Be Smart

You’ve been told for years that popping a multivitamin every day might help you live longer. But the daily-multi habit has been getting a bit of bad press lately.

First, ConsumerLab.com, a watchdog of the supplement industry, found that more than half of the 21 multis it tested had too much (or too little) of certain vitamins—or had been contaminated with dangerous substances like lead. Then a controversial paper from researchers in Denmark and other European countries, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, made the claim that taking vitamins may actually shorten your life.

What’s the real story? Health talked to leading nutrition experts at Harvard and Tufts universities to find out and to get some answers on this and other confusing info about vitamins.

Are multivitamins safe?
Vitamins have been recommended for years because they help you get key nutrients if your diet’s low on fruits and veggies—and may even help prevent cancer and heart disease. And it’s unlikely that one critical paper (speculating that vitamin supplements might upset your body’s natural healing process and boost your risk of death) will change that.

Longtime vitamin experts at Tufts University and the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University continue to say multis aren’t dangerous and the paper’s findings are wrong. The paper analyzed previous studies, including many with people who were sick before taking vitamins, so there’s a good chance vitamins weren’t responsible for shortening their lives. Experts say the paper also ignored two major studies that found vitamins reduced the risk of death.

At the same time, the study from ConsumerLab.com shows that you can’t assume just any vitamin is safe. Because there are no uniform manufacturing rules for supplements, a multi may not contain what the bottle claims, could be contaminated with something from the manufacturing plant, or might have tainted ingredients.

Your best bet: Avoid the vitamins singled out by ConsumerLab.com (see “11 Multis to Avoid”), and stick with mainstream names like Centrum Silver and One-A-Day Women’s, which were found to be free of impurities and accurately labeled. Also, check vitamin bottles for the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), NSF International (NSF), or ConsumerLab.com (CL) seals. The USP and NSF are nonprofit groups that verify whether companies offer contamination-free products and use good manufacturing practices. Not every brand has the seals—some don’t want to submit to testing—but those that do (Kirkland and Nature Made carry the USP seal, for instance) are reliable.

How much should I spend to get the biggest benefits?
Price isn’t a sign of quality. In fact, some of the priciest vitamins—like The Greatest Vitamin in the World and Eniva Vibe, which cost more than $39.95 per bottle—failed the Consumer Lab.com tests. A mainstream brand like One-A-Day Women’s is $8.99 for a bottle of 100 tablets at drugstore.com, about 9 cents per day.

How do I find the right multi for me?
In your childbearing years, make sure your multi has 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid, which helps make and maintain new cells. And pregnant women should take a vitamin with 600 mcg of folic acid daily; this nutrient also reduces the incidence of neural tube birth defects like spina bifida.

A premenopausal woman should look for a multivitamin with iron to replace the iron lost during menstruation. Menopausal women should go without the iron. “Too much iron may raise the risk of heart disease,” says Meir Stampfer, PhD, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

If you’re taking a prescription, check with your doctor about risky interactions. (Vitamin E, for instance, may be a problem if you’re taking a blood thinner.) If you’re a cancer patient, you should ask your doctor about risks before taking vitamins. “Cancer cells need vitamins to grow, too,” Stampfer says. Plus, some vitamins can interfere with chemotherapy.

What’s the best way to avoid that queasy feeling after taking a multi?
“Consider switching brands,” Stampfer suggests. Trial and error is the best way to determine which brands won’t break down poorly in your stomach and lead to irritation. Also, take your multi with food because your body needs some fat (or lipids) to absorb some of the individual vitamins. The delivery method (pill, liquid, gummy bear) makes no difference. But vitamins in liquid form may degrade more quickly on the shelf.

How much of each vitamin should my multi have?
The amount per serving numbers on the label should match the government’s Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). It’s OK if they’re higher as long as they don’t exceed the tolerable upper limit (UL). (To find the DRIs and ULs, go to Health.com/links.) While most vitamins are listed in milligrams (mg) or micrograms (mcg), the label may use IUs (international units) for vitamins A, D, and E. The DRIs are 2,300 IUs for vitamin A, 200 for D, and 22 for E. What about the label’s % Daily Value column? Look at it with a skeptical eye: Those numbers haven’t been updated since 1968.

Book lovers marveled in June when a Philadelphia auction house stumbled upon the long-lost manuscript of the 1931 Pearl S. Buck classic "The Good Earth."

The daughter of Buck's longtime secretary said she had found the 400 typed papers in a suitcase in her cluttered basement. The auction house called the FBI.

But in the weeks since, joy over the discovery has been tempered by rival claims for the Pulitzer Prize-winning copy. No fewer than three parties - Bucks' heirs and two foundations with links to her - have asserted rights to it, making a court fight likely.

Buck's children announced Tuesday that they have forged an agreement with one of the foundations. The heirs will lend the manuscript to a foundation that operates out of their mother's Pennsylvania farm, while retaining ownership. An exhibit is planned later this year.

The children learned Monday, though, that her West Virginia birthplace will vie for the papers, based on a notarized "bill of sale" that Buck signed in 1970, three years before she died.

