MEDICAL MYTHS

Health advice you should ignore
Medical myths debunked.
Medical advice you hear from your grannie or down at the pub is often surprising, but usually not all that reliable. So while it's true that rubbing a nettle sting with dock leaves works, there are many unlikely medical 'facts' which you can happily disregard. We've collected a few gems, with some proper science to debunk these medical myths. We only use 10 per cent of our brains. Although you might think your batty uncle might be the perfect example, in fact scans show that all of the brain is active and playing a part in our thinking. Even small amounts of damage to the brain will cause mental impairment. Sweets and other sugary treats make children hyperactive. Repeated studies have shown that children's behaviour is not affected by the amount of sugar they've eaten - although parents rate their children as being more hyperactive if they think they have given them a sugary drink, even if it is, in fact, just water! Breast feeding causes saggy breastsGood news mothers - this is false. A study by American plastic surgeons found that breastfeeding had no effect on the shape of women's breasts. However being overweight or a smoker were linked to saggier breast appearance, as were the number of pregnancies, size of breast before pregnancy and the age of the woman. We should drink 8 glasses of water a day to avoid dehydration. There is no scientific evidence to support this widely believed and often followed myth. Tea, coffee, fruit juice - even the food we eat - all provide us with fluid. In fact excessive intake of fluid can damage the body and can even be fatal. Spinach is high in iron. There must have been something else in Popeye's diet, because spinach is not all that rich in iron. Apparently, when it was first measured the decimal point was written in the wrong place, overstating the iron content of spinach by a factor of 10. Spinach contains about 1mg of iron per 100g, whereas dried figs have 4.25mg, roast beef 2.5mg and courgettes 2.4mg. Warm milk helps you get to sleep at night. Milk contains the enzyme tryptophan which has been linked to the initial stages of sleep - but the amount in a glass of milk probably isn't enough to make us drowsy. But the psychological effect of warm milk at bedtime may be strong enough to put us in the mood for sleep! Sick people should rest in bedAn analysis of 39 studies on the use of bed rest in treatment found that for many ailments staying in bed had no beneficial effect. In some cases it was actually harmful. Sorry, but going back to work is sometimes the best treatment!You should wear a hat because we lose most of our body heat through our headsOur heads don't give off any more heat than any other part of our body. If you are fully clothed then of course most of the heat will leave through your head because it is uncovered, but the same would be true for any other similarly sized body part. Too much stress can give you ulcers. Actually, over 90 per cent of ulcers are caused by a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori. If you are stung by a jellyfish you should pee on the sting. Before you start approaching people on the beach asking them to do the deed, you should know this is not true. There is nothing in urine that can counteract the effects of a jellyfish sting - in fact some stings will be further activated by it. But washing out the sting with warm water may alleviate the pain and prevent further skin damage, so this may be the source of the myth. Popcorn is good for you. Smoking increases risk of developing active tuberculosis. Sugar-free drinks really help you lose weight. Low carbohydrate diets linked to heart disease. New discovery paves the way for obesity treatment.

