Certification Scandal Rocks Texas School System

The school system in Texas may have to be reformmed and reorganized after a teacher certification scandal was discovered in the Houston area.

According to a statement by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg last 28 October, the scheme involved hundreds of teachers taking false examinations, given out by the suspects who charged per certificate, with many being falsely certified.

The cheating ring unmasked at least five people allegedly involved in the million-dollar cheating scandal leading to fraudulently certified teachers working in the district. At least three of those charged were Houston Independent School District (HISD) employees, including two assistant principals and a high school basketball coach.

Officials believe the basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School was the ringleader and that he made about US$ 1 million from the scheme, charging US$ 2,500 per certificate, although some paid more.

Ogg said in a press statement that the scheme goes back as far as May 2020, and it is believed that hundreds of tests have been faked and investigators say at this time approximately 20 teachers have come forward with confessions.

"The extent of this scheme will never be fully known, but we know that at least 400 tests were taken and at least 200 teachers falsely certified," Ogg said.

Chargers are pending for:

• Vincent Grayson, 57: Head boy's basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD, Grayson is accused of organizing the scheme.
• Tywana Gilford Mason, 51: Former director and certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center, Mason allegedly helped conceal the proxy scheme as a test proctor.
• Nicholas Newton, 35: Assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, Newton reportedly acted as a proxy test-taker in the cheating ring.
• Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22: Proctor at TACTIX, Wilhite is accused of taking bribes to allow proxy testing.
• LaShonda Roberts, 39: Assistant principal at Yates High School, Roberts is alleged to have recruited nearly 100 teachers to participate in the scheme.

Each defendant faces two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Read More

World Leaders Already Vowed To Protect Children In 2017

Children are precious and should be supported and guided as they transition and develop into a self sufficient human being. This is one of the main reasons why more than 200 global leaders and laureates last 11 December pledged to use their voices to protect millions of children who were victimized and abused. They also vow to push for a concrete action to improve their schooling, support those living in conflict and to end child labor.

The pledge by the prominent leaders - who included former presidents and prime ministers, royalty from Jordan, the Netherlands and Monaco, heads of corporations and civil society groups and Nobel Peace Prize winners - came at the end of two-day summit on children's rights in the Indian capital in 2017.

"We will use our voices to protect and amplify the voices of millions of girls, boys and young people as equal citizens of today and decision makers of tomorrow," said the declaration at the end of the conference.

"We will take actions ... towards concrete efforts to ending child labor in all its forms, including the trafficking of children, and abolishing modern day slavery."

The delegates included the Dalai Lama, East Timor's former president and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, former Australian premier Julia Gillard, Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Yemeni rights activist and Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman.

According to the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, many children continue to live - and die - in desperate conditions. In 2015, an estimated 5.9 million children died before reaching age 5, mostly as a result of preventable and treatable diseases.

Millions more children are denied access to education simply because their parents are poor, because they are girls, or because they are growing up in countries blighted by conflict such as in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Even though poverty is falling globally, nearly half of the world's extreme poor are children, and poverty makes them vulnerable to exploitation, says UNICEF.

There are 168 million child laborers across the world, with more than half involved in hazardous work in sectors such as agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and services, says the International Labour Organization (ILO).

While many people believe slavery no longer exists in the modern age, the ILO estimates that 5.5 million of these children are enslaved -- born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, or trapped in debt bondage or forced labor.

Child rights activist and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said he organized the Delhi summit because the voices of world's most marginalized children were not being heard, and that their continued suffering was unacceptable.

There would be follow-up to make sure actions promised at the gathering are delivered, said Satyarthi, and the summit would become an annual event.

(Originally reported by by Nita Bhalla. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

Read More

Court Ruled That J&J Products Have High Cancer Risks

It will be recalled that in 2016, the family of Jacqueline Fox sued Johnson & Johnson after the Alabama woman died of ovarian cancer that she developed from using the company’s baby powder and body powder products. Last 4 April 2016, a jury in St. Louis awarded the family US$ 72 million in damages. This is the first verdict in more than 1,000 national cases linked to these products.

According to the suit, Fox developed terminal ovarian cancer after 35 years of using the company’s talc-based products for feminine hygiene. A pathologist found that the talc had inflamed Fox's ovaries, which then developed into cancer.

Jere Beasley, a lawyer for Fox’s family, says that Johnson & Johnson has known for decades, since the 1980s, about the risk of talc-based products causing cancer, yet had lied to the public and regulatory agencies in an effort to boost sales.

The company issued a statement to Reuters after the verdict: "We have no higher responsibility than the health and safety of consumers, and we are disappointed with the outcome of the trial. We sympathize with the plaintiff's family, but firmly believe the safety of cosmetic talc is supported by decades of scientific evidence."

According to the American Cancer Society, the link between applying talcum powder regularly as a feminine hygiene product and an increased risk of ovarian cancer is a known concern. Study results thus far have been mixed, and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies that type of use of talc-based body powder as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

To be safe, the American Cancer Society suggests using cornstarch-based products instead because "there is no evidence at this time linking cornstarch powders with any form of cancer."

Following the verdict, more than 1,000 women are suing the company as well as their supplier Imerys Talc America over covering up the risks of ovarian cancer linked to use of their baby powder.

According to Bloomberg, Johnson & Johnson has spent more than US$ 5 billion since 2013 to resolve legal claims against its products.

Read More

No Special Accommodation for Muslim Girls in Switzerland

Europe's top court has ruled in 2017 that Muslim parents in Switzerland cannot refuse to send their daughters to school-run swimming lessons with boys. The court dismissed a challenge by a Turkish-Swiss couple claiming the rule violated their beliefs.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted that the refusal by Swiss authorities to exempt the couple's two daughters from the compulsory lessons interfered with their freedom of religion.

But the interference, it ruled, was justified by the need to protect the children from social exclusion.

School has become the focal point in several high-profile battles between Swiss authorities and Muslim families who say their religion prevents their children from participating in some mixed activities.

Last year, a high-profile case involving Muslim pupils in the northern canton of Basel refusing to shake hands with their female teachers caused an uproar.

School plays "a special role in the process of social integration, particularly where children of foreign origin were concerned," the ECHR, which is based in the French city of Strasbourg, said.

Swimming lessons are "not just to learn to swim, but above all to take part in that activity with all the other pupils", it added.

Several parents in Switzerland have incurred fines in recent years for keeping their daughters home from obligatory swimming lessons.

The case in Strasbourg was brought by Aziz Osmanoglu and his partner Sehabat Kocabas, a Turkish-Swiss couple living in Basel, who were among a handful of parents fined in 2010 for refusing to allow their daughters to take part in swimming lessons. All of the girls concerned were aged under 10.

The case comes against the backdrop of an acrimonious debate in Europe over the place of Islam in public life that has been fuelled by an unprecedented migrant influx largely from the Middle East, and the radicalization of marginalized Muslim youths, thousands of whom have been drawn to extremist groups like Islamic State.

In September, Switzerland's lower house approved a bill banning the burqa nationwide - a first step towards outlawing the full-face veil that could eventually be put to a referendum.

Read More

Walnut Can Help Fight Colon Cancer

Consumption of a walnut-enriched diet appeared to increase life span, as a new study has shown that it slows down the growth of colon cancer.

A new animal study from the Harvard Medical School, led by Dr. Christos Mantzoros, has indicated that a diet containing walnuts may slow colorectal tumor growth by causing beneficial changes in cancer genes.

This is the first study that evaluates whether walnut consumption can cause changes to micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNA), the nucleotides that are involved in altering gene expression.

