NEW YORK -- It's months away from being on bookshelves, but fans can't get enough of the seventh - and final - Harry Potter book, no matter the cost.
Not only is "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows" topping the charts of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, a deluxe edition, priced at $65, is No. 2, outselling the "You" diet book, Sen. Barack Obama and an Oprah Winfrey-endorsed memoir by Sidney Poitier.
DURING her first campaign swing last weekend through Iowa, the small mid-western state where a year from now, she will face the first test in her bid to win the Democratic Party nomination for the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was asked many times whether she was prepared for the months of scrutiny of her private life and political record.
She said she had been through that sort of scrutiny and those sort of dirty tricks before and was prepared for whatever came her way.
But she was not asked how she would handle questions about perhaps the biggest political failure of her husband's first term, one that played a large role in the Republican Party's mid-term election victories in 1994 and one for which she has to take much of the "credit".
The electricity-wasting incandescent bulb would be banned — replaced by energy efficient compact fluorescents — under a bill that Assemblyman Lloyd Levine plans to introduce.
He says the spiral light sources are so efficient that consumers should be forced to use them. The compact bulbs use one-fourth the electricity spent in an equivalent incandescent.
“Incandescent light bulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications,” said Mr. Levine, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said in a news release Tuesday. “It's time to take a step forward.”
Hospitals across the region reported little to no effect on their blood supplies as about 160 union workers from the Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross stayed on strike for a second day.
"At this moment, it's not an issue," said Robin Jennings, a spokeswoman for Excela Health, which operates three hospitals in Westmoreland County, along with affiliates in Fayette and Indiana counties.
The strike started Sunday at 12:01 a.m. and involves members of the blood drive collection staff represented by Communications Workers of America Local 13000.
The union represents about 160 of the 700 workers at a Red Cross chapter that serves 100 counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.
For Iowans with no other impression of Hillary Clinton than the one etched by the national media, her weekend Iowa swing was a primer on the various traits of the Democrat now asking for support in the state's lead-off presidential caucuses.
Summary: The latest report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that fewer American women are getting mammograms, a screening test that can find breast cancer early, when it is easier to treat. The finding troubles experts, who warn that skipping mammograms may eventually lead to higher death rates from breast cancer.
Talks aimed at averting next week's strike by British Airways cabin crew have continued with signs that some progress had been made.
The airline's chief executive, Willie Walsh, led the company's negotiators in secret meetings with officials from the Transport and General Workers Union including its general secretary Tony Woodley.
The talks lasted several hours and are set to continue throughout the weekend in the search for a last-ditch deal which would halt the planned walkout by thousands of stewards and stewardesses on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Here's some good news for every- one who worries about germs: Zapping that soggy sponge in the microwave for a couple of minutes can pretty much sterilize it.
Hardware-makers Motorola Inc., NEC Corp., Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and carriers NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Vodafone Group Services Ltd. said last June that they planned to work together on a Linux-based open software platform for mobile phones.
Critics say Apple's digital rights management system, FairPlay, forces anyone using iTunes to use an Apple music player for the rest of their lives. Perhaps they're on to something. If Apple thinks it makes the best digital media players in the world, why lock consumers in with a tightly guarded DRM system? Licensing FairPlay would be a tremendous show of confidence from Apple.
Though we aren't staunch advocates of eating at your desk (even though we do it all the time), bringing lunch from home is a good way to save money and calories. When you can't stand the thought of one more low-fat, low-calorie, low-sodium protein-with-pasta microwaveable entree, consider the salad.
You could eat salad five days a week and never get bored as long as you change the flavors. Look for interesting dressings or make your own. You decide if they should be fat-free, low-fat or fully loaded.
Think about global flavors: Asian, Latin, Southwestern or French. Adding protein to the greens will hold off hunger longer, though it is smart to have some fruit and nuts handy for later in the afternoon.
Wells, of Queen's University in Belfast, said dogs can aid in the recovery from heart attacks and give early warning of an approaching epileptic seizure.
It is possible that dogs can directly promote our well-being by buffering us from stress, one of the major risk factors associated with ill-health, Wells said.
ROBOT nurses could be bustling around hospital wards in as little as three years.
The mechanised "angels" - being developed by EU-funded scientists - will perform basic tasks such as mopping up spillages, taking messages and guiding visitors to hospital beds.
They could also be used to distribute medicines and even monitor the temperature of patients remotely with laser thermometers.
Working in teams, the intelligent robots will be able to communicate with each other and co-ordinate their duties.
Scientists from the universities of Warwick, Cardiff, Dublin and Newcastle are among the engineers and software experts taking part in the "IWARD" project. They aim to have a three-robot prototype system ready by 2010.
It is hoped the machines will ease pressure on hospitals and free staff to spend more time with patients.
By helping to keep wards cleaner, they could also cut infections by hospital superbugs such as MRSA. Each "nursebot" will consist of a mobile platform mounted with a module of sensors and equipment for different tasks.
It might be fitted with a laser thermometer which can measure body heat from a distance, or cleaning equipment to mop up spills.