"I wrote that document on her dining room table in Bucks County, late one night. I took my typewriter in and typed it up," lawyer Robert Jacobson, 82, said Tuesday.

"We went out and found a notary public near her house, and he got out of bed and notarized it at 11 or 12 o'clock at night," Jacobson recalled.

The legal affidavit was signed and notarized on Oct. 15, 1970, and filed at the Pocahontas County Courthouse in West Virginia on March 21, 1973, two weeks after Buck died. In the document, Buck estimates the value of her collection of manuscripts at $650,000 to $1 million, although she calls them "priceless to me."

She lists scores of documents she was giving to the birthplace, including "'The Good Earth' manuscript, the exact location of which is unknown." Buck hoped the birthplace could leverage the papers to obtain matching funds to restore the historic birthplace in Hillsboro, Jacobson said.

Janet L. Mintzer, chief executive of Pearl S. Buck International, said the West Virginia document may contradict a will filed in Vermont, where Buck died, that left her literary rights to her estate.

Buck started the foundation in 1964 to help Amerasian children and others, and left the group her Bucks County farm, where she raised seven adopted children and wrote many of her later works.

Mintzer still hopes the manuscript can be displayed there later this year.

"It's awesome to have recovered it and to share it with the public would be a great thing," said Mintzer, who feared that few people would see it in West Virginia.

"The Good Earth," Buck's most famous book, follows the life of a peasant farmer in pre-Revolutionary China, and proved riveting to Americans who knew little about the culture. Buck, the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, lived mostly in China from infancy through age 40. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, and helped earn Buck the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938.

West Virginia Wesleyan College stores Buck's papers for the birthplace.

Steve Hunter, a lawyer who represents the birthplace, said Tuesday that his group will pursue a lawsuit if necessary to recover the manuscript. Federal officials, who did not pursue charges against the secretary's daughter, said they have returned it to the estate.

Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born in Hillsboro on June 26, 1892. She married twice, first to economist John Buck and later to her publisher, Richard Walsh.

Edgar S. Walsh, administrator of his mother's estate, said Monday that he was unfamiliar with the birthplace's claims to the manuscript and declined to comment.


courtesy : The Associated Press

Justin Timberlake and Beyonce lead the pop parade of nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards with seven nods apiece, it was announced Tuesday.

Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" was nominated for video of the year, as was Timberlake's ambitiously cinematic "What Goes Around ... Comes Around," which co-starred Scarlett Johansson. Also competing in the category are Amy Winehouse's "Rehab," Kanye West's "Stronger," Rihanna's "Umbrella" (featuring Jay-Z) and Justice's "D.A.N.C.E."

Timberlake was also nominated for male artist of the year and "most earth shattering collaboration" for pairing with Timbaland for "Sexy Back." Beyonce was nominated for female artist of the year and for her collaboration with Shakira on "Beautiful Liar."

West landed five nominations, including male artist of the year. He has often appeared prickly about losing awards, and on Tuesday he was still sore over being snubbed last year for his Evel Knievel spoof video "Touch the Sky." (In 2005, he did win best male video for "Jesus Walks.")

"I come to win. I don't come to lose," West told MTV Tuesday on "TRL," where the awards were announced. "I think there's some really strong competition this year."

Rihanna also received five nominations, propelled by her hit single, "Umbrella," which is up for "monster single of the year."

Also nominated for male artist of the year was Akon, T.I. and Robin Thicke. Rounding out the nominees for female artist of the year were Fergie and Nelly Furtado.

Amy Winehouse, whose album "Back to Black" was her second disc but her first released in the U.S., was nominated for best new artist. She received three nods, including female artist of the year. In the best new artist category, Winehouse will compete with her compatriot Lily Allen, as well as Carrie Underwood, Gym Class Heroes and Peter Bjorn & John.

Up for best group are Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and the White Stripes.

The 24th annual VMAs will be handed out during a live two-hour show on Sept. 9 in Las Vegas at the Palms Hotel and Casino. Only eight categories will be awarded on the broadcast. Performers will include Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, Amy Winehouse, Chris Brown, the Foo Fighters and Rihanna.

Timbaland will be the "maestro" of the award show, serving essentially as the evening's DJ. Last year, the Raconteurs played a similar role.

"By me being maestro," said Timbaland, "I am the show."


courtesy : The Associated Press

She may be playing a villain in two summer movies, but Michelle Pfeiffer was all smiles and grace when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday.

The Academy Award nominated star of "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and "Dangerous Liaisons" thanked her mother and father for supporting her decision to become an actress.

"She taught me that I could do anything and that I should have a career before I get married," she said. Her father, she said, "taught me that you can make something of yourself if you work hard."

Pfeiffer is currently on the screen playing the nasty Velma Von Tussle in "Hairspray" and will soon be seen as the evil witch Laima in the fairy tale "Stardust," set for release Aug. 10.

Actors Paul Rudd, her co-star in the upcoming romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" and Baker Boy Jeff Bridges both attended Monday's ceremony.

"You are two of the nicest men on the planet," she told them.


courtesy : The Associated Press

If you thought the drama was over between Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards, you're probably wrong.

