The Korea Herald

Don’t smoke if you’re on oral contraceptives

Oral contraceptives have proven to be among the most effective ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Yet, they must be taken accurately and safely to prevent any unwanted side-effects, doctors advise. “Birth control pills come in many different brands, which have different side effects. It is important that one chooses the right one that fits their physical traits,” says the Korea Food & Drug Administration.Basically, oral contraceptive pills can be divided into two different types ― birth control

Dec. 20, 2012

Don’t smoke if you’re on oral contraceptives

Diarrhea in children

Children have diarrhea in order to protect the body and this is a natural systemic reaction. It is the reaction of the intestine to rid itself of the substances or microorganisms that enter and infect it. However, when diarrhea is severe, electrolytes and water, which are the main composites of the body, can escape as well and cause dehydration. Therefore, it is important to ensure that children are not dehydrated when they have diarrhea. Infants need to continue having breast milk even if they

Dec. 20, 2012

KT, NISA to aid building data center in Brunei

Mobile carrier KT said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with the National Information Society Agency to join a development consulting project to build a state-run National Data Center in Brunei.Through the project, Brunei will be able to establish an information center to hold and process industrial data. The total consulting expenses for building the NDC in the Southeast Asian state amount to about 2.8 billion won ($2.6 million), the mobile carrier said. KT added that the consulting pro

Dec. 20, 2012

Neighbor star found to have five planets

Five planets are orbiting a sun-like star not far the Earth, one in the so-called "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist, British astronomers say.An analysis of existing planet-hunting data by astronomers at the University of Hertfordshire with international colleagues uncovered the quintet of planets circling the star Tau Ceti, the BBC reported.The star is the second nearby one known to host planets, joining Alpha Centauri, our sun's closest neighbor.The five planets include worlds with

Dec. 20, 2012

Neighbor star found to have five planets

Volkswagen Korea aims to sell over 20,000 cars next year

Volkswagen Korea, the local importer of Germany’s Volkswagen Group, said Tuesday that it will seek to sell more than 20,000 vehicles in the South Korean market next year by strengthening its best-selling car lineup.“We set our 2013 sales target at 23,000 units with 35 percent growth from this year. Next year will be our second take-off for joining the 20,000 vehicle club,” said Volkswagen Korea in a statement.Volkswagen Korea sold 16,613 units through November this year, up nearly 42 percent on-

Dec. 19, 2012

LG defeats U.S. firm’s patent claims in German court

A German court has ruled in favor of LG Electronics Inc. on a technology patent suit filed by U.S. technology firm Rovi Corporation, company officials said Wednesday.The ruling handed down Tuesday by a court in Mannheim, Germany said that LG Electronics did not infringe on a patent on organizing preferred channels for televisions.In April last year, the U.S. electronic program guide solution provider filed for an injunction with the German court against LG Electronics to ban sales of its televis

Dec. 19, 2012

Intel smartphone chips as energy efficient as competitors: report

In a milestone that is expected to help Intel’s push into the smartphone and tablet markets, the Santa Clara, California, tech giant finally has made its brainy microchips as energy efficient as those from companies using a design by Britain-based ARM Holdings, which now dominate the mobile market, according to a new report.That’s important for Intel, which for years got the cold shoulder from phone and tablet makers because its power-hungry chips shortened the battery life of mobile devices. Wi

Dec. 19, 2012

Microsoft, HTC draw closer to create smartphone rally

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, on a swing through Taiwan this month, made time to meet with Peter Chou, his counterpart at HTC Corp.On Chou’s agenda: the low screen resolution that prompted HTC to scrap plans for a bigger smartphone using Microsoft’s mobile software, a person familiar with the matter said this week.Ballmer needs to stay on Chou’s good side. HTC could help his company vie with Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in the 718- million-unit smartphone market, where, ac

Dec. 19, 2012

Tech firms target Christmas shoppers

Electronics companies are eyeing the Christmas shopping season to boost year-end sales. Home electronics firms suggest that an “easy and cozy, yet romantic Christmas” is the new trend for this year’s marketing strategies. People are turning to stylish but performance-oriented items that can make them feel the Christmas atmosphere. As Bang & Olufsen, a high-end TV and musical equipment manufacturer, put it, “Strolling along a street with Christmas decorations can make you feel merry, but having b

Dec. 19, 2012

Dell to focus on products, services for SMEs in Korea

Dell Korea is putting a stronger focus on the mid-size market involving enterprise solutions and services as it looks to transform into an end-to-end solution provider.Philip Davis, vice president of enterprise solutions in the Asia-Pacific and Japan at Dell Global, also said that its Korean office had been going through a fairly significant transformation over the past four to five years and that it has secured over 23 percent in server unit shipments to the country in the third quarter of this

