Posts Tagged ‘Health’

A lot of people that using alternative sources of fuel is just fulfilling your environmental duties. Others use such fuel sources to assuage their own conscience. While using alternative fuel sources can definitely fulfil the above two roles, it is just plain good sense and planning to not depend on the rapidly depleting and environmentally degrading fossil fuels that form the backbone of our economy, and our transport system.

You can start off your use of alternative fuels in your daily commute. If you use your feet to commute, either through walking or cycling, you are at a great disadvantage with the rest of the American populace. Not only will you be healthier and fitter, you will also save thousands of dollars on ever increasing fuel costs, while cutting down on your carbon footprint.

Of course, you cannot depend on walking or cycles to take you everywhere. You will require a motorized mode of transport sooner or later. If you can afford one, a hybrid car would be a great investment. Not only are hybrid cars more economical, they are also low polluting. You will also be at a distinct advantage with the rest of the population as fuel prices keep on increasing, and as the country makes the inevitable switch to cars powered by alternative sources of fuel.

Try to use public means of transport as much as you can, especially the local metro which runs on electric power, and thus, gives off zero emissions. Not only is public transport a cost effective means of travel, it is also a great way to do your little bit for the environment and keep at least one car off the already congested roads and highways.

It makes sense to switch over the alternative fuel sources sooner than later. We will all have to switch to greener energy sources one day, so why not today rather than tomorrow?

About the Author

John has been writing online for several years. His late blog is about picture scanners, and how you should go about buying a picture scanner

Tags: alternative fuel, alternative fuel sources, alternative fuels, blog, blogs, car, Cars, Electric, emissions, Environment, ford, fossil fuels, fuel prices, google, Health, hybrid car, Hybrid Cars, online, scanners, system

[bangkokpost] Subscribers and users of the internet and mobile phone services in Thailand and in other Southeast Asian countries are victimised by identical problems.

As these services are run by just a handful of operators, consumers are left with limited options to accept whatever packages are on offer.

This way users are either being directly or indirectly ripped off and “deceived” by the unfair practices of telecom giants, concluded consumer advocates and telecom experts at Thursday’s conference on telecommunications and consumer protection in Chiang Rai.

Led by the Southeast Asian Consumer Council, delegates from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore joined their counterparts from Hong Kong, Australia and Spain to discuss the related problems at length, from billing inaccuracies to spam marketing messages, and ways to solve them.

What was worse was, they said, while consumers have been taken advantage of by the industry, little has been done by the business sector and regulators to provide them with better services and prevent potential health impacts.

Their message is: Unless national regulators and governments step up pressure on telecom giants, consumers will continue to bear the brunt of unfair practices and risk sicknesses like developing cancerous brain tumours.

In Thailand, about 90% of mobile phone users choose pre-paid services, says the National Telecommunications Commission. Currently, there are 58 million mobile phone numbers in use in the country.

But all the current operators offer non-refundable, time-limited prepaid packages, meaning users involuntarily lose their money if they cannot use up all the credit.

“Buyers may be unaware that this is unfair because the credit unused each time may not be that high,” said NTC commissioner Sudharma Yoonaidharma.

“But there are tens of millions of pre-paid users in Thailand. This means there could be up to a hundred thousand baht of unused credit, as free revenue, going into the pockets of operators,” he said. “This is the money that should be returned to buyers.”

Earlier, DTAC, a Thailand-based mobile network operator, charged its post-paid customers a reactivation fee should they want to resume the service terminated due to late payment. The NTC later ordered it to scrap the practice after countless complaints from consumers.

In the Philippines, the level of customers being ripped off by telecom giants is excessive, said Filipino delegate Reilee Joy Dulay. Common complaints include deceptive and exorbitant rates, a pricing scheme and expiration dates on prepaid cards, she said. Mobile phone users there are charged for each unsolicited or spam message sent by the operator. The situation is not much different in Indonesia where there are just 12 operators providing services for 230 million people, said Indah Suksmaningsih of the Indonesian Consumers’ Organisation.

Operators mislead people through advertisements. Buyers, therefore, are not well-informed of hidden terms and conditions on charges, she said.