The couple, who split in August of 2005 with a good deal of fireworks, are reportedly going back to court to resolve child custody issues. Sheen is said to be seeking more lenient visitation rights, according to the New York Post.

Post sources say that Sheen wants an end put to the requirement that visits with his two children, Lola and Sam, must be supervised. Richards is said to be opposed to any leniency, which could make for a nasty legal battle.

"She's doing everything she can to keep his visits supervised by her nanny, because her nanny spies for her," a friend of Sheen told the Post. The source adds that Richards "wants another child - she even asked Charlie to be the father. Denise is very jealous of [Sheen's new fiancée] Brooke [Mueller] and craves the spotlight." Sheen's friends also say Richards is withholding the children from him.

Richards, however, has a different story.

"This is disgusting," Richards said to the Post, saying Sheen is "doing this now because he's not happy with me and the custody arrangement."

Richards also claims that reports of her withholding the children are highly misconstrued.

"My mom is going through chemotherapy and I asked Charlie if my mom could see the kids before she got really sick. That's a valid request. He doesn't stick to the schedule he has with the kids - that's not my fault," she said.


courtesy : AOL

Ask any denizen of lower Manhattan about Coffee Shop, a Brazilian-themed restaurant in the Union Square neighborhood, and they'll say something along the lines of, "Oh, yeah, the place with the model wait staff." Not model in the sense of exemplary; model as in, when they aren't slinging Mojitos, they get paid to be photographed.

Coffee Shop isn't alone in its strategy. Besieged by competition, restaurateurs, hoteliers and nightclub owners will do anything to get an edge. Hiring servers that look as if they have stepped straight off the pages of a fashion magazine is a time-worn trick to drum up a hot rep and attract customers--but that doesn't mean proprietors aren't playing with fire.

"The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has been paying more attention to hiring practices in the hospitality industry of late," says Carolyn Richmond, a labor lawyer with Seyfarth Shaw in Manhattan. "I have seen the number of charges brought by the EEOC against restaurants go up."

This issue doesn't just affect gender. Say you are opening a French bistro. For credibility's sake, you want to hire servers--male or female, young or old, attractive or plain--who were born and raised in France. Bad move: Under labor laws, you can't discriminate based on nationality.

The question for entrepreneurs: Where to draw the line between strategy and discrimination? And how close to skirting it is worth the risk?

The answer lies in a murky stew of statutes and case law. Codified law comes in three forms: federal (under Title VII), state and city codes. Specific statutes vary by location, but the hot-button issues are age, gender, race, national origin and even sexual orientation--but not attractiveness.

"If you are discriminating against people because they are unattractive or overweight, that's not illegal," says Walker Harmon Jr., head of his eponymous labor law firm in Manhattan. As for all those trendy eateries and watering holes, the issue is not that the servers are beautiful; it's that they are young, and in many cases, female.

Some jobs come with a built-in defense: Lawyers call it a "bona fide occupational qualification," or BFOQ. These standards trump protections of hallowed characteristics like gender and age. Example: Priests in the Catholic Church must be male. Yet most distinctions aren't nearly as clear-cut.

Take Hooters, the restaurant chain known for hiring bubbly (and buxom) female waitstaff--a strategy criticized by the EEOC in years past. Being a woman is not a necessary qualification for providing good food service. Hooters has kept the authorities at bay by reclassifying its staff as "server-entertainers" crucial to its business model.

Once employees are on the job, other thorny issues like appearance, grooming and dress code come into play. Casinos have caught fire recently for demanding that female servers wear makeup, don sexy clothes and even drop weight. Here, too, the legal ramifications are as clear as mud. "Restaurateurs are playing a risky game," says Richmond.

While proprietors are understandably loath to discuss discrimination, here is their quiet risk-reward calculation: Hospitality jobs are everywhere and bringing a lawsuit is expensive, so better to hire who you want and let the gripes fall where they may. Potential damages? Everything from mild distraction to six-figure payouts and a river of nasty ink.

If you don't want the EEOC sniffing around, first ask yourself: Is there a truly legitimate business need for a particular hiring standard? Go back to that French bistro: You could justify a requirement that servers speak French, but you'd have a tougher time proving that they also had to be, say, females under the age of 30.

Next, edit your want ads. Troll the hospitality job postings at craigslist.com and you'll find thousands of entrepreneurs begging for a slap by the EEOC. "Female bartenders wanted!" is a classic poisonous plea; another is asking for a photo along with the application. A plaintiff attorney's interpretation: You were vetting applicants based on ethnicity.

Understand, too, that labor laws protect employees not just from employers but also from customers. That's why entrepreneurs need a well-articulated anti-harassment policy--and be willing to eject customers who don't respect it. If not, employees can sue you for not getting their backs, says Richmond.

If you do decide to run the risk of a labor suit, at least make it worth your while. In May, the New York Post reported that some of the city's top financial firms--including Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ) and Lehman Brothers (nyse: LEH - news - people )--have banned their executives from lunching at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, a restaurant that features waitresses dressed in bikinis and sarongs, because "they think it's too much like a strip club."

Sometimes, it seems, sex doesn't sell.


courtesy : Forbes

Like many teenagers around the country Natalie Kirkham is eagerly and nervously awaiting the results of her GCSE's.