Dec. 19, 2012

Dell to focus on products, services for SMEs in Korea

Gap between real holidays and expectations

There‘s a gap between what the holidays should be and what they can be and the real holidays we live, a U.S. pediatrician says. Pediatrician Dr. George Askew said there is a big difference between the holidays people experience and the expectations we carry in our minds. “If we can’t do in our real holidays what we‘ve come to believe we should do, what then? If you have 10 holiday must-dos, and you can’t do all 10, shorten the list,” Askew said in a statement.“When you give yourself some room to

Dec. 19, 2012

Smartphone makers post wins on separate continents

Apple and Samsung, the world's top two smartphone makers, each scored a significant victory on different continents that will allow both to keep selling their products without legal interference this holiday season.A federal judge in San Jose late Monday rejected Apple Inc.'s demands to block U.S. sales of three smartphones made by Samsung Electronics Corp. The ruling came weeks after a jury found that Samsung infringed six Apple patents.Hours later, Samsung announced it was dropping its demands

Dec. 19, 2012

Samsung to stop suits seeking to block Apple sales in Europe

Samsung Electronics Co. will withdraw patent lawsuits seeking to block sales of Apple Inc. products as part of litigation over the use of its technology in European countries, the company said Tuesday. "Samsung has decided to withdraw our injunction requests against Apple on the basis of our standard essential patents pending in European courts, in the interest of protecting consumer choice," the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. The decision on Europe

Dec. 18, 2012

Carriers brace for heavy election traffic

One day ahead of Wednesday’s presidential election, the nation’s three major mobile carriers stepped up intensive mobile traffic control on Tuesday to prevent possible data traffic surges and cyberterrorism. KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus expect that mobile traffic may be overloaded on election day, as the use of mobile social networking services will likely soar as people use smartphones to check out real-time ballot counts and election results.Their election protection plans include expanding the

Dec. 18, 2012

Homeplus chairman conferred CEO award

Homeplus chairman Lee Seung-han received “2012 Korea’s Excellent Business CEO Award” in a business conference hosted by the Korean Standard Association in Seoul on Tuesday. Lee was presented the award in recognition of his strengths as a business leader in quality management, adherence to shared growth, and supporting corporate social responsibilities, the retailer company said. Upon receiving the honor, Lee said that a corporation needed two things: a business vision based on growth and high ma

Dec. 18, 2012

U.S. court dismisses Apple's request to ban sales of Samsung products

A U.S. court dismissed Apple Inc.'s request to permanently ban sales of some Samsung Electronics Co. devices in the country, granting an upper hand to the South Korean handset maker in the patent war between the two tech giants, a local court filing showed Tuesday.Following a pro-Apple jury verdict in late August, the iPhone maker had filed for an injunction to permanently ban sales of 26 Samsung products in the U.S.Samsung refuted that 23 of those models were already off the market, and others

Dec. 18, 2012

Frogs in milk could lead to new drugs

An old Russian way of keeping milk from going sour by putting a frog in the bucket of milk has led to the finding of new antibiotic substances, scientists say.Organic chemist A.T. Lebedev of Moscow State University and colleagues have identified a number of potential new antibiotic compounds in the skin of the Russian Brown frog, a study published in the American Chemical Society‘s Journal of Proteome Research reported.Amphibians secrete antimicrobial substances called peptides through their ski

Dec. 18, 2012

Study: Early humans had a taste for grass

　About 3 million years ago the diet of our very early ancestors in central Africa is likely to have consisted mainly of tropical grasses, researchers say.　A new study led by Oxford University of the fossilized teeth of three early hominim Australopithecus bahrelghazali individuals analyzed carbon isotopes in the teeth and found the signature of a diet rich in foods derived from tropical grasses and sedges, flowering plants resembling rushes, a university release reported.　The discovery suggests

Dec. 18, 2012

Study: Early humans had a taste for grass

Saber-tooth cat fossil found in Nevada

Paleontologists working near Las Vegas say they‘ve made an important and rare fossil find, the bones of a saber-tooth cat.“I hate to say we hit the jackpot, this being Vegas -- but we did!” Eric Scott, curator of paleontology at the San Bernardino County Museum in California, told the Highland (Calif.) News.“Meat-eaters are generally uncommon in the fossil record. This makes fossil remains of extinct carnivores very rare and special -- and very tough to find.”Saber-toothed cats, so named for the

Dec. 18, 2012

KT launches business messenger

Mobile carrier KT rolled out “olleh biz talk,” a messenger program specialized for corporate use, on Monday. Combining characteristics of a traditional messenger program and smartphone text-messaging, olleh biz talk provides services including chat, message, fax, phone call, audio and photo message, and group message. Unlike traditional messenger programs, olleh biz talk is accessible both through computers and mobile phones. The contact lists are organized by the company’s structure.The messeng

Dec. 17, 2012