Scientists find something good about a big bottom

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A type of fat that accumulates around the hips and bottom may actually offer some protection against diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

They said subcutaneous fat, or fat that collects under the skin, helped to improve sensitivity to the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar.

Mice that got transplants of this type of fat deep into their abdomens lost weight and their fat cells shrank, even though they made no changes in their diet or activity levels.

“It was a surprising result,” said Dr. Ronald Kahn of Harvard Medical School in Boston, whose study appears in the journal Cell Metabolism.

“We actually found it had a beneficial effect, and it was especially true when you put it inside the abdomen,” Kahn said in a telephone interview.

Kahn said he started the study to find out why fat located in different parts of the body seems to have different risks of metabolic disease such as diabetes.

Researchers have known for some time that fat that collects in the abdomen — known as visceral fat — can raise a person’s risk of diabetes and heart disease, while people with pear-shaped bodies, with fat deposits in the buttocks and hips, are less prone to these disorders.

Now it turns out that subcutaneous fat — fat found just under the skin — may be actively protecting people from metabolic disease.

Kahn and colleagues conducted a series of experiments on mice where they transplanted subcutaneous fat from donor mice into the bellies and under the skin of mice.

Mice that got subcutaneous fat transplanted into their bellies started to slim down after several weeks, and they also showed improved blood sugar and insulin levels compared to mice that underwent a sham procedure.

“What we found was that when we put it in either place, there was some improvement in metabolism,” Kahn said.

“I think it’s an important result because not only does it say that not all fat is bad, but I think it points to a special aspect of fat where we need to do more research,” he said.

Kahn’s team is working to find the substances produced in subcutaneous fat that provide the benefit with the hope of developing a drug that might copy this effect. Although fat is known to produce several hormones, Kahn said none of the known hormones appeared to be involved in this process.

“If we can capture those (substances), we might have an opportunity to convert them into drugs or use them as guides to help develop drugs,” he said.

Turn Your Point-and-Shoot into a Super-Camera

If you’re using a consumer grade point-and-shoot Canon digital camera, you’ve got hardware in hand that can support advanced features way beyond what shipped in the box. With the help of a free, open source project called CHDK, you can get features like RAW shooting mode, live RGB histograms, motion-detection, time-lapse, and even games on it.

Fluoride: Miracle drug or toxic-waste killer?

WASHINGTON – From Pennsylvania to Nebraska and from Europe to New Zealand, there is growing and fierce opposition to plans to fluoridate public drinking water, fueled by a battery of shocking new studies that seriously question a practice routine among U.S. municipalities for nearly the last 50 years.

• In Clearfield, Pa., the municipal authority asked the state Department of Environmental Protection for permission to stop adding fluoride to its water. But before city officials got an answer, they got a lawsuit threat from the Pennsylvania Dental Association, which promised not only an injunction against any plans to stop adding the chemical to drinking supplies but litigation against the individual board members who approved the action. The city backed down and continues to fluoridate water.
• In Port Huron, Mich., officials are considering a halt to fluoridation that began in 1974, as residents have argued the treatment poses health risks to newborns and infants, those with thyroid conditions and others. Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Fisher said: “Fluoride is cumulative in your body. … There’s a fairly large body of scientists that believe it’s not good for your health.”
• In South Blount, Tenn., it’s the opponents of fluoride who are threatening to sue city officials planning to introduce the chemical into water supplies. They cite new studies suggesting fluoride leads to brittle bones, cancer, kidney disease, neurological problems and other ailments, including lower IQs.
• In the Canadian community of Dryden, Ontario, residents voted against fluoridation of their water last month, ending a raging debate that has gone on for more than one year.
• In Smithfield, Va., the fluoride problem is a little bit different. There the concern is too much naturally occurring fluoride in the town’s supplies. The state’s Department of Health has ordered those levels be reduced, but the state’s Department of Environmental Quality is stopping action because the plan would draw too much water from a deep underground aquifer.
• In England, where most public drinking is not artificially fluoridated, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is pushing the practice by municipalities such as Southampton. Pushing back, however, is a strong effort by the country’s Green Party, which says adding the chemical to water supplies removes the people’s freedom to choose. Eric Hyland of the party said: “Fluoride is toxic waste. It is more toxic than lead and marginally less so than arsenic. This is what the government wants to put in your drinking water. It is illegal under the Poisons Act to administer poisonous or noxious substances to anyone, and the Green Party will continue to campaign against it.”
• In the Canadian community of Drayton Valley in Alberta, where fluoride has been added to the tap water since the mid-1960s, the town council is considering backtracking. Last month, officials heard a presentation from water plant manager Bernie Berube, who urged them to abandon the process because of the inability to accurately measure amounts of fluoride in the water. He said it was a matter of health and safety for the community.
• In Nebraska, the unicameral legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of a bill mandating fluoridation of all water supplies serving 1,000 or more people, unless those communities hold referenda opting out before June 1, 2010. Communities like Chadron, which voted against fluoridation in 1978, would have to vote again before the new deadline to be eligible to maintain their fluoride-free status.
• Quebec City discontinued water fluoridation treatments last month.

