| Microsoft opens personal health record site
But the software maker must still grapple with whether sharing data exposes it to greater financial risk in the event that hackers get their hands on confidential medical data. Many state-level security breach notification laws have been passed in the last couple of years, giving identity theft victims the ability to sue companies whose systems are hacked or whose computers are stolen, Hirsch said. The health care industry is just one U.S. sector that's treading lightly as a result. Some of the best sources of comprehensive health records data, major insurance companies, haven't agreed to build applications that work with HealthVault. But even if Microsoft were able to get providers and insurance companies to feed data into HealthVault, it's not clear consumers will use it.
Housing Slump Starts to Hit Stronger Cities
It's getting harder to hide from the housing bust. Tight credit, fragile consumer confidence and a weakening economy are slowing sales and depressing prices even in some places -- such as the Pacific Northwest and North Carolina -- that until recently had avoided the housing slump afflicting most of the country. .
Swan blames inflation rise on previous govt
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has used today's inflation figures to attack the previous Howard Government's economic record. The Consumer Price Index has risen a slightly higher than expected 0.9 per cent, driven by petrol prices, banking costs, rising rents and domestic holidays. That takes annual inflation to 3 per cent, which is right on the Reserve Bank's upper limit. Perhaps more importantly, the central bank's own two underlying measures have surged to 3.8 and 3.4 per cent. Today's cost of living figures from the Bureau of Statistics are seen as crucial ahead of next month's interest rates decision from the Reserve Bank. Mr Swan says elevated inflation is the Liberal Party's parting gift to Australian families. "Now it's pretty clear when you look at underlying inflation that these pressures have taken a long time to build," he said.
Jack Shafer
Why did Smith and her lawyer join together in a wacky "commitment" ceremony on Sept. 28 instead of getting married like normal people? The Fox News Channel followed the story most closely then, too, airing at least 13 stories pegged to Smith between her daughter's birth and Smith's death. When Smith finally died in February, also under mysterious circumstances, there were so many angles to cover that you didn't have to know the back story to be intrigued. Lawsuits by the bushel, countersuits, DNA tests, forensic exams, toxicological investigations, methadone prescriptions, residency battles, legal disputes over where and when to bury Smith, and the ridiculous (televised)* hearings presided over by a Broward County, Fla., judge, not to mention control of a potential $500 million to the person named the guardian of Smith's daughter.
Who Controls Textbook Choices?
If we make students pay $300 for textbooks for our courses — especially when we know that we’re teaching students with strapped budgets — we’re not being very responsible. I’ve had to learn hard lessons about how my bookstore (and my bookstore supplier) works, and have had to make hard choices to get my students suitable textbooks for reasonable prices. I do it so that nobody takes that decision-making process out of my hands. I know that’s easy for me to say as a science professor, because Maxwell’s equations are pretty non-controversial. But even as it applies to the humanities and social sciences, I don’t think picking a book and sticking with it for a few years is too big a price to ask us to pay... Dr Chuck Pearson, at 9:55 am EDT on March 16, 2007 .
CNBC's Money Mentors Team Up For Debt Makeovers In 'The Millionaire ...
With the holidays behind many consumers and 2008 in full swing, most Americans are feeling pressure to get their debt under control. What kind of debts are people facing this year? Credit card debt, medical debt, mortgage debt, "Gen X" debt and student loan debt are just some of the bills keeping Americans from their dreams. CNBC's money mentors have now teamed up for "The Millionaire Inside: Debt Makeover," which will help guide consumers to stomping out their debt in 2008. The show premieres Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. and midnight ET. The Millionaire Inside: Debt Makeover gives four guests debt makeovers of a lifetime. Money Mentors Carmen Wong Ulrich, Ric Edelman, Dr. Doug Hirschhorn, and John Ulzheimer each provide part of the debt prescription plan needed to help guests stop the vicious debt cycle and to start investing for the future.
30-year mortgage rate lowest since 2004
Mortgage rates fell to a four-year low a day after the Federal Reserve cited a weakening economy in its emergency reduction of the benchmark overnight lending rate. The drop may encourage up to 7 million homeowners to apply for new mortgages, many to avoid resets of adjustable rates, Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York, said in a report yesterday. Lower monthly payments would put more money in their pockets and encourage consumer spending, he said. The average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages declined to 5.31 percent yesterday, the lowest since March 2004 when the Fed's benchmark rate was 1 percent, according to research firm Bankrate Inc. "An increase in mortgage refinancings will eventually be a game-changer, turning the dynamic on mortgage payments into a positive from a negative," said Crescenzi at Miller Tabak, a securities firm that specializes in institutional investors.
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