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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Tweet Everest: Mountaineers get 3G access at 17,000ft thanks to new mobile phone towers

 

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:09 PM on 30th October 2010

You can't get away from a mobile phone call, even at the top of the world.

Thanks to 3G towers newly installed near Mount Everest's base camp, explorers can surf the Web, tweet and post Facebook updates without worrying that their signals will disappear into thin air.

The new high-speed service, announced yesterday by Ncell, will allow mountaineers setting off to the summit of the world's tallest mountain to access wireless Internet and make video calls to family, friends and supporters.

Pasi Koistinen, chief executive officer of Nepal's first private telecom company Ncell, talks with Mountaineer Namgyal Sherpa, who is speaking from an Everest base camp at 17,000ft

Pasi Koistinen, chief executive officer of Nepal's first private telecom company Ncell, talks with Mountaineer Namgyal Sherpa, who is speaking from an Everest base camp at 17,000ft

'You know, I think it's kind of good and kind of bad, but to me it's kind of inevitable,' said renowned climber Ed Viesturs, frequently described as the strongest U.S. high-altitude mountaineer.

The 51-year-old veteran of seven climbs to Everest's 29,035-foot (8,850-metre) summit said the new technology is not for him.

'I'm kind of old school,' said Viesturs, who has climbed all 14 of the world's highest peaks.

'But you can imagine the newer generation saying, 'No, bring it on. The more the better.'

Every year, thousands of trekkers from all over the world walk to Everest's base camp at 17,000 feet (5,182 metres), and hundreds of mountaineers take on the arduous and dangerous route to the summit.

Until now, they were forced to carry heavy - and expensive - satellite equipment to transmit information and images from base camp.

Mount Everest from an aerial view taken over Nepal. Climbers attempting to scale the world's highest peak now have access to high-speed Internet

Mount Everest from an aerial view taken over Nepal. Climbers attempting to scale the world's highest peak now have access to high-speed Internet

On the climb, mountaineers carry handheld VHF radios to talk with base camp, though an expedition might also carry a satellite phone to contact sponsors and family.

For 25-year-old Leif Whittaker, who summited Everest for the first time in May - calling his mother on the descent, using a satellite phone - the advantage comes down to being able to easily phone home.

'Just being able to communicate with your family and friends would make it a lot easier to spend two months in a tent away from home,' said Whittaker, whose father, Jim Whittaker, was the first American to summit Everest.

But there is a risk that it could be a dangerous distraction, the Port Townsend, Washington, resident said. When attempting the summit, 'you need to stay focused in the moment.'

Dave Hahn, who has climbed Everest 12 times, more than any other American, noted that the north side base camp in Tibet has had cell service for several years, but not the south side in Nepal.

The 48-year-old from Taos, New Mexico, said that when he first climbed Everest in 1991, he had equipment that allowed him to transmit lines of Telex. 'That was pretty high-tech in 1991.'

And in 1999, when Hahn was on the expedition that found the body of legendary English mountaineer George Mallory, who died on Everest in 1924: 'I remember sitting up all night figuring out how to send the photos out in big enough resolution.'

That will be a thing of the past now. But might Facebook, Twitter and the high-pitched sound of dozens of cell phones ringing cheapen the experience?

'I hear that all the time,' Hahn said. 'And what can you say? Things change that way. And those of us who've beamed home pictures and stories from the place, well, we've accelerated that change.'

Gordon Janow, who helps set up base camps for expeditions led by Alpine Ascents International of Seattle, agreed.

Trekkers in the lower elevations of the Himalayas also use cell phones, and 'I don't know if it's good or bad,' he said. 'It was one of the few places you could go and lose yourself from the world.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1325096/Mountaineers-Facebook-access-17-000ft-thanks-3G-mobile-phone-towers.html#ixzz13redWTRl

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sex.com is sold for £8.2m at auction

The internet web address sex.com has been sold for $13m (£8.2m).

The distinctive name was put up for auction in July 2010 when its former owner, Escom LLC, went bankrupt.

Clover Holdings, a company registered on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, put in the highest bid for the domain.