http://uk.health.lifestyle.yahoo.net/medical-myths.htm

THE UGLY FACE OF POVERTY CULLED FROM PENDULUM BY DELE MOMODU

PRESIDENT Goodluck Ebele was our guest in Lagos last Thursday August 26, 010. I did not know of the visit, his first as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, until my flight from Ghana touched than in Lagos. As soon as I cleared Customs and sped towards my car in order to catch a television interview appointment with the famous singer Zaaki Adzay, my driver, Mr Samuel, was quick to announce the bad news to me. "Oga, there is too much traffic everywhere today because Jonathan (President) is coming to town Sir. We were in the traffic for over two hours Sir because everywhere had been blocked."Mr Samuel would have made a good reporter but for the fact that he did not have much of formal education. But the extremely bright and energetic man has a good grasp of local politics. I was regularly entertained by his analysis. And I love him dearly. I was not in the mood to drive through any traffic but knew I was totally powerless in the hands of our overzealous security apparatchik. Since God’s case has no appeal court, I just sat calmly to enjoy Mr Samuel’s commentaries."Haa Oga, this Jonathan government is spending our money o!"I thought that was no big news again, so kept quiet. I had no intention of cracking myself up so early in the day. But my silence did not discourage Mr Samuel from waxing more loquacious for some strange reasons. He was over the top as he went on and on about how Jonathan’s people had bought white uniforms known as Aso Ebi for hundreds of rented but gaily dressed women who thronged the airport to welcome the latest Messiah of Nigeria. The traffic was still a bit heavy as we approached the Murtala Mohammed Airport two, the only airport with a semblance of sanity in Nigeria."You will soon see Jonathan’s plane where it is parked Sir,"Mr Samuel said with a tinge of excitement. For the first time I was tempted to respond to my able driver’s tantrums."Which of his planes, the one bought by President Obasanjo a few years ago or one of the three brand new planes he recently ordered?,"I asked with a dash of sarcasm. Mr Samuel said he did not know, but in his view the plane looked very new. We soon drove past the Presidential wing, at snail-speed of course, and it afforded us the opportunity of seeing our own Nigeria Air Force One. The plane was neatly parked with a few officers obviously chatting away under the belly of the plane. We noticed the fearful presence of combat soldiers squatting under some shrubs that litter the fields close to the fence. They looked very menacing. And I wonder we often call out the soldiers in peace time and under a civilian administration. Anyway, let’s leave that to our security chiefs to worry about. I would be eternally glad if they can spare us the anguish of causing unnecessary traffic jams every time our rulers are flying and driving through our cities. True leaders are usually put on display for the citizens to see and treasure. Only despots are hidden behind bullet-proof showcases. At the entrance of the Presidential Wing, I noticed the rented women for the first time. Some even carried their children on their backs. And ready to embark on some audacious treks back home. We must salute the tenacity of our women, especially these long-suffering mothers. Mr Samuel explained some smart fellow must have been contracted to hire the women in droves. This made me very curious and I asked how much each of them s likely to take home after this nerve-wracking odyssey."Haa, Oga, each of them will make at least one one thousand,"he said matter-of-factly. I couldn’t believe my ears. How could all these wonderful women leave their homes under the scorching heat to end up earning one thousand Naira. I thought that was cruelty at its crudest. Who would put an end to this vicious manipulation of poor people? Why must we continue to subject our citizens to such despicable indignity? My brains were doing some somersaults as I engaged in this interior monologue, known in Literature as stream-of-consciousness. I now understood why our rulers believe so fervently that they would continue rig elections with impunity and get away with it. Can you really blame them when they have deliberate impoverished their fellow citizens in order to exploit their weaknesses. A weak man would most wondrously accept any insult from the strong man. On Thursday, I saw the ugly face of poverty. And the words of Moshoo Abiola freshly gushed back like a tornado:"It is only a man who has not experienced poverty who would glamorise it. There is nothing to glamorise in it because it is better seen than experienced." My heart bled for this able-bodied people who could have been gainfully employed with some measure of dignity but have been turned into the holoi poloi, the wretched of the Earth, according to Franz Fanon. I was deeply touched at their epic efforts at eking a living for themselves and their children. Their husbands would also be employed as thugs to create confusion as the polling stations. And they would gladly accept the filthy jobs out of necessity than absolute voluntariness. I concluded that Nigeria still needed loads of prayers. Nothing less would do. God would have to pity us and look down on us with mercy and compassion. As to President Jonathan’s mission in Lagos, that is another matter entirely. I’m sure you must have heard or read of the atrocious contracts being dished out of Abuja now with the rapidity of pop corns? Please, don’t be fooled. It has nothing to do with any genuine concern for rebuilding our dilapidated nation. According to usually impeccable sources, the prodigal sons and daughters are already looking for all the cash they can muster in readiness for the war they plan to unleash on the rest of us next year at the polls. Some powerful and lucrative Ministries are expected to perform what Fela had called"government magic." The politicians are desperately looking for avenues