Dr. Mantzoros said that their research showed that a walnut diet causes significant changes in the expression profile of miRNAs in localized colorectal cancer tissue and that a walnut diet incorporates protective fatty acids in the colonic tumor either through its direct effects or through additive or synergistic effects of multiple other compounds present in walnuts.

He added that future studies were required and they were optimistic of the role of miRNAs as biomarkers of disease and prognosis and may demonstrate a potential therapeutic target for colorectal cancer treatment.

The study results found that a smaller tumor size was associated with greater percentage of omega-3s in tumor tissues, suggesting that ALA may provide a protective benefit.

ALA is an essential fatty acid critical to various body processes and is known to reduce inflammation. Walnuts are the only nut that contain a significant source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (2.5 grams per ounce). Walnuts also contain a variety of antioxidants, (3.7 mmol/ounce), and numerous vitamins and minerals.

Colorectal cancer is the 3rd most common type of cancer worldwide and is second to only lung cancer as the leading cause of death in Western Countries.

The findings are published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

Read More

There's A Coughing Billboard in Denmark

There is one innovative advertisement paid for by a Swedish pharmacy chain that wants to encourage smokers to kick their smelly habit.

At first glance, the digital screen positioned outside a metro station shows only a simple photo of a model. But walk by with a lit cigarette and the man in the picture starts coughing, clearly bothered by the smoke.

The screen then changes again, offering various products sold by pharmacy chain Apotek Hjartat that can help smokers quit.

Akestam Holst, the agency behind the campaign, created the effect by attaching smoke detectors to the digital advertising screen. They chose a location where people often smoke - Stockholm's Odenplan square - and let the coughing begin.

The agency filmed the reactions of smokers - some express surprise, others react with laughter. The resulting video has been posted online and is being shared widely.

"The purpose was to drive the conversation about this topic, documenting the reactions, encouraging people to live a healthy lifestyle," said Fredrik Kullberg, marketing director at Apotek Hjartat. "The reaction has been mostly really positive."

The timing of the campaign was deliberate. "We released this initiative that aims to help people with one of the most common New Year's resolutions - quit smoking," said Ida Persson, spokeswoman for the agency.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 20 percent of Swedes aged 15 and over smoke. Chewing tobacco is very popular.

This is the second time in just over a month that Akestam Holst has caught the attention of the advertising world.

In December 2016, it released a campaign for Ikea that renamed the company's furniture pieces after people's most common anxieties.

Read More

Why The Cyberbullying Research Center Was Established

Online bullying and harassment has been steadily rising as critics and trollers get wider access to cyber information and can post anonymously about their sentiments and misgivings. The result of which affected many of those who rely on technology for reliable data and employment.

The pervasive online bullying led to the founding of a Cyberbullying Research Center in 2005 which acts as a clearinghouse of information on the misuses and abuses of technology. Co-directors Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin have been researching the topic since 2002 and includes data from about 14,000 children about their experiences as both cyberbully and victim.

One thing they've found is that there seems to exist a disconnect between a person and their conscience when they go online.

"When individuals are online they are sort of separated from their conscience and from social conventions and morals and norms and even the law, and they feel a little bit more free to say whatever they want to say," Hinduja said. "You can be spontaneous online and just listen to your emotions and just go off on someone without taking a moment to sort of assess the situation."

While the organization saw its formation in the wake of a number of cyberbullying-spurred teen suicides, and was formed to deal directly with the problem in schools, Hinduja said that adults routinely contact the group seeking advice. The center also occasionally works with companies on cyber harassment issues.

"We hear these stories (like the game industry harassment cases) and we know that they are taking their toll on adults," he said. "We're seeing more and more of these cases surface."

Hinduja sees the problem getting worse before it gets better. That's because he believes society is entering a new internet age, one that doesn't bring with it the decorum and manners formed over thousands of years of civilization.

Hinduja's hope is that at some point the social devolution will stop and people will start acting online how they do in real life.

"My hope is that, and hopefully this doesn't sound too idealistic, that over time people ostracize those who are jerks to other people, who are rude and cruel online and we just get to a point where we just don't do that anymore," he said. "Kind of like we don't really litter anymore. Or people don't use the N word anymore because we finally socially have gotten to a point where it is completely unacceptable. My hope is that we get to that point with this sort of stuff."

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.

Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.

Read More

Introducing RL's Tech Smart Shirt

Are we moving closer to producing half-man and half-machine entities? Are we trying to integrate technological advancement into our biological system to improve our organic functions?

These scenarios was tested during the 2014 U.S. Tennis Open, where a select few ball boys wore Ralph Lauren Polo Tech shirts with biometric tracking capabilities.

The annual tournament also marked the debut of the Polo Tech "smartshirt," a snug black nylon compression shirt that will be used by some of the tournament’s feeders. While it won’t be worn by any of the players during matches, NCAA singles champion Marcos Giron wore it during his practice sessions for the U.S. Open.

Although the branding is unmistakably Ralph Lauren — there’s a giant yellow Polo logo on the front — the tech within each shirt was developed by OMsignal. The shirt is a two-piece affair: conductive threads woven into the shirt, and a small snap-on module that weighs less than 1.5 ounces and relays information to a Bluetooth-connected iPhone or iPad.

The "smart" part of the shirt is a stretchy band, under the pectorals, that contains conductive threads that contact the skin. A module Ralph Lauren calls the "Black Box" or "Tech Box" snaps into the shirt around the left rib cage; it receives heart-rate and breathing data from those threads via metal snaps built into the shirt.

Users will need to recharge the box via USB after approximately 30 hours of workout time. In addition to a Bluetooth module, an accelerometer and gyrometer help track the number of steps taken and calories burned. The shirt can go into the wash, but you’ll need to detach the module first.

This is the first smart garment in Polo’s lineup, and because it was built to debut at the U.S. Open, the sidecar iOS-only app was built specifically with tennis in mind. The training version of the app designed for Giron gives a longer-term dashboard of the player’s average respiration and heart rates, court coverage, and stats such as average breathing depth.

The idea for a Polo-branded wearable technology line was about a year in the making, according to David Lauren. Lauren, the company’s executive vice president of global advertising and marketing, told WIRED that the first-generation shirt is a public showpiece for a new Polo lineup coming next spring.

"A lot will come in the next few months," said Lauren. "The box will be half the size in a few months. … We are a lifestyle brand, a major luxury fashion brand. I want to be able to gather this (biometric) information in a boardroom or from a baby in a crib. We’ll find new needs, and we're just at the beginning."

In its current incarnation, the Polo Tech shirt will help U.S. Open officials keep tabs on the health of some tourney ball boys. The iOS app gives users a real-time display of heart and respiration rates, and a daily view of calories burned and steps taken. Not all the tournament’s ball boys will wear the shirts — one or two matches per day will be worked by feeders wearing the biometric clothing. And for now, the shirts have only been designed for males. But when the Polo Tech lineup launches next year, Lauren says to expect many different "fabrics, colors, and fits."

Ultimately, the adoption of wearable tech is likely to hinge on product lineups like this. It’s a similar strategy to the Tory Burch for Fitbit lineup, even if the target market is totally different. Rather than buy clothing or watches or glasses or wristbands designed by technology companies, the masses are more likely to buy the brands they have always identified with. They’ll still have smart technologies built into them, it’s just that those features will take a backseat to the label.

Read More

Death-Predicting Technology

There is a new technology being introduced and it is slowly gaining popularity because it involves age, beauty and death.

This technology can estimate anyone's age from their face and how long that person have to live. All they need to do is upload a decent size photo according to the requirements (face forward, no smiles, well lit and hair pulled back), answer a few simple questions and voila! It will give them an estimate of age and how long they have left to live.