• And in the Stuart, Fla., area, well owners are angry that they will be prohibited from using their own private wells in favor of the fluoridated water supplied by the city.

It all illustrates the once-contentious issue of fluoridation is back on the front burner. What’s stirring the controversy? After all, fluoride proponents say, just look at the facts:

• The American Dentistry Association calls fluoridation of community water supplies “the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay” in its “Fluoridation Facts” brochure.
• The Centers for Disease Control lists fluoridation as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.
• Approximately 170 million people in the U.S. drink water treated with fluoride. The ADA contends that community fluoridation reduces dental decay by 20-40 percent.

It has been going on throughout much of the United States for a half century, say proponents. So what’s the problem?

Sweden’s Dr. Arvid Carlsson, the 2000 Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine, objects to the practice, saying that everyone reacts differently to medication and what is beneficial for one person may be harmful for another. He calls community fluoridation “obsolete.”

Opponents like Carlsson point out that each person drinks a different amount of water, meaning dosage cannot be controlled, and could become toxic for someone who drinks more water. Add to that variable the widespread use of fluoride toothpastes by the American public and the fact that much of the food supply is grown or raised using fluoridated water, and you can see the great potential for overdosing, they say.

A study released in February by the Collaborative on Health and the Environments Learning and Development Disabilities Initiative found excessive ingestion of fluoride can decrease thyroid hormone levels. It also cited a recent Chinese study that links lower IQ levels in children with fluoridated drinking water.

In 2006, the National Academy of Sciences found the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum standard for fluoride of 4 milligrams per liter could cause health problems such as dental fluorosis and weakened bones over a lifetime of consumption.

The EPA’s Headquarters Professionals Union, made up of scientists, lawyers and other professionals, also now opposes community fluoridation.

In January, the New York State Dental Journal reported fluoride overexposure is resulting in children developing tooth disorders including white spots, brownish discoloration and pitting. It also warned children 6 months to 3 years should consume no more than ¼ of a gram of fluoride per day – the equivalent of one 8 ounce glass of water in a fluoridated community.

And, despite the CDC’s conclusion that fluoridation is one of the greatest medical achievements of the 20th century, it recommends infant formulas should never be mixed with fluoridated water.

“The early studies that purported to show ingested fluoride reduced tooth decay were seriously flawed,” says Dr. Paul Connett, emeritus professor of environmental chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., and executive director of Fluoride Action Network. “There is no significant difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated industrialized countries. The vast majority of countries are not fluoridated.”

Indeed, opposition to the kind of widespread fluoridation American communities launched in the 1960s is becoming an international movement.

“The days of wholesale deliberate fluoridation … are numbered,” said Warren Bell, former head of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

The anti-fluoride activists make their case effectively by telling consumers to read the U.S. government’s own warnings regarding toothpastes and mouthwashes containing fluoride. They include:

“Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age.”

“If you swallow more than used for brushing, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.”

“If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Centre right away.”

“Never give fluoridated mouthwash or mouth rinses to children under six years of age, as they may swallow it.”

“Use non-fluoridated toothpaste or no toothpaste for young children.”

While few would argue that topical application of minute amounts of fluoride on teeth would reduce cavities, deliberately ingesting it – even in trace amounts – is risky.

The fluoride added to public drinking water is actually fluorosilic acid. It is described by critics as an industrial waste product. Supporters prefer to call it an industry byproduct. Most of it has come from Florida’s phosphate fertilizer industry.

Florida’s phosphate rock is about 3.5 percent fluorine. To make phosphoric acid for fertilizer, the rock is mixed with sulfuric acid. The mixture produces a gas called silicon tetrafluoride. The gas is sent through ductwork and a water scrubber to create fluorosilic acid, a clear liquid that in high concentrations is toxic. The acid is what fertilizer companies sell as a fluoride additive.