The domain name for sex.com has been sold for $13m

The domain name for sex.com has been sold for $13m

At least 12 companies were understood to be bidding for the name.  The price is among the highest ever paid for a domain.

In 2006 when Escom bought sex.com it is thought to have paid up to $14m for it.

The highest price ever paid for a domain was $16m, which marketing firm QuinStreet paid for insure.com in 1999.

Sex.com was first registered by Gary Kremen, the owner of the dating site Match.com, in 1994.

He later had the name 'hijacked' by a conman called Stephen Cohen and waged a long legal battle to retain control of the name.

Cohen ended up being jailed and fined more than $65million for stealing the domain name

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1322559/Sex-com-sold-8-2m-auction-firm-owned-domain-goes-bust.html#ixzz13aEq4XDu

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Columbus cleared of importing syphilis from America after skeletons from two centuries earlier show signs of disease

 

By Niall Firth
Last updated at 7:21 PM on 25th October 2010

Christopher Columbus and his crew have long been blamed for syphilis back from the Americas to Europe after their historic first voyage.

In 1493 they returned to Spain bringing news of lands across the Atlantic and the first cases of the potentially deadly disease thanks to their exploits abroad, it was believed.

But now scientists have found evidence that the disease existed in Europe long before Columbus was even born.

A syphilitic skull

A syphilitic skull with the tell-tale indentations on the forehead (file picture). A new discovery in London may prove that syphilis exists ed in Europe far earlier than previously thought

Skeletons unearthed in a cemetery at a church in East London show signs of the disease up to two centuries before the explorer first set sail.

Archaelogists excavating bones from St Mary Spital in East London found rough patches on skulls and limbs of some of the skeletons, telling evidence of syphilis.

Brian Connell, an expert from the Museum of London who studied the bones, said he had no doubt that the skeletons were buried before Columbus’ voyage. Radiocarbon dating of the samples is estimated to be 95 percent accurate.

Previous findings of early syphilitic bones have been inconclusive.

Mr Connell said: ‘We’re confident that Christopher Columbus is simply not a feature of the emergence and timing of the disease in Europe,’ he told The Times.

‘This puts the nail in the coffin of the Columbus theory.’

Two of the syphilitic skeletons unearthed at St Mary Spital are from 1200 - 1250 while the other five are from 1250 – 1400. They were buried with coins and other objects that helped the experts corroborate the radiocarbon dating results.

The site was named after the hospital nearby in the City of London and the skeleton were probably victims of the disease who were patients there.

Christopher Columbus has been blamed for bringing syphilis back from the Americas

Christopher Columbus has been blamed for bringing syphilis back from the Americas

One of the skeletons belong to a child who would have been blind, bald and had teeth that grew at a 45 degree angle through its jaw because of the disease.

Mr Connell said: ‘IT would have had gross facial disfigurement, which would have been very distressing for the child, who was about 10 years old when it died.

‘The skull, which should have been smooth, looks like a lunar landscape. It caused a bit of a stir when it was found because the symptoms are so obvious.’

Syphilis causes serious damage to the heart, brain, eyes and bones and if untreated can be fatal. It is carried by the bacterium Treponema palladium.

In an era hundreds of years before the discovery of antibiotics, syphilis quickly spread and was soon the scourge of every major city.

Ever since the first recorded case in Europe took place in 1495 - three years after Columbus's first voyage to the New World - doctors have argued over its origins.

Some have claimed that it existed in Europe in ancient times. But others have claimed it was the price of those early and often violent visits to Latin America.

Columbus was once credited with being the first European to reach the Americas, but it is now thought that the Vikings made the journey several centuries earlier.

Soon after syphilis crossed the Atlantic, the Europeans were quick to blame each other. It was called the French, the Naples and the Venetian disease.

But across the Atlantic, diseases carried from Europe were causing far greater havoc. Millions of Native Americans died of measles, flu and smallpox exported from Europe.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1323533/Christopher-Columbus-cleared-importing-syphilis-Americas-Europe.html#ixzz13UHiAdLW

Thursday, October 21, 2010

SC lays down maintenance law for live-in relationships

Vector image of two human figures with hands i...