While the hardware and modules can employ off-the-shelf technology, making the robots sufficiently intelligent and autonomous will require ground-breaking work.
Project leader Thomas Schlegel, from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, has teamed up with experts from the University of Warwick to develop the advanced software.
He told The Engineer magazine: "The idea is not only to have mobile robots but also a full system of integrated information terminals and guide lights, so the hospital is full of interaction and intelligence.
"Operating as a completely decentralised network means that the robots can co-ordinate things between themselves, such as deciding which one would be best-equipped to deal with a spillage or to transport medicine."
He said the robots could provide a valuable service guiding people around the hospital. A visitor would state the name of a patient at an information terminal and then follow a robot to the correct bedside.
If the nearest robot was not sure of a patient's location, it could seek help by communicating with others in the right area.
The robots will be fitted with sensors and cameras, allowing them to avoid collisions while travelling through wards and corridors. High-speed lanes could allow them to move from place to place quickly.
The robots would also employ face and voice recognition technology to communicate with patients and spot unauthorised visitors.
"But the human-robot interaction will be tricky, as the robots will have to be able to deal with people with different injuries and disabilities as well as the elderly and seriously ill patients," said Mr Schlegel.
SACRAMENTO - When authorities approved a vaccine last summer that prevents most cervical cancers, experts cheered it as a breakthrough in fighting a disease that kills 3,700 American women each year.
Now, a Bay Area lawmaker wants to make sure California girls get that vaccine, which guards against certain strains of human papilloma virus, known as HPV, that can cause cervical cancer. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber has introduced legislation that would require girls to be immunized against HPV before they enter the sixth grade.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that parents get the vaccine for their daughters, ideally when they're aged 11 and 12. But the proposal to mandate vaccination in California, AB 16, is causing quite a stir because HPV is transmitted only through sexual contact.
Mark Mangin of San Jose, Calif., saw his sister die, at age 32, from a different kind of cancer, ovarian, a decade ago. So when he saw a television ad for the new vaccine Gardasil, Mangin wrote his wife a Post-it note reminder to research it.
Mangin said they may talk to their family doctor about whether their three daughters, who attend Leland High and Castillero Middle schools, should get the shots. And he's generally OK with the state mandating the vaccine.
But the subject does give him pause. How much would he want to tell his daughters about Gardasil? Would kids chatter about their shots in homeroom or at lunch?
"It's very complicated," he said. "You don't explain anything to your kid when they get a measles shot. The thing that crossed my mind is, what will the kids think? Will they think it's OK to have sex if you get this vaccine?"
At least 10 states from Maine to Texas are considering HPV bills.
Lieber, who already stirred debate with her recent proposal to ban spanking young children, knows the issue is fraught for many families. But, she said, California requires vaccinations for Hepatitis B, which is transmitted through sexual contact and intravenous drug use.
"This is the first time we have a chance to prevent a virulent form of cancer," Lieber said, adding, "What we're trying to do is prevent disease, not mandate morality."
The state allows parents to decline any vaccination for their children for medical reasons or because of personal beliefs, Lieber stressed. But some bill critics say that option is little publicized.
"This, to me, is clearly an issue between a child and a parent, especially when we know that this vaccine is for a disease that is shown to only occur through sexual activity," said Republican state Sen. George Runner. "The point is that I have certain values and issues to which I deal with my daughter on. And it seems like it sends an inconsistent message about sexual activity."
Runner, a father of two, said he is all in favor of a public information campaign about the vaccine. But he would vote against mandating it.
Human papilloma virus is the most common sexually-transmitted disease in the United States, affecting about 20 million people at any time. Each year, there are about 6.2 million new infections, according to the Atlanta-based CDC.
People with HPV rarely exhibit any symptoms. However, some strains of the virus can carry serious consequences, causing cervical cancer and genital warts. Some 10,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year; about 3,700 die from it.
Gardasil is effective against the strains of HPV responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts. It does not protect against other sexually-transmitted diseases, AIDS or pregnancy.
Merck's Gardasil, given in three shots over six months, costs $360. It's covered by nearly all insurers. Other pharmaceutical companies are working on their own HPV vaccines.
The state's Medi-Cal program covers the shot for girls 18 and younger. The Schwarzenegger administration has proposed $11 million in additional funding to get the vaccine to 50,000 Medi-Cal recipients aged 19 to 26.
Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, a mother of, is passionate that women learn about the vaccine.
"One thing I've told people with a religious objection is, `Your daughter could be a virgin on her wedding day, but you don't know where her partner has been,'" said Garcia. "Once you take off your clothes and get naked, you're at risk."
But she's also reluctant to mandate it. "I don't think that will get out of" the Assembly, she said. "It's really about having parents buy into it."
By late last year, all Kaiser Permanents facilities in Northern California had received the vaccine. It's free to Kaiser patients whose doctors prescribe the vaccine.
"There isn't resistance" to it, said Dr. Ruth Shaber, Kaiser's director of women's health for Northern California. But, "we're surprised. We had expected more women to come in on their own" requesting it, because of Merck's aggressive "One Less" series of television ads.