FaceMyAge.com analyzes a face based on the uploaded picture and takes into account the answers on their lifestyle choices (smoking habits, drug habits, sun exposure, and marital status) to estimate age and predict lifespans. The program looks for sagging muscles and fat paddings on a face as well as skin discolorations and wrinkles by the eyes to estimate your current age (hence the ‘no smiles’ requirement).

This technology is realized by two teams: an Identity Sciences Team from University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), and a Demographic/Actuarial Sciences Team from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Jay Olshansky, a Professor at the University of Illinois and Research Associate at the University of Chicago initiated the project to determine the upper limits to human longevity as well as to find out the relations between health and aging. Using this website, he also means to gather a database of individuals from different populations groups in pursuit of increasing people’s lifespans.

According to Dr Olshansky, the idea came to him over dinner with someone who worked for an insurance company. The friend lamented that it was difficult to access a person’s survival prospects in the limited time given, prompting Dr. Olshansky to find an alternative, scientific way of utilizing his expertise.

Using a complicated algorithm and a vast database of faces, the program assesses the age of different parts of the face and estimates the current age of the person based on the mean. The only issue is, of course, the quality of the photo. Grainy and low resolution pictures will make people look older and compromise the ability of the program.

Read More

Increasing Investment in Health Robotics is a Good Sign

Investment in Robotics has seen an incrreasing trend despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is probably an overall positive sign of the health of robotics investing also.

Medical robotics continues to be a big thing. What is amazing about surgical robots is how long they have actually been in practice. The earliest date back to the mid-80s, for things like orthopedic surgeries. As for more mainstream usage, Intuitive’s da Vinci has been around for more than 20 years. At last count, there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 of these devices deployed worldwide.

Fittingly, Intuitive co-founder Frederic Moll is among the new advisers for ForSight Robotics. The Israeli startup just raised US$ 10 million in what it calls a "mega-seed round" for its eye surgery platform. Ophthalmological procedures, for what should be obvious reasons, have even less room for error than most surgeries.

The company says it can "democratize" the difficult procedure across different geographies – particularly those where access to professionals may be lacking. Per numbers from the British Journal of Ophthalmology, there are around 3.7 qualified surgeons per million citizens in developing countries. The hope is that getting machines like these in more medical facilities could help level the playing field to some degree.

Read More

Volleyball Players Refused To Play Against A Transgender

Contrary to what their school administration's announcement, the Nevada women's volleyball team members unanimously decided to forfeit a match on 26 October against San Jose State and transgender player Blaire Fleming.

The report posted by OutKick also revealed that the school did not consult any of their players before making an earlier statement that they intend to proceed with a scheduled match against San Jose State.

"The University of Nevada volleyball team remains focused on its upcoming matches with UNLV and San Diego State and intends to play its remaining Mountain West schedule, including the match with San José State University on October 26," the school statement read.

"The University will continue to abide by the NCAA, Mountain West Conference and USA Volleyball rules and regulations as well as the laws and Constitution of the State of Nevada."

After the statement release, University of Nevada outside hitter Sia Liilii and her team held a series of team meetings to allow players to voice their opinions and to decide on a plan of action.

"The vast majority of our team decided this is something we wanted to take a stand on," Liilii said. "We didn’t want to play against a male player.

"In all of our team meetings it just kept coming back to the fact that men do not belong in women’s sports. If you’re born a biological male, you don’t belong in women’s sports. It’s not even about this individual athlete. It’s about fair competition and safety for everyone."

Last 13 October, the volleyball players informed their university leaders that they intended to forfeit the upcoming match against San Jose State. The next morning, the players released a statement announcing their plans to forfeit and Liilii spoke with Outkick to further explain the decision.

"We decided that we're going to stand in solidarity with other teams that have already forfeited and that we wouldn't participate in a game that advances sex-based discrimination or injustice against female athletes," Liilii said.

Nevada is the fifth school to cancel a match this season against San Jose State and the fourth Mountain West team to forfeit rather than face transgender opponent Fleming.

Within hours, the University of Nevada responded by doubling down on its previous stance. The players’ decision to forfeit, according to a university statement, was "made independently" and "does not represent the position of the University."

Citing state law prohibiting discrimination, the university reiterated its intent to move forward with the San Jose State match as scheduled but said it would not punish players who choose not to participate.

Read More

TMZ Posted Photos of Liam Payne's Dead Body

The of Liam Payne has surprised many One Directon fans who were all hoping for the bands reunion soon. However, that sudden burst of emotion was replaced by anger and frustration at TMZ after the network included an alleged unedited photos of his deceased body.

After TMZ Payne's passing last 16 October, friends and fans of the singer called out the site over the since-removed photos that purported to confirm his death via detailed close-ups of his tattoos.

Alessia Cara, who previously performed with Payne and Zedd, called out TMZ on X. "You’re gross @TMZ," she wrote, seemingly in reference to the photos.

Although TM has not addressed the backlash, the photos have since been removed from the article.

"TMZ has seen a photo showing Liam’s body on the deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby," the language now reads. "You can clearly see his tattoos — a clock on his left forearm, and a scorpion on his abdomen — which helped us confirm early reports from witnesses."

Many readers still saw the images before they were taken down, with some voicing their disapproval on social media. "TMZ you’re sick," writer Ira Madison posted on X.

"TMZ posting part of a photo of Liam Payne’s dead body in an article announcing his death is beyond deplorable," another person wrote. "I can’t tell if I’m losing my mind lately or if society has always been this overtly morally decrepit."

Payne died at age 31 on 16 October after he fell from the third-floor balcony of his Buenos Aires, Argentina hotel room. La Nación reported that Hotel Casa Sur staff called police before the incident to report "an aggressive man that could’ve been under the influence of drugs or alcohol."

Read More

Karmic Bikes Will Be Available Soon

During the last few years, environmental protection has pick up tremendously and demand new and improved electric bikes have also gained momentum. This two-wheeled transport range from the high-end to the low-end, but most tend to cost around US$ 2,500.

Not long ago, a new electronic bike from Karmic Koben started its production and priced at a good deal less than that.

The Karmic bike features a detachable battery and a 350-watt, pedal-assist motor that will have users pushing about the same amount of power as if they were professional cyclists. Despite having a motor and battery pack attached, the Karmic bike is designed to be lighter than most other e-bikes on the market.

The startup hopes to launch a crowdfunding campaign to enable users to pre-order its bikes in the coming months, and is initially targeting two models with slightly different frames and features.

Final specs and prices are yet to be finalized, but Karmic plans to have a version that will weigh about 36 pounds and cost less than US$ 2,000 at retail. That version will likely be available on KickStarter for closer to US$ 1,500, however. That’s about what a nice road bike costs these days, so it’s not crazy expensive.

The startup also plans to have a carbon fiber version with Chris King wheels that will weigh about 30 pounds and be priced closer to US$ 2,500.

The unique piece of the Karmic bike is the battery, which is an evolution of the battery system from Zero Motorcycles. It uses lithium-ion cells optimized for electric bicycles and can be charged in fewer than five hours. With a full charge, Karmic hopes to get at least 15-20 miles of usage in real-world conditions.

Read More

Energy Drinks Has 'Life-Threatening' Effects

A study in 2017 revealed that drinking fizzy, sugary energy drinks can trigger potentially 'life threatening' changes in blood pressure and heartbeat.

The drinks cause 'profound changes' in the body – different to changes caused by drinking the same amount of caffeine in other drinks.

Researchers from the USAF Medical Centre at Travis Air Force Base in California say that people with high blood pressure, or heart conditions, might want to avoid the drinks.

Doctor Emily Fletcher, deputy pharmacy flight commander said "We decided to study energy drinks' potential heart health impact because previous research has shown 75 per cent of the base’s military personnel have consumed an energy drink."

