| SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
Sony unveiled the Walkman in 1979, and portable music has been a staple for music fans ever since. But only recently with the popularity of MP3 players, in particular Apple's iPod and Microsoft's Zune, and the earbuds that accompany them, has the issue of hearing damage and headphones become such a hot topic. Protecting hearing is a must -- and the earlier it begins, the better. "Excessive volume can have an affect at any point in life, even in utero. Three out of five babies are born with some level of hearing loss," says C. Scot Frink, an audiologist in Salem. Many states have mandated screening within 24 hours of birth with otoacoustic emissions, a very accurate, quick and inexpensive test that usually catches any hearing loss before the baby has left the hospital. "The first school screening is when hearing loss is often first detected, but a lot can be detected much sooner," says Frink.
'Magical misery tour' spotlights foreclosures
The big white bus rolled up to a dozen empty houses in Elk Grove, where last year something went badly wrong for those who lived inside them. Saturday, their swimming pools were green, the electricity off and pieces of a child's puzzle lay scattered across one upstairs hallway. The houses were the main attractions of a new phenomenon to rock this housing market: the foreclosure bus tour. While other people jogged or shopped for groceries ahead of an expected storm, 25 investors and others looking for a house of their own toured the city's bank repos Saturday. And by day's end, two of them agreed to make offers. .
New Al-Qaida Tape Reveals Desperate Attempt To Recruit Jihadis []
3/6/2008 10:09:20 PM In a desperate attempt to recruit more Jihadis, the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaida in Afghanistan announced in a new audio message Thursday that it needs electrical engineers, medical doctors, Islamic scholars and in particular "understanding wives."
The call was given by Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, the self-proclaimed commander of the Islamic terrorist outfit's Afghan branch, in a 45-minute recruitment speech in a tape entitled, "They've lied, now comes the combat," that appeared on militant Islamist Web sites.
The terrorist outfit's leader also slammed Arab leaders for being traitors and urged scholars, doctors and electrical engineers to join the Mujahideen in their fight saying, "the combat needs all expertise and efforts."
Abu al-Yazeed also called on the parents to allow their sons to fight.
Misadventures in Atlanta
Everyone has opinions on when we should have sex, how we should select our mates, when we should marry, if or when we have children. Why does society highlight the lives of single women so much? Permalink | Comments (450) | Post your comment | Categories: Current Events .
Aimersoft DVD to iPhone Converter 1.1.41
Aimersoft DVD to iPhone Converter is easy-to-use iPhone converter that can convert DVD to iPhone MP4 M4V video (MPEG-4) H.264, rip DVD audio to iPhone MP3 and M4A audio formats, and copy your DVD movies onto Apple iPhone with great quality. With this Phone converter, you can also convert DVD to other Apple mobile devices including iPod and Apple TV. Fixed some issues related to DVD decoding and operation on Trim function. Version Version 1.1.41 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes. .
PC Icon Editor 3.2
PC Icon Editor is a powerful tool designed to create, edit, and manage Windows icons, cursors, and Icon Library files. Create Windows icon from digital photos and images. Export icons to bitmap file with ability to define transparency color. Also able to extract Windows icons from inside of EXE, DLL, DRV, SCR, and ICO files on your computer and save them into ICO and Icon Library file. The application has wizard and command line interfaces, it can completely support XP and Vista icons. Version 3.2 improves help file. .
Honda CBF600S: Worthy but dull
The engine comes from the excellent CBR600RR, itself new for 2007, with the power output reduced by a substantial 42bhp to 76bhp to suit the CBF's role as novice machine. The motor is more compact and lighter than the old one - the weight loss is just as valuable to inexperienced riders as to supersport 600 ones on the CBR. A new aluminium-alloy frame reduces the mass even further - the old one was steel - while the bodywork is restyled, with the fuel tank a quarter of a gallon larger, and the instruments, levers, ABS and so on throughout the bike are all renewed. There is no question the bike does the job it's supposed to do, in giving tyro bike riders an easy time. The engine has sufficient torque even at idle to make stalling difficult, and anyway the clutch engages over a long period of travel and is light and smooth.
Australian market shows encouraging resilience
WE are caught between the US slashing interest rates and our Reserve Bank putting them up. And it's against the backdrop of an Australian broker failing to settle trades for the first time since the Australian Stock Exchange switched to computers almost 20 years ago. For almost five hours last Tuesday, hundreds of millions of dollars of share trades were frozen in limbo. Video: Terry McCrann's business wrap Throw in that $8 billion forex loss by giant French bank Societe Generale, another multi-billion dollar sub-prime write-off by Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS, and it all adds up to disturbing confusion and complexity. Certainly, we are living in "interesting times". Are they about to turn interestingly nasty? For investors? For jobs? For your standard of living? In fact, the local outcome from all of this is encouraging resilience.
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