Shaber said her own 12-year-old daughter has gotten the first Gardasil shot. And she recommends it to her patients. But, "my push would be for more public information."
It's so new, she said, that no one knows how long the vaccine is effective for. Initial studies didn't find any serious side effects from the vaccine, but there's a "remote possibility" that new side effects could emerge as the vaccine is more widely used.
Parent Mia Burnham, who has a 12-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter at Castillero Middle School in San Jose, leans in favor of a bill.
"I would tell my daughter, `This could protect against an STD,'" she said. "'And we would want it for you because we would hate for you to get cervical cancer if we could have prevented it.'"
AB 16 will get its first hearing sometime this spring. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he hasn't seen the bill yet and doesn't have a stance on it.
---
HPV FACTS
The human papilloma virus, or HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States and it can lead to cervical cancer. A Bay Area lawmaker wants to require girls to get a vaccine against it before entering the sixth grade.
_Number of people affected by HPV: About 20 million in the U.S.
_New cases each year: 6.2 million
_Health effects: Usually causes no symptoms, but certain strains can lead to cervical cancer and genital warts.
_Cervical cancer data: 9,700 new U.S. cases a year. 3,700 deaths.
_New vaccine: Gardasil, which is effective against HPV strains causing 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts.
_Recommended recipients: Girls 11- to 12-years-old or before onset of sexual activity. Can be given to girls as young as 9. Also advised for 13- to 26-year-olds.
_Cost: $360 for a set of three shots over six months. Covered by vast majority of insurers.
_Side effects: No serious ones reported; some pain at injection site.
GOOGLE and some of the world’s top publishers are working on plans that they hope could do for books what Apple’s iPod has done for music. The internet search giant is working on a system that would allow readers to download entire books to their computers in a format that they could read on screen or on mobile devices such as a Blackberry.
Jens Redmer, director of Google Book Search in Europe, said: “We are working on a platform that will let publishers give readers full access to a book online.”
COLTON, Calif. - This city lives in the shadow of a 1-inch fly that zooms around like a hummingbird.
For more than a decade, the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly has been the only fly on the federal endangered species list, its best hope of survival pinned on prime breeding habitat in this city east of Los Angeles. For just as long, city officials have fought to get it off the list, arguing that restrictions on building on its habitat have cost tens of millions of dollars in economic development.
Now, however, the working-class city is offering a new proposal to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that could help relax the insect's economic clout: hassle-free development in one neighborhood in exchange for a pristine preserve nearby. The compromise could end a stalemate that has left the city with limited commercial development and the fly's best habitat marred by rusting refrigerators, off-road trails and homeless encampments.
"I'm thinking there's hope we'll finally find a good solution to a problem that has been intractable for many years," said Dan Silver, executive director of the Endangered Habitats League, an environmental group that tracks Southern California's desert ecosystem. "We'll look back and say, 'Gee, there was a lot of foresight in protecting that.'"
"The nominal distribution fee for the 802.11n software is required in order for Apple to comply with generally accepted accounting principles for revenue recognition, which generally require that we charge for significant feature enhancements, such as 802.11n, when added to previously purchased products," said Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox.
The new wireless standard boasts a large increase in bandwidth over the previous 802.11g standard, offering a longer range while providing backward compatibility with older wireless standards. The 802.11n standard will likely see ratification later this year, but the Wi-Fi Alliance has said it will begin certifying products based on a draft of the standard.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many of the leading players in U.S. health care joined together as "strange bedfellows" on Thursday to propose what they called a politically practical plan to provide health insurance to more than half of the 47 million Americans who lack it.
The plan envisioned more federal funds to help more children enroll in existing public programs, new tax credits and expanding eligibility for the Medicaid insurance program. Its backers were unable to say how much this would cost the U.S. government.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the proposal -- offered as the new Democratic-controlled Congress mulls how to address the twin problems of uninsured Americans and escalating health care costs -- was who crafted it.
It was hammered out over two years by 16 groups and companies that in the past often bickered with one another, including leading drug and insurance companies, health plans, the American Medical Association, hospital groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and consumer advocates.
Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, a senior AMA official, called the participants "the major players in health care" and said the idea is "to cover as many people as possible as quickly as possible."
The AFL-CIO and the SEIU labor union that represents service workers pulled out before the plan was finished, as did the National Association of Manufacturers.
Participants highlighted what they saw as the urgency of the problem -- 46.6 million Americans without any health insurance in a rich country of 300 million people -- and pledged to work together to demand government action.
NEW YORK -- The popular online hangout MySpace.com has been quietly developing software designed to give parents the bare-bones of what their kids are doing on the site.
The tool, which will alert parents of the username, age and location a child lists on personal MySpace pages known as profiles, is designed to spark conversations about Internet safety.
But it is also meant to give kids enough room to maneuver lest they flee to rival social-networking sites such as Facebook or Xanga. Unlike third-party monitoring software available for sale, the free MySpace tool won't let parents see their kids' password-protected profiles or any communications they have with friends.