The study showed that drinking 32ozs (946ml) of a commercially available energy drink resulted in more 'profound changes' in the heart’s electrical activity and blood pressure than drinking the same amount of a control drink containing the same amount of caffeine.

Researchers said that energy drinks often consist of a host of other ingredients such as taurine.

Researchers measured the electrical activity of the volunteers' hearts by electrocardiogram – and measured their peripheral and central blood pressures at the study's start and at one, two, four, six and 24 hours after drink consumption.

The researchers found that volunteers who drank energy drinks had higher 'central blood pressure' after two hours – and a higher QT interval.

Dr. Fletcher said: "The QT interval is the measurement of the time it takes ventricles in the heart, the lower chambers, to repolarise, or prepare to generate a beat again.

"It's the pause from the end of the electrical impulse generating the heart to beat to the next impulse.

"If this time interval, which is measured in milliseconds, is either too short or too long, it can cause the heart to beat abnormally. The resulting arrhythmia can be life threatening."

Dr. Fletcher added: "Those who consumed the energy drinks still had a mildly elevated blood pressure after six hours.

"This suggests that ingredients other than caffeine may have some blood pressure altering effects, but this needs further evaluation."

Read More

Intermittent Fasting Can Help People with Type 2 Diabetes

Intermittent fasting can help people with Type 2 diabetes lose weight, lower blood pressure and improve blood sugar levels, a rigorous new study has found.

The new research, published last 21 June 2024 in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that intermittent fasting had striking metabolic benefits that surpassed even the effects of prescription medications for people with newly diagnosed diabetes. Here are the findings:

1. Over the course of 16 weeks, people who were assigned to practice intermittent fasting lost more weight and improved their blood sugar control to a greater extent than people who were given metformin or empagliflozin, two commonly prescribed diabetes medications.
2. The research focused on a form of fasting called the 5:2 diet, in which people eat normally for five days a week and then fast for two days, consuming just 500 to 600 calories on their fasting days.
3. After 16 weeks, the fasting group lost an average of 21 pounds, almost double the 12 pounds on average that the people taking metformin lost. Those who were prescribed empagliflozin lost an average of about 12.8 pounds during the study.
4. Previous studies have examined whether intermittent fasting can help people with Type 2 diabetes, but they have been mostly small and did not compare the diet head-to-head with medications.
5. The study involved more than 330 overweight and obese adults who had recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Courtney Peterson, an expert who was not involved in the study, said the results were "exciting."

"Often times we assume that drugs are more powerful than lifestyle approaches," said Peterson, an associate professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "But here they showed that a lifestyle approach was more effective for lowering blood sugar than putting people on drugs. That’s a very powerful statement."

In addition to losing weight, the fasting group saw their HbA1c, a long-term measure of their blood sugar levels, drop 1.9 percent - significantly more than the groups taking medication. About 80 percent of participants in the fasting group saw their HbA1c fall below 6.5 percent, the cutoff for diabetes, compared to 60 percent of the participants on metformin and 55 percent of the people taking empagliflozin.

Eight weeks after the study ended, the researchers followed up with the participants and found that most of the people in the fasting group had maintained blood sugar levels below the threshold for diabetes, suggesting that the diet “significantly and sustainably improves HbA1c levels,” the authors wrote.

The researchers found that the fasting group also had greater reductions in their waist circumference, blood pressure levels and triglycerides, a type of fat that circulates in the blood, compared with the participants taking medication.

The researchers cautioned that more studies were needed to examine the long-term effectiveness of the 5:2 diet with meal replacements for Type 2 diabetes. But they said their findings suggest that the diet might be a good initial lifestyle intervention for people with early-stage diabetes.

Read More

Some Medical Experts Suggest Not To Pee While Showering

There are a few medical experts who are strongly suggesting that women should not pee in the showers. One of them, Houston-based OB-GYN Emma Qureshey, even used her TikTok account to remind everyone that in the interest of gynecological health, avoid the following: "ee in the shower, treat a vaginal infection with garlic cloves or yogurt and ignore bothersome symptoms.

She imparts, "The first thing I would never do is pee in the shower, or more importantly, pee standing up."

Qureshey further added that people promote the practice as better for the environment, claiming it saves upwards of 5,000 gallons of water a year — but she finds that those benefits are not worth the downsides.

"It is one, not very hygienic, but more important than that, it will destroy your pelvic floor, and also it might create mental associations where you hear water running and all of a sudden you need to run to the bathroom," Qureshey explained.

The point was further supported by physical therapist Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, who previously shared the cons of taking a tinkle in the shower in a viral TikTok.

"If you pee in the shower, or turn on the faucet, or turn on the shower and then sit on the toilet to pee while the shower is running, you’re creating an association in the brain between the sound of running water and having to pee," she said.

This association could possibly cause "leak issues" when you hear running water, said Jeffrey-Thomas, adding that the position is also not conducive to pelvic floor relaxation.

"Your pelvic floor isn’t going to relax appropriately, which means that you aren’t really going to be emptying your bladder super well," Jeffrey-Thomas said.

Relative to empty bladders, fellow TikToker and physical therapist Sabrina Baxter argues you should only go when you really have to go, "When you’re about to leave the house, and you’re like, ‘I don’t have to pee, but I may have to pee so I’m gonna go pee’ … if you do this often, your bladder is never filling up properly."

She continued, It’s not filling to full capacity. You’re peeing when it’s halfway full. So you may have the urge to pee more frequently because it’s only filling halfway… You’re essentially sensitizing your body to work at lower volumes than needed."

Read More

Parents of Bullies May Face Jail Time

Parents in a New York town could now be sentenced to jail time if their children or children under their care are found to have bullied others, thanks to a 2017 law.

Victoria Crago began advocating for the law in North Tonawanda, New York, after she said her eighth-grade son was attacked by a classmate right in front of her.

"This young man just sucker-punched him right in the face and hit him as hard as he could," she told ABC News of the May incident. "What really alarmed me about the situation was the brazen act of violence in front of a parent."

Crago said "It was really traumatic for both of us."

The student accused of attacking Crago's son was charged with third-degree assault. His case was transferred to family court and he is now working with a probation officer, court records show.

The probation officer did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Crago created a Facebook page to call out pervasive bullying in her town. The outrage made public by Crago's Facebook group prompted lawmakers to pass the anti-bullying law that puts pressure on parents.

Parents could be fined US$ 250 and sentenced to 15 days in jail, according to North Tonawanda City Attorney Luke Brown. Parents could face punishment if their child violates the city's curfew or any city law, including bullying, twice over the course of 90 days.

"In reality, what we're looking for is to engage the parents in the process and try and work on a solution," Brown said.

The new law is modeled after a similar push in Wisconsin to hold parents accountable, according to Brown. The law went into effect in North Tonawanda 1 October.

"We hope to never need to use this law but it's there in extreme cases," North Tonawanda City School District Superintendent Greg Woytila said. "But we need to do a better job and we are continually trying to do that."

Nearly 30 percent of students from sixth- to 12th-grade say they have been bullied, according to StopBullying.gov, a bullying prevention and awareness website run by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Justice.

Bullying is most common in middle school, the website reports.

Read More

Being Fat Increases Cancer Risks

There's a report showing new evidence of the health benefits of avoiding smoking, excessive drinking and being dangerously overweight: they are the leading preventable causes of cancer in adults, a new study found.

An American Cancer Society study published recently estimates 40 percent of new cancer cases of 44 percent of cancer deaths in people 30 and over could be avoided if people cut out high-risk behaviors, such as smoking and drinking. Experts say the study provides fresh evidence for public health leaders to encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles to reduce the risk of cancer and ample evidence that people should take action to prevent it.