to award huge contracts and reap bountiful harvests from it. What is going on in Nigeria is incredible. I had been reliably informed that the Aviation Ministry was going to make some blistering announcements and days later the prediction came to pass. I was stunned beyond words when our Minister of Aviation actually got the nod from the Federal Executive Council for the approval of N7.9b (seven billion and nine hundred thousand naira) for the purchase of generators for the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. Is it not disheartening that our government could commit such gargantuan resources to buying generators in these austere times, especially on an infrastructure that was already primed to be privatised. It should have been obvious to any serious government that the failure of our airports came as a result of such government interventions in the past. A cursory peep at all our airports would reveal an uncanny similarity and regularity of filth and squalor. Politicians, as presently constituted in Nigeria, can never run airports successfully. They are too uncouth, shameless and greedy to facilitate modern amenities and upgrade our airports to what we see in Hong Kong and South Africa. How could we conceptually expend so much money from our collapsed economy on such capital items that could be handled by the private sector as in the case of MM2. This would have freed government from this huge and unnecessary burden. It is such a monumental tragedy that our scarce resources are not only being wasted but being used recklessly by government functionaries to compete with and destroy the private sector. The scandalous nature of this careless spending comes to fore when one considers the fact that this same prodigiously wasteful government is making desperate moves to improve power supply in the nation through the private sector. In fact, President Jonathan was ostensibly in Lagos to address stakeholders’ meeting on the necessity to attract private sector participation in generating electricity in Nigeria. Yet, this same government had barely 24 hours earlier approved a stupendous expenditure in the power sector that could have been competently handled by the private sector. Is it not sad that as far back as 2005, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had placed an advert in the papers titled INVITATION TO TENDER FOR THE PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY OF UNINTERRUPTED AND QUALITY ELECTRIC POWER TO THE MURTALA MOHAMMED AIRPORT COMPLEX, IKEJA LAGOS asking for investors to provide power for the same airport. According to insiders in the aviation sector, several companies responded to the proposal. One of the hottest proposals was the plan to install power-generating turbines at the time but nothing happened thereafter. That possibility has been practically defeated by the illiterate decision to buy generators for the airport at this time and age. At the rate our money is being thrown around by this government, we need to go on our knees and pray against bankruptcy. God save Nigeria comPresident Goodluck Ebele was our guest in Lagos last Thursday August 26, 010. I did not know of the visit, his first as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, until my flight from Ghana touched than in Lagos. As soon as I cleared Customs and sped towards my car in order to catch a television interview appointment with the famous singer Zaaki Adzay, my driver, Mr Samuel, was quick to announce the bad news to me."Oga, there is too much traffic everywhere today because Jonathan (President) is coming to town Sir. We were in the traffic for over two hours Sir because everywhere had been blocked."Mr Samuel would have made a good reporter but for the fact that he did not have much of formal education. But the extremely bright and energetic man has a good grasp of local politics. I was regularly entertained by his analysis. And I love him dearly.I was not in the mood to drive through any traffic but knew I was totally powerless in the hands of our overzealous security apparatchik. Since God’s case has no appeal court, I just sat calmly to enjoy Mr Samuel’s commentaries."Haa Oga, this Jonathan government is spending our money o!"I thought that was no big news again, so kept quiet. I had no intention of cracking myself up so early in the day. But my silence did not discourage Mr Samuel from waxing more loquacious for some strange reasons. He was over the top as he went on and on about how Jonathan’s people had bought white uniforms known as Aso Ebi for hundreds of rented but gaily dressed women who thronged the airport to welcome the latest Messiah of Nigeria.The traffic was still a bit heavy as we approached the Murtala Mohammed Airport two, the only airport with a semblance of sanity in Nigeria."You will soon see Jonathan’s plane where it is parked Sir,"Mr Samuel said with a tinge of excitement. For the first time I was tempted to respond to my able driver’s tantrums."Which of his planes, the one bought by President Obasanjo a few years ago or one of the three brand new planes he recently ordered?,"I asked with a dash of sarcasm. Mr Samuel said he did not know, but in his view the plane looked very new. We soon drove past the Presidential wing, at snail-speed of course, and it afforded us the opportunity of seeing our own Nigeria Air Force One.The plane was neatly parked with a few officers obviously chatting away under the belly of the plane. We noticed the fearful presence of combat soldiers squatting under some shrubs that litter the fields close to the fence. They looked very menacing. And I wonder we often call out the soldiers in peace time and under a civilian administration. Anyway, let’s leave that to our security chiefs to worry about. I would be eternally glad if they can spare us the anguish of causing unnecessary traffic jams every time our rulers are flying and driving through our cities. True leaders are usually put on display for the citizens to see and treasure. Only despots are hidden behind