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08 March
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dbeg Open source, not $19 billion, may be best hea

This bottom-up development effort appears to be working: the VA hospital system consistently delivers superior care at less cost,ugg boots cheap, as noted by ZDNet. As a volunteer at my local VA hospital, I get to see it firsthand.

Open source, not $19 billion, may be best health care stimulus

The federal economic stimulus package provides $19 billion to upgrade the U.S. health care system to digital records. It’s a nice gesture,discount ugg boots, but the U.S. federal government has already developed a robust medical ERP system that could significantly improve U.S. health care. It’s called VistA. It’s open source.

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay.


Though some suggest the specialized knowledge needed to program in MUMPS is a selling point, let’s put it this way: in the programming universe filled with PHP, Java, .Net, and other constellations of programmers, MUMPS is like a single Red Dwarf. It’s not going anywhere except into oblivion.

Better quality health care at a much lower price. What’s the punchline?

At first glance, there is none. VistA works, and works well,Paul Smith Watches, particularly when packaged and delivered by companies like Medsphere, perhaps the most prominent advocate for the open-source health care ERP system.

Scratch the surface, however, and you quickly run into a major problem with VistA: MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System). MUMPS is the archaic programming language in which VistA was written, and which perpetuates its inflexible architecture.

Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.

VistA was developed by the U.S. Veterans Administration and the medical professionals involved in its extensive hospital network. Read: doctors developing software for other doctors.

Open source might prove to be the wrong answer to the health care mess. But given the VA’s success with VistA, President Obama should be spending pennies on the stimulus dollar with VistA before he looks elsewhere for solutions. It’s already written. By all accounts, it works well.

It’s already paid for.

There are other open-source answers to the U.S. health care problem, including the federal Connect project and Axial Exchange, which was set up by former Red Hat executives to commercialize these federal efforts. But none is more proven than VistA, which has successfully served U.S. veterans for many years.

One company, Software Revolution, claims that the MUMPS-based VistA code could be converted to Java at a cost of $125 million. If even remotely true, that could well prove to be a much smarter investment than $20 billion in stimulus money. Heck, given how easily billions are being spent in Washington today, $125 million is pocket change.

It just needs to shake the MUMPS out.



08 March
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Gpvn Obama seeks to get back on track in Florida_3

Obama seeks to get back on track in Florida
STEPHEN COLLINSON January 29, 2010 - 7:54AM

President Barack Obama headed to Florida Thursday, hoping to use his defiant State of the Union address as a springboard for political recovery in an economically scarred electoral battleground.

The administration says its 787 billion US dollars stimulus plan has saved or created up two million jobs, but with unemployment at 10 percent and set to stay high for months, a political rebound may be a long time coming for Obama.

“Through the Recovery Act, we are making the largest investment in infrastructure since the Interstate Highway System was created,” Obama said, in an advance copy of his remarks.

Florida, like swing states Ohio, where Obama went last week, and New Hampshire, on his itinerary next week, has seen independent voters turn against the president after national unemployment hit 10 percent.

In the 2008 election, victory in the key electoral state helped pave the way to the White House for Obama, and as recently as a year ago his approval ratings in the state stood at 64 percent in the same poll.

Obama was to make a rare joint campaign-style appearance with Vice President Joe Biden, to unveil eight billion US dollars in funding for high-speed rail projects, part of a jobs push which is now the White House’s top priority.

The president, seeking to rescue his ambitious political program, vowed on Wednesday night in the key note address to Congress that he would not quit, and was determined to haul the American economy out of the mire.

The administration had previously announced the eight billion dollar grant for high speed rail under the stimulus act, but will offer more details at a town hall meeting in Tampa, Florida.

He demanded Congress pass a jobs bill and send it to his desk “without delay,” and warned that if lawmakers did not maintain the strength of his bid to crack down on Wall Street he would veto their efforts.

Obama’s agenda took a huge hit when Republicans seized a Senate seat in liberal Massachusetts last week,Discount North Face Coats, and the president is under intense pressure to show leadership and to restore his authority.

A Quinnipiac University poll last month found 49 percent of voters in Florida, hard hit by the mortgage foreclosure crisis, disapproved of Obama’s performance and only 45 percent approved.

He also vowed he would not “walk away” from the stalled health care reform drive which dominated his first year in office.

The administration said the investment would create or save tens of thousands of jobs over time in areas like track-laying, manufacturing,North Face Coats, planning and engineering, and rail maintenance and operations.