For the internet, the conference was told the cost of broadband service in the Philippines is too high and thus a heavy burden for low- to medium-income people. Internet users in Indonesia have to put up with poor quality of services. In Thailand, the government recently asked the operators to halve their pricing of broadband services only to receive a cold response.

What is the same for the three countries is the telecom industry is dominated by just a handful of operators, leaving buyers with limited choices.

“The number of users continues to increase dramatically while that of service providers has rarely expanded over the past years,” said Mr Sudharma of the NTC.

The problem is that investment in infrastructure development in this industry is high, meaning there is room for only a limited number of players, he said.

This market domination is what really allows the operators to force unfair conditions on consumers, he said.

Seah Seng Choon, executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore, agreed, saying national governments needed to bring about more liberalisation to encourage more providers in this sector.

While businesses enjoy less competition in this highly profitable industry, the majority have not invested that much in improving the quality of their services.

The conference was told that users have had to tolerate poor quality services, such as having their communications cut off without warning, or asked to pay more for high-speed internet only to receive a lower level service instead.

What is more worrying, said electrical engineer Sumeth Vongpanitlerd, is that operators are not willing to invest more to safeguard the health of users.

As wireless and mobile technologies cannot do without the installation of relay antennas at the community level, electro magnetic radiation released by the antennas could endanger the health of those regularly exposed to it, he said.

Though there is no scientific proof that it can cause headaches and brain cancer, health experts have not ruled out the possibility, he said.

But operators can minimise the risks by increasing the number of antennas as that could reduce the radiation’s density level. “Operators don’t want to do that because they would have to invest so much more. If this is obliged by law, potential health risks would be eliminated. It’s up to the government whether it wants to take action,” he said.

Telecom operators in hot water – Conference agrees users being ripped off

Tags: advertisement, blog, blogs, brain cancer, broadband service, business, cancer, car, Communications, communications commission, consumers, Electric, Free, Health, Internet, Marketing, Mobile, mobile network, mobile phone, mobile phone users, money, national telecommunications, Network, quality of service, service providers, Spam, Wireless

[prweb] – GfK’s- research indicates that 70 per cent of the residents of Estonia use the Internet regularly, which is the highest result among the 17 Middle and Eastern European countries. These results may explain the country’s thriving place as an international business hub.

Second place is held by Slovenia with 68 per cent. After Slovenia comes Latvia, Lithuania and Austria with 55 to 60 per cent. In last place on the list is Ukraine, where only 20 per cent of the population uses the Internet regularly. Exactly 1000 people from every country took part in the survey.

Margus Reinsalu, an international business figure based in Estonia, believes that Estonia’s high info-technological level considerably facilitates doing business there.

“The numerous e-solutions make it possible to start a business, carry out various everyday business-related tasks and even conduct international business without getting up from your computer. This accompanied with the advantageous tax system has encouraged the emergence of many investment companies with western origins in Estonia whose aim is to have a healthy, prosperous international business,” says Reinsalu.

Estonia: Europe’s Leader in Internet Usage is Great for International Business
see also GFK

Tags: blog, blogs, business, car, Computer, Health, Internet, research, system

Easily Toyota’s smallest hybrid

Talk of a new Yaris-based Toyota hybrid continues to spill out of Toyota.

According to the latest reports, Toyota plans to begin selling a Yaris-based hybrid by 2011 to compete with the Honda Fit hybrid.

Can’t wait for a healthy sub-$20,000 hybrid market.

Tags: blog, blogs, car, Cars, Health, honda, idc

[bbc] The mobile phone has become indispensable to modern life. But some communities in France believe they are paying too high a price for this convenience.

The infrastructure that allows mobile phones to work is continuing to spread and change the world’s landscape.

But a storm is brewing in France over the location of mobile phone masts, with French courts ordering a number to be moved.

Residents living near them have health concerns, but scientists cannot agree if the technology has an impact on not.

Locals in the town of Brindas, in the south-east of France, voiced their opposition after a base station was put up in the middle of the village’s schools.

French mobile mast debate raging

Tags: bbc, blog, blogs, Health, Mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, online, Technology, world