However, one of the little-known effects of Hurricane Katrina was to cripple the production of fluoride. Since then, more of America’s supply of the controversial chemical is coming from China – a country not always known for the highest safety standards on exports.

Just because you live in a municipality that does not fluoridate doesn’t mean you are safe from the effects of fluoridation, say critics. For instance, children in non-fluoridated communities consume sodas and beverages bottled in fluoridated localities using fluoridated water. This is known in fluoridation debate circles as “the halo effect.” Grapes and grape products, teas and processed chicken can be high in fluoride because of water used in processing and preparation.

Fluoridation is not just a community issue. Some states – including big ones like California – mandate their towns and cities fluoridate their water supplies.

Another major source of fluoride intake for children is swallowed toothpaste. Fluoride toothpaste contains about 1000 ppm fluoride. While adults on average ingest 3 percent of the toothpaste they use for brushing, 2-year-old children, in one study, swallowed a mean of 65 percent of the toothpaste they brushed with. It was found that many small children don’t even rinse after brushing.

If you’re not sure if this is truly a dangerous practice, just ask your vet about using fluoride treatments on your dog. You will be advised against it because dogs swallow the fluoride.

In 1965, a landmark year in the fluoridation debate, the federal government determined fluoride was safe in drinking water at levels as high as 4 ppm. Officially, that is still the government’s threshold of safety on the high side. Yet, in 2006, the National Research Council determined 4 ppm was unsafe and couldn’t assert with certitude that even half that level was safe.

On the basis of the NRC’s review, the Georgia-based Lillie Center last year filed an ethics complaint against the CDC Division of Oral Health. In its complaint the center charged the CDC with “mislead[ing] the public concerning the results of studies about harm from ingesting fluoride,” and “omit[ting] vital information in its information disseminated to the public concerning vulnerable population groups that are particularly susceptible to harm from fluoride.”

Vodafone, Telecom Italia, America Movil To Carry iPhone

Vodafone and Telecom Italia announced on Tuesday that they have both signed contracts with Apple to carry the iPhone in Italy — the first sign that Apple may be relaxing its demands for revenue sharing with individual carriers in exchange for exclusivity.

The biggest deal is the one with Vodafone. Having lost the bidding war to carry the iPhone in its home market to O2, UK-based Vodafone got its revenge with this terse, two-sentence press release:

“Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.”

This is an important deal. Vodafone is the world’s second largest mobile phone carrier, after China Mobile. At the end of 2007 it had, through wholly owned and partially owned subsidiaries, the equivalent of 252 million customers in 66 countries.

One day after Vodafone announced it would be carrying the iPhone in 10 countries in Europe, Asia and Australia, Reuters reported that America Movil will be bringing the iPhone to Latin America.

America Movil is a big player. With more than 150 million subscribers, the Mexico City-based Fortune 500 company is the largest mobile operator — and the largest corporation — in Latin America, with subsidiaries in Central America, South America and much of the Caribbean. Its founder and chairman is Carlos Slim Helu, one of the richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth $67.8 billion.

DHS Remains Tight-Lipped on The Manhattan Project

WIRED’s Ryan Singel reports on the continued secrecy of the Department of Homeland Security’s so-called “Manhattan Project” that has prompted members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee to “beg” for more details on the cybersecurity initiative.

The government’s new cyber-security “Manhattan Project” is so secretive that a key Senate oversight panel has been reduced to writing a letter to beg for answers to the most basic questions, such as what’s going on, what’s the point and what about privacy laws.

The Senate Homeland Security committee wants to know, for example, what is the goal of Homeland Security’s new National Cyber Security Center. They also want to know why it is that in March, DHS announced that Silicon Valley evangelist and security novice Rod Beckstrom would direct the center, when up to that point DHS said the mere existence of the center was classified.

Those are just two sub-questions out of a list of 17 multi-part questions centrist Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) sent to DHS in a letter Friday

XP SP3: Now on Windows Update

A week after deciding not to release Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download site as planned, Microsoft has begun pushing the collection of updates and fixes through those channels again.

On May 6, Microsoft both released officially SP3 and resumed automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1. Distribution of both of the Windows service packs was halted when Microsoft discovered a compatibility glitch involving them and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, according to company officials.