Image via Wikipedia

Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, October 21, 2010

http://www.hindustantimes.com/SC-lays-down-maintenance-law-for-live-in-relationships/H1-Article1-615791.aspx

A woman in a live-in relationship is not entitled to maintenance unless she fulfils certain parameters, the Supreme Court held on Thursday while observing that merely spending weekends together or a one night stand would not make it a domestic relationship. A bench comprising Justices

Markandey Katju and T S Thakur said that in order to get maintenance, a woman, even if not married, has to fulfil the following four requirements: (1) The couple must hold themselves out to society as being akin to spouses, (2) they must be of legal age to marry, (3) they must be otherwise qualified to enter into a legal marriage including being unmarried, (4) they must have voluntarily cohabited and held themselves out to the world as being akin to spouses for a significant period of time.

"In our opinion, not all live-in relationships will amount to a relationship in the nature of marriage to get the benefit of the Act of 2005 (Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act).

To get such benefits the conditions mentioned by us above must be satisfied and this has to be proved by evidence. "If a man has a 'keep' whom he maintains financially and uses mainly for sexual purpose and or as a servant, it would not in our opinion be a relationship in the nature of marriage," the court said.

"No doubt the view we are taking would exclude many women who have had a live-in relationship from the benefit of the 2005 Act (Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act) but then it is not for this court to legislate or amend the law.

Parliament has used the expression 'relationship in the nature of marriage' and not 'live-in relationship'. The court in the garb of interpretation cannot change the language of the statute," the bench observed.

The apex court passed the judgement while setting aside the concurrent orders passed by a matrimonial court and the Madras High Court awarding Rs 500 maintenance to D Patchaiammal who claimed to have married the appellant D Velusamy.

Velusamy had challenged the two courts order on the ground that he was already married to one Laxmi and Patchiammal was not married to him though he lived with her for some time.

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Never call your hubby Snookums! And other surprising tips for putting the spark back in your marriage

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1322389/Tips-putting-spark-marriage.html

By Maggie Arana and Julienne Davis
Last updated at 8:43 AM on 21st October 2010

Worried the sexual spark has gone out of your relationship? Afraid you may never be able to rekindle it?  In their frank and funny new book, self-help authors MAGGIE ARANA and JULIENNE DAVIS suggest that it’s not necessarily boredom that leads to a dwindling sex drive — but the cosy, everyday things we say and do. Here, in their guide to regaining some  va-va-voom in the bedroom, they explain why it’s never a good idea to give your partner a pet name, why a good row can help a relationship and why those cosy nights in front of Strictly have GOT to end . . .

Avoid the ‘honey’ trap

Sweetie, Dear, Pumpkin, Daddy Bear, Snookums — whatever your favourite ‘cute’ nicknames for each other are, you need to stop using them NOW if you want to put the fire back in your relationship.

Why? Isn’t calling your partner your ‘Love Bug’ just a term of endearment? Doesn’t it simply show how special he is to you?

No. Cutesy nicknames are fine when applied to a six-year-old child or the poodle, but they should not be used to describe the man waiting in your bedroom.

Reignite your love life: Don't call him a cute pet name and turn off the TV

Reignite your love life: Don't call him a cute pet name and turn off the TV

Let’s face it, ‘Snookums’ might bring you a warm cup of cocoa and a couple of
biscuits in bed, but he’s not very likely to ravish you between the sheets.

To reignite the flames of sexual attraction in your relationship, you need to start addressing your partner by his proper first name (and he needs to call you by yours) — just like you did when you were in the early stages of dating.

It may sound overly formal at first, but take yourself back to when you first met, and remember how nice it was to say his name when you spoke to him or called his work and asked for him.

Argue more

This may come as a surprise, but arguing can be GOOD for your relationship.

As women, we tend to take the position of compromiser or mediator in partnerships and family — something we probably learned from our own mothers. But being the one who smooths the way in a partnership can lead to the watering down of our own opinions and personality.

It’s important not to let this happen if you want to keep the romance alive. Without the intrigue or frustration that occurs when your partner has different opinions to you, the necessary ‘frisson’ you need for an exciting sexual relationship is less likely to happen.