The American Cancer Society study examined cancer cases and deaths that could have been prevented through behavior and diet changes or vaccines for HPV and hepatitis B, which reduce the risk of cancer-causing infections.

Behaviors that can raise cancer risk include smoking, exposure to second-hand smoke, drinking alcohol and being overweight. Consumption of too much red meat or processed meat and diets short on fruits and vegetables, dietary fiber or calcium also increase the odds of getting cancer. The study also cited cancer risk from infections such as hepatitis B, Epstein-Barr virus, HIV, human papillomavirus and Kaposi sarcoma herpes virus.

Experts not involved in the population-level study said it's an important reminder for public health agencies and decisionmakers to adopt policies to encourage healthy behaviors.

The findings amount to "a big opportunity for our country – really every country – to reduce cancer incidence and mortality by being more proactive in prioritizing prevention at a personal level and at a societal level," said Ernest Hawk, vice president and head of cancer prevention and population sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Hawk said the purpose of a study like this is not to shame individuals who smoke or drink or engage in other high-risk behavior, but rather to inform and educate.

The study estimated that, in 2019, 40 percent of the nearly 1.8 million cancers in adults 30 and older were attributable to "potentially modifiable risk factors." It examined 30 types of cancer and excluded non-melanoma skin cancers.

The causes of cancer the study said were preventable broke down like this:

• Cigarette smoking was the top risk factor, accounting for 19.3 percent of cases.
• Excess body weight was a risk factor in 7.6 percent of cases.
• Alcohol consumption was linked to 5.4 percent of cases.
• Ultraviolet radiation caused 4.6 percent of cases.

Read More

Teacher Won Her Case After Getting Fired For Not Using Pronouns

A lawyer, who was responsible for winning a case involving a Virginia school board firing a teacher refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns, claimed that the decision will have far-reaching and "seismic implications."

"We’re grateful that, because of this decision, tolerance is now a two‐way street, not a one‐way ratchet for totalitarian ideology," Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) President and CEO Kristen Waggoner told Fox News Digital last 4 October.

Under the legal ruling, the Virginia-based West Point School Board will have to pay a former high school teacher, Peter Vlaming, US$ 575,000 in damages and attorney’s fees after he refused to call a transgender student by their preferred pronouns.

"It protects all teachers in Virginia and its rationale should guide other courts addressing similar issues," Waggoner said.

She also said that the ADF represents many other teachers facing similar situations in other states and how "no teacher should be fired for living according to their beliefs or protecting their students."

It all started when a lawsuit was filed by ADF against the school board in September 2019. Vlaming, who taught French at West Point High School for 7 years, was fired by the board with a unanimous 5-0 decision. A devout Christian, Vlaming said he could not comply with the school district’s policy to refer to students with pronouns inconsistent with their biological sex.

According to the ADF, "Vlaming tried to accommodate the student by consistently using the student’s new preferred name and by avoiding the use of pronouns altogether."

However, school officials were obstinate that Vlaming used the student's preferred pronouns and also to use them "even when the student wasn’t present," ADF claimed.

Aside from the financial settlement, Vlaming scored another win after the case because it authorized her record be cleared, and that the West Point School Board’s policies to "respect free speech."

The French teacher is allowed to go back to teaching and his former colleagues at West Point School can also do their jobs "without fear of retribution for living consistent with their faith and biological reality," the attorney added.

Read More

Ex-NBA Player Sends Appreciation To Heart Donor

A retired NBA big man and a former contestant of the reality series "Survivor” wants to express his feeing and write it down to the family of his heart donor.

"We want you to know that your loved one’s heart is going to be loved and cared for and will give love back," Scott Pollard said in a letter that was sent through the transplant network to the hospital where the heart was harvested. "Your loved one is our hero."

A few days ago, Pollard heard back from the donor’s family, who are willing to meet with him.

"I read the letter a couple of times and it was hard because tears were in my eyes the whole time," Pollard told The Associated Press last 7 October. "I already knew that somebody’s life was cut short. And so, you know, the feelings are mixed. Just like receiving the heart in the first place: I went through a big round of guilt because I knew somebody had to die for me to live."

An 11-year NBA veteran and a member of the 2008 champion Boston Celtics, Pollard inherited a condition from his father, who died at 54, when Scot was 16. Scot Pollard had known for a few years that his only solution was a heart transplant, but finding a donated organ big enough to pump blood through the 6-foot-11, 260-pound former NBA center was a challenge.

In February, doctors found a match, and the transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was successful. Afterward, Pollard told the AP, he learned his own heart was "a wreck."

"I don’t think I would have made it another couple of weeks," he said then.

As he recovered, the 49-year-old former Piston, King, Pacer, Cavalier, Celtic and Kansas Jayhawk used his basketball and reality show fame to raise awareness for organ donations. He also grew even more determined to thank the donor’s family — though doing so requires navigating a process that is intentionally convoluted and lengthy, to protect everyone's privacy.

"You warmed our hearts with your kind words concerning your donor who was loved beyond measure," the donor's family responded. "(It) was an incredibly hard day for those of us that loved your donor … but we rejoiced knowing that others would be helped."

Read More

NBA GMs Think Celtics Will Repeat As Champs

Last 8 October, the National Basketball Association (NBA) released its annual general manager survey, and executives have a very clear idea on who they think will be lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy this summer.

An overwhelming 83 percent of respondents think that the Boston Celtics will repeat and win the NBA Finals this season. The Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the Finals earlier this year, which marked the franchise’s 18th championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder earned 13 percent of the vote in the survey, and the Mavericks earned 3 percent. By comparison, the Celtics and the Denver Nuggets split the vote last season at 33 percent each to lead the survey.

As expected, the Celtics are favored to win the Eastern Conference, too. They earned 97 percent of the votes there, compared to just 53 percent last season. The New York Knicks finished in second in the voting, slightly ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers. In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder were voted to finish first. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Mavericks were close behind in that order.

The Celtics will officially open their regular season against the Knicks on 22 October. The league hasn’t seen a repeat champion since the Golden State Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.

In individual honors, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was narrowly picked to win the Most Valuable Player award over Mavericks guard Luka Doncic -- Gilgeous-Alexander received 40 percent of the vote, compared to 30 percent for Doncic -- with Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum finishing in a distant tie for third.

Meanwhile, French phenom Victor Wembanyama received 77 percent of the vote for the choice for who a team would start their franchise with -- the first time he's received the honor.

Read More

Blogging Rewards Will Take Some Time

A lot of people are taking up blogging for the sole purpose of making money out of it. This is not an impossible goal as proven by many well-known bloggers here and abroad. The success of these individuals revealed that there are three (3) things that should be inherent in bloggers who want to pursue this track and these include average intelligence, willingness to work hard, and basic grasp of blogging technology.

Unfortunately, not many who intend to make money with blogging succeed. Hence, it cannot be avoided that these same people will whine and complain about trivial things. Most will probably blame the affiliate network's unreasonable requirements or the advertisers selective process, which have significantly influenced their blog's profit margins.

However, those who did not make enough money failed to recognized that the problem started when they set an unrealistic expectation on how fast their traffic and readership will come and how much money they will make in a very short time. As expected, once these expectations are not met, their disappointment crushed their desire to continue blogging.

Just like the big kahuna who are making money from blogging, one needs a large readership to be able to succeed. It is a common law in the field of blogging that the higher the traffic, the more advertisers will be attracted to pay for a chance of their product being featured.

Another reason that many bloggers fail to make money online has something to do with lack of planning. Not just a plan to do this and that without considering all the other factors, but a realistic plan that takes into account the amount of time and effort spent on campaigning for the site, on hooking up with advertisers and sponsors, writing a posts, among others.