Here’s Microsoft’s update on the situation, via a spokeswoman:

“Following last week’s discovery of a compatibility issue between both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1 and Microsoft Dynamics RMS, Microsoft created and deployed a filter on Windows Update that will not offer either service packs to Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers. A fix for this issue is currently in testing at Microsoft and with customers and we hope to make it publicly available this month. Until then, Microsoft is advising Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers to not install either service pack. Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers running Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1 should contact Microsoft Customer Support Services for additional information.”

Microsoft released to manufacturing XP SP3 on April 21 — and after outcry for its paying TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers — released the update to them shortly thereafter

Windows XP SP3 can be found via Windows Update.

Senator to ISPs: “Think twice” about Net neutrality, or else

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) stepped in front of a group of tech executives in Washington this morning to deliver a caffeinated and surprisingly sharp defense of network neutrality. Pledging to use “every ounce of my energy to protect network neutrality,” Wyden had a message for ISPs who might be pondering new charges for various forms of access: “think twice.” If ISPs start down that road, they might soon find that they lose key legal protections including “safe harbors” and tax freedom.

U.K: Cannabis is Not Harmful Enough to Be a Class B Drug

Government advisers are to recommend that cannabis remains a class C drug, despite government concerns over its affects on crime levels and health. In a report, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will say cannabis is not harmful enough to be upgraded to the more serious class B.

Adobe seeks to extend reach of Flash, nukes licensing fees

Via Ars Technica:

Adobe has announced a new initiative called Open Screen, which aims to make the company’s Flash multimedia technology ubiquitous on mobile and embedded devices. Adobe plans to eliminate the licensing fees required to distribute its own Flash player and AIR runtime implementations on mobile devices and will also remove licensing restrictions on the specifications for the FLV and SWF formats so that developers can create fully-compatible independent Flash player implementations.

The initiative is supported by a diverse selection of companies in industries ranging from telecommunications to content production, including ARM, Samsung, Nokia, Intel, Cisco, the BBC, and MTV. Adobe hopes to work with these companies to make Flash and AIR the de facto standards for creating and delivering rich media content across computing, entertainment, and communications devices. Eliminating the licensing costs for deploying and integrating Flash playback capabilities in embedded devices will likely appeal to phone handset makers and set-top box manufacturers. Adobe will also be publishing open specifications for its Flash Cast protocol, which will allow third-parties to create custom Flash streaming solutions.

Marvel Studios Sets Four More Release Dates!

Source: Marvel Entertainment
May 5, 2008

Marvel Entertainment released their first quarter report to its shareholders this morning to coincide with the announcement about the success this past weekend of Marvel Studios’ first production Iron Man, which grossed an estimated $104.2 million domestically and over $201 million worldwide. The announcement included an update of Marvel Studios’ feature film slate with the already-rumored Iron Man 2 announced for a release on April 30, 2010, followed by three more movies for the summers of ‘10 and ‘11. Matthew Vaughn’s Thor is set for a release on June 4, 2010, and The First Avenger: Captain America (the working title) will kick off the summer of 2011 on May 6, followed by the highly-anticipated and foreshadowed The Avengers scheduled for July 2011. (Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man is also listed as being in development with no release date set.)

In a conference call this morning, Marvel Studios’ David Maisel said that Iron Man 2 will be used to introduce Thor. Regarding more “Hulk” movies, Maisel said “We definitely plan on continuing.” He added that development continues on Spider-Man 4. “I can’t give any other updates other than to say it’s in development and everybody’s excited about ‘Spider-Man 4,’” he said.

With that in mind, one can start expecting a lot more announcements in the coming months about creative teams and casting for those movies including who might direct the Captain America and Avengers movies. (Whomever plays Steve Rogers AKA Captain America presumably will be making two movies at once.)

Government wiretaps up 20% in 2007

The US last week released its 2007 wiretapping stats, and they show that such surveillance is up a full 20 percent over the year before. The number of non-secret wiretaps is higher than it has ever been in the last decade, and not a single application was denied in all of 2007. If you’re concerned about privacy, though, the report makes clear that you’re statistically unlikely to be targeted unless you use a cell phone to run drugs. Murder might also earn you a wiretap, but apart from that, the authorities don’t seem to use wiretaps in all but unusual cases.

“Family Guy” Creator Signs Record Megadeal

From wunderkind to TV mogul: After 2 1/2 years of negotiations, “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane has inked a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV that would make him the highest-paid writer-producer working in television.

