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| Minggu, 08 November 2009 |
| Study: Cell phone users at higher risk of brain tumor |
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 21:37 WIB | Sains & Tech | | Viewed 1104 time(s)
Study: Cell phone users at higher risk of brain tumor
A cell phone with a freehand set. (ANTARA/Rezza Estily/*)
Beijing (ANTARA News/Xinhuanet-OANA) - Cell phone users might take more risks to come down with brain tumors, according to media reports Wednesday quoting latest research from U.S.
In earlier research, scientists did find a weak link between cell phone and brain tumors, whereas there was no clear indication of what risk the cell phone users were taking.
"We cannot make any definitive conclusions about this," said Dr. Deepa Subramaniam, director of the Brain Tumor Center at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C.
"But this study, in addition to all the previous studies, continues to leave lingering doubt as to the potential for increased risk. So, one more time, after all these years, we don`t have a clear-cut answer," he said.
However, Joel Moskowitz, the study`s senior author, said that "clearly there is risk." He`s director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.
"I would not allow children to use a cell phone, or I at least would require them to use a separate headset," Moskowitz said.
"It seems fairly derelict of us as a society or as a planet to just disseminate this technology to the extent that we have without doing a whole lot more research of the potential harms and how to protect against those harms. Clearly, we need to learn a whole lot more about this technology," he said.
Researchers found that using a mobile phone for a decade or longer resulted in an 18 percent increased risk of brain tumor likely to appear on the side where the phone was used, Moskowitz said.
Moskowitz however believed that there`s also potential harm to other areas of the body -- the genitals, for example -- when the phone is carried in a pocket.
With so many people worldwide using cell phones, even a small risk could translate into many illnesses and deaths, he stressed.
"We need to do a whole lot more research because the stakes are really high and there seems to be suggestive evidence that you better be careful about this, especially in children, who have developing tissue and smaller brain and skull sizes," Moskowitz warned.
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration appealed for more research into the risks posed by long-term cell phone use, rather than the more commonly studied short-term risks. It urged that such research focuses on the health of children, pregnant women and fetuses as well as workers subject to high occupational exposure.(*)
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http://antaranews.com/en/news/1255531042/study-cell-phone-users-at-higher-risk-of-brain-tumor |
posted by fahmi_affandy @ 07.38  |
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| Alternative Power to the People |
Indonesia is rich in alternative energy sources, but only political will and private sector investment can change our dependency on fossil fuels.
Kanis Longguk smiles as he switches on his reading lamp. Along with 30 other families in this rural hamlet, the 55-year-old farmer from the remote village of Pagal in East Nusa Tenggara has finally seen his long-term dream to have electricity become a reality.
The government this year provided solar power panels with a capacity of 5 kilowatts, enough for every family in the village to have access to more than 350 watts of electric – enough to provide light and basic household needs.
Under a government contract, PT Azet Surta Lestari installed the solar panels at a cost of Rp1.5 billion early this year.
Solar power provides the major source of alternate energy in Indonesia but other sources are being explored as the rising price and scarcity of fossil fuels makes alternative energy more attractive and cost effective.
In Banten Province, 150 families no longer queue to buy kerosene for cooking. Instead, they buy ethanol gel at a cheaper price and cook without smoke and the smell of kerosene.
This small step in alternative energy was made possible by Himawan Adiyoso, an independent bioethanol producer who started operation early this year.
Supporters of alternative energy say it is now time to move away from oil and coal because resources are fast drying up. They say biofuel produced from crude palm oil (CPO) is also unreliable because of spiraling costs and a lack of government policy.
The focus has turned to solar systems, bioethanol from sugar cane, cassava and waste from tapioca producers.
Power waste
The Bio-Gas Electricity Power Project of PT Budi Acid Jaya Tbk – a large tapioca producer - has pioneered alternative energy production in Indonesia using waste to fuel eight power plants that will produce 24 MW of electricity. The project, initiated some years ago, will cost $1.25 million per MW or $30 million in total.
According to corporate secretary Marwati Wongso, on completion of construction the company will save more than $7 million on electricity each year.
With eight power plants operating – two have already been completed – the company will be “zero waste” efficient. From liquid waste it produces bio-gas, while solid waste will be used in organic fertilizers and to produce citrate acid.