If she gets the grades she wants the 16-year-old from Liverpool will be off to sixth form college and then hopes to train as either a nursery nurse or an accountant.

Her mum, Shelly, is confident her eldest daughter will do well, but admits it has been a struggle, with Natalie missing nearly six months of school.

"Natalie had been a really healthy child, who had hardly had a day off sick," Shelly said.

Condition deteriorated

But just before Christmas 2005 she became very ill. First she had a sore throat which developed into serious breathing difficulties.

At first doctors were bemused, then they suspected glandular fever, then chronic fatigue syndrome.


If it had been left any longer Natalie would have had kidney failure
Shelley Kirkham

She developed a rash all over her body and was given antibiotics for a suspected chest infection.

Her worried parents took her to A&E, but she got worse, losing weight, complaining of aching muscles and a high temperature.

Tests could not pinpoint the cause.

Then she saw a doctor who suspected that Natalie had either arthritis or lupus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus, or "lupus" as it is commonly know as, is a chronic relapsing and remitting autoimmune disorder that can affect any part of the body.

Fifteen to 20% of patients develop lupus in childhood or adolescence. It is a life-long and potentially life-threatening disease with no known cure.

Children are more likely to die from it and get more organ damage than adults.

Missed education

Scientists worried that lupus in children has been a neglected area are targeting it for research and setting up a database to study the disease in more detail.

Lupus is often difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic those of other conditions.

Shelly said: "We had never heard of lupus. We did not know what it was at all. And a lot of the doctors didn't seem to know what it is.

"When she was so ill we kept on taking her to the doctors who kept on coming up with different diagnoses.

"If we had not been so persistent things could have been so much worse."

Natalie spent two months in hospital and needed a litre of fluid drained from her lungs. She lost three stones in weight and her kidneys were near to collapse.

Shelly said: "If it had been left any longer Natalie would have had kidney failure.

"She was very sick and needed nine months of chemotherapy to fight the lupus."

"It was horrendous, she was so ill.

"She missed more than half a year at school and they thought she might have to stay back a year, but she did not want that and we did not want that.

"She has worked so hard."

Natalie is on steroids and needs regular check-ups at Alder Hey hospital, Liverpool.

More research is needed

Now medics are to conduct studies into lupus and children specifically.

Dr Zoë McLaren, a specialist registrar in rheumatology, and colleague Dr Angela Midgely are to study the importance of white blood cells called neutrophils and to find out what part they play in the development of the condition - in lupus the immune system and especially the white blood cells are affected.


Lupus is very difficult to diagnose because children have so many different symptoms
Dr Zoë McLaren

And their supervisor Dr Michael Beresford, at Liverpool University, has set up a nationwide database of child lupus patients to observe the condition as well as create a research tool for clinical trials.

Dr McLaren explained that little was currently known about the disease and its effect on children.

"When children present with lupus they tend to have the more severe symptoms and we don't know whether that is because they are more severe initially or whether we are diagnosing them later.

"Lupus is very difficult to diagnose because children have so many different symptoms - the milder symptoms can vary from fatigue and mood changes to joint pains, which could also be put down to growing pains."

Dr Beresford added that because current research had been carried out on adults that it was not all applicable to children.

He said that the drugs used to treat lupus were very strong and could have devastating side affects, including causing malignancies and fertility problems.

And the younger the patient is, the longer they may need to take the drugs.

A spokeswoman for the Arthritis Research Campaign, which funded Dr McLaren's research, said: "It's not widely known that lupus can affect children and teenagers, and Dr McLaren's fellowship could throw more light on how the disease develops.

"We hope this will lead to improved treatment for young people like Natalie in coping with this potentially very serious condition."

Dr Beresford's work is funded by Alder Hey Hospital and Lupus UK.


courtesy : BBC

Lost seconds mean lost dollars on Wall Street. But the race for faster transactions risks security disaster.

Employees of banks could shut down computers that make quick arbitrage trades across markets, using denial-of-service attacks to overwhelm servers and potentially cause millions in losses. Ultra-fast electronic trades may be especially vulnerable to sabotage. And the need for speed has made things worse -- with financial institutions avoiding software security features that might cause crucial millisecond delays.

So say Jeremy Rauch and David Goldsmith, researchers at the IT security firm Matasano. In a Thursday afternoon presentation titled "Hacking Capitalism" at the Black Hat conference, a gathering of computer security experts, they detailed weaknesses in applications using Financial Information eXchange Protocol, or FIX, a common language used in communications between banks and commercial markets.

FIX's flaws, including a lack of encryption on passwords and usernames, aren't new. But Rauch says that the demand for speed increases the risk of hacking.

"You've got computers taking advantage of the sheer quantity of information available, and they can make enormous amounts of money if they buy and sell quickly enough," says Rauch. "In the name of bigger financial transactions, speed takes precedence over security."

Goldsmith and Rauch say that FIX is just one of several protocols in use with exploitable vulnerabilities known to software developers and banks. But because bank transactions take place on private networks rather than the public Internet, they've long been assumed to be safe.