We have all met couples who seem to be mirror images of one another. Most people view this as a good thing, but it is not necessarily so. If a couple agree on everything and have the same tastes and personality as each other, what excitement can occur?

Remember, men are intrigued when they meet a women who has something interesting and provocative to say. It’s a turn-on. Don’t let your interests, tastes and opinions get swallowed up in your relationship.

Re-examine your tastes and opinions. Are they still really yours? Or are you letting his take over?

If the answer is the latter, it’s time to think carefully about your own views and be a bit more feisty in expressing them.

TV turn-off

It's a sad fact that many couples use TV as an escape from dealing with their problems. You can get so immersed in entertainment programmes or other people’s lives on reality TV, that you don’t take time to concentrate on your own life, relationship and, of course, sex life.

TV is the equivalent of bromide — dampening sexual desire as we stare at the screen, hypnotised. If you want to inject some oomph into your love life, you are going to have to start switching off the box and make more of an effort with your lives, both together and as individuals.

Wouldn’t you rather your life as a couple was so exciting, you wouldn’t feel the need to be entertained by watching other people’s antics on TV? This means opening up to ­finding new things you can get excited about, have a talent for and really love.

Maybe you once belonged to a book group, used to go ­walking with friends at weekends or attended cookery courses? Perhaps you could invite some old friends over for dinner? These are the kind of activities that will help you bring fresh experiences into both your lives.

Your partner will be thrilled to discover new and interesting things through you. With that, will come a renewed
interest in having sex with you.

Feet on bed under blanket

In sync: But to be happy together, you should also spend some time apart following your own interests

Surprise, surprise!

Whether it’s a box of chocolates, roses or new perfume — when our man surprises us, it usually gives a nice lift to the day. It puts a smile on our face and warms our hearts.

Well, it’s the same in the bedroom. Throw a sexy surprise your partner’s way now and again to keep things interesting.

Your surprise doesn’t have to be something shocking, over the top or out of character to work it’s magic. A suggestive text, a massage, or a delicious dinner and an early night (with no TV) is probably all it will take to spice things up.

Just choose something you know he’ll like and that you feel comfortable with, and catch him off-guard.

Dress for success

If your usual attire at home is a pair of giant fluffy bunny slippers and an ancient, comfy nightie, you need to re-think your appearance. Would you have worn this get-up when you first got together? No? Then maybe a trip to the ­charity shop is on the cards.
As for your partner — if his favourite outfit is a pair of old boxer shorts with a fly that doesn’t close, it’s time to buy some new pants. Come on! Have some self-respect.

Stay separate — stay together

While it’s true that couples often get together because of all the interests they have in common, as the relationship goes on, a little effort has to be made to bring something new to the partnership to stop it getting tired and humdrum.

Having a part of your life totally separate from the family — even if it’s just attending a salsa class once a week — is a good and necessary thing.
If you want to keep the sexual sparks flying, your partner should never know you completely. We are attracted to those who seem elusive, who we cannot totally control or understand.

Remember, your partner is not your ‘other half’; you compliment each other, but you do not complete each other. Maintaining your individuality and keeping a degree of separation between you is what will keep the sparks flying.

Adapted from Stop Calling Him Honey And Start Having Sex: How Changing Your
Everyday Habits Will Make You Feel Hot For Each Other Again by Julienne Davis and Maggie Arana. To be published on November 1.

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Girl, 2, saved by Facebook after family friend spots eye cancer in photo taken by mother

 

The Facebook picture that alerted nurse Nicola Sharp to a potentially serious eye condition for young Grace Freeman

The Facebook picture that alerted nurse Nicola Sharp to a potentially serious eye condition for young Grace Freeman

A toddler's life has been saved after a nurse spotted she had cancer by looking at a photo on Facebook.

Nicola Sharp was browsing through friend Michele Freeman's profile when she saw a photograph of Michele's two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Grace.

The flash photograph showed Grace with a white pupil in her left eye instead of the 'red eye' tint most people would have - a sign of eye cancer.