As a pioneer in alternative energy, Mawarti says there have been many challenges, mainly from the technical side in developing and multiplying microorganisms.
“After long study and trial and error, we now believe that we can rely solely on alternative energy using our own waste products. Our project is expected to be finished by the end of the year.”
Mawarti adds that the company’s alternate energy stance will create value for customers and the environment.
With “zero waste” certification, PT Budi Acid Jaya is entitled to carbon credit certificates under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change) These have the potential to provide income of $7.75 million per year through the trading of carbon credits.
Solar power
Another key player in alternative energy has been PT Aset Surya Lestari (ASL). The company has serviced a wide range of customers from government-owned electricity giant PLN and private sector conglomerates, down to small farmers living in rural areas. Oil and gas internationals like BP and Unocal are among ASL's major corporate clients.
According to president director Abdul Kholik, the company installed more than 12,000 solar power units last year. He says this was achieved at a cost-effective price of Rp5 million per unit, producing more than 50 watts per hour.
The company's biggest customer was PLN in Bali, which now produces 32.4 KW for an investment of Rp2.5 billion. Last year, ASL installed more than 600,000 watts of power across Indonesia.
ASL director Arma Tamru says the company concentrates on trading and installing solar panel products but plans to establish a plant to assemble panels to help solve the nation’s chronic power shortage.
Demand for ASL's products has tripled over the past three years, says Adul Kholik. It made $15 million in sales last year with optimistic forecasts for future growth based on PLN’s need to cooperate with alternative energy suppliers in areas such as solar power.
“We can make this industry like PT Telkom, penetrating the market by offering a warung telekomunikasi (Wartel) concept,” he says of Telkom’s marketing concept of opening small shops right across the country.
“With this small shop concept, customers will buy their own power supply and combine it with the services from PLN. By using solar panels, PLN can reduce the use of energy from its generators,” Abdul says.
Abdul concedes that initial costs in solar energy are high but says capital expenditure is required only once in the lifetime of a product that should last 30 to 40 years. “Initial capital is expensive but when calculated on the life of the investment it seems well worth it,” he says.
Abdul Kholik says business should offset high start-up costs by offering attractive finance schemes for alternative energy buyers. He has supported the government in setting up Kredit Listrik Pedesaan (KLP) to help rural people finance alternate power supplies.
As a pilot project, Abdul has targeted Bali with an investment of Rp1.2 billion for 200 families. “We have plans to make finance accessible. In the future we want to sell the product to end users, not to PLN,” he adds.
ASL was established five years ago with just Rp30 million in capital. Along with his friend Arma Tamru, he has led the company on a path to prosperity. The company now has plans to install and sell downstream solar-powered products: such as lamps, refrigerators, solar driers etc.
“We can do $30 million in sales this year and hopefully can set up a solar cell assembly plant in the near future,” says Abdul.
Bio-ethanol
From the green fields of ethanol, Himawan Adiyoso says the government has been bogged down in prolonged debate on a green energy road map for Indonesia. He is standing around waiting for it to get its act together: along with about 1,000 like-minded entrepreneurs he produces ethanol on a small to medium scale.
The products are sold to households, printing companies, the paint industry and individual buyers. Himawan is trying to market ethanol in a gel form for cooking to replace kerosene for rural and small customers, utilizing his two plants producing about 5,000 liters of ethanol per day.
“The price will be cheaper, there’s no pollution and its very efficient,” says Himawan, who will officially launch his gel in commercial quantities in the near future.
Himawan has urged the government to encourage ethanol production on a small scale and says the technology is simple.
“Forget about palm oil and jatropha because Indonesia has loads of other sources such as sugar cane and cassava that are produced everywhere across the nation,” he insists.
Himawan has helped organize People's Bio-Ethanol Producers Indonesia (PBEKI) to produce and promote the many uses for ethanol.
In Lampung, PT Tulang Bawang Jaya, a regional government-owned enterprise, is planting cassava to produce bio-ethanol for the local market.
“We have decided to open a small to medium size company which will cooperate with local cassava farmers. With the project we can improve the life of farmers because we can buy their products at higher prices,” says commissioner of the company H. Darmoni Badri.
Regional governments in Papua have also kicked off ethanol production, asking farmers to plant more cassava using funding from the regional budget.