He turned towards foreign policy only towards the end of an address dominated by economic challenges, almost as an afterthought, warning Iran would face “growing consequences” if it did not halt its nuclear program.



“That investment is how we can break ground across the country, putting people to work building high-speed rail lines,timberland roll top boots, because there?s no reason why Europe or China should have the fastest trains when we can build them right here in America.”


“Right now, I know there are many Americans who aren’t sure if they still believe we can change — or at least that I can deliver it,” he said, and bluntly stated “change has not come fast enough.”

“Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010,” Obama said, and promised to redirect 30 billion US dollars from a Wall Street bailout fund to help small businesses get credit and create new positions.

Obama said the US government must double US exports in five years to support two million more jobs, and to boost commerce with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, but stopped short of urging Congress to pass trade pacts.

“I campaigned on the promise of change — change we can believe in, the slogan went,” Obama said, recalling the days before his barnstorming 2008 campaign promises hit a brick wall of Republican opposition in government.

In another bid to recapture the heady spirit of change which swept him to power, Obama said he would work with Congress to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law banning gays from serving openly in the US military.

08 March
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xerf Obama- worst of economic storm passed_86

Obama added he would veto any finance bill that does not contain “real reform.”

“The House has already passed financial reform with many of these changes. And the lobbyists are already trying to kill it,” he told lawmakers in his State of the Union address.


“Well, we cannot let them win this fight. And if the bill that ends up on my desk does not meet the test of real reform, I will send it back.”



Obama said his administration’s early actions last year had staved off a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression.

Obama: worst of economic storm passed
January 28,mbt professional shoes, 2010

US President Barack Obama declared in his State of the Union address that the worst of the economic storm had passed,timberland shoes, but that a trail of devastation was left behind.

“And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed, but the devastation remains,timberland womens boots,” Obama said.

08 March
0Comments

lmph Online tools for the eBay seller_561

ListingTicker will show all your recent listings.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Photoblat Photoblat is a neat utility if you want to save some money on adding photos to your eBay listings. The site allows you to upload photos to the service. From there, you can add those photos to your eBay listings page through tools like eBay’s Blackthorne Pro. All the photos are hosted on the Photoblat site. Photoblat charges $3.99 per month for access to its service.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

eBay tools

My top 3

1. Auctiva: with so many options and a relatively affordable price, Auctiva takes the top spot.

Auctiva is quite powerful. You can create side-scrolling galleries with pictures you upload to the site (you’re allowed 1GB of storage), change the color of your listing page, and issue invoices. It won’t help you determine if you’re selling products that eBay users want, but it will help you easily manage your auctions. Admittedly,cheap mbt shoes chapa, Auctiva is for active sellers, but at $9.95 per month for so many nice features, it’s an affordable offering.

Toolhaus displays how users view you.

Auctiva helps you add inventory and track it on the site.

ListingTicker ListingTicker is a simple tool that helps you post all your listings on your blog or Web site. The site asks you to input your eBay user ID. It then creates a widget to be placed on your site. It shows all your auctions that will be ending soon. It also provides your site’s visitors with a search box in case they want to find something else.

eBay Market Researcher Terapeek’s eBay Market Researcher tool is a fine way to determine how to get the most out of your listing.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

HammerTap features the number of listings and the keywords matching your query.

2. Vendio: Vendio has some offerings that should appeal to you.

eBay Market Researcher provides you with a variety of research tools.

After you sign up for the site and choose a membership (it costs $24.95 per month or $197.95 per year), you can immediately start searching through the app’s listings of eBay products. When you find the product you’re looking to sell, it provides you with information on the item’s average bid, how much the average listing makes, and how page design affected profits. The app even provides you with information on which day is best to list the product and end your auction. It’s a powerful tool.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Vendio lets you create a store in no time.

HammerTap is a useful tool, but beware that it costs $19.95 per month after a 10-day free trial.



Selling Manager eBay’s Selling Manager app is installed into the My eBay section of a seller’s listing page. The app allows you to manage all your listings in one place. You can also create customized e-mail templates to send to buyers who won your auction. If the buyer doesn’t pay, it automatically relists your item. If you want all these options,ugg for sale, you’ll be forced to pay $15.99 per month. The free version of the Web-based app will let you create a professional listing and edit your listings in bulk.

Auctiva Auctiva is a full-featured product that allows you to use a variety of templates and modules to help you sell products more effectively on eBay.

