AT&T*, the U.S. smartphone leader, today introduced new wireless data plans that make it more affordable for more people to enjoy the benefits of the mobile Internet. Customers can pick the new data plan that best meets their needs – either a $15 per month entry plan or a $25 per month plan with 10 times more data.

AT&T Press Release: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=30854

There’s something sleazy about AT&T capping data plans right after raising early termination fees

For iPhone users already loathing AT&T, the carrier has given them a new reason: New data-capped plans introduced in somewhat sneaky fashion. Starting June 7th, AT&T will do away with unlimited smartphone data plans. The announcement comes one day after the carrier nearly doubled early termination fees for smartphones. Now we know the reason why AT&T instituted the new termination fees, or at least the timing.

Before June 7th, new or existing customers can still snag an unlimited plan and keep it even after AT&T introduces 200MB and 2GB data caps. But if subscribers make account changes, including new activations, they get bumped into one of the new capped plans. AT&T also will offer iPhone tethering, which a customer service rep told me today will be supported by iPhone OS 4. But to get tethering, customers must sign up for or switch to the 2GB data-capped plan. AT&T won’t let subscribers keep their unlimited plans and have tethering, too. AT&T also will impose data caps on iPad. A 2GB capped plan will replace the current unlimited option.

Joe Wilcox at Beta News: http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Theres-something-sleazy-about-ATT-capping-data-plans-right-after-raising-early-termination-fees/1275504976?

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Two takes on AT&T’s “New Lower-Priced Wireless Data Plans”

electronista.com

The FCC has quietly made the decision today to reclassify Internet access as a telecommunication service that would be subject to tougher net neutrality rules. Although rumors had spread of the agency backtracking on its promise, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is now said to be readying a proposal that would put Internet lines under the same Title II “common carriage” rules as phone lines, requiring providers to treat data equally on the network.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/05/05/fcc.decides.to.toughen.internet.fairness/

5/6/10
Statement of Commissioner Copps on Chairman Genachowski’s Announcement to Reclassify Broadband.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/recentReleases.do

The Third Way: A Narrowly Tailored Broadband Framework

http://www.broadband.gov/the-third-way-narrowly-tailored-broadband-framework-chairman-julius-genachowski.html

Certifiedbug.com

Net Neutrality-FCC will reclassify broadband

Ben Edelman, Sony’s Crackle: Invisible Traffic Galore

Advertisers buying display ads from Sony’s Crackle.com rightly and reasonably expect that users can see the ads. After all, a visible ad is a basic and crucial condition for effective display advertising: If a user can’t see ad, then the impression is wasted, as is the associated spending. Nonetheless, in a surprising series of incidents, numerous Crackle partners are loading the Crackle site invisibly — thereby overcharging advertisers for worthless invisible impressions.

Edelman presents three recent examples: http://www.benedelman.org/news/042710-1.html

http://certifiedbug.com/blog/tag/edelman/

Certifiedbug.com

Sony’s Crackle Partners Invisible Traffic

Interesting development.

3/22/2010

On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the surveillance they uncovered—combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger—had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn.

So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk. Due to the increased load on our Hong Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as we switch everything over.

Google Blog: A new approach to China: an update

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html

New York Times: Google Shuts China Site in Dispute Over Censorship

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/technology/23google.html?src=me&ref=technology

http://certifiedbug.com/blog/2010/01/13/google-takes-step-for-human-rights/
http://certifiedbug.com/blog/2010/02/10/china-activist-google-gives-us-hope/

Certifiedbug.com

Google redirecting Chinese users to uncensored version of its search engine

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Ongoing safety review of oral bisphosphonates and atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures
03-10-2010

Patients and healthcare professionals may have questions about oral bisphosphonate medications and atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures – fractures in the bone just below the hip joint. Oral bisphosphonates are commonly prescribed to prevent or treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Common brand names of medications in this class include Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva, and Reclast.

Recent news reports have raised the question about whether there is an increased risk of this type of fracture in patients with osteoporosis using these medications. At this point, the data that FDA has reviewed have not shown a clear connection between bisphosphonate use and a risk of atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures. FDA is working closely with outside experts, including members of the recently convened American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Subtrochanteric Femoral Fracture Task Force, to gather additional information that may provide more insight into this issue.

Meanwhile the FDA is recommending patients should not stop taking their medication unless told to do so by their healthcare professional.