Attracting a large blog readership and regular visitors, which influence the blog's ranking and eventually the number of advertisers and sponsors is not easy. The blogosphere is not stagnant. Everyday more and more blogs appear, which makes the world very competitive. Just having a great idea or a wonderful writing style is no longer enough to get attention or sponsorship. Blogs also need to sustain that attraction effectively.

Updating the blog as often as possible is a great way to keep it high in the blogrolls and gets priority in blog search engines like technorati. It is also a good way to update the readers. However, it should not stop there. In fact, in some cases or in some blogs, it does not matter how often it is updated if the number of readers they attract are very miniscule or at best irregular. Some blogging experts will even suggest that to gain more readers, "... try decreasing the frequency of your posting and use some of that time to draw new visitors by setting up link exchanges with other bloggers, making contacts in the blog community such as commenting on other blogs, joining network sites, participating in forums, and advertising your blog on advertising boards".

The bottomline is that, it usually takes some time before the expectation of reaping profits from blogs is met. However, commitment and dedication in terms of marketing it and writing very good posts help hasten the process.

Read More

Dangers of Unregulated Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) Operations

All over the world, doctors and medical practioners have been warning of the dangers of unregulated backstreet Botox and fillers for decades yet the situation has become worse, not better.

While the US has long been plagued with deaths from underground so-called 'pumping parties', where many transgender, who couldn’t afford conventional plastic surgery, had their buttocks injected with substances including industrial silicone in grubby garages and salons, it was impossible to imagine similar things happening to ordinary mothers in urbanized areas, but it does.

Alice Webb, 33, a mother of five young daughters, died in Gloucester Royal Infirmary in the early hours of 24th September, the apparent first British victim of a disastrously botched Liquid BBL, or Brazilian Butt Lift, a form of extreme bottom enlargement using cosmetic fillers.

A brief trawl through TikTok, Instagram and Facebook reveals that hundreds and potentially thousands of unqualified people in the UK – from beauticians to former horse-traders – have seized the opportunity to make money from offering cut-price fillers and Botox from home, garden buildings or via 'aesthetic roadshows' in hotel rooms. And more and more of them are offering BBLs.

The Brazilian Butt Lift was invented in the 1960s by the Brazilian superstar plastic surgeon Ivo Pitanguy whose clients included Frank Sinatra. The original BBL involved liposuction to hoover fat from tummies and thighs which doctors then transplanted to the buttocks to give a more curvaceous look. It was a niche procedure, partly because it was so risky, with studies showing the risk of death could be as high as one in 2,000 operations.

But why precisely is it so dangerous? Dr. Ash Soni is a consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has performed over 3,000 surgical procedures. "It would be easy for me to do this procedure, but I’ve consciously decided not to," he explains. "I’ve done a lot of reconstruction around the gluteal muscles. A lot of care must be taken regarding the buttocks because of the complex anatomy of the area."

Crucially, the buttocks are full of large veins and blood vessels, some as big as a drinking straw. If fat or filler is accidentally injected into a blood vessel it can rapidly reach the heart, lungs or brain, with fatal consequences.

Dr. Soni says: "The fillers are being used in dangerously large volumes and fillers are often even more solid than fat, making them arguably as dangerous or even more so."

In 2018, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) advised its members to stop offering the procedure. In 2022, it issued new guidance stating that fat should only be injected very superficially and under ultrasound guidance to ensure it wasn’t accidentally pumped into a vein. At the time the organization said the op was the fastest-growing type of cosmetic surgery worldwide, with its popularity increasing by 20 per cent year-on-year.

Read More

State Schools Are Forfeiting Their Matches Against SJSU

After Wyoming and Utah State, it is now the turn of Boise State women’s volleyball team to forfeit their game against San Jose State University Saturday amid controversy surrounding a transgender member of the San Jose State University (SJSU) Spartans’ roster.

Boise State Athletics released a statement exclusively to OutKick less than 24 hours before the Mountain West Conference match.

In each of those forfeited match, the schools chose not to explain why they weren’t playing. In each instance, the announcements were followed by a social media post from a state governor applauding the decision.

"It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely," Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox wrote on X after Utah State’s announcement a few days ago. "Our female athletes are left grappling with this difficult issue because the NCAA has failed in its responsibility to protect female athletes and women’s sports. It’s time for the NCAA to take this seriously."

In response to the forfeits, San Jose State released a statement saying, "It is disappointing that our SJSU student athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied opportunities to compete."

The news follows controversy surrounding SJSU’s women’s volleyball team after a current player joined several other female athletes in suing the NCAA for Title IX violations.

Blaire Fleming, a redshirt junior at San Jose State University, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team.

Fleming, a transgender athlete, has played two seasons at SJSU after previously playing at Coastal Carolina.

Earlier this week, Fleming’s teammate, Brooke Slusser, joined former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and several other female athletes in suing the NCAA over its policies regarding transgender athletes that they claim compromise the fairness and integrity of women’s competitive sports while also putting women at risk.

"I commend Boise State’s athletic department and everyone involved in the decision to forfeit their match against undefeated San Jose State," Gaines said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Some principles transcend winning on the court, and the safety and well-being of female athletes is one of them. It’s encouraging to witness a growing number of institutions prioritizing fairness and athlete safety over forced inclusion. I hope to see more universities follow the lead of Boise State and Southern Utah, standing up for what’s right and protecting the integrity of women’s sports."

According to the complaint, Slusser claimed she was not aware that Fleming was transgender despite sharing rooms together on team trips.

Slusser also expressed safety concerns for opponents playing against Fleming.

Read More

SEO Can Be Your Friend

Online entrepreneurs who rely on web popularity to attract potential clients will salivate if given a chance to receive a higher rank in the search engines for their site. But how do you do that? It may sound vague for the baby boomers and not a few will have a hard time finding their way towards technological awareness in the web of online terminologies adopted nowadays.

The fact, however, is that high ranking in search engine optimization (SEO) engines is not really rocket science. Some people may want you to remain in the dark ages by making sure that you believe it takes years of dedicated study to understand it, but it is not true. Mastering the technical and subtle nuances may take some time, but the truth is that you can learn the fundamentals in just a few minutes.

I have been blogging for years now and studying the concept and principles of SEO has never been my top priority. However, after getting bits and pieces here and there, I believe that there are only a four basic fundamentals that a newbie blogger or a start-up entrepreneur should know and follow.

First, the Traffic Trap concept. Several online marketers make the mistake of utilizing SEO only as a source of free traffic. It’s true, free traffic is the end result, but it’s not how SEO works. The basic rationale behind SEO is to help people who are looking for you or your products find your site. There is a need to match what you are offering on your site to what people are trying to find on the web.

Second, Research. Research may be tedious, but it is a must. It is an indispensable part of finding the right keywords, especially keywords that have high search volume, have low competition and are supported by contents. I suggest bloggers should familiarize themselves about the concept known as "The Long Tail."

Third, Crafting Your Content. After the right keywords are picked, bloggers should craft their content. Search engines have bots that automatically crawl websites, "reading" it to find out what it’s about and then deciding which keywords each of pages should rank for. Bloggers can influence their "decisions" by strategically optimizing their content for certain keywords.

Lastly, Optimizing Your Code. Search engine bots don’t just read the sites content. They also scan through the sites particular code. With that in mind, there are eight different sections of a code a blogger need to optimize.

Read More

Know More About Online Affiliate Programs

In this day and age, it is really easy to set-up your own Web site. If you have a computer connected to the Internet, you can simply go to a site such as Blogger, GeoCities or AOL and use their ready-made Web design templates to construct a simple personal page. These sites will give you a URL, store the content of your page and slap on some advertisements. Just like that, in an hour or two, your page is on the site on the web!