Dr Ir M. Arif Yudiarto, M. Eng, a researcher on bio-ethanol with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), says that by encouraging bio-ethanol production Indonesia can create more benefit for farmers and for the nation as a whole.
“By designing small-scale and producing bio-ethanol, Indonesia can have more opportunities to solve the problem of energy scarcity and create more economic opportunity,” he says.
“The government, especially the ministries of industry, finance and energy, have to work closely to make this a reality. We have lots of resources and it is cheap to produce when compared to palm oil products for example.”
“Someone can start a (ethanol) plant with capital of just Rp50 million to Rp2 billion. It depends on the scale and material used.”
Fossil fuel addiction
The main challenge to alternative energy comes from the government, apparently entrenched in its reliance on inefficient and high-cost fossil fuels. Tulang Bawang's Darmoni urges the government to relax taxes on ethanol to make the industry more competitive.
“We want the income tax charged on the end product when it has been sold - not at the beginning of production,” he explains. “Its better if the government abolishes these taxes because they have the potential for corruption and to create confusion.”
There have been cases where police officers have been unable or unwilling to differentiate between ethanol production and illegal drug laboratories, he says, threatening to destroy operations unless “taxes” are paid.
“We have to prepare for police intervention in our budgets so they do not interfere in our production process,” adds Himawan.
The government needs to wake up to the reality that alternative energy can make a big difference. Notes Eka Deli from PT Kreatif Energy, a supplier of cassava and jatropha processing machinery, the prospect for ethanol production alone in Indonesia is huge, pointing to Brazil, which he says uses 80% bio-ethanol to fuel the nation's vehicles.
From ethanol, solar power and combustible waste, there is no shortage of highly potential energy sources for small-scale users and alternative energy producers are united on one thing: its time the government changed its tune. |
| posted by fahmi_affandy @ 07.20 |
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| INDONESIA |
Indonesia
Spread across a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.
Ethnically it is highly diverse, with more than 300 local languages. The people range from rural hunter-gatherers to a modern urban elite.
Indonesia has seen great turmoil in recent years, having faced the Asian financial crisis, the fall of President Suharto after 32 years in office, the first free elections since the 1960s, the loss of East Timor, independence demands from restive provinces, bloody ethnic and religious conflict and a devastating tsunami.
Sophisticated kingdoms existed before the arrival of the Dutch, who consolidated their hold over two centuries, eventually uniting the archipelago in around 1900.
Aceh representatives at celebrations marking 60th anniversary of independence, 2005
Independence anniversary: 300-year Dutch rule ended in armed struggle
After Japan's wartime occupation ended, independence was proclaimed in 1945 by Sukarno, the independence movement's leader. The Dutch transferred sovereignty in 1949 after an armed struggle.
Long-term leader General Suharto came to power in the wake of an abortive coup in 1965. He imposed authoritarian rule while allowing technocrats to run the economy with considerable success.
But his policy of allowing army involvement in all levels of government, down to village level, fostered corruption. His "transmigration" programmes - which moved large numbers of landless farmers from Java to other parts of the country - fanned ethnic conflict.
Suharto fell from power after riots in 1998 and escaped efforts to bring him to justice for decades of dictatorship.
Post-Suharto Indonesia has made the transition to democracy. Power has been devolved away from the central government and the first direct presidential elections were held in 2004.
But the country faces demands for independence in several provinces, where secessionists have been encouraged by East Timor's 1999 success in breaking away after a traumatic 25 years of occupation.
Militant Islamic groups have flexed their muscles over the past few years. Some have been accused of having links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, including the group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.
Lying near the intersection of shifting tectonic plates, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A powerful undersea quake in late 2004 sent massive waves crashing into coastal areas of Sumatra, and into coastal communities across south and east Asia. The disaster left more than 220,000 Indonesians dead or missing. |
| posted by fahmi_affandy @ 06.52 |
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| Sabtu, 07 November 2009 |
| Produk Symantec Dipuji Tiga Lab Independen |
Kompas - Sabtu, 7 November
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Memilih antivirus hari-hari ini butuh kejelian. Tidak semua antivirus punya kemampuan yang sama. Ada yang piawai dalam membasmi virus tertentu, ada yang hanya mampu mendeteksi virus lokal.