But as banks become more aware of the potential for cyber-attacks by their own employees, Rauch and Goldsmith say some have contacted them, hoping to resolve the conflict between speed and security.

There are no easy solutions. "The worry is that adding any encryption would hit performance, and performance is everything," said one security director of a financial institution attending the talk, who asked not to have his name or employer revealed. "Even testing is a problem. If a test adds 10 milliseconds, we can't live with that."

There are no documented cases of bank employees using FIX vulnerabilities to block financial transactions. But the unnamed financial institution's security chief warned that if the exploit had been used, it most likely wouldn't have been reported. "And even if it's something that hasn't happened, it's still a risk," he said. "This is financial information flowing over shared networks."

Given the sensitivity of the vulnerabilities highlighted by Matasano's researchers, he had mixed feelings about the public airing of his industry's weak points. "Talks like this are good and bad," he said. "They increase awareness of the risk. But they also give people ideas."


courtesy : Forbes

Eating broccoli and cauliflower regularly reduces the risk of deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.

A study of 1,300 men found they were better than any other vegetable at protecting against aggressive tumours.

Writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the researchers said broccoli and cauliflower were known to contain anti-cancer compounds.

Experts advised the best way to reduce cancer risk was to eat a balanced diet, including lots of fruit and vegetables.

Several studies have shown a link between eating vegetables and a reduced risk of prostate cancer, but results have not been consistent and many have not specifically looked at deadly forms of the disease.


Experts have proven that the best way to reduce your risk of many cancers is to eat a healthy balanced diet
Dr Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK

A team from the US National Cancer Institute and Cancer Care Ontario in Toronto carried out food questionnaires in a group of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer in a large screening trial.

Overall, they found that eating fruits and vegetables was not associated with decreased prostate cancer risk.

But greater consumption of dark green and cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli and cauliflower, was associated with a decreased risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

A weekly serving of cauliflower was associated with 52% decreased risk of aggressive disease and similar amounts of broccoli cut the risk by 45%.

Healthy diet

Spinach consumption also seemed to be associated with a reduced risk but the findings were not significant when the researchers looked at cancer which had spread beyond the prostate.

Study leader Dr Victoria Kirsch, Cancer Care Ontario, said: "Aggressive prostate cancer is biologically virulent and associated with poor prognosis.

"If the association that we observed is ultimately found to be causal, a possible means to reduce the burden of this disease may be primary prevention through increased consumption of broccoli, cauliflower, and possibly spinach."

However, she pointed out that men eating a lot of broccoli and cauliflower may be more healthy in general.

Prostate cancer kills one man an hour in the UK and 32,000 are diagnosed every year with the disease.

Dr Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK's senior science information officer, said: "When it comes to food, there is no one particular 'super' fruit or vegetable that will protect you from cancer.

"Experts have proven that the best way to reduce your risk of many cancers is to eat a healthy balanced diet.

"This should include at least five portions a day of a variety of fruit and vegetables including broccoli and cauliflower."

Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at The Prostate Cancer Charity said: "Broccoli and cauliflower have appeared in other studies as being potentially important in defences against prostate cancer.

"Whilst waiting for definitive evidence it's clear that men should be eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day."


courtesy : BBC

Children's teeth are being damaged by "healthy" fruit juices, a dentists' group has warned.

Organic juices which combine sugar and fruit are the worst culprits for eroding the teeth, say the dentists.

Half of UK parents are unaware that they can contain as much sugar as some fizzy drinks, a YouGov survey reveals.

Dr Philip Stemmer, a dentist at Teeth For Life, advised parents to restrict children to one glass of fruit juice or full-sugar cordial a day.


I am seeing more and more children whose teeth have been damaged in this way
Dr Stemmer

Dr Stemmer said: "Dental erosion caused by acidic fruit juices and squashes affects the whole surface of a tooth. Exposure daily will cause a progressive loss of enamel with the effect that the teeth 'shrink' and crumble at the biting edge.

"Even diet drinks which have no sugar in are very acidic and can dissolve tooth enamel.

"While mothers and fathers think they are doing the best by their children by giving them 'healthier' drinks, the acid in these drinks are wearing away the enamel.

"I am seeing more and more children whose teeth have been damaged in this way."

Tooth tips

He advised parents to try and combine acidic drinks with meal times and give the child a straw to drink soft drinks through.

Parents should also supervise teeth brushing to ensure it is thorough and use a toothpaste which contains fluoride.

And wait at least 30 minutes after drinking sugary or acidic drinks to brush because the teeth will have been softened by the sugar and you will brush away the tooth itself.

Dr Gordon Watkins, member of the British Dental Association's health and science committee, said: "It's very difficult for parents. Fruit juices generally speaking are acidic and contain a considerable amount of sugar.

"The safest drinks out there are water and milk. If you have got to use fruit juice to get enough fluid into your kids, dilute it as much as you can with water."

He said dried fruit was also bad for teeth.

"So many parents buy these healthy snacks of dried fruit but drying it concentrates the sugar so much it's almost like giving your child a jelly bean.

"Like everything, it must be eaten in moderation and it's better to eat it as part of a meal rather than as a snack."