3. ListingTicker: having the option of listing all your eBay auctions is quite convenient.

Selling Manager lets you relist items quickly.

HammerTap HammerTap is another eBay market research tool that provides basic information, like the number of active item’s listings, how many times a product has sold,ghds, and the average sales price of those auctions. One of the app’s nicest features is its “will it sell?” offering, which displays a scale, showing the percentage chance of the product selling on eBay.

Vendio Vendio is an online shopping platform. If you want to sell products on your site, it will help you out. But Vendio’s real value is in its marketplace tools that help you improve your listings on eBay.

Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

Toolhaus Toolhaus is a service that allows you to see the reliability of an eBay user. It lists all the feedback the user has received, including both positive and negative reviews. It’s not the most useful app in this roundup, since it basically lists information you’ll find on eBay, but it does come in handy when you want to quickly determine if you can trust users.

Vendio’s listing-creation tool lets you display images, set up promotions, and track all the items that were sold on eBay. The site also tracks customers, displaying their name, the last time they purchased products from you, when they bought those products, and more. Vendio is free to use, but it takes up to 1.95 percent of your sales that are generated through the service.


Photoblat allows you to upload images in no time.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Online tools for the eBay seller

After Amazon experienced some difficulties last week with its selling options in the Amazon Marketplace, it made me wonder if anyone decided to start selling some of their merchandise on eBay. If so, they would join thousands of others who are using the online auction site to make a few extra bucks. If that’s your goal, check out some of these services for eBay sellers.

08 March
0Comments

klna Obama to call for partial budget freeze_118

Those mandatory spending commitments will not be touched in the new plan, to begin with the 2011 budget, which will be rolled out on Monday.

Under the top line figure, some government departments could see spending rise, while others could lose part of their allowance.


Obama will unveil the plan to cap discretionary non-security government spending in his State of the Union address, a showpiece event shaping up as a chance to recast his presidency amid a fierce political storm.

Departments likely to be hit will include Agriculture, Energy and Transportation, for instance,North Face Sale, but the freeze will not, however, apply to departments and agencies tasked with national security, including the Pentagon.

Republicans have hammered Obama for big spending programs, including a 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan, and dismiss administration claims that the program saved or created two million jobs.

Discretionary spending is made of expenditures that are appropriated on an annual basis by Congress, in a budget submitted by the president.

“You can’t afford to do everything you might have always wanted to do,” said one senior Obama administration official.

Obama to call for partial budget freeze
STEPHEN COLLINSON January 26, 2010

President Barack Obama will Wednesday call for a three-year partial freeze on spending that would save 250 billion US dollars over a decade, in a bid to show he is serious about cutting the huge deficit.



The bill would establish an 18-member task force of 10 Democrats and eight Republicans with bipartisan co-chairs and seek to examine all aspects of the financial condition of the US government.

The freeze will save between 10 and 15 billion US dollars on the 2011 budget, increase over the next two years and rise to the 250 billion dollar figure, the official said.

“We are proposing a hard freeze in non-security discretionary spending in 2011, and then continuing that freeze in 2012 and 2013,” a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.

“That’s the decision-making process the president and the economic team went through. It’s the very same process American families have gone through for the past several years.”

The size of the deficit is one factor along with high unemployment and the sluggish economic recovery from the worst financial crisis in decades that is helping to drag down public perceptions of Obama’s economic management. Related article: Obama vows to help middle class

The president has also made populist assaults on Wall Street, and last week traveled to an economic blackspot in Ohio to show everyday Americans that he cares about their plight amid 10-percent unemployment.

On Saturday, Obama offered support for a bi-partisan attempt in Congress to create a fiscal task force intended to tackle the burgeoning deficit.

Discretionary spending in the fiscal 2010 budget amounted to 447 billion US dollars — around a sixth of total outlays — a figure that will remain constant in US budgets until 2013,ghd straightener, the official said.

It may also force Obama to scale back the size of his ambitious reform agenda, just one year into his four-year term of office. Related article: One good term better than two bad ones: Obama

The spending is therefore optional, and the product of a choice by the government, unlike spending on entitlements like health care programs, or Social Security retirement schemes which is mandatory.

“We are in the midst of fighting a war and have security needs — we are going to fund those security needs as necessary,ugg shop,” one official said.

Fierce assaults on Obama’s agenda, including his ambitious health reform plan, were one factor in the Republican victory in a Massachusetts seat last week that stripped away the Democratic supermajority in the Senate.