The pact, which could be worth more than $100 million, will keep MacFarlane at 20th TV through 2012. It covers his services on “Guy” and his other two animated series for 20th TV and Fox — “American Dad!” and the upcoming “Guy” spinoff “The Cleveland Show” — as well as his series development, which includes a multicamera comedy with “Guy” writer Gary Janetti. It also encompasses new-media projects related to MacFarlane’s TV series as well as DVD and merchandising revenue from them. (”Guy” alone has grown into a $1 billion franchise with red-hot DVD and merchandise sales.)

Deutsche Telekom Interested In Sprint Nextel?

Sprint Nextel’s stock rose more than 6 percent Monday morning following reports that Deutsche Telekom was considering buying it — but investors might want to be wary.

People close the company told DealBook that Deutsche Telekom has not held any discussions with Sprint Nextel and that the chance of an actual bid is low. Among the factors making such a deal a long shot: The two wireless companies use different technologies, Sprint has big problems of its own, and regulators in the United States could take a dim view of a deal that reduces the field of national wireless players from four to three.

For these reasons, plus a few more, Michael Rollins, an analyst at Citigroup, estimated Monday that there is only a 25 percent chance that Sprint Nextel would be acquired in the next 12 months. He put the potential price tag of such a deal at $12 per Sprint share, or about 50 percent above Friday’s close of $7.89

Deutsche Telekom owns T-Mobile USA, which is the fourth-largest wireless company in the United States. Sprint is the third-largest. Together, they would leapfrog the current leaders, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

But buying Sprint would be a big challenge for Deutsche, which is partly owned by the German government. It would need to migrate Sprint’s customers to its own network, and could lose lots of them in the process, Mr. Rollins wrote.

Sprint has already suffered huge customer defections because of its troubled merger with Nextel. In February, Sprint said it would lose another 1.2 million subscribers this quarter, about the same amount it lost in all of 2007. Sprint’s Nextel deal is widely viewed as a high-priced debacle; Sprint recently wrote off most of the cost of the $35 billion transaction.

Regulators might also balk at a T-Mobile/Sprint combination. The Bush administration has been relatively friendly toward big mergers, but the next one could take a long look at how such a deal would affect consumers and competition.

Mr. Rollins estimated there was a 50 percent chance it would be blocked. Meanwhile, T-Mobile USA has officially launched 3G service in NYC - the rest of the markets should work by year’s end.

Toshiba Envisions 512GB SSD Drives by 2009

Toshiba is planning to ship 512GB solid state drives by 2009 when it expects these storage devices to claim one-fourth of the market, according to Japan-based reports.

The market for SSDs used in notebook PCs will surge on average 313 percent per year through 2011, according to a report from Nikkei Business Publications. The report referred to a speech given by Toshiba Semiconductor Company’s President Shozo Saito at an International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (IDEMA) function in Japan on the 18th.

By 2010, SSD-based notebooks will be about 10 percent of the market, then jumping to 25 percent in 2011, Saito said.

The increase in capacity will be accompanied by sharp reductions in cost per bit, the biggest barrier to SSD adoption this year. An oft-cited example is the Apple MacBook Air. The Air model with a 64GB SSD is about $1,200 more than the model with a larger capacity 80GB hard disk drive. The price difference is largely attributed to the premium a buyer must pay for an SSD.

If the price for NAND flash memory is reduced by 50 percent per year, the price gap will shrink (by 2011) to 1.4 and 3.2 times the price of 1.8- and 2.5-inch hard disk drives, respectively, Saito said.

Amazon Sues New York State Over Sales Tax Collection

Amazon.com has filed a lawsuit challenging New York State’s new law forcing online retailers to collect sales tax on shipments to state residents. The lawsuit raises questions over whether vendors who are not physically present in New York State should collect tax on behalf of the state.

Why he needs a room of his own

When Vicki and Brian Meldrum bought their first home four years ago in Cleveland, they made a pact: She could decorate and furnish the rest of the 1,110-square-foot house however she wanted, but the 15-by-10-foot finished basement was his.

“I have it decorated with all the sports memorabilia that my wife would not allow anywhere in the house in a million years,” says Brian, 30, a sales director for a print media company.

But for Brian, it’s not just about holding onto the ratty futon and the “Fletch” movie poster from his bachelor days. It’s about having a “mantuary,” or “man cave” — a space just for him where he can watch sports uninterrupted or play Xbox games with his buddies.