The more enterprising ones however, will try to take their site to the next level. They discovered that if you have a content-driven Web site, you make money off your traffic. Also, if you are an online merchant, you can actually get people to your site to buy your products. One popular option that serves both of these functions is an affiliate program.

What Are Affiliate Programs?
According to Tom Harris, affiliate programs, also called associate programs, are arrangements in which an online merchant Web site pays affiliate Web sites a commission to send them traffic. These affiliate Web sites post links to the merchant site and are paid according to a particular agreement. This agreement is usually based on the number of people the affiliate sends to the merchant's site, or the number of people they send who buy something or perform some other action. Some arrangements pay according to the number of people who visit the page containing their merchant site's banner advertisement. Basically, if a link on an affiliate site brings the merchant site traffic or money, the merchant site pays the affiliate site according to their agreement. Recruiting affiliates is an excellent way to sell products online, but it can also be a cheap and effective marketing strategy; it's a good way to get the word out about your site.

There are at least three parties in an affiliate program transaction:

1. The customer
2. The affiliate site
3. The merchant site

The idea was first introduced in 1996 by Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon.com. Bezos used this system as an internet marketing strategy. The system actually tries to atract affiliates to Amazon.com is and encourages them to post links on their site to individual books for sale on Amazon.com, or for Amazon.com in general. In return, Amazon.com promise them a percentage of the profits if someone clicks on the link and then purchases books or other items. The affiliate's site helps make the sale, while Amazon.com takes the order, collects the money and ships the book to the customer. With over 500,000 affiliate Web sites now participating, it cannot be denied that Amazon.com's program is a resounding success.

Since then, the concept behind the affiliate program has grown enormously in popularity, taking many interesting forms. For many Web sites that do not deal much in e-commerce (selling products or services online) themselves, functioning as an affiliate is a good way to participate in e-commerce.

Payment
Tom Harris added that there are basically three (3) types of affiliate program payment arrangements:

Pay-per-sale (also called cost-per-sale): Amazon.com's affiliate program is a good example of a pay-per-sale arrangement. In this arrangement, the merchant site pays an affiliate when the affiliate sends them a customer who purchases something. Some pay the affiliate a percentage of the sale and others pay a fixed amount per sale.

Pay-per-click (cost-per-click): Using this mode, the merchant site pays the affiliate based on the number of visitors who click on the link to come to the merchant's site. They usually do not require the visitor to buy anything. To the affiliate, they also do not care what the visitor does when they are on the merchant's site.

Pay-per-lead (cost-per-lead): Companies with these programs pay their affiliates based on the number of visitors they refer who sign up as leads. This simply means the visitor fills out some requested information at the merchant site, which the merchant site may use as a sales lead or sell to another company as a sales lead.

There are a number of other arrangements as well. Basically, a company could set up an affiliate program based on any action that would benefit them, and then pay their affiliates based on the number of customers the affiliates send them who perform that action.

There are a couple of very popular variations on these basic payment plans:

Two-tier programs: Here, the affiliate programs worked the same way as the multilevel marketing organizations (also known as "network marketing"), such as Amway or Avon. Profit is usually dependent on commission sales and sales recruitment. In addition to receiving commissions based on sales, clicks or leads stemming from their own site, affiliates in these programs also receive a commission based on the activity of affiliate sites they refer to the merchant site.

Residual Programs: Affiliates in these programs can keep making money off a visitor they send to the site if the visitor continues to purchase goods or services from the merchant site. Many online merchants who receive regular payments from their customers (such as monthly service fees) run this sort of affiliate program.

Additionally, there are a few pay-per-impression affiliate programs. Companies running these programs, also called pay-per-view programs, pay affiliates based only on the number of visitors who see their banner ad. Usually, this sort of arrangement is not structured as an affiliate program, but simply as a traditional advertising program. The advantage affiliate programs have over traditional advertising is that in an affiliate program, an online merchant only pays its affiliates when it gets a desired result.

Traditional advertising, such as the ads you see on TV and a lot of the banner ads on the Internet, is relatively risky for the advertiser. They spend money on advertising based on a guess of its effectiveness. When an ad brings the company more money than it spent on that ad, the ad is a success. If the company makes less money than it spent, it has to swallow that loss. With an affiliate program, an online merchant only pays its affiliates when things are working. Because there's much less risk to the merchant, it's a lot easier for Web sites to join affiliate programs than it is for them to attract advertisers.

How Are Affiliate Programs Administered?
Affiliate programs are pretty simple in concept, but a lot of behind-the-scenes work is necessary to make them work properly. In order for the affiliates to be compensated, someone needs to keep track of the actual activity surrounding the affiliate's link to the merchant site.

Depending on the arrangement, someone might need to determine:

• the number of people who click on the merchant site's link on an affiliate site
• the number of people who end up buying something or performing some other predetermined action once the affiliate sends them to the merchant site.
• the number of people who see the merchant site's banner link on an affiliate site

Someone also has to keep track of the original arrangement between the merchant and the affiliate and make sure the affiliate receives whatever money is owed to them.

It is a lot of work for merchant Web sites to actively recruit affiliates, and for affiliates to search for affiliate programs they are interested in. Nonetheless, many companies, such as Amazon.com, deal with their affiliates directly because the administration is well worth their time. Even though they take full control over the process, and so determine themselves what they owe, these companies can attract a lot of affiliates because their offer has no real risk or cost: All an affiliate webmaster has to do is put the link up and hope the checks come rolling in. For a lot of Web sites, however, all the work of recruiting affiliates or merchant Web sites is just too time consuming. And a lot of webmasters would rather not rely on the merchant site to tally their own bill correctly!

How to Get Involved in Affiliate Programs
If you are interested in getting involved in affiliate programs, the first thing you have to do is decide whether you want to become an affiliate, want to acquire affiliates, or both. If you run an e-commerce site and would like to increase your sales, you might want to start your own affiliate program. If you run a small content site as a hobby and would simply like to bring in a little money to cover production costs, joining a few programs as an affiliate would be a good option. Your best option depends on what aspects of affiliate programs could best serve your site and how much you are willing to spend.

Becoming an Affiliate
Becoming an affiliate is relatively easy. Go to an affiliate network site and fill out an online application to become a member. The application will ask for some personal information (name, address, payment method) and information on your site (URL, name, and description of content) and will have you agree to a service agreement. Most affiliate networks are completely free for affiliates.

If the affiliate network approves your application, you can begin picking affiliate programs that interest you. Because so many affiliate programs are free to the affiliate, it's probably in your best interest to steer clear of programs with a charge. Once you've chosen some affiliate programs, the online merchants running these programs will have the opportunity to review your site. If they approve you, the affiliate network will walk you through the process of posting the appropriate links, which come directly from the network's site. They will also establish payment arrangements with you. Because the amount of money you earn per action can be extremely small, most affiliate networks have a set minimum payout amount. This means you won't receive a check until the total money owed you reaches a certain amount. After you have set all this up and the affiliate network has explained its system to you, you can get back to work on your Web site's content and wait for your money to come in.

Acquiring Affiliates
Your best bet is probably joining an affiliate network. An affiliate network will help you set up an affiliate program and work to recruit affiliates for you. You'll have to fill out an application describing the nature of your business and your Web site. You'll also have to agree to the terms of the affiliate network and make a number of deposits. These will probably include a one time charge for becoming a member of the network as well as a deposit to be used to pay your affiliates. Some affiliate networks also charge a yearly fee for their services. To join one of the major affiliate networks you will probably have to put up between US$ 1,000 and US$ 5,000. You will also pay the affiliate network a percentage of every payout to an affiliate. In return, the affiliate network will help you set everything up, keep track of all the activity in your affiliate program, issue your affiliates checks and distribute your links to appropriate affiliates. They will give you the option of reviewing prospective affiliates, or you can choose to accept all interested affiliates automatically.