The fiscal straitjacket will lead to painful decisions on some government programs beloved of Democratic leaders and lawmakers in Congress and will crimp the spending plans of some of the members of Obama’s own cabinet.

The US government closed its 2009 fiscal year with a record 1.416-trillion-dollar budget deficit and the White House forecasts an even bigger gap of 1.502 trillion US dollars in fiscal 2010.

“The savings from the three-year freeze will amount to 250 billion US dollars over the next decade,” the official said.

08 March
0Comments

Rqjc Obama- worst of economic storm passed_86

Obama: worst of economic storm passed
January 28, 2010

US President Barack Obama declared in his State of the Union address that the worst of the economic storm had passed, but that a trail of devastation was left behind.

“The House has already passed financial reform with many of these changes. And the lobbyists are already trying to kill it,” he told lawmakers in his State of the Union address.

Obama added he would veto any finance bill that does not contain “real reform.”

“And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed,Paul Smith Socks, but the devastation remains,Mens North Face Down Vests,” Obama said.



Obama said his administration’s early actions last year had staved off a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression.

“Well,ghd straightener, we cannot let them win this fight. And if the bill that ends up on my desk does not meet the test of real reform, I will send it back.”


08 March
0Comments

lxah North Korea declares ‘no sail’ zone_166

The border known as the Northern Limit Line,uggs on sale, which the North refuses to recognise, has been a persistent flashpoint. There were deadly naval clashes in the area in 1999 and 2002.

Analysts have said the communist state could try to fuel tensions to strengthen its case that a peace deal is urgently needed. The United States and South Korea say the North must return to nuclear talks before any discussions on a peace pact.

The brief but intense battle left the North’s boat retreating in flames and one South Korean craft with bullet holes in its hull. There was no information on any North Korean casualties,Womens North Face Jackets, while the South’s crewmen were unhurt.

North Korea has announced a two-month ban on shipping near its disputed sea border with South Korea, Seoul’s defence ministry says, in a move set to heighten tensions after a naval clash in November.

Naval tensions have remained despite recent efforts by the sanctions-hit North to upgrade or restart joint business projects with the South.

Efforts to restart six-nation nuclear negotiations are currently stalled over the North’s demand for early talks with the United States on a pact to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea declares 'no sail' zone
January 26, 2010

AFP



In addition to its ballistic missile launches,ugg boots uk, Pyongyang has many times in recent years test-fired short-range missiles at sea.

The threat was sparked by comments last week from the South’s defence minister, who said Seoul would have to launch such a strike if an atomic attack from its neighbour was imminent.

Yonhap said the zone extended north of the island and along the disputed border, and also stretched east of the island where November’s firefight erupted.

Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday South Korea’s military was checking whether the announcement was part of preparations for more short-range missile launches.

A ministry spokeswoman said the no-sail zone had been imposed in waters near South Korea’s Baengnyeong Island off the west coast from January 25 to March 29. She said the exact location would be announced on Wednesday.

Last month the North warned South Korean ships to avoid the border area, saying its coastal artillery would target it in firing exercises.

Seoul said November’s clash broke out when a North Korean patrol boat crossed the line and refused to turn back despite warnings.

On Sunday the North’s military lashed out at South Korea’s vow to launch a pre-emptive strike to thwart any nuclear attack, calling it “an open declaration of war.”


Its naval command said at the time the move came in response to “reckless military provocations” from the South.

08 March
0Comments

llei Now the Swiss go after Google Street View_176

Now the Swiss go after Google Street View

Google must be used to having its neutrality questioned by now. However, when the alleged home of neutrality comes after you,The North Face Coat, perhaps you wonder if all this questioning of your motives is ever going to stop.

Hanspeter Thuer, the federal data protection commissioner of Switzerland, accused Google of not doing enough to blur faces and license plates. And he demanded that “Google immediately take its Google Street View online service off the Internet.”

Noser’s reaction was charming in the extreme: “There is probably no problem for my wife, as you could also recognize my companion in the picture.” Somehow, the use of the word “probably” offers a hearteningly realistic view of humanity on the part of the Parliamentarian. I think he will go far with such a sanguine view of the world’s workings.

Whenever countries in Europe raise objections such as these, it appears that Google finds an appropriately European solution: discussions and talks, followed, no doubt,ugg shoes, by the parsing of a few nuances, until the issue seems to recede from the public eye.

