Another Big Sale this November is about to happen!

August 9th, 2010 Something Useful, The BuzzTags: Black Friday, Shopping

A few months from now, the yearly sale in the United States is about to happen again. It’s August, but some stores like Target had an early Black Friday sale. This year, a lot of people are saving once again for the most awaited and most spectacular sale around the world.

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000.

Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.

This year, the Black Friday Sale will be on the 26th of November 2010. People will rush to their favorite stores like Walmart, Target, Sears, Best Buy, Macy’s, Toys R Us, and so much more!

There’s a dedicated website called Black Friday Planet, wherein they will give us updates on the latest and coolest Black Friday 2010 deals. The best deals will be gathered in one place and we’ll receive from updates on the cheapest deals this coming November 2010.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s start saving big bucks and shop til we drop on the last week of November 2010!

FDA Approved faster HIV test

June 24th, 2010 General, Something UsefulTags: Medicine

They always say that in most of the fatal diseases, an early detection always pays off. That’s why, medical researchers has been doing their very best to detect fatal diseases like HIV as soon as possible. This disease has been killing millions already and most of the time the reason for death of most of the patients is late detection.

Now, a phenomenal ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay has been developed and the Food and Drug Administration has approved it Monday. It is developed by Abbott Laboratories and will be used to diagnose both HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections in adults, pregnant women and children 2 years and older.

Dr. Karen Midthun, acting director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said that “The approval of this assay represents an advancement in our ability to better diagnose HIV infection in diagnostic settings where nucleic acid testing to detect the virus itself is not routinely used… It provides for more sensitive detection of recent HIV infections compared with antibody tests alone.”

Abbott believes this test will make a difference. “Every nine and a half minutes someone in the United States is infected with HIV. That’s 56,000 new cases each year – enough to fill the baseball stadium in many U.S. cities,” says John Hackett, Jr.., Ph.D., research fellow and manager, emerging pathogens and Virus Discovery, Abbott.