Starting Monday, motorists in Ontario who get caught driving with a cell-phone in their hand will receive a $155 fine.
Police officers will no longer simply be letting drivers off with a warning as they have been doing for the past three months. Instead they will start fully enforcing the provisions of Bill 118, or Ontario’s Countering Distracted Driving law which went into effect Oct. 26.
The law is designed to enhance road safety by making it illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, or e-mail using a hand-held device when driving. The legislation also prohibits the viewing of DVDs or other displays that are not directly related to driving. Drivers can however continue using hands-free headsets, such as Bluetooth devices for making or receiving calls. They will be allowed to use hand-held phones for making emergency 911 calls.
Drivers of emergency vehicles and certain commercial vehicles will also be allowed to use hand-held devices under some circumstances.
Though the law was formally passed in October, Ontario’s Provincial Police allowed a three-month grace period for drivers to get accustomed to the law. During that time, the OPP have issued more than 3,000 warnings to drivers, but did not impose fines on anyone caught driving with a hand held device.
Starting Feb. 1 that grace period is formally over. The OPP has cautioned that from that day on, they will begin to aggressively enforce the provisions of the law in a bid to cut down on what they say is the growing danger posed by drivers chatting on phones or texting on them while also traveling at high speeds.
Some people within the media are really wondering in what direction the iPod will go into next in order to make sure that consumers are still interested in purchasing one.
The new iPod tablet has proven to be a hit among computer geeks and regular consumers alike, upon closer inspection however there is even one more reason to fall in love with the iPod tablet. The new level of battery life and speed on the iPod tablet’s A4 system is apparently to die for. The technology necessary to strike this perfect first began in 2005 and people who developed the iPod in its current form are still very tight lipped about such technology.
The iPod tablet certainly maintains the sleek nature of the iPod while giving people a chance to see what they need to see on the screen. This version of the iPod does make it easier for you to select the songs you want to listen to. Information technology professionals were very excited about the unveiling of the tablet at trade shows and some were truly overwhelmed with joy. You can certainly take this version of the iPod on a long train trip and not have to worry about it running out of juice half way through the trip.
Don’t be afraid
Should buyers beware in regards to purchasing a Toyota in the midst of the company’s current recall? No, what prospective consumers need to keep in mind is that the Toyota Motor Corporation is a highly respected auto manufacturer that has been in business for over 70 successful years. Above all else, they want to fix the problem and move on.
To date Toyota has ordered the recall of just over five million vehicles over the past year due to problems with the accelerator sticking. While the numbers are extremely high, Toyota is placing a halt on production in order to focus all of their efforts on fixing the problem. In an attempt to render aid to Toyota owners that will be carless while their vehicles are being fixed, Automotive News is reporting that Toyota has contacted several dealers and instructed them to, “give any complaining customers a rental car at Toyota’s expense.”
This is just a bump in the road. Once the accelerators have been properly fixed, Toyota will return to business as usual. Car buyers should not be deterred. If a Toyota is what you want, then you just need to make sure that it has been recalled properly.
After a great appearance as a guest judge on “American Idol”, Katy Perry is considering a career change from singer/pop star to something a little more judgmental. According to Katy she totally fell in love with her role as a guest judge on “American Idol” and would consider giving up her singing career if she were offered the full time job. Though there was some back and forth with judge Kara she still had a great experience.
Katy has been said to be one of the best guest judges so far. She spoke her mind and had very constructive comments. She has been around music her whole life and not only has a great love for it but a good ear. Katy also has a personality that makes America watch with enthusiasm. She took her role as guest judge very seriously and had a great time doing it.
There have been some speculations as to whether this is just talk or if the singer/pop star is seriously considering the position. We will have to wait and see if Fox is going to take it seriously and go after the pop star to join Kara, Randy, and Ellen as a permanent Judge on “American Idol”.
Could it be that one of the fists pumping “Guidos” from The Jersey Shore is going to be walking the hallowed grounds of Harvard University? Vinnie Guadagnino could possibly be doing just that.
Guadagnino explains that he recently took the LSAT and that his scores were good possibly even good enough to go to Yale or Harvard. Guadagnino says that he had a 3.9 GPA as well as Latin Honors but for right now he is happy just being one of The Jersey Shore, if this meal ticket or fun runs out he might just try his hand at Harvard Law, but for now it is going to remain his plan “b”.
One reason why the 21 year old stood out among the other fist pumpers of The Jersey Shore is because he has the brains to back up his brawn, telling Mike “the situation” that at 27 he should be further ahead and that he did not want to be anything like him by the time he reached 27 years old. So the question remains, while we end up seeing Vinnie leave The Jersey Shore, or will he continue to fist pump and “guido”his way through an endless summer? Only time will tell!