bullet-proof showcases.At the entrance of the Presidential Wing, I noticed the rented women for the first time. Some even carried their children on their backs. And ready to embark on some audacious treks back home. We must salute the tenacity of our women, especially these long-suffering mothers. Mr Samuel explained some smart fellow must have been contracted to hire the women in droves. This made me very curious and I asked how much each of them s likely to take home after this nerve-wracking odyssey."Haa, Oga, each of them will make at least one one thousand,"he said matter-of-factly. I couldn’t believe my ears. How could all these wonderful women leave their homes under the scorching heat to end up earning one thousand Naira. I thought that was cruelty at its crudest. Who would put an end to this vicious manipulation of poor people? Why must we continue to subject our citizens to such despicable indignity? My brains were doing some somersaults as I engaged in this interior monologue, known in Literature as stream-of-consciousness.I now understood why our rulers believe so fervently that they would continue rig elections with impunity and get away with it. Can you really blame them when they have deliberate impoverished their fellow citizens in order to exploit their weaknesses. A weak man would most wondrously accept any insult from the strong man. On Thursday, I saw the ugly face of poverty. And the words of Moshoo Abiola freshly gushed back like a tornado:"It is only a man who has not experienced poverty who would glamorise it. There is nothing to glamorise in it because it is better seen than experienced."My heart bled for this able-bodied people who could have been gainfully employed with some measure of dignity but have been turned into the holoi poloi, the wretched of the Earth, according to Franz Fanon. I was deeply touched at their epic efforts at eking a living for themselves and their children. Their husbands would also be employed as thugs to create confusion as the polling stations. And they would gladly accept the filthy jobs out of necessity than absolute voluntariness. I concluded that Nigeria still needed loads of prayers. Nothing less would do. God would have to pity us and look down on us with mercy and compassion.As to President Jonathan’s mission in Lagos, that is another matter entirely. I’m sure you must have heard or read of the atrocious contracts being dished out of Abuja now with the rapidity of pop corns? Please, don’t be fooled. It has nothing to do with any genuine concern for rebuilding our dilapidated nation. According to usually impeccable sources, the prodigal sons and daughters are already looking for all the cash they can muster in readiness for the war they plan to unleash on the rest of us next year at the polls. Some powerful and lucrative Ministries are expected to perform what Fela had called"government magic."The politicians are desperately looking for avenues to award huge contracts and reap bountiful harvests from it. What is going on in Nigeria is incredible. I had been reliably informed that the Aviation Ministry was going to make some blistering announcements and days later the prediction came to pass. I was stunned beyond words when our Minister of Aviation actually got the nod from the Federal Executive Council for the approval of N7.9b (seven billion and nine hundred thousand naira) for the purchase of generators for the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. Is it not disheartening that our government could commit such gargantuan resources to buying generators in these austere times, especially on an infrastructure that was already primed to be privatised.It should have been obvious to any serious government that the failure of our airports came as a result of such government interventions in the past. A cursory peep at all our airports would reveal an uncanny similarity and regularity of filth and squalor. Politicians, as presently constituted in Nigeria, can never run airports successfully. They are too uncouth, shameless and greedy to facilitate modern amenities and upgrade our airports to what we see in Hong Kong and South Africa.How could we conceptually expend so much money from our collapsed economy on such capital items that could be handled by the private sector as in the case of MM2. This would have freed government from this huge and unnecessary burden. It is such a monumental tragedy that our scarce resources are not only being wasted but being used recklessly by government functionaries to compete with and destroy the private sector. The scandalous nature of this careless spending comes to fore when one considers the fact that this same prodigiously wasteful government is making desperate moves to improve power supply in the nation through the private sector.In fact, President Jonathan was ostensibly in Lagos to address stakeholders’ meeting on the necessity to attract private sector participation in generating electricity in Nigeria. Yet, this same government had barely 24 hours earlier approved a stupendous expenditure in the power sector that could have been competently handled by the private sector. Is it not sad that as far back as 2005, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had placed an advert in the papers titled INVITATION TO TENDER FOR THE PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY OF UNINTERRUPTED AND QUALITY ELECTRIC POWER TO THE MURTALA MOHAMMED AIRPORT COMPLEX, IKEJA LAGOS asking for investors to provide power for the same airport.According to insiders in the aviation sector, several companies responded to the proposal. One of the hottest proposals was the plan to install power-generating turbines at the time but nothing happened thereafter. That possibility has been practically defeated by the illiterate decision to buy generators for the airport at this time and age. At the rate our money is being thrown around by this government, we need to go on our knees and pray against bankruptcy. God save Nigeria  I ADD, AMEN!!

