United Nation’s Action on NCDs

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Shane Walls-Harris

This summer IAHSA and nine other global organizations [listed below] petitioned  the United Nations to add ageing and dementia, alongside cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, to the list of non-communicable diseases to be discussed by global heads of state at the United Nations Summit on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in September.  Because of our concerted action, the recently published Final Declaration reflects our success in gaining recognition for dementia and ageing as important global health issues.

Seventy –five percent of the 35 million deaths from NCD’s worldwide affect people age 60 and over, the majority of whom live in low and middle income countries.   The UN”s attention to these startling facts should be a call to action for global efforts to meet the needs of all who are affected by NCD’s.  Individually and collectively, countries around the world  need to advance policies and practices to help shift the behavior of millions of people towards healthier lifestyles and to shift the public and private sector to provide much needed health care treatment and support.

IAHSA is pleased to be part of this important global dialogue. We remain optimistic about the impact of drawing attention to these global ageing issues.

Other organizations supporting the statement:

  • AARP
  • Age UK
  • Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)
  • HelpAge International
  • The Global Coalition on Aging
  • The International Federation on Ageing (IFA)
  • The International Longevity Centre-UK
  • The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA)
  • The Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA)

Material sourced courtesy of The International association of Homes and Services for the Ageing.


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Canterbury Rebuild Stymied by Lack of Insurance

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Shane Walls-Harris

Recent media reports confirm no one is insuring new developments in Christchurch at the moment, and in some cases insurance renewals have either not been renewed, or policy holders have been lumbered with premium hikes of up to 50% more. I am one of the lucky ones to get reinsurance, however I got the 50% hike in annual premiums to go with it.

Essentially re-building is coming to a grinding halt because home buyers and businesses cannot get insurance. No insurance essentially means no finance for most ordinary people. In some areas like Kaiapoi (just north of Christchurch City) there are large blocks of homes still waiting for repairs or final assessment since the September earthquake. When there will be some forward momentum is yet to be determined leaving many residents in a state of flux for the foreseeable future.

Recent attempts by earthquake Minister Gerry Brown-lee to encourage insurance underwriters to re insure Christchurch and Districts appear to have been fruitless for the residents of Canterbury. The city is vulnerable at the moment too because it cannot get reinsurance for at least 3 months and that may be extended further. So if there is another serious earthquake in the meantime, there is no cover for the cities infrastructure. Hardly an environment conducive to economic growth.

Shore there is a building boom on its way. But that will only be progressive if the city and its citizens can get insurance. On top of this dilemma, there is the substantial lack of trades people to fill the jobs that will be created. More trades people need to be trained or many hundreds of qualified workers will need to migrate here. Either way, something needs to happen in the near future with reinsurance in order for re-builds to take effect en-mass.

Keep an eye on this over the coming months. I will be tracking the progress over time and blogging on my findings as the city re-build evolves.

*Note: The commentary in this blog is the express opinion of the author only. The authors view is formed based on extensive media reports and being a resident in the East of Christchurch where the damage from the earthquake is at its worse.

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Apple’s Icloud is Coming

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Shane Walls-Harris

If you currently use Apple devices that use iTunes, then your in for some way cool opportunities never before offered on the Internet.

In fact, I believe Apples newest move into the cloud computing business sets a benchmark that will be very hard for others to follow. Their latest foray; “the Icloud” deserves notable mention because of the innovation in business tactics and cutting edge technological prowess.

Icloud will allow users to synchronise the usual iTunes data such as applications, documents, photos, music, and video etc. Purchased applications and music through iTunes can also be synced with up to 10 devices simultaneously using the new application “iTunes in the cloud”.

This is the first time music companies have agreed to this approach, Jobs gave an inkling as to why: “Icloud only works at its best with music purchased from the Itunes store”. For those of you who have ripped music from other sources, including pirated music, Apple will let you download the Itunes version, if there is one for $24.99US a year, with a limit of 20,000 songs.

