Honda Products Lend A Helping Hand

Honda products are also actively involved in many environmental rescue missions. One mission we are particularly proud of is the use of our Honda ATVs to help the single most endangered species of sea turtle, the Kemp's-Ridley sea turtle. Joining a cooperative effort by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and the government of Mexico, Honda donated sixteen all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) earlier this year to the Ridley Sea Turtle Recovery Project, underway since 1978.

Honda ATVs patrol beaches in South Padre Island, Texas, and more than 100 miles of remote beach in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Project team members comb the beaches for nesting turtles, mark the sites, tag turtles, and collect eggs and relocate them to a protected area away from poachers, both human and animal.

"The Honda ATVs have proven indispensable to accomplish this part of our job," said Dr. Pat Burchfield, U.S. Field Group coordinator. "We have used Honda all-terrain cycles exclusively for more than 23 years. Our fleet has grown from one unit in 1978 to more than 20 units which we operate under the harshest conditions imaginable."

Who needs to be educated HIV/AIDS ?

Anyone who is vulnerable to AIDS, and almost everyone is vulnerable, unless they know how to protect themselves. It's not only young people, injecting drug users or gay men who become infected - the virus has affected a cross-section of society. This means that education ought to be aimed at all parts of society, not only those groups who are seen as being particularly high-risk. It is all very well to educate young people but it's usually adults who become infected, and in the UK, for example, in recent years there has been very little AIDS education targeted at adults. The people who are most urgently in need of HIV education are those who think they're not at risk.

In 1987 in the UK, a leaflet about AIDS was delivered to every household, and the government also launched a major advertising campaign with the slogan "AIDS: Don't Die of Ignorance" This is an example of non-targeted education, or rather, education with a very broad target, intended to blanket the whole population. To plan an effective AIDS education strategy with smaller sections of the population, it helps to know the characteristics of the group who are to be educated. It is possible to identify four distinct groups of people who require targeted education:

• People who have not yet been educated and may be at risk of becoming infected. This usually means young people, who need to know the risks involved in unsafe sex and drug use before they are old enough to find out for themselves.
• People who have already been educated for whom the education was not effective. If AIDS education were completely effective, there wouldn't be nearly so many new infections. These infections do not only occur amongst young people - many people who have already experienced AIDS education continue to become infected with HIV.

"A few months after we started having unprotected sex, I fell gravely ill. . . I recovered slowly but . . . I guess the warning signs have been there since I fell sick earlier this year, I'm educated on HIV and some of my symptoms literally had the warning bells ringing inside my head. Still, the shock of discovering my status is something I will never wish on my worst enemy." TK, a South African woman

• Everyone needs to learn how and why not to discriminate against positive people. People who are not HIV positive must learn about how the virus is transmitted in order that they are able to protect themselves from infection. At the same time, they must also learn how the virus is not transmitted. People need to know that they cannot become infected from such things as sharing food, towels or toilets. This will help to reduce discrimination against positive people by reducing ignorance and fear.
• People who are already infected also require education. Initially, this must involve an element of counselling and support, and must teach them how about living well with HIV, the tests they may need to have and the medications they may need to take. They must also learn about HIV transmission and safer sex, for two reasons - they need to know how to live positively without passing the virus on to anyone else, and they need to know how to avoid coming into contact with a strain of the virus which differs from the one they are already have.
• The only people who do not fall into one of these groups are those who have received AIDS education, have taken it in, and have the resources to turn knowledge into action. One group who should hopefully fall into this category are AIDS educators. This may seem obvious, but in many cases, teachers may require teaching themselves. They may be called upon to act as AIDS educators when they themselves have little experience or knowledge of the subject. Peer educators must also receive training, even if they themselves are HIV+. Information for teachers and HIV educators can be found here.

If AIDS education that had been done up until now had been fully effective, then there wouldn't have been five million new infections in 2002. It is clear that the campaigns carried out so far have failed to prevent the spread of the virus, so the message needs to be repeated, in different forms, until people appreciate it, or until, hopefully, education is no longer needed.

Canon PowerShot S3

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS follows last year’s S2 in the ultra zoom digital camera market. With its 12x zoom lens, established image stabilization system, and hybrid recording structure, the S3 has the main ingredients for a good ultra zoom camera.

Its 6 megapixel CCD and DIGIC II image processor are also key features. The image sensor is a new development from Canon that is debuting on its 2006 lineup of digital cameras; it is designed to meet the demands of a high sensitivity model, and the S3 includes an ISO 800 setting. The image processor is much more efficient than the original DIGIC chip and gets a little more battery life than before.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has manual and automatic functionality as well as a movie mode with more options than most digital cameras. The Canon S3 IS will sell for $499 when it is shipped to retailers in May.

CCTV Day/Night Solution

This solution was provided for a major international airport who demanded surveillance in nearly total darkness. the solution consist of the latest technology air cooled camera with integration fitted with a 20x zoom and mounted in a BEH housing with wiper. all the unit is driven by a PT365DC pan tilt

Several units are now used in this airport with big success

Nokia Net Call Cellphones

Now ability to make calls over the internet will be made easy with Nokia's new range of handsets. Users will be able to make calls through their wireless broadband link. This works if their phone is unable to get a signal or is out of range, the calls will be routed through the network to take advantage of VoIP.

If there aren't any network coverage problems, the phone uses the normal mobile phone network

Sony Ericsson introduces first Cyber-shot camera phones

Sony Ericsson takes digital imaging in camera phones to new heights today with the launch of the K800 and K790 phones, the first handsets to carry the Cyber-shot name known throughout the world as Sony’s digital still camera brand.

Both are highly capable mobile phones with integrated 3.2 mpx digital cameras with autofocus, Xenon flash and BestPic, a completely new feature developed by Sony Ericsson which ensures that you never ‘miss’ an important picture. Press the shutter button once and the camera takes nine full quality 3.2 megapixel pictures in a time sequence – four pictures before and four pictures after the actual image you captured.

"With the Cyber-shot phone we aim to create a new lifestyle of ‘imaging communication’ by combining Sony Ericsson’s unique mobile applications and Sony digital imaging technologies,” said Rikko Sakaguchi, Senior Vice President, Product and Application Planning, Sony Ericsson. "Our aim has always been to innovate and create new values for the mobile life, and with the Cyber-shot phone we will enable anyone to enjoy an entirely new level of communication –taking quality pictures of anything, anytime and anywhere, and sharing their precious moments with others."