Facebook mobile security

I think you'd read this piece. Facebook’s “Platmobile” Team Working On Eliminating Mobile Password. Facebook held a developer’s garage event at their headquarters — sort of like a State of the Union for third-party developers. Notably, they announceda new partnership with Y Combinatorthat has the goal of creating new startups with deep integrations with Facebook’s newest tools. But there was also a Q&A session with Facebook CEOMark Zuckerberg, CTOBret Taylor, and Y Combinator’sPaul Grahamthat was pretty interesting.One question asked if Facebook was working on their instant personalization technology for mobile devices. Taylor fielded the question noting that mobile brought about some interesting technology problems in this regard. Most notably, he said the issue is with password entry on mobile devices. According to Taylor, that’s something they have an entire team focused on right now.Taylor noted that this team is called the “Platmobile” team (as in: platform + mobile, and said like ‘Batmobile’). This brought some laughs from the audience, but while the name may be somewhat of a joke, their goal is very serious.Taylor noted that many people have three-letter passwords that they use for mobile services to keep things fast and simple. But obviously that’s not ideal from a security perspective. He noted that many of the developers in the room likely had long passwords that included weird characters for this very reason. But Taylor said that this “10 minute process” was a “really negative part of the user experience.““The Platmobile team is focused on improving that experience. I don’t know the exact timeline on that, but it’s something we’re really focused on because the user experience on the phone right now is sub-par,” Taylor said.Zuckerberg chimed in to say that the mobile experience is obviously different, so instant personalization would be different too. Perhaps you’d have a group of apps that you set different privileges for (such as password memorization) with such a feature, he noted. “The general trend though is that all of this stuff is going towards less friction to get to social interaction,” Zuckerberg concluded.get widgetminimize.

http://tctechcrunch.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/plat.jpg?w=300&h=225

