BBC NEWS | dot.life | A blog about technology from BBC News ...

With just over two weeks to go, the role of ... is one of the few senior appointments that remains unfilled. Many expected an announcement around the same time Mr Obama named his science and technology team just before Christmas. ... [more]

... Named on Wednesday? - Tech Insider

"That report is wrong, there is no ... announcement on Wednesday," said Nick Shapiro, transition spokesman in an email correspondence with NextGov.com. He confirmed also that the person would not be named tomorrow either. ... [more]

Obama ... this week? Maybe… or maybe not… and a Kundra WP profile ...

The NYT is reporting that Team Obama will name the much-discussed Obama chief technology officer this week — Wednesday, to be exact. The Times reports that Obama will also name the much less discussed chief performance officer. ... [more]

Could Steve Jobs Be Obama’s ...? » Webomatica - Technology and ...

This is the next (and hopefully last) nutty-MacWorld-rumor-with-a-morsel-of-plausibility floating around the Mac websites. The gist of it: the real reason ... [more]

Obama To Name ... | XY35.com

US President-elect Barack Obama could name a ... as early as Wednesday, but some people in the technology sector have complained about how long that has taken.In an industry driven by creators of the technology that allows millions of ... [more]

Steve Jobs to be President Obama’s ...?!? - MAC.BLORGE

... at San Francisco’s Moscone Center introducing Apple’s newest desktop Macs and next-gen operating system is that he’s secretly preparing to become President (elect) Barack Obama and the nation’s first ever Chief Technology Officer. ... [more]

America's ...: What Vint Cerf thinks | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Vint Cerf, father of the internet, has some ideas on who Barack Obama should pick for America's chief technology officer. [more]

Werner Vogels Is Informationweek ... Of The Year | Amit Yadav

Werner Vogels is the highly visible and peripatetic ... of Amazon, who has become the poster child of cloud computing, and has been acknowledged by IW as the. [more]

Free Culture DC В» Blog Archive В» DC: Profile of ... Vivek Kundra

[District chief technology officer Vivek] Kundra has introduced popular consumer tools to bureaucratic processes, runs his office like a tech start-up and works by the mantra that citizens are “co-creators rather than subjects.” … ... [more]

Innovation is dead; long live cost cutting! | ... Blog | Capgemini ...

... Blog. You are in: ... Blog. VOTE FOR ME. CIO Blogs IT Blog Awards В· About the authors. Subscribe. RSS news feed В· What is a RSS feed? Add to Technorati Favorites. Recent Posts. Innovation is dead; long live cost cutting! ... [more]

BBC News Search: cto (15)

Space planes 'to meet big demand'

Rocket planes for space tourism will one day be turned out much like airliners are today, says EADS Astrium.

Linux evolves for mobile devices

A mobile phone version of the popular Linux operating system Ubuntu will be developed, it is announced.

Mental health reform 'unproven'

A report finds little evidence to back a key plank of the government's controversial mental health reforms.

AOL executive leaves after breach

AOL's chief technology officer leaves not long after search queries from 650,000 users were inadvertently released.

Buyer secures Golden Wonder deal

Administrators finally complete the sale of bankrupt crisps and snack maker Golden Wonder.

Jobs go as crisp-making transfers

Almost 200 Golden Wonder crisp factory workers in Corby will be laid off as production moves to Scunthorpe.

Blogs respond to London blasts

News of explosions across central London has quickly spread across the net as people try to get information.

The Magazine Monitor

The Monitor is the home for some of our most popular features, including your letters, Punorama, the caption competition, and 10 Things.

Viewpoints: Mental Health Bill

BBC News Online asked experts for their views on proposed new mental health laws.

'Mental health plan watered down'

NHS management and psychiatrists have combined to attack proposals to reform mental health laws.

Potter magic charms Nokia chief

Yrjo Neuvo, Nokia's technical wizard, looks to the magic of JK Rowling's books for inspiration about future mobiles.

Terror fears boost new security gadgets

New money pouring into the nascent field of recognition technology - 'biometrics' - since 11 September gives the industry a boost.

Alliance to fight mental health plans

Proposals to extend compulsory treatment of mentally ill people could increase violence and damage race relations, a group of charities is warning.

Microsoft's brain drain

Several high-level executives and mid-level managers have left software giant Microsoft in the past year, and analysts say the brain drain is not over.

Triumph of the teleworker

The Chief Technology Officer of Lotus, Nick Shelness has seen his career take off since he spurned the Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters for a remote Scottish corn mill.