The songs are free of digital rights management software and are good quality and it appears the music industry is clearly looking to bring pirates in from the cold and get any kind of revenue stream it can from them. If their forecasts are correct, billions of pirated music tracks will be legitimised.

Apparently users get 5GB storage for documents and email and Apple will store your last 1,000 photos for 30 days outside that limit. There are no imposed limits for purchased music and applications.

Before introducing Icloud, Jobs took time to bury Mobileme which he said was “not the company’s finest hour.” There would be no further sales of Mobileme. It will be folded into Icloud which is free to all users. Apple’s has also made available Icloud APIs for developers interested in creating Icloud applications.

This is the first and boldest move by any of the major players vying for the consumer dollar. this cloud solution should be a winner for Apple because they have probably gained the best relationships with the music industry. These long standing relationships will make it difficult for others to deliver comparable services for a while. At least for now their Icloud should attract millions of people with pirated music.

You can learn more from the Apple website.

Note: This blog about the Icloud is purely the authors opinion about Apple’s new Icloud services. Material used to create this blog was sourced from several internet sources to form the authors opinion. Smartcabling Solution acknowledges that the word(s) or term(s): iTunes, Icloud, Icloud logo, and Apple are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

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Global Cloud Security Lacks Attention

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Shane Walls-Harris

Unbelievable! This was my initial reaction when I heard the news that Cloud Security was so poor that only 24 percent of 341 security professionals surveyed by HP at this years Infosec Conference admitted that applications security in the cloud was not a priority.

Its been reported that some of the results of the survey make for worrying reading if you use cloud services. 15 percent of these respondents claimed they were either not confident or not at all confident that their data was safe in the cloud. Even worse was that 35 percent indicated they cant find, fix, or prevent security vulnerabilities before they have been exploited. This has to be of concern to anyone using the cloud to operate their business.

In terms of knowing what was going on in their cloud, 50 percent of the respondents said they didnt have monitoring applications or didnt know if it was in place. The problem seems to be that almost no one is operating Intrusion protection systems (IPS) and work appears to stop at the “aquisition” phase.

The real problem in my opinion is that IPS solutions for the cloud are so few they are almost non existent. And even then, the level of detection capabilities are few. Far more worying is the seemingly little understanding and poor security practices of firms that use cloud services to store data.

More understanding and tools need to be developed and deployed before serious data thefts start to occur regularly. Firms with such a cavalier attitude towards data security should be concerned about how their data is protected in the cloud.

Some of the bigger industry players like HP for example, have some nice techniques for intrusion management and monitoring. However, they too fall well short of traditional network security techniques. One would hope that this gaping hole in cloud security will see several solutions developers creating the kind of protection we have come to expect from traditional installations. Data integrity should be stronger in the cloud. Currently it falls well short of expectations.

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Microsoft buys Skype Voip service.

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Shane Walls-Harris

This Microsoft acquisition seems like an unlikely marriage when you consider Microsoft already have extensive expertise in Voip solutions like Lync and Responce point.

When you consider the possibilities Microsoft could apply Skype to a myriad of applications to fill gaps in their products; or they might just for once leave it alone and add value. The latter being the most unlikely direction in my opinion.

I believe Microsoft may be considering options like porting it into their large user portals like MSN, Windows Live, XBox Live, Exchange Server and other integrated business solutions the company develops.

I would also be wary of Skype’s ongoing FREE status that’s been the mainstay of the product for many years. The aquisition raises the question; Is this to be Microsoft’s competition to Google Voice? This particular application makes me wonder if this approach enables Microsoft to be in a position to compete seriously with Google’s offerings?

Whatever the application Microsoft have in mind, one thing is certain; Skype will never be the same once it is under the control of Microsoft. I will be watching this Microsoft – Skype purchase with close interest in the coming weeks.

As a Skype user on both my desktop and mobile, I am eager to learn of the Voip business’s long term fate. Ill keep you posted as things develop.

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