The legal battle between Google and Viacom seems to have fallen on the side against ‘the people.’ Google is being forced to turn over the veiwing records of every user (including IP addresses) to Viacom to ensure that no copyright infringments are taking place.
Because these infringements are almost assuredly taking place, a word of warning to all Youtubers out there, your privacy may be at risk.
I’ve been sitting on this one for a while now, wondering on how best to approach it.
For our anniversary, my girlfriend got me this box of 12 #2 Antimicrobial Pencils from Ticonderoga.
My first thought was, “WTF is wrong with the world” quickly followed by a “Why would you get this for me?” to my girlfriend. She shrugged and said “you like bacteria.”
Well, I guess I like them so much that she thought I should contribute to the growing problem of bacterial resistance to commercial antibiotics by introducing a new source of a completely useless product.
According to the front of the box:
Microban protection inhibits the growth of odor and stain causing bacteria
and according to Wikipedia:
Microban International, Ltd. produces chemicals used for antimicrobial product protection. These persistent chemicals provide antimicrobial properties in consumer, industrial and medical products… The broad application of the Microban product in everything from cutting boards to flooring, along with its long life in the product and hence the environment, has raised some concerns about the long term effects of its promiscuous use.
This could be a made up statistic, but 48.5 out of 50 microbiologists agree that the concept of Microban products is one of the stupidest they’ve heard in a while.
We’re overusing antimicrobial agents in everything from flooring, pencils and our colons. It’s no wonder that widespread antibiotic resistance is wreaking havoc in the medical field. Haven’t we seen in the recent spread of drug resistant superbugs, like MRSA)shown us the dangers of overusing antibiotics?
Apparantly not, because companies like Microban will not be satisfied until their antimicrobial products are in the lining of every pot and in the flooring of every garage. Just looking at that insidious green packaging, in it’s environmentally friendly guise, is making me angry.
I can see the attractiveness of wanting to put antibiotics into pencils, sort of. I suppose if you happen to be an elementary school teacher who’s students slobber all over their pencils, it could help stop the spread of germs,if they happen to share their pencils. But, this still, is going too far.
Bacteria will quickly build up resistance to these types of antibiotics, which is dangerous because of the increased virulence associated with increased resistance. So, instead of a few relatively harmless bacteria on your pencil, you’ve got lots of harmful bacteria.
This simple fact speaks to a larger ignorance in the general public about the simple fact that antimicrobial products become less effective when they’re overused. As a result, the doctor’s treatment arsenal is getting smaller, and science simply cannot produce new antibiotic agents as quickly as they are needed.
I am going to send an email to Microban International, Ltd to give them a piece of my mind, and I urge all my readers to do the same. Perhaps we can pressure them into at least recognizing the potential problem associated with their company.
(my email – feel free to use this version or modify as needed for your own letters)
I am writing as a student in microbiology and biochemistry to express my concern about the general content and implications of your Microban products.
As you may or may not know, antimicrobial products are important tool in medicine and treating infectious diseases, however, their overuse is leading to a serious health problem.
This company, which seeks to put antimicrobial products into everything from flooring to pencils, is doing the public a great disservice. It is important to realize that not all bacteria or fungi are killed by antimicrobials, and that the pathogens that survive are often the strongest and most virulent of the population. These organisms are also largely resistant to antimicrobials.
Therefore, as more antimicrobials enter general use, they become less effective. This is annoying problem for those concerned with household odors. This is an potential public health catastrophe to those, like myself, who can envision what the overuse of antimicrobial products will bring.
In the news we see with cases like the MRSA superbug, which have been able to outmaneuver our antibiotics faster than science can produce them, and the result is often fatal (to children). This is one of hundreds of different cases of virulent diseases made worse by overuse of antibiotics.
I write to urge this company to reconsider the way it approaches and applies it’s products.
Right now, overuse of antimicrobials is a nuisance, but in the future it could become a real health epidemic if this overuse is continued. If Microban International, Ltd. truly cares about the public good and its consumer base, it will seriously reconsider its business approach.Sincerely and respectfully,
Reviews of 2007 sales show that through iTunes, Apple, Inc. is now the number two music retailer in the country, beating out Best Buy and Target, but still lagging behind Walmart. 10% of legally obtained music is now downloaded, a 6% jump from last year. Meanwhile, the average American spends $4 less per year on music and approximately 1 million Americans stopped purchasing CDs.
These statistics speak volumes about the way the music industry is changing. Apple, originally a computer and software company found a niche in the market for portable music devices, in the way other companies were developing slimmer cell phones and digital cameras at the beginning of the 21st century. Apple was able to successfully advertise the iPod and its accompanying software, iTunes, and still largely commands the market on portable music devices.
However, portable music players are nothing new, so why is the iPod revolutionizing the music industry? What separates the iPod from the Sony Discman, and the Walkman before it, is that the iPod is completely dependant on computers in order to function. The rise of the iPod has coincided perfectly with the rise of the internet. People are getting used to transmitting information and communicating through the internet, so transmitting music is the next logical step. Completely digital transmitted music is cheaper, more efficient and less wasteful than CDs.
Through iTunes, Apple has 50 million customers and has sold 4 billion songs – and that is just music obtained legally through one music purchasing program.
The nations top retailer, Walmart, has officially chosen sides in the ‘Blu-Ray’ verses HD-DVD debate, according to this AP report.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Wal-Mart-Blu-ray.html?_r=1&ex=1360818000&oref=slogin
Netflix, Blockbusters, Target, MGM, News Corp, Fox, Disney and Time Warner have also chosen Sony’s Blu-Ray over Toshiba’s HD-DVD. Personally, I think because ‘Blu-Ray’ was a cooler sounding name, and thus more marketable to consumers.
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