“When his friends come over, they will go downstairs,” says Vicki, a 31-year-old account executive at a communications firm. “It’s like the basement in ‘That ’70s Show.’”

What does Brian have stashed away?

“Millions of movies,” he says, plus a 32-inch flat-screen TV, film posters, his guitar, an exercise bike, and a few family treasures, including the first-place trophy he won at a melanoma charity golf tournament he played in honor of his deceased father.

Having a room of one’s own can provide refuge in a stressful world, but can a mantuary actually help a marriage?

Steve Brody, a clinical psychologist from Cambria, California, who specializes in marriage counseling, thinks so.

“Separate time is important,” he says. “A good relationship has both intimacy and independence. Man caves may just be the 21st-century wrinkle to it.” See some more amazing man caves »

The Fine Art of Compromise

But retreating to the cave will only get a guy so far.

“I work with a lot with couples where it’s an issue that the guy is always on the computer and the gal is feeling like he’s not there for her,” Brody says. “The man cave in many instances can be more harmful than helpful because it develops distance, it establishes a barrier, and people take it personally.”

An all-or-nothing approach to spending time together (or apart) is never the answer, Brody says: Talk it out and split the difference.

“As ridiculous as the idea of watching six hours of golf is to my wife, that’s how ridiculous the idea of watching six hours of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ is to me,” Brian Meldrum says.

The Meldrums adopted a his-and-hers approach to TV viewing. “He has his space, and I have mine,” Vicki says. “It makes for a more harmonious household.”

Sal Guarisco, a 51-year-old sales manager from Atlanta, negotiated a mantuary with his wife, Wendy, 50, when her 88-year-old parents moved into a cottage in their backyard and began joining them for dinner each night.

“It’s a place to decompress so that by the weekend you’re not hiding out,” Sal says.

Sal, an amateur musician, populated his cave with four guitars, two microphone stands, an engineering table, an electronic keyboard, a computer to record tracks on, a TV and DVD player — and a “Star Trek” lamp.

“Sal has a lot he needs to escape from, so it’s good that he has a place to go,” says Wendy, a public relations consultant. “If my mother-in-law was living in the backyard, I’m sure I’d want a sanctuary, too.”

Man Cave Rules

While Sal doesn’t have a “no girls allowed” sign on the door, he makes his daughter Amelia, 11, ask permission if she wants to “play ‘American Idol’” and use the microphones.

“If he’s been gone all day and something is amiss in there, it’s like the Inquisition,” Wendy adds.

Out of respect for your partner’s sanctuary, Brody suggests knocking or announcing yourself by asking, “Hey, is this a good time?” before entering.

“You’ll often hear guys complain that when they’re watching a game on TV, their wife comes in at the fourth quarter and starts talking,” Brody says.

Jill Scully, 31, of Pescadero, California, doesn’t sneak up on fiancé Nicholas Woodman, 32, in his lair, a barn outfitted with $13,000 of race car simulation equipment.

Nicholas, an amateur club circuit racer and owner of a digital sports camera company, takes the jostling driver’s seat for hours on end — helmet on, lights off, surround sound blaring. Interrupting her fiancé might make him “crash,” so Jill, who helps run Nicholas’ company, waits until the end of the “race” before announcing herself.

“This deal conveniently ensures I have to be a spectator for a good half hour until his race comes to a close and I can interrupt,” she says.

Not Just for Men

From garage-sale bric-a-brac to the $75,000 custom-built home theater, one’s cave provisions are limited only by his budget.

But mantuaries aren’t just the domain of flat-screen-worshipping sports fans.

“It doesn’t have to be Batman. It’s just a place where somebody goes and has a meaningful experience,” Brody says.

Even if that somebody isn’t a man.

“My wife has a lot of quilting and sewing stuff in her office and she likes to sew and not be bothered,” Brody says. “I think we all have that need.”

Vicki Meldrum certainly does. Not to be outdone by her husband’s dreams of upgrading his man cave (kegerator! pool table! wet bar!), Vicki has begun entertaining fantasizes about a cave of her own.

“I’m going to have a dressing area,” she says. “I want the vanity. I want the makeup table. I want the whole enchilada.”

Iran dumps U.S. dollars in oil transactions

Iran had totally removed U.S. dollars in the country’s oil transactions, an Oil Ministry official said on Wednesday.