Dark Spots on the Skin, Hyper Pigmentation and You

The last time you looked in the mirror did you notice any dark spots on the skin that did not belong there? Did you notice that there was some darkening in some areas of your face, neck or lips that was not the same color as the rest of your face? If you have been suffering from any of the above you may have what many in the skin care field call hyper pigmentation. While this big word sounds like it may have an equally big diagnosis, have no fear as the answer is that it does not. This is a common occurrence that has no other ill effects except for the outward appearance of discoloration. <br><br>

Hyper pigmentation is a harmless occurrence that occurs when sections or patches of skin begin to get darker than other areas of the skin. This happens when the melanin in our skin, or what causes our skin to get darker, begins to form areas where the melanin builds up. This condition can affect people of any ethnic background regardless of the color of their skin. There are many different causes of discoloration. These can range from outside sources such as the sun to internal ones such as an excess of hormone production in the body.  <br><br>

One form of hyper pigmentation is age spots. These spots are natural and usually come with time. As the name indicates, age spots are a result of our skin aging as well as being exposed to the sun. It is just a fact of life that the older we get, so do our bodies. These spots usually affect our face and hands or other areas of our bodies that may be exposed to the sun for long periods of time. <br><br>

Melasma is another form of discoloration that affects mostly women and can also be found during pregnancy or during the use of a birth control pill. The hormones seem to trigger an increase in melanin production and therefore cause the discoloration of the skin. <i>Dark spots on the skin or dark patches on the skin</i> can usually be found when hyper pigmentation or melasma is present. <br><br>

Dark spots on the skin can result from different things. They can be from a birthmark or a freckle. Dark spots could be a result of acne or hormones. There are many different causes for hyper pigmentation, so it is vital that you keep track of any new or size changes of existing dark spots on the skin. While we have seen that for the most part, dark spots seem to be more of a cosmetic issue than anything, dark spots or discoloration could also be a warning sign of other issues. Don't take any chances. If you start to notice dark spots, discoloration or size changes in spots, see your Doctor immediately to make sure it is not anything severe. If it is mainly a cosmetic issue, either your doctor can prescribe a treatment or you can try an over-the-counter skin lightener or whitener to help alleviate the stares. Don't wait until it's too late!<br><br>

Birth Control Pills And Ovarian Cysts

The reproductive age woman category, now that's the ones -if she's trying to get pregnant, then obviously she's not on any kind of birth control and most likely they're functional. What do you do? Well you can watch them month to month, and if they resolve, which most of them will, the problem is gone. If such a cyst grows or causes more problems, then she should also have a laparotomy. Now, if that woman - well, the other way is of course, many of these women you’d say listen, what we need to do is put you on a short course of birth control pills to see if the cysts stop forming.

Birth control pills, the way they work, is they, they work on the complex mechanism that regulates ovulation, interrupting all those pathways that I briefly described earlier and that complex pathway interrupted, no more ovulation occurs, no more functional cysts occur. And the cyst that was there will most likely resolve because of less feedback from the other hormones so birth control pills in a way you could say could cure cysts. But these are the cysts-

That may not always be an option for some women that have problems with birth control pills or other side effects.

For those women, those group of women who cannot take birth control pills. If for whatever reason, and there's a litany we won't get into here of women who cannot take the pill for one reason or the other, then it would be expected management, that's basically just watching and seeing, cause most of these will go away within three menstrual cycles. If they do not, then, then most likely she's going to have a laparotomy. Obstetrician Gynecologist, Christopher Freville, recommends you could also do a laparoscopy. A laparoscopy again is a very common term, this is where a telescope like tube with a light on it is put in, the doctor is able to look through an incision in the naval, while of course I might add the patient is asleep and fully anesthetized, is able to look at the pelvic organs. But if the doctor sees a six-centimeter cyst, he is going to operate anyway, so most of the time that would be a procedure that would not have a purpose. She needs a laparotomy to make sure that this particular ovary cyst isn't one of the other cysts, of course the endometriomas, the sustatnomas, the dermoid cysts, the polycystic ovaries, which usually aren't going to show up as large cysts.

And of course, the last category is the rarer cystic tumor that would be cancerous. So, the management basically is one of just, in most women is, in the reproductive age group is going to be wait and see. You know, reassurance, come back in a month. You can take, if the cyst goes away, great, if it doesn't or if it slowly resolves fine, if it doesn't go away, you can offer a course of birth control pills. If that's not acceptable or not possible, then the last way is to of course to actually take a look through an incision, a laparotomy.

And that I think that pretty much sums up the actual treatment of cysts, at least as far as a diagnostic program. There are other treatments of cysts, and I will mention these each by the category. So we got a functional cyst that are self-resolving or you're going to use birth control pills. We've got the endometriomas which begin the endometriosis on the ovary. This is a case that needs to be treated with various medications. There are medications to suppress ovulations, stop the period which burns up in the endometriosis and it's generally about 90% effective, and also causes fertility when you get these to go away. So the chocolate cysts once they are, they're usually removed at laparotomy, you can also cauterize them, that's zapping them with electricity. Again, the patient is asleep because the endometriomas and endometriosis are usually multiple places in the pelvis, and then follow up with medications to suppress ovulation.