How To Save Your Brand In Times Of Crisis

MIT Sloan Management Review: How To Save Your Brand In The Face Of Crisis Gita V. Johar, Matthias M. Birk and Sabine A. Einwiller,08.06.10, 04:19 PM EDTWhen bad things happen, companies need the right strategy for talking their way out of a mess and avoiding a calamitous pummeling of their corporate image.In 2009 and 2010Toyotawas the target of much adverse media attention after a series of accidents due to sudden acceleration incidents and brake faults that led to deaths and injuries. TheToyotabrand's reputation took a battering.Toyotamanagement had a choice: Be resigned to this fate or use communication strategies to recover from the crisis.Drawing on scientific research on persuasion, we have assembled a crisis communication framework that highlights when communication strategies should be used to help a brand recover from a crisis and restore trust and brand image with customers. Here are some examples of those strategies, which are best used in synergistic combinations:Come clean.If the brand is truly at fault and the crisis is severe, the only viable option is for management to apologize quickly, express sympathy with the aggrieved parties and accept responsibility. Accepting responsibility is often inhibited by legal considerations; however, management has to weigh the long-term effects of brand damage against potentially shorter-term monetary damages due to litigation.All the bad news has to be communicated quickly and, if possible, all at once. In a severe crisis the company's top manager has to step up and serve as the first spokesperson. Corrective action may be necessary as well. In the case of a product recall, this involves detailed instructions about how to get the product replaced or fixed.TheToyota(TM-news-people) crisis exemplifies the detrimental effects of neither acting nor communicating swiftly and openly when faced with a severe problem. Despite the fact that there were indications of safety problems for a long time, Toyota did not openly acknowledge them until it was heavily pressured by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Furthermore, a remedy to fix the problem could not be offered swiftly, and when it was offered, customers complained that the fix did not work.Polish the halo.When an apology becomes necessary, the brand may also need to bolster its image so that less identified customers do not become even more negative toward the brand or transfer their negative beliefs about certain features to other features of the brand-- the "spillover" effect. One way to prevent spillover is by polishing the brand image.Toyota has followed this strategy. In the context of coming clean, the company started a campaign to bolster its image by launching a TV advertisement stressing its commitment to fixing the problems and reminding consumers of Toyota's long tradition of safety and quality.It's important to realize that no amount of polishing the halo can inoculate a brand. The massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010 from an offshore oil rig owned byBP(BP-news-people) provides an illustration. For many years, BP had been attempting to rebrand itself as a company that also invests in alternative energy. The Gulf spill strengthened associations of the BP brand with "Bad Petroleum."The "not just me" response.In many cases, a company's transgression, while real, is not something unique to the brand under attack. The same thing could happen to any other brand. If consumers understand this, they are less likely to generalize from the crisis to other aspects of the brand
Inoculation.The idea is to prepare consumers for a negative event by communicating a small dose of the accusation together with counterarguments that refute it--and to do this before the accusation breaks.The "yes, but …" response.Management can reduce the power of accusations by augmenting a come-clean approach with a forthright explanation of the reasons for the crisis, along with an argument that downplays the damage done.Rebuttal.When the brand is not at fault, the lack of a crisis response by the company may be interpreted as a confession. The company under attack must defend itself with a point-by-point rebuttal of the spurious allegation.In 1993, for example,PepsiCo(PEP-news-people) was confronted with multiple claims that it had sold cans containing foreign objects such as syringes. The issue escalated into a national news story. With a crisis plan for product tampering in place and the support of the Food and Drug Administration, which had found no health hazards related to the claims, the crisis was brought to an end within eight days. Pepsi's most vivid communication instrument was a video news release that showed the process of a can-filling line, which persuasively demonstrated that it was impossible for objects to enter the cans during production. This example shows the relevance of speed, persuasive depiction of disproof and the support of a trusted third party (in this case, the FDA).Vilify the accuser.The idea here is to decrease the credibility of a claim by discrediting the source of the accusation. This strategy should be used with caution, because it can backfire if it is viewed as being unfair or defensive. Even in minor cases, vilifying the accuser can be useful in communicating to less-identified customers (though it should be unnecessary with highly identified customers).Denial.This approach makes sense when the following hold: The accusation against the brand is not true; target consumers identify with the brand; and those consumers do not perceive the crisis to be severe.Conclusion.The goal of communication during a crisis is to diffuse the episode's negative impact. The company embroiled in such a crisis should aim to explain to consumers why the problem arose and why the brand should not be viewed more negatively as a result of the event. Companies have to manage consumers' attributions of blame, as well as their thoughts about the future of the brand, by providing them with a clear narrative that answers their questions about the crisis. By choosing wisely from the communication arsenal we have described, companies can avert backlash from consumers and perhaps even strengthen the brand when a crisis hits.This article is adapted from"How to Save Your Brand in the Face of Crisis,"by Gita V. Johar, Matthias M. Birk and Sabine A. Einwiller, which appeared in the Summer 2010 issue ofMIT Sloan Management Review.Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010. All rights reserved