Nicola, 42, who has worked in paediatrics for more than 20 years, immediately contacted Michele and Grace was later diagnosed with retinoblastoma. She was found to have two tumours and lost all sight in her left eye.

Medics told Michele if the cancer had spread it could have been fatal.

Grace now has to travel to Birmingham every four weeks for specialist laser treatment and will have to monitor the condition for the rest of her life.

Michele, 37, said: 'There is no doubt in my mind that Nicola saved Grace's life. There were no signs that Grace had any problems with her eyes and we never would have known without her.

'There is very little awareness of this condition and only around 50 people in the UK are diagnosed with it each year.

Grace, pictured with her mother Michele, was found to have two tumours and lost all sight in her left eye, but the cancer had not spread

Grace, pictured with her mother Michele, was found to have two tumours and lost all sight in her left eye, but the cancer had not spread

'Without Nicola, we don't think we would have discovered there was anything wrong with Grace until she had a routine eye test at school, when things could have been much worse.'

Nicola, who lives in Middleton, is the team leader for school nursing services for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

She said: 'I was just looking at the photos when I noticed something odd.

'Normally, you get a red eye tint in photos, but where the eye comes out white it can mean something is wrong. We were praying it was nothing serious, but unfortunately it was.'

Retinoblastoma only affects young children and the most common symptom is that the pupil tends to reflect light as white, like a cat's eye. When diagnosed early, it is very treatable and can be cured.

Michele, of Mount Street, Heywood, added: 'I really want to give a massive thank you to Nicola and to all my family and friends who have been so supportive over the past four weeks. It has been horrible and without them I couldn't have coped.'

Michele, who works for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, and Nicola know each other through visits to Birch Farm on Doctor Fold Lane, where Michele and Nicola's daughter Francesca have horse stables. 

For more information about childhood cancer visit the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust website

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1320423/Facebook-saves-girls-life-family-friend-spots-eye-cancer-mothers-photo.html#ixzz12dYhICDV

Monday, October 11, 2010

Discus Thrower Krishna Poonia wins Gold for India at Commonwealth Games

 11oct4

New Delhi, Oct.11 : India's hopes to maintain its second position in the medal tally of Commonwealth Games were boosted when Discus Thrower Krishna Poonia won a historic Gold Medal on Monday evening.

Poonia became the first Indian woman to win an athletics Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games by winning women's discus throw event of athletics.
India's other two Discus Throwers went on to make a clean sweep, bagging Silver and Bronze medals.
Poonia's throw was 61.51metres, Harwant Kaur claimed Siliver with a throw of 60.16m, while Seema Antil took Bronze with a best of 58.46.
Philippa Rose of Wales was fourth with 57.99 and England's Jade Nicholls was sixth with 57.62.

Krishna Poonia hasn’t seen her eight-year-old son Lakshya Raj in nearly six months. The sacrifice — the price of a gruelling training schedule — paid off on Monday. Poonia, 28, threw the iron disc to a distance of 61.51 metres to lead an Indian 1-2-3 in the women’s discus final at the Commonwealth Games.

Krishna’s gold was the first for India at the Commonwealth Games since Milkha Singh won the 440 yards race in 1958

“It's fantastic…what could be better than this,” said the 28-year-old Haryana-born Railway star, Poonia, who was the Doha Asian Games bronze medallist. She was fifth at the last Games in Melbourne.

“I dedicate this to all Indians. With this I think we have wiped out everything bad that had happened before the Games.”

Milkha Singh, who won his gold in the 440 yards event at the 1958 Games, was overjoyed too.

“It's a big thing for India,” said the 75-year-old. “Now that we have won this gold, it should inspire our athletes in a big way.”

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Friday, October 8, 2010

'I like it on the floor': Most bizarre Breast Cancer Awareness campaign hits Facebook... but it's not as rude as it sounds

 

A Facebook campaign which encourages users to make cryptic, suggestive status updates is the latest attempt to raise the profile of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The ‘I like it on the floor’ update has been raising eyebrows across the social networking website – largely due its flirty connotations. 

The phrase, which also sees users substitute the word ‘floor’ for kitchen table, stairs, couch or any location of their choosing, appears to be an unofficial attempt to raise awareness of the disease.