Bernard Madoff has been in the news because of the Ponzi scheme he ran for years that resulted in the fall of many financial organizations. Now, his brother, Peter Madoff, has been the focus of a cimrinal probe related to the fraud that is said to have bilked people out of millions of dollars. In fact, the scheme is said to have reached the billions.
Recently, the United States attorney’s office said that they were investigating Madoff. This has resulted from a lawsuit that was filed by the Lautenberg Foundation, a group that lost money in the scheme.
Irving Picard is the trustee who is in charge of trying to regain some of the money lost in the scheme. He is suing Peter Madoff because he was the chief compliance officer for this brother’s group.
When Madoff appeared at a disposition, he refused to answer basic questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment nearly 200 times. This has given the government cause to be concerned about Peter Madoff’s involvement with the scheme.
Madoff’s lawyer, Mr. Spada, has gone on the record saying that the Foundation was focused on “securing a quick summary judgment.” Madoff’s lack of answers is said to be an attempt to “step in front” of claims by the Foundation, government, and those who lost money in the scheme.
Dancing With the Stars host Samantha Harris is leaving the show. Harris stated that she has loved working on the dance competition series since 2006. Samantha Harris has also been working with entertainment show The Insider and they wanted her to have a larger role as a correspondent, however in order for that to be done, she would need to leave Dancing With the Stars.
Harris stated that working on Dancing With the Stars was a dream job that gave her more opportunity than she ever imagined, and that she had made lifelong friends along the way.
Her co-host Tom Bergeron says that Harris will be missed but that he knew that her role in The Insider was going to be getting larger, and that he was all too familiar with the feeling of being pulled in several different directions when you try to juggle more than one job.
He also said that while he was pleased for his co-host he was also sad to see her move on.
Harris, who majored in journalism at North Western University and while still in college she also interned at Entertainment Tonight.
She knew that she always wanted to work in that type of media, and now she has her chance.
Monday, January 25, 2010 – Studies have shown that patients diagnosed with early stages of lung cancer can double their chance of survival for a little over five years if they stop smoking.
An article published online in British Medical Journal reports that it is never to late to kick the smoking habit even when they have been diagnosed with lung cancer.
This is the very first review of such studies that measure the effects of quitting the habit or those that continue the addiction after the fact of being diagnosed with lung cancer. It may be worth while for Doctors to recommend smoking cessation treatment to all their patients with the early stage of the illness.
The studies discovered that there is a 5 year survival rate of sixty-three to seventy percent of those smokers who quit to those with a twenty-nine to thirty-three percent who continued to smoke. The findings have supported the theory of some scientists that believe that continued smoking will affect the behavior of a lung tumor.
An editorial accompanying the article says that it is never too late for people to stop smoking even if they have been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Funded through a partnership between the U.S., Canadian, and French governments, the $10.5 million Genomics of Sunflower research project has embarked on an ambitious plan to map the DNA sequence of the sunflower. The project hopes to locate the genes most important to agricultural applications while at the same time mapping out future plans of cross breeding and hybrid production. A possible non-agricultural “bonus” could be thicker and more sugar-laden sunflower stalks which could be converted to ethanol for fuel use.
At the heart of the study is the Silverleaf sunflower most prevalent in Texas; a wild flower known for hearty stalks and resistance to drought. Silverleafs can grow as high as 15 feet with a diameter of nearly four inches. Scientists believe the Silverleaf makes the ideal candidate for research due to its close relation to the cultivated sunflower.
Project leader Loren Riesberg said in an interview, “Since it’s the closest relative of the cultivated sunflower, it should be perhaps reasonably straightforward to move some of the traits.”
Currently the world’s ethanol production relies mainly on corn, prompting an outcry among farmers and cattle ranchers whose livelihood is heavily dependent on corn. The sunflower’s ethanol potential is seen as good news in helping to alleviate the pressure on the corn crop.
On April 13th an unauthorized biography by Crowne Publishing of Oprah Winfrey penned by celebrity scribe Kitty Kelley will be released. The 544 page biography will be the first of 500,000 copies that will be printed.
Kitty Kelley has become a favorite among those who are interested in celebrity gossip. She has written biopics of people such as Nancy Reagan, the Bush family and even Frank Sinatra.
The publisher claims Kitty Kelley has gone through the life of Oprah for over three years and conducted over 850 interviews to come up with the biography. The biography has many curious as the famed icon has been known for being secretive and guarded over her personal life.
Kelley went on to say that she was “full of admiration for her accomplishments and fascinated by her complexity” of Oprah Winfrey. The biography is said to cover all the different aspects of her life and will be evenhanded. The unauthorized biography is also going to be released in e-book form and there will also be an audio book.
With Oprah’s show coming to an end soon one can safely assume this book will likely sell but many doubt it will be a selection for Oprah’s Book Club!