Recent research by YouGov found that 34% of the UK's 10,513,700 children aged 4-17 drink at least two or three glasses of squash or cordial a day in winter. This could increase to an average of eight or nine glasses a day during the summer months.

Of the parents interviewed for the survey, over a quarter said their children drink absolutely no milk in their daily consumption of 10 beverages a day.

Milk in the diet helps the formation of strong teeth and bones and guards against osteoporosis. One glass contains a child's entire calcium requirement.


courtesy : BBC

A study by doctors in Hong Kong has concluded that epilepsy can be induced by the Chinese tile game of mahjong.

The findings, publish in the Hong Kong Medical Journal, were based on 23 cases of people who had suffered mahjong-induced seizures.

The report's four authors, from Hong Kong's Queen Mary Hospital, said the best prevention - and cure - was to avoid playing mahjong.

The study led the doctors to define Mahjong Epilepsy as a unique syndrome.

Epileptic seizures can be provoked by a wide variety of triggers, but one cause increasingly evident to researchers, is the playing - or even watching - of mahjong.

This Chinese tile game, by four players round a table, can involve gambling and quickly becomes compulsive.

Demanding

Intensely social, sometimes played in crowded mahjong parlours, the game involves the rapid movement of tiles in marathon sessions.

The doctors conclude that the syndrome affects far more men than women, of an average age of 54, and can hit sufferers anywhere between one to 11 hours into a mahjong game.

They say the attacks were not just caused by sleep deprivation or gambling stress.

Mahjong is cognitively demanding, drawing on memory, fast calculations, concentration, reasoning and sequencing.

The distinctive design of mahjong tiles, and the sound of the tiles crashing onto the table, may contribute.

The propensity of Chinese people to play mahjong also deserves further study, the doctors say.

What is certain though, is that the only sure way to avoid Mahjong Epilepsy, is to avoid mahjong, which for many people is easier said than done.


courtesy : BBC

• Charlize Theron, managing a full cart of groceries after stocking up at Whole Foods in West Hollywood. Going incognito in oversized shades and a hat, the actress was sending one clear, charitable message with her outfit: She sported an Project Red T-shirt, a charity that raises money to fight AIDS in Africa.

• Ivanka Trump, supping early at New York eatery Sapa with young media mogul pal Jared Kushner. The pair took a private table in the back of the French-Asian restaurant. She sipped on the signature Cosmojito while he ordered a Johnny Walker Black, and the two shared Coriander Crusted Ahi Tuna and a Soy Ginger Steamed Fish with tempura broccoli and sautéed greens. "She looked amazing," says an observer, specifically noting her Japanese-style minidress.

• Matthew Broderick, getting treated to dinner and drinks at Chicago restaurant Le Colonial. The actor sipped a Grey Goose Martini and some wine, and ate monkfish for dinner at the bar. At the end of his meal, Broderick put some money on the bar, but three guys (whom he met earlier in the evening) pushed it away and insisted on paying.

• Avril Lavigne, feting the opening of Crimson, a new Hollywood nightspot. The singer opted for a husband-free night, instead hitting up the club with her brother and a group of girlfriends. And she was in a good mood, smiling all night, according to an onlooker. At one point Avril even got so rowdy, she hopped up out of her seat, jumped on one girlfriend and playfully gave her a sexy lap dance. Also partying at the hot spot: Jamie Lynn Sigler, Zooey Deschanel and Shane West.

• Dane Cook and the Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger, engaging in deep conversation over dinner at Luna Park in Los Angeles. The pair munched on tuna, salmon and Milanese chicken. But was it a date? "They didn't appear romantic, exactly," an onlooker tells us. "It seemed as if they've known each other for a while and were close friends."

• No, he wasn't doing a choreographed routine, but former Dancing with the Stars contestant John Ratzenberger was sure light on his feet as he sauntered across the marble floor of Los Angeles's Federal Building. The silver-haired star even charmed a stone-faced security guard, and the two chatted it up and shook hands.


courtesy : PEOPLE

Four dogs belonging to actor Ving Rhames are suspected of having mauled his caretaker, who was found dead on Rhames's Brentwood property Friday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department confirms.

"We removed three mastiffs and one bulldog – they were the size of lions – from Rhames's property," said Capt. Matt Blake of the LAPD, "but we have no solid evidence that they were the cause of death."

The victim – described only as a 40-year-old African-American male – was a caretaker for both Rhames's house and the dogs, according to the police.

Rhames, 48, was not home at the time of the mauling. The animals have been taken to an animal shelter and are being examined for traces of blood, Blake said.

The case is still under investigation.


courtesy : PEOPLE

The crowd at Tim McGraw's concert in Louisiana last Saturday really couldn't keep their hands off the country singer.

This time, they grabbed his jewelry. In a second video from the Cajundome show now circulating online, McGraw is seen moving along a row of fans during the show, reaching out to touch them, when one of them pulls a ring off his left hand.

Realizing it's gone, McGraw stops and questions a woman in the front row, while another woman nearby waves her arm, apparently trying to get his attention, possibly holding the ring. McGraw motions to security to help him as the video cuts out.