“The dollar has completely been removed from our oil trade….Crude oil customers have agreed with us to use other currencies (in the trade),” Oil Ministry official Hojjatollah Ghanimifard was quoted as saying by the state television.

“We make our transactions with euros in Europe, but yen in Asia,” he added.

Due to the tensions with Washington in the past years over the nuclear disputes and the latest depreciation of dollars, Iran has vowed to decrease the greenback in its foreign trade. Iran central bank also has reduced dollars in the country’s foreign reserves. In last November’s summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Saudi Arabia, Iran proposed that it was necessary to replace the U.S. dollar with other major hard currencies in oil trading.

But some Arab allies of the United States showed few support to Tehran’s advice.

However, Iran’s Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari has already declared in last December that Tehran had completely stopped selling its oil in dollars, according a report by the semi-official ISNA news agency at that time.

“In line with the policy of selling crude oil in non dollar currencies, currently selling our country’s oil in U.S. dollars has been completely stopped,” Nozari was then quoted as saying. Right now it’s not clear why there seems to be a contradiction between comments by the two officials over the exact time to stop dollars in Iran’s oil trade.

Human Beings Were Nearly Extinct 70,000 Years Ago

WASHINGTON - Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday.

The report notes that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age.

“This study illustrates the extraordinary power of genetics to reveal insights into some of the key events in our species’ history,” Spencer Wells, National Geographic Society explorer in residence, said in a statement. “Tiny bands of early humans, forced apart by harsh environmental conditions, coming back from the brink to reunite and populate the world. Truly an epic drama, written in our DNA.”

Wells is director of the Genographic Project, launched in 2005 to study anthropology using genetics. The report was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Previous studies using mitochondrial DNA — which is passed down through mothers — have traced modern humans to a single “mitochondrial Eve,” who lived in Africa about 200,000 years ago.

The migrations of humans out of Africa to populate the rest of the world appear to have begun about 60,000 years ago, but little has been known about humans between Eve and that dispersal.

The new study looks at the mitochondrial DNA of the Khoi and San people in South Africa which appear to have diverged from other people between 90,000 and 150,000 years ago.

The researchers led by Doron Behar of Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel and Saharon Rosset of IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., and Tel Aviv University concluded that humans separated into small populations prior to the Stone Age, when they came back together and began to increase in numbers and spread to other areas.

Eastern Africa experienced a series of severe droughts between 135,000 and 90,000 years ago and the researchers said this climatological shift may have contributed to the population changes, dividing into small, isolated groups which developed independently.

Paleontologist Meave Leakey, a Genographic adviser, commented: “Who would have thought that as recently as 70,000 years ago, extremes of climate had reduced our population to such small numbers that we were on the very edge of extinction.”

Today more than 6.6 billion people inhabit the globe, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The research was funded by the National Geographic Society, IBM, the Waitt Family Foundation, the Seaver Family Foundation, Family Tree DNA and Arizona Research Labs.

Dad Karl Malone a footnote in Demetrius Bell’s life

If you’re a fan of NBA great Karl Malone, you might change your mind when you start reading this column.

If you never heard of Buffalo Bills rookie offensive tackle Demetrius Bell, you’ll be rooting for him when I tell you his story.

Bell was a seventh-round draft pick and two-year starter at Northwestern State, the same Louisiana school that produced cornerback Terrence McGee.

Bell is the son of Malone, but the Mailman had no role in Bell’s success except passing along athletic genes.

The two have had very little contact during Bell’s life. His mother, Gloria Bell, reportedly was only 13 years old and Malone a college sophomore at Louisiana Tech when Demetrius was born. Malone might have served jail time had her family asked the district attorney to file criminal charges.

Bell didn’t even know Malone was his father until after graduating from high school. When they finally met, Malone told the 18-year-old Bell it was too late to be his father, and that Bell would have to “earn his money on his own.”

In a 1998 story in the Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune, Gloria Bell said, “Demetrius is ashamed that his dad doesn’t claim him. But I’ve told him it is not his fault.”

Malone also fathered twins while in high school. One of them is WNBA star Cheryl Ford. It took years to claim the twins, and now he and his wife, Kay, fully accept them as part of their family.

But what about Demetrius? Doesn’t he deserve the same measure of love and recognition?

You can see Bell in action below.

Feds: We will search through your laptop files at the border

Following in the wake of February’s news that customs agents were seizing electronics and making copies of all the files on cell phones and laptop hard drives, a federal appeals court has ruled on the legality of such searches.