into account all the accessories such as bigger memory card of at least 256 MB. Aperture lens - The smaller the "f" number the better, Range between f2 - f3 is very good, and f2.8 across all the zoom range is excellent. Especially if the zoom is long. Zoom range of (12 X) or (10 X), with Anti Shake or Image Stabilizer is great, Consider adding a Tripod. Wide angel adaptor is most important (0.75 X) or even better yet (0.66 X), original manufacturer adapters will give you best optical compatibility. LCD Screen - The bigger the better, Flip out & twist, Anti Glare, High Resolution. ISO Rating - Preferable range 50 - 800, settle for 80 - 400, Test It! Optics - well known manufacturers will give you better quality output. Auto Focus - The more points the better - (9 Points is very good). External Flash options via hot shoe a big plus. Lens Protective Hood - Better Light input + physical protection of the lens. Well-known leader and experienced Camera manufacturer with good service backup. A list of major camera manufacturers web sites: Canon USA Casio-USA Nikon USA Fuji-Film-US Hasselblad HP-US Kodak Photo Konica-Minolta-US Mamiya Leica-Camera Olympus-America Panasonic-Cameras Pentax Samsung-camera-usa Sigma-Cameras Sony-US In my view the best place to look for Information on Digital Cameras Is the Preview web site at: www.dpreview.com. Here you can Read the Latest Digital Camera news, In depth reviews of specific models, Compare side by side cameras, see picture samples, forums with specific Sections of Manufacturers and cameras models. In addition you get final professional Conclusions. This article can be obtained Free of charge at: www.1st-Photography-World.com.

Written by: Amit Laufer

Why you should consider online tutoring for your child

When most parents hear the word online tutoring, they can't quite envision it, but when students hear the word online tutoring, they are intrigued. Online tutoring allows a tutor and student to communicate from computer to computer. Most online tutoring sessions take place inside an online classroom.

Many online tutoring services offer a whiteboard so words can be written or drawn with the mouse and keyboard. Only the best online tutoring classrooms offer voice over. This means both the student and tutor can speak through the computer as long as both have a microphone and speakers.

Once the parent understands the concept of online tutoring, they are often times amazed. Their child can ask any question and the tutor is able to walk the student through the entire problem solving process and help the student to solve each problem. This one on one communication is what most students need to overcome learning obstacles.

In the classroom, most students are left behind if they don't ask specific questions to help them understand what they are learning. Once a student starts falling behind, tutoring must be provided to prevent failing grades. Often times a personal face to face tutor intimidates students and still might not help.

Online tutoring allows any student to get the one on one attention they need without the intimidation factor. Students’ feel comfortable learning online and the fact that each lesson can be printed is a wonderful study tool.

If you never tried online tutoring, I suggest you give it a try and allow your child to learn online. The cost is usually less than a private tutor and you won't have to drive and worry about scheduling issues. Your child can learn from any computer as long as there is an Internet connection.

See what online tutoring with voice is all about. Our private tutors will help you get better grades and this is a guarantee. View a demonstration right now. Go to http://www.live-etutor.com for more information.

Written by Site Editor of SeekIndex.com