Not so long ago, it was the Greeks who decided they weren’t too happy with Street View’s prying artificial eyes. Now, according to the Associated Press, it’s the Swiss who are getting nervous about their much vaunted (and much-profited from) privacy.

A Google statement to the Associated Press said that the company would discuss the matter further with the authorities in order to “demonstrate our industry-leading applications for protecting the private sphere.”

Ah, Switzerland. I have no reason to believe the man on the bike is a member of Parliament.

Then the Google eye can happily go back to work.



Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.


(Credit:CC Robert Thomson/Flickr)

Perhaps the most interesting snippet of this governmental request is that it appears to coincide with the Swiss newspaper NZZ espying a member of Parliament, Ruedi Noser, on Street View in the company of a lady who was not his wife, but was,ugg store usa, praise be, his assistant.

08 March
0Comments

4mxm NORAD’s alternate command center illustrated_

Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games,timberland womens shoes, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel.


Either way, you can tell that the ACC is a place that has the ability to run serious exercises,ugg sales, and, in the case of a real emergency, is capable of being used as NORAD’s main nerve center. Let’s hope that’s never necessary.

During my recently completed Road Trip 2009 project, one of the biggest highlights was my visit inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. Recognizable from the movie, “War Games,” and the “Stargate” TV series, the complex was long popularly known as NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Now, the Air Force has provided me with this photo, of the ACC, which, since my very first step when planning Road Trip 2009 was to see about arranging a visit to Cheyenne Mountain, is a fitting way to formally close the book on the project.

When I visited, I was allowed the rare privilege of bringing a camera with me, and I took a lot of pictures. But the pictures were mainly of the infrastructure of Cheyenne Mountain,North Face Trouser Sale, and I wasn’t able to see the alternate command center (ACC).

The ACC, as seen in this photo, has certainly been “scrubbed,” meaning that personnel in the room were very careful to ensure that nothing sensitive was visible in the shot. Still, you can get a sense for what goes on in the room today. To be sure, it looks very little like the giant command center that was made so famous in “War Games.” Yet in today’s world, where everything is smaller, more compact, and more efficient than back in the early 1980s, it’s no wonder that a facility like this would have the feel of an office full of cubicles.

NORAD's alternate command center illustrated

NORAD’s alternate command center, at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, near Colorado Springs, Colo. While NORAD’s main operations recently moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base, it still maintains the ACC at Cheyenne Mountain.



View the full gallery

But in 2008, NORAD officially moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base. Still, even to this day, it maintains an alternate command center at Cheyenne Mountain that it shares with U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM.

(Credit:U.S. Air Force)

08 March
0Comments

Iupw Now the Swiss go after Google Street View_176

Hanspeter Thuer, the federal data protection commissioner of Switzerland, accused Google of not doing enough to blur faces and license plates. And he demanded that “Google immediately take its Google Street View online service off the Internet.”

Not so long ago, it was the Greeks who decided they weren’t too happy with Street View’s prying artificial eyes. Now,timberland for sale, according to the Associated Press, it’s the Swiss who are getting nervous about their much vaunted (and much-profited from) privacy.

Now the Swiss go after Google Street View

Google must be used to having its neutrality questioned by now. However, when the alleged home of neutrality comes after you, perhaps you wonder if all this questioning of your motives is ever going to stop.

Ah, Switzerland. I have no reason to believe the man on the bike is a member of Parliament.

Then the Google eye can happily go back to work.

(Credit:CC Robert Thomson/Flickr)

Whenever countries in Europe raise objections such as these, it appears that Google finds an appropriately European solution: discussions and talks,ugg boots usa, followed, no doubt, by the parsing of a few nuances, until the issue seems to recede from the public eye.

Noser’s reaction was charming in the extreme: “There is probably no problem for my wife, as you could also recognize my companion in the picture.” Somehow, the use of the word “probably” offers a hearteningly realistic view of humanity on the part of the Parliamentarian. I think he will go far with such a sanguine view of the world’s workings.

Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.




A Google statement to the Associated Press said that the company would discuss the matter further with the authorities in order to “demonstrate our industry-leading applications for protecting the private sphere.”

Perhaps the most interesting snippet of this governmental request is that it appears to coincide with the Swiss newspaper NZZ espying a member of Parliament,ghd hair straightners, Ruedi Noser, on Street View in the company of a lady who was not his wife, but was, praise be, his assistant.