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm203891.htm

http://certifiedbug.com/blog/2010/03/09/osteoporosis-drugs-possible-effects-of-long-term-use/

Merck Responds to News Reports about FOSAMAX® (alendronate sodium) Tablets

http://merck.com/newsroom/company-statements/2010_0310.html

AAOS: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons®: Quantity vs. quality: Long-term use of bone-building osteoporosis drugs

Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years, according to preliminary research presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

http://www6.aaos.org/news/pemr/releases/release.cfm?releasenum=877

Certifiedbug.com

FDA to review femur fractures connection

Pharmaceutical company Merck’s patent on the Osteoporosis drug “Fosamax” expired in February 2008 leaving the gate open for generic drug makers to roll out low-cost versions.
The brand “Fosamax” is expensive, Merck & Co reported second quarter 2009 sales of $277 million for FOSAMAX alone. Presumably with generics available more people will be able to afford to fill a prescription but it might pay to do some homework first.

Last night ABC turned the spotlight on this class of drugs known as bisphosphonates.
World News: Long-term Use of Popular Class of Osteoporosis Drugs

Frozen Bone Syndrome+Fosamax, Esophagus Cancer+Fosamax, Heart+Fosamax, Jaw Death+Fosamax, Osteonecrosis of the Jaw+Fosamax typed into a search engine will return pages of hits.

Alix Spiegel, December 21, 2009. How A Bone Disease Grew To Fit The Prescription

New York Times, July 15, 2008. Drugs to Build Bones May Weaken Them

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, November 12, 2007. Concern over osteoporosis drug

FDA MedWatch Safety Alert, January 7, 2007. Severe Pain with Osteoporosis Drugs

July 29, 2009. Statement by Merck & Co., Inc., Regarding FOSAMAX® (alendronate sodium) and Rare Cases of Osteonecrosis of the Jaw

http://www.merck.com/newsroom/news-release-archive/product/fosamax_statement.html

Certifiedbug.com

Osteoporosis drugs: possible effects of long term use

Press Release.
Scams Prey on Victims of the Recession With Bogus Job, Money-Making Schemes

The Federal Trade Commission today announced a new crackdown on con artists who are preying on unemployed Americans with job-placement and work-at-home scams, promoting empty promises that they can help people get jobs in the federal government, as movie extras, or as mystery shoppers; or make money working from their homes stuffing envelopes or assembling ornaments.

With the U.S. unemployment rate just under 10 percent, the FTC is redoubling its efforts to put a stop to these schemes, which make life even more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Americans already wrestling with the economic downturn.

As part of the law enforcement sweep announced today, dubbed “Operation Bottom Dollar,” the FTC has filed seven cases against the operators of deceptive and illegal job and money-making scams and announced developments in four previously filed job scam cases. In addition, the sweep includes 43 criminal actions by the Department of Justice, many involving the substantial assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as well as one additional civil action by the Postal Inspection Service and 18 actions by state attorneys general.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/bottomdollar.shtm

Certifiedbug.com

FTC Cracks Down on Con Artists Targeting Jobless Americans

Ai Weiwei

Most discouraging to those of us who are fighting for increased freedom is the tendency for developed nations to lower the bar to please China. They make excuses not to concern themselves with violations of human rights. To espouse universal values and then blind oneself to China’s active hostility to those values is irresponsible and naïve.

When American officials come to China with a pretty smile and the soft tone of a so-called “friendly gesture,” this only tells us how fragile and vulnerable these moral standards can be. It makes the people still in the struggle feel disappointed.

Wall Street Journal Article

Certifiedbug: January 13, 2010. Google takes step for Human Rights

Certifiedbug.com

China activist: Google Gives Us Hope

A fishing guide and former live fishing reporter for one of our local news stations finds out about this on a trip to Venezuela. He says many of the participants are American. Please help him bring attention to this and hopefully prevent this incredibly cruel practice

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=431_1232680237

Another point of view: http://www.adsavvy.org/save-our-cats-and-kittens-from-fishermen-or-how-to-make-lots-of-money-online-as-a-liar/

Certifiedbug.com

Fishermen feed live kittens to sharks and marlin

In addition to the $4.5 billion that the Gates Foundation has already committed to vaccine research to date, Bill and Melinda Gates announced Friday that they will commit $10 billion over the next decade to research, development and vaccine delivery for the world’s poorest countries.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/decade-of-vaccines-wec-announcement-100129.aspx

Certifiedbug.com

Gates Foundation Pledges $10 Billion for vaccines