The alternative to acquiring affiliates, maintaining an affiliate program yourself, is significantly more complicated. Among other things, you would have to screen and recruit all affiliates yourself, purchase and maintain some sort of tracking technology, instruct your affiliates on how to set up links to your site, set up an accounting system for paying all of your affiliates and set up a help line to assist all your affiliates. There are a number of traffic-tracking software applications that will probably cost between US$ 100 and US$ 500, significantly less than joining an affiliate network. Another option is to sign on to a company that keeps track of the traffic involved in your affiliate program by running it through their site on the way to yours. Using one of these companies costs about the same as tracking software, and they also only assist you in tracking. Maintaining the business end of an affiliate program is more than we can explore in this article, which is a good indicator it is also more than most Web sites would want to get into.

What Makes an Affiliate Program Successful?
Amazon.com's affiliate program is so successful because it effectively links commerce and content and takes advantage of the respective strengths of Amazon.com and its affiliates. All kinds of people might buy books online, because there are books on a huge number of subjects. By itself, Amazon.com can attract a lot of these people, but there are many more readers who surf the Internet but wouldn't think to go shopping at Amazon.com. Either they haven't heard of it or the lure of books alone does not entice them. Some other subject, let's say car engine repair, does entice such a reader, however, and so he seeks out Web sites covering that subject. If his favorite engine repair Web site were to recommend and offer a good engine repair book, he would happily purchase it online. If that Web site sends him to Amazon.com to buy the book, Amazon.com gains a customer it may never have had without the referral. If the customer is happy with their purchase and the service they receive, he might also buy more books on the site.

Affiliate programs work best when affiliates choose products, services and companies that match the content of their Web site and would interest their readers. If a content Web site chooses affiliate programs well, everybody involved in the process wins. The affiliate wins because it is able to sell products to its visitors without having to run an e-commerce business, the merchant site wins because the affiliate sends it customers it wouldn't get otherwise, the affiliate network wins because it gets a piece of the profit for setting everything up, and the Web surfer wins because the affiliate Web site directs her to products she would be interested in, which she can then purchase easily.

You probably won't make much money as an affiliate if you choose affiliate programs that don't have much to do with your site. Because it is usually free, a lot of Web sites join a whole bunch of affiliate programs and figure that enough of them will pay off that they'll make some money. Hence, it is important that the affiliate sites will complement each other instead of canceling each other out. The the affiliate Web or Blog site will just look like a huge advertisement if everything is inncluded there.

The main assets of a content Web site are actually the content itself plus the traffic and knowledge of that traffic. Therefore, it will serve the site better to use the information in picking the right affiliate programs that would best serve the site's and supplement the content. If the programs match the content of the site, it should be fairly easy to lead the visitors and encourage them to participate in the programs.

Read More

Pros and Cons of Home-Based Jobs

According to Bayt.Com, as more and more professionals seek a better work-life balance and more companies adopt flexible policies to accommodate shifting workplace priorities and realities, the working-from-home option is becoming increasingly viable.

Employees see this as an ideal means to remain in the workforce and continue to be employed thereby maintaining all the tangible benefits of being part of an established company, while enjoying all the advantages of being based at home. The option has its potential pitfalls however and below are just some of the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

ADVANTAGES

Savings on Hidden Costs
By working at home you save on many hidden costs associated with going to work. These include costs of commuting, car wear and tear, fuel, road taxes, parking as well as indirect costs such as expensive professional wardrobes and the dry-cleaning of those. Often you can also save on older children’s care arrangements although for younger children it is highly unadvisable to forgo the childcare arrangement and try to balance close care and supervision with the demands of the job.

Flexibility
This doesn’t just relate to timings either although the flexibility to determine your own work hours to some extent is the most important aspect of this. You can also determine your environment, lighting, temperature, setting, mood; basically work in the framework that suits you best and makes you happiest and most productive.

Less Distractions
Coworkers banter and distractions, unnecessary interruptions, unimportant meetings can all be avoided if you are safely at home and sealed off in your own environment which you have barricaded from any possible interruptions.

Proximity to Home and Family
For many, the physical proximity to family and the convenience of being at home are tremendously comforting. For parents it can be especially pacifying to know that they are very near to their children and available should they be needed for any reason. This also applies in the case of elderly care.

Less Stress
The stress of commuting in bumper-to-bumper traffic at rush hour in many countries is extremely counterproductive and can lead to disgruntled workers who are already exhausted and worn before they have even begun their day. This is especially true where the workplace is far from the office. Other stresses often cited include unfriendly coworkers, a suboptimal work environment and constant distractions.

More Productivity
Removed from the stresses and distractions of the workplace and working independently in their own preferred environment at their own pace, professionals are often a lot happier and a lot more productive.

Better Health
Often with long commutes and anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day spent getting to and from the workplace both physical and mental health are adversely impacted; the former as the gym hours are usually the first to go and the latter due to the stresses associated with both the commute and the workplace itself. By working at home the commuting time saved enables you to resume physical exercise, to go for a long walk for example before and after work or to join a local gym.

Better Work/Life Balance
Work/life balance, the aspiration of the modern professional, is often achieved and tuned to satisfaction through a working at home arrangement, particularly when a professional has the flexibility to report into the office and work from the office partially as an option and can fine-tune the arrangement to achieve the most optimal balance.

DISADVANTAGES

Isolation
Often, professionals working from home complain of isolation and loneliness given their removal from their bosses and coworkers and this can be very depressing to some. Since the workplace provides a location to meet people and make friends for many, professionals working from home have to be more creative and resourceful in getting to know people and in staying in touch with their colleagues.

Distractions
Although office distractions are avoided by working at home, different distractions may arise. Interruptions from children, work, neighbours, friends, family may be very disruptive and special efforts must be made to make it known that you are actually working and unavailable for interruption within work hours despite your physical presence at home.

Difficulty in Separating Home from Work
The temptation to engage in household matters since you are at home is often very strong. Suddenly you may start feeling obliged to clean the home, do the shopping, the childcare, the cooking, the home finances and the socializing all while meeting the full requirements of the job too. It is essential to draw the line between home and work so as to avoid both areas suffering.

Work Does Not End
Since there is no-one looking over your shoulder enforcing strict hours you may feel tempted to work endlessly. This pressure to work endlessly may be compounded by the fact that you feel there are greater expectations made of you as a home-worker or by self-imposed pressures to prove yourself and your abilities in this arrangement. Moreover the lack of physical separation between home and work may add to this pressure to work endlessly.

Alienated from Daily Company Developments
A lot can change from day to day in a company and you may find yourself removed from important developments such as staff changes, new business, changes in company direction, new competitive intelligence etc.

Danger of Being Overlooked for Promotion
The danger of being overlooked for promotions and career development opportunities is quite real when you are away from the office and other more visible employees are actively and aggressively vying for them. An open line of communication with management and regular visits to the office are critical in order to prove your dedication and commitment to your career and to prevent the out-of-sight-out-of-mind syndrome.

Need for High Self-Discipline
Working from home is not for anyone. It takes a lot of dedication, self-control and discipline to motivate yourself to persevere in working at home alone over the long run without succumbing to the distractions and losing drive and momentum. Often a partial arrangement where you report into the office once or twice a week is the optimal arrangement as it allows for close interaction with colleagues and supervisors and ensures you remain in touch with company developments while still permitting you the comfort and convenience of working from home.

Read More