FACTS BOUT U

1. At least 5 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. If not for you, someone may not be living.
8. You are special and unique.
9. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
10. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
11. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.
12. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you believe in yourself, probably, sooner or later, you will get it.
13. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
14. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know.
15. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

VIRUS IN S40

VIRUS!......Yes, this is the word that i have seen and heard almost everyday in s40 forum or from other people. This question is often asked or talked about by the users.
This simply means VIRUS is the most talked and discussed topic for various s40 users. So, i have decided to shed more light on it based on what i know.
Well, its always good to ask questions when you don't have or have little knowledge about a topic. Hence, I don't really blame anyone for lack of knowledge.
What is a VIRUS? Mobile viruses are small programs/applications/softwares specially programmed to do harmful activities in your phone or in the file system as the case may be. Those viruses are written in .sis, .sisx, or .exe format and they require an operating system to run.
Example: lets say a program was written to delete all images in the phone's system. Now, when this application runs, it is a kind of virus/malware. This is just a simple example out of lots of malicious program written to destroy or damage the proper runnings of the operating system.

Hence, to run those viruses or programs, it needs an operating system which supports sis, sisx or exe files. And without such OS, virus files cannot carry out their mission.

Nokia, a very big mobile manufacturing company, have implemented two operating systems(so far and popular) for their mobiles.

The Symbian s60 and the Java s40 phone platform which is officially known as NOKIA OPERATING SYSTEM.

But quite technically, one cannot consider it as an OS simply because it runs in Java platform. Unlike Nokia s60, Nokia s40 phones can only run Java applications. The sis, sisx and exe files(in which language viruses are written) will show 'Unsupported file type' in s40. And even when your phone gets a virus transmitted from a PC, it won't work and will be inactive and as it cannot run in those Java phones.

Furthermore, after having knowledge about the potency of viruses in s40 phones, the question now arises...
Is there and other virus which can affect s40? The simply answer is NO!

The reason behind this answer goes thus: the only application supported by s40 is Java and even if we make a Java virus, it still cannot do any harm.

Why? Because Java is limited or restricted from accessing native operating system or hardware by the highly encrypted Java environment. In other words, it closes the application folders. No file execution or installation can occur without user's permission due to closed source operating system of s40 phones.

Nevertheless, I have to mention and clear one thing that, s40 can get some faulty Java softwares which can do some harmful activities in your phone. This cannot be called VIRUS.

Example, a Java software can be programmed to send unlimited messages to a particular number until your credit is exhausted. There issues are talked about in many forums concerning Red Browser in s40v5 or what have you. But still, it is not possible if the application is untrusted or unsigned or you have not set the Java permission to 'always allow'. So, if you are too much concerned about those Java files, I would suggest you don't use any untrusted application.

As there is no virus for s40, so there is no anti-virus for it too.

How about the s40 Anti-virus available? The basic truth is that, those applications are only made to put a wool over people's eyes, showing some animations on the screen.

Another instance is when some strange behaviour of a phone or a memory card which may look like a virus effect. When this is noticed. I would suggest the first thing to do is possibly a firmware problem or fault or a hardware damage.

In the case of a memory card, it could be a technical error which can be overcome by formating it.