Posts

news bits

  • Surgeon urges lower priority for smokers - SpecialsHealthScience - www.smh.com.au: Smokers who do not quit should be refused elective surgery, argues a Sydney doctor who says post-operative infection rates are higher for smokers and that their treatment wastes healthcare resources. I think it would be a little more reasonable to argue that smokers who do not attempt to quit should be given lower priority; since quitting is a difficult thing to do and usually takes a few attempts. The issue is based on medical evidence about healing and infection rates; it's not because some doctor is pissed off at smokers.
  • Too much TV spells ADHD - SpecialsHealthScience - www.smh.com.au: Every hour a toddler spends watching television each day could increase the risk of attention problems in later childhood, US research suggests. Imagine that... it's bad to let children spend hours on end tuned into half-hour resolutions interspersed with 30-second resolutions. Nothing on TV requires concentration for more than a few minutes; then it cuts to something else (ads, usually). The ABC is basically the only channel where you can watch something without interruption for an entire half hour or longer.
  • At last advertisers are moving online - BusinessNews - www.smh.com.au: The online advertising market grew by more than 40 per cent last year, outstripping the broader ad industry and giving rise to claims that the medium has finally landed a permanent place on the advertiser's schedule. It's funny to hear it discussed like it's a good thing. I'd love to think this would mean advertisers would start doing research about what works and what simply pisses everyone off; but then I remember that didn't work for TV either. They figured out what pissed people off, but continued to do it anyway since that still puts their brand into people's minds... and a great deal of advertising is about &qot;top of mind" recall.
  • NEWS.com.au | Split will allow email checking (April 6, 2004): THE Government will split amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception) Act, holding off changes that could have blocked employers from monitoring staff email for viruses and offensive content. ... The AFP warned the amendments could throw corporate email monitoring into disarray, by prohibiting any person from reading email without an interception warrant. ...that'd be called Civil Liberties, people.
  • NEWS.com.au | Farmers slam fertiliser withdrawal (April 6, 2004): Fertilizer Industry Federation of Australia executive manager Nick Drew said a simple ban of one product would do little to address the issue of nitrogen-based fertilisers being used by terrorists. Ban everything! It's not like anyone actually needs fertilizer? Right? It's only terrorists! Better ban aircraft too!
  • NEWS.com.au | Entertainment | Ozzy dobs doc over drug supply (April 06, 2004): ROCKER Ozzy Osbourne filed a complaint with the state medical board, accusing a Beverly Hills doctor of over-prescribing addictive drugs to him. This was first mentioned a while ago; but now he's taken action. Meanwhile both his kids are in or have been through rehab...
  • Calgary Herald - Colleges forced to deal with overprotective parents: Most agree the new parent is an extension of a new breed of student, commonly referred to as the "millennia student." Born in 1980 or later and emerging from structured lives, these students rely on parental involvement and many don't mind if their mom or dad checks in. To put it another way; they are so completely spoonfed throughout primary and secondary school; they can't fend for themselves at the tertiary level. Students really have changed and they're falling on their arse at university, since they're expected to act like adults - but they haven't been eased into that concept.
  • SBS left reeling as film buffs give it the flick - TvRadio - www.smh.com.au: Two of the highest profile stars on SBS TV, The Movie Show hosts Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, have quit the network for the ABC. This amuses me... "Screw you guys, we're gonna hit the big time - that's right, we're going to the (*fanfare*) A B C!"

Comments

Add Your Comments

Please use Name/URL or an OpenID option rather than posting anonymously.

Post a Comment