Enlarge Don't tell the boys: The viral Facebook campaign has raised eyebrows across the globe

Don't tell the boys: The viral Facebook campaign has raised eyebrows across the globe

BREAST CANCER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
  • Nearly 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK – equivalent to one person every 11 minutes.
  • It is the second biggest cause of death from cancer for women after lung cancer.
  • The disease is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under the age of 35, with over 12,000 people losing their lives to it every year.

Of course the mystery lies in what ‘it’ could possibly be.

Fortunately, it’s nothing smutty at all – rather it refers to where women like to leave their handbags – and the game seems to be an attempt to unite women for a cause while keeping men guessing.

The campaign is being spread via private message on Facebook urging the status updates, although several fan pages of support have also been set up.

The ruse follows a similar Facebook campaign last year which saw female users update their pages by describing their favourite colours.

The flood of ‘I like red/ I like blue/ I like white’ updates left many men scratching their heads in confusion – until it was revealed to reflect the user’s bra colour – a perhaps tenuous way of promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

However, the ‘don’t tell the boys’ element of the game has been a roaring success, with ‘I like it on the floor’ becoming one of the top searched internet phrases of the moment.

 

But while the phrase has gone viral, it’s unclear as to whether it is actually reaching its objective of raising awareness of what can be a fatal disease.

A spokesman for Breast Cancer Care, which is not affiliated with the campaign, said: 'While viral campaigns have great potential for increasing consciousness around many issues, we’d like to see this go further.

Big supporters: Pregnant Penny Lancaster and sister-in-law Louise Crocker at a more traditional breast cancer campaign, a fashion show, at the Dorchester today

Big supporters: Pregnant Penny Lancaster and sister-in-law Louise Crocker at a more traditional breast cancer campaign, a fashion show, at the Dorchester today

'We’d encourage people to direct their Facebook friends towards helpful support and information to create better breast awareness, for example linking to our website (www.breastcancercare.org.uk) or reminding their friends to check their breasts regularly when they explain what the campaign is about.'

A Breakthrough Breast Cancer spokesman said: 'This US initiative is a clear example of how social media can capture the public's imagination, although not everyone will know that it is to raise awareness of breast cancer.

'We hope this enthusiasm will continue and that more women will be get into the habit of checking their breasts regularly.

'Breakthrough has launched iBreastCheck, a new free app to give women all the information they need to be breast aware: www.ibreastcheck.com.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318206/I-like-floor-Facebook-status-updates-promote-Breast-Cancer-Awareness.html#ixzz11n4Rlsmt

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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

How the heat from a laptop can 'toast' the skin on your thighs

 

By Fiona Macrae
Last updated at 1:09 AM on 5th October 2010

  • 'Toasted' boy used laptop for a few hours a day
  • Damage can lead to skin cancers in some cases
  • Temperature underneath computer can hit 52C

Balancing your laptop on your knees could cause permanent discolouration of the skin and, in rare cases, cancer, doctors have warned.

The heat generated by the computers can cause a nettle sting-like rash - a condition named 'toasted skin syndrome'.

Common in the days before central heating, when people huddled around fires and electric heaters to stay warm, it is making a comeback in the laptop generation.

toasted skin syndrome

Warning: A 12-year-old boy shows off the 'toasted skin' on his leg after using a laptop for several hours a day

In one recent case, a 12-year-old boy developed a sponge-patterned skin discolouration on his left thigh after playing computer games for a few hours every day for several months.

'He recognised that the laptop got hot on the left side, however, regardless of that, he did not change its position,' Swiss researchers wrote in the medical-journal Pediatrics.

Another case involved an American law student with a mottled discolouration on her leg.

Her doctors were stumped until they learned she spent about six hours a day working with her computer propped on her lap.

The temperature underneath the device reached 52c and, placed under the microscope, the affected skin resembled skin damaged by long-term sun exposure.

The case, from 2007, is one of ten laptop-related incidents reported in medical journals in the past six years, but many more are likely to have gone unrecorded.