Namun untuk membantu mengerucutkan pilihan dari deretan produk antivirus, disarankan untuk menengok review dari lembaga pengujian independen, seperti AV-Comparatives.org. Nah, untuk urusan deteksi ancaman, tiga lembaga uji independen – AV-Comparatives.org, AV-Test.org, dan Dennis Technology Lab – sepakat untuk menunjuk produk keamanan Norton, termasuk yang berbasiskan teknik Quorum, sebagai efektif memberikan perlindungan.
Dennis Technology Lab yang menguji efektivitas 10 produk keamanan saat membandingkan anti-malware menyebutkan Norton Internet Security 2010 tampil sebagai satu-satunya produk dengan deteksi sempurna” dalam menghadapi seluruh ancaman dan sepenuhnya melindungi sistem dari serangan atau infeksi.
Norton Internet Security 2010 juga dicatat oleh AV-Test.org yang melakukan uji di PC yang terinfeksi 25 sampel malware yang berbeda sebagai berhasil mendeteksi dan menghapus semua infeksi.
Sementara itu Norton AntiVirus 2010 diganjar rating “Advanced+” (tertinggi untuk perlindungan) oleh AV-Comparatives.org dalam Anti-Virus Comparatives Test No. 23. Symantec juga menerima rating “Fast” tertinggi untuk kecepatan scan.
“Seluruh pengujian tersebut mencakup benchmark-benchmark penting tapi sangat berbeda dalam pengujian keamanan. Namun semuanya sampai pada kesimpulan yang sama—Norton adalah penawaran terbaik di kelasnya,” terang David Hall (Consumer Product Marketing Manager, Asia Pacific, Symantec). “Produk-produk Symantec dengan teknologi keamanan berbasis reputasi kami yang baru dan heuristics canggih, menunjukkan kemampuan mereka dalam memberikan perlindungan terhadap jutaan ancaman dengan menjaga tingkat false positive paling rendah dan kinerja tertinggi di seluruh produk yang diuji.
Beberapa produk Symantec yang berteknologi Quorum adalah Norton 360 version 4.0 beta, Norton Internet Security 2010 dan Norton AntiVirus 2010. |
| posted by fahmi_affandy @ 07.27 |
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| HUT ke-10, Kaskus Luncurkan 3 Program Baru |
Kompas - Sabtu, 7 November
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Kaskus, forum maya terbesar di Indonesia, menawarkan beberapa program baru untuk memberi kemudahan bagi 1,1 juta anggotanya memasuki ulang tahun kesepuluh.
"Ada 3 hal yang kami persiapkan untuk Kaskuser," kata Ken Dean Lawadinata CEO Kaskus Networks dalam keterangan persnya di Jakarta, Jumat (6/11). Menurutnya 3 hal tersebut adalah Payment System (PS), E-Commerce (EC) dan Kaskus Mobile (KM).
PS adalah e-payment yang akan dijadikan alat untuk transaksi jual beli untuk seluruh transaksi dalam jaringan (online). EC adalah sarana di mana kaskusers bisa melakukan transaksi jual beli di forum jual beli Kaskus. "Sedangkan Kaskus Mobile, akan memudahkan users kami dalam mengakses Kaskus," ujar Ken.
Setelah 10 tahun berdiri, Ken menuturkan bahwa Kaskus saat berada berada di urutan delapan media online di Indonesia menurut Alexa Rank di idonesia. Urutan pertama adalah Facebook lalu Google.co.id, Yahoo!, Google.com, Blogger.com, Youtube, WordPress, dan Kaskus.
"Kalau kita lihat 1-7 semuanya perusahaan asing. Bearti Kaskus adalah perusahaan online pertama yang dimiliki orang Indonesia," ucap Andrew Darwis, pendiri Kaskus.
Pertumbuhan anggota Kaskus, lanjut Andrew terus meningkat tiap bulannya. Tiap bulan peningkatannya 20-30 persen. Oleh karenanya di tahun 2010, Kaskus menargetkan anggotanya mencapai 3 juta orang.
"Sebagai persiapan, saat ini ada 26 server dan akan kami tambah 2 server lagi dalam waktu dekat," pungkas Andrew. |
| posted by fahmi_affandy @ 07.19 |
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| About Me |
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Name: fahmi_affandy
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