It's unclear from the video whether the woman grabbed the ring accidentally or not. But a source tells PEOPLE that the ring was eventually returned to the country star.

The incident wasn't the only uncomfortable close encounter for McGraw that evening. At the same show, another fan grabbed him in the crotch, prompting wife Faith Hill, who is touring with her husband, to give the fan a piece of her mind. "Somebody needs to teach you some class, my friend," Hill said.

Hill's comments were also captured on camera, and the clip hit YouTube briefly on Monday before being taken down.

Another yacht sighting is nothing special to those along Corsica's southern port of Bonafacio – but vacationing pedestrians still did a double-take around 10 p.m. on Thursday.

Being brought ashore by a yacht tender: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

The couple, enjoying a Mediterranean cruise that included some jet-skiing in Sardinia, led six friends to an outdoor portside dinner at Corsica's Pizzeria des Amis.

"Katie wore this sexy red tunic, but I hardly recognized him," says one eyewitness, "because his hair is cut so short."

The Cruise crop is for his role in the WWII drama Valkyrie, now shooting in Europe. Earlier this week, Holmes and 15-month-old daughter Suri Cruise were seen visiting Tom on location in Potsdam, Germany.

The Cruise-Holmes pizza party of eight stayed until 12:30 a.m.

After that, and before heading back to their yacht, the star attractions posed for photos and signed a number of autographs for the crowd that gathered around them.


courtesy : PEOPLE

In the Marc Anthony-Jennifer Lopez partnership, there's no question as to who's in charge.

"She's always been the boss! I don't know what's changed," Anthony, 38, told PEOPLE at Tuesday's Los Angeles premiere of the couple's movie El Cantante, which Lopez, also 38, also produced.

"That's the first thing a man has to know," he says. "Absolutely, no question about it."

In the film, Anthony portrays Puerto Rican salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, and Lopez plays his wife Puchi. Do Anthony and Lopez – married since June 2004 – share their screen characters' passion?

"Absolutely, we're passionate," Lopez told PEOPLE. "We're all passionate in a different way."

The couple will again join forces when they tour together this fall – a first for them, and the first time Lopez does a live-concert road trip.

"I think we'll travel in the same bus, but we'll get ready in separate buses," said Anthony, before his wife quickly interjected: "Only because I have hair and makeup and all kinds of people. And then when he starts getting ready, he takes hours." The pair laughed.

"I nap up to 15 minutes before I go onstage," Anthony admitted. Fortunately, his wife plays by his rules: "So I can't make noise when I'm getting ready," Lopez explained.

The tour kicks off Sept. 29 in Atlantic City, with Lopez already having picked up tips from her constantly touring husband.

"I had a tutorial for two-and-a-half years now," she said. "I went on two tours with him from beginning to end. I saw every single show. So I'm like ready. I'm ready."

And do they think the couple that works together and plays together can manage to stay together? "We wouldn't put ourselves in this position if it was going to cost us in any way," he says. "We truly enjoy each other."


courtesy : PEOPLE

Saturday's canceled wedding of Usher and Tameka Foster – who is due to have the couple's baby this fall – was the result of the past few bumpy days for the couple, a source tells PEOPLE.

At issue were family matters and the event itself.

"Usher's mother [and former manager, Jonetta Patton, whom he fired in May] is against the wedding. That is one of the main obstacles," according to the source, who also said of the bride, 37, and groom, 28: "They only decided two weeks ago to have a wedding. They wanted to have it take place before the baby bump started showing."

But as another source tells PEOPLE: "Usher changed his mind."

Usher (full name: Usher Raymond) and Foster, a stylist, also "had a lot of differences about the details. For example, the bride wanted barbeque, [and] he wanted to have [renowned chef] Jean Georges cook," said the source.

As a result of the differences, the wedding "was on again off again for the past few days. [Foster] was calling it off because she wasn't getting the things that she wanted. The mother was calling it off. ... Usher was calling it off."

On Saturday, only hours before the afternoon ceremony was to take place at the Southampton, N.Y., estate of music mogul L.A. Reid, Usher's publicist Patti Webster issued the following statement: "It was announced today that the wedding ceremony for Usher Raymond IV and Tameka Foster was canceled. No additional information will be given regarding the circumstances of the cancellation, but we hope the privacy of this matter will be respected."

According to the New York Post, the 70 to 100 guests who needed to be informed there was to be no wedding included couples Beyoncé and Jay Z, as well as Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri.

The paper also said Usher's godfather, Broadway star Ben Vereen, had been removed from the guest list because of his view toward Foster.

New York's Daily News reports that Usher's mother was invited at the last minute, though an unnamed source tells the paper she did not want to go.

"The tents were up," an insider tells PEOPLE. "And they paid all of the people, the vendors, so that wasn't an issue. ... Hotel rooms were an issue. Janet [Jackson] was coming, but she had eight security people. Ashanti and Nelly were coming."

The source added that it was a possibility that the wedding may still come off. On Saturday, however, Webster would not comment on whether Usher and Foster were still engaged or even remained a couple.

Foster was previously married to Noontime Music cofounder Ryan Glover, with whom she has three children.