Danger: Balancing a laptop on bare legs can can cause permanent skin darkening

Danger: Balancing a laptop on bare legs can can cause permanent skin darkening

Although the condition is usually harmless, it can cause permanent skin darkening.

In very rare cases, it can cause damage leading to skin cancers, said the Swiss researchers, Andreas Arnold and Peter Itin, of the University Hospital Basel.

'Toasted skin syndrome' can also affect bakers, silversmiths and others whose jobs involve being exposed to heat.

Major computer manufacturers including Apple, Hewlett Packard and Dell warn in user manuals against placing laptops on laps or exposed skin for extended periods because of the risk of burns.

The researchers warned that children's skin is particularly susceptible to heat.

But Dr Bav Shergill, a consultant dermatologist and spokesman for the British Association of Dermatologists, urged people not to worry.

He said: 'It usually resolves itself without any permanent skin discolouration.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317532/Laptop-heat-toast-skin-thighs.html#ixzz11bPrcZAD

Invention to help babies sleep in buggies

Sleeping on the job: Invention to help babies sleep in buggies could make mummy a millionaire

Necessity is often the mother of invention.

And for one mother, a light bulb moment came while in a cafe trying to get her baby daughter to go to sleep.

Less than a year on, Cara Sayer’s simple idea for a universal buggy black-out blind means she is on the way to becoming a millionaire as well as in the running for a BusinessMum of the Year award.

Cara Sayer

Cara Sayer's Snooze Shade invention

Buggy bucks: Cara Sayer's invention to help her young daughter sleep in her buggy has been an instant hit and her company is in profit after less than a year

Miss Sayer, 38, was an events manager before she had her daughter Holly, now two. She thought she had left her business life behind her – until inspiration struck in a coffee shop with friends.

‘Our kids wouldn’t go to sleep,’ she said. ‘We were all trying to cover the buggies. We were all doing the same thing and I thought, this is ridiculous.

‘I said that someone should invent a buggy cover and my friends told me to stop whinging and do it myself. So I did.’

 

After buying fabric which blocked out light while letting air through, Miss Sayer got a patent and had a prototype made. She took it to a baby product show in London, where it was an instant hit.

She was approached by a buyer for children’s retailer JoJo Maman Bébé, who requested 100, and Kiddicare and Mothercare also showed interest.

She took a risk and used her savings of £30,000 to pay for the first 10,000 covers to be made.

They now sell in outlets including Halfords, Boots, John Lewis, and Amazon, with a major supermarket in the UK also planning to stock them in 300 stores. Fans include TV presenter Denise Van Outen.

Peek-a-boo: the innovative SnoozeShade even incorporates a peek hole so you can check on baby

Peek-a-boo: the innovative SnoozeShade even incorporates a peek hole so you can check on baby

The £19.99 cover, called SnoozeShade, can strap on to almost all buggies. It has inbuilt UPF50+ sun protection, and is cool on hot days.

It also features a ‘sneak-a-peek’ zip opening at the front so parents can check on their sleeping child.

Miss Sayer, who lives with husband Lucien Gover, 44, in Surrey, said inspiration for the cover came in part from feeling that mothers should not be made housebound by their children’s sleeping patterns. ‘But I never thought something like this would happen,’ she said.

Her company, Really Simple Ideas, is already in profit after less than a year of trading. The SnoozeShades will also soon sell internationally from Australia, the Gulf and throughout Europe.

Miss Sayer says she grabs any spare moment during the day to respond to hundreds of daily work emails from around the world.

‘It has been difficult and very busy at times. But it’s amazing how fast everything’s happened.

‘I do most of my work when Holly is asleep or at nursery. When my husband comes home from work he is on bedtime duty so I can work.’

Antonia Chitty, of the BusinessMums Conference, which presents the BusinessMum of the Year award, said Cara is a testament that mothers can make it in business while bringing up children.

‘Mothers can sometimes see themselves as being stuck at home,’ she said. ‘But being at home can also be about taking the time to think up ideas – something creative and new.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1318069/Baby-buggy-idea-make-mother-Cara-Sayer-millionaire.html#ixzz11bHRZdDn

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