Speaking about her relationship with Usher, Foster told Essence.com last month, "He just accepted me for who I am. I have flaws, I have an attitude problem. ... Overall, I have issues that a person could either love or hate, but he accepted me completely. And every day he still treats me like we just met."

Earlier this month, in an open letter to PEOPLE, Usher addressed rumors that he was somehow being coerced into getting married. "I am happy, excited, completely clear and independent on my direction, feelings, decisions," he wrote, "and I am NOT BEING LED."

courtesy : PEOPLE

http://live.pirillo.com/ - If anyone still doubts the awesome capabilities of the iPhone, 
I think it’s safe to say we can put those concerns to rest.

Our good friend Andru Edwards came to visit the chatroom at live.pirillo.com recently,
 to demonstrate how Apple’s iPhone can be used to connect to an IRC chat. He put 
together a step-by-step tutorial on connecting to IRC with your iPhone, and uploaded it to Gearlive.com .

In this video, you can see that I am using my iPhone to connect to my chat room. 
This was accomplished using the Mac Mini and the Colloquy IRC chat client for OS X. 
It’s simple to set up, and by far my favorite IRC client. Once you have Colloquy installed, 
be sure to download the Colloquy Web Interface Add-on plugin.

Every application on your system that connects to the internet does so using a computer port. 
For instance, most IRC networks connect to the internet using Port 6667. 
It ends in a 7! Imagine that. 7 is my favorite number! But, I digress….

I went into my wireless router settings and opened a port using port forwarding and then 
directed it to my Mac mini’s IP address. So now, when I access my general 
IP address using my iPhone, it goes to the port I just opened and the router 
automatically sends it to the mini, allowing me to chat.

This will be great when I am on the road. Let’s say I have a question about a price for something. 
I can jump into chat and say “hey! Help me out here!” and hopefully receive some answers 
to help me in my decisions. I can connect to keep you all updated about my whereabouts, 
what I’m busy doing and just to answer as many questions as one man can handle.

Has this made me fall in love with iPhone? Not quite, no. But I’m getting there. 

Apple has issued a score of security updates for Macs and also the first update for its iPhone mobile device.

Dozens of vulnerabilities and bugs were covered by a total of six downloads for Mac OS 10.3.9 (Panther), 
Mac OS 10.4.10 (Tiger) on PowerPC, and the Universal version of Mac OS 10.4.10, as well as the server 
versions of each of those operating systems. Each download contains several patches to correct flaws, 
and Apple is recommending that all users of those operating systems download the updates.

Some of the vulnerabilities seem quite serious, leading to arbitrary code execution, downed applications or both. 
You can download the updates for your specific Mac at Apple's support website or by clicking on the 
"Software Update" selection under the Apple menu.

Apple also issued the first software update for the iPhone. Unlike the Mac updates, the iPhone update
 will be delivered through iTunes the next time you sync your iPhone with your Mac or PC. It corrects a
 few flaws in Safari as well as in Webcore and Webkit, apparently the iPhone versions of some flaws
 Apple fixed for Mac users of Safari back in June.

Finally, Apple also released a new version of Safari 3.0, which is still in beta. The new version, Safari 3.0.3
, fixes some security flaws for both the Windows and Mac OS versions of the browser.

Tom Krazit writes for CNET News.com

source: iPhonesavior.com
Ishoppers


SAN JOSE - Banking on the cult-like popularity of all things Apple and considering the success of the iPhone, San Jose based entrepreneurs Nathan McHenry and Stewart Attakson have launched their new iShopper service for the brain-free generation. Their fledging company appropriately called "Mac Attack" provides customers with a personal iShopper to help custom tailor their Apple Store purchases for a fee of $125 per hour. Most of their clientele have recently converted from Windows based PC's, making their initial Apple product purchases a daunting task. 

"I hate feeling stupid when I'm shopping for technology" said Mac Attack client Rain Leary of Palo Alto, CA "I'm 28 years old, hot, tanned and a bikini model who paid for her own BMW, but I'm not stupid."

For an additional $50 dollars (above the hourly fee) clients are treated to a casual sit down lunch of their choosing, complete with hand-holding by an iShopper during set-up of their new Apple products. This specialized catering has become a popular feature of the Mac Attack service. "Having my own personal iShopper to buy my MacBook really put me at ease", said Ben Gerou, "Having a perfect vegan lunch afterwords for my set-up made the experience priceless for me."

1McHenry and Attakson have been successful in raising enough funding to franchise their operation beyond the Silicon Valley within a few months. "We've been bickering over what kind of car we want to brand with" said McHenry, "The Beetle was already taken by the Geek Squad, so we're looking at the Smart Car as a possible option." In only two short months the dynamic iShopping duo has signed over twenty two clients and are anticipating no end in site, as more people with disposable income require their premium level of service as many have taken their first bite out of the big shiny Apple with iPhone. McHenry stated that personal referrals have been the gold standard for Mac Attack thus far, which is serendipitous as their official website is still under construction. 

If big department stores can offer personal shoppers, then it's certainly feasible that two guys from San Jose can pound out a living helping the brain-free generation find some very expensive peace of mind. Or is it?