status symbol, deletion, vuvusela, hearing loss, armour plating on vehicles

The rich in São Paulo may view armour plating on vehicles as a status symbol

Straining to Hear and Fend Off Dementia

By KATHERINE BOUTON

There is no clear explanation why, but compared with individuals with normal hearing, those with hearing loss have an increased risk of developing dementia.

Judge sets status call
in UBS vs. U.S. case

A Miami judge said he would reassess the progress of talks between UBS AG and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ahead of a major court hearing tied to possible tax evasion by U.S. citizens on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with, and the WP fronts, claims by a former Environmental Protection Agency official that Vice President Cheney's office sought deletions to a federal official's prepared testimony about health threats posed by global warming.





Wikipedia page the latest status symbol

By Jennifer Ablan Mon Oct 22, 3:41 PM ET 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters) - They say if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere. But these days, it seems you haven't really made it unless you have that most prized of status symbols -- your very own page on Wikipedia.
"It's something of an honor," said journalist Howard Altman of being added to the world's largest online encyclopedia. "I actually had somebody say to me at a baseball game that I was the first person he knew on Wikipedia ... it was pretty cool."
Steve Knight, an American musician whose biography was created only several days ago, said, "I appreciate being considered a notable person ... This is pretty exciting."
Unlike popular networking sites MySpace and Facebook, Wikipedia doesn't allow people to post profiles of themselves.
Instead, Wikipedia entries are earned.
"If someone is notable or successful in their field, they'll end up in Wikipedia," Jim Wales, the 41-year-old who founded Wikipedia in January 2001, said in an interview.
Altman ended up in Wikipedia because of his claim to fame six years ago for reporting on an American numerologist, John Patrick Ennis, thought to have predicted a large number of major events, including the 9/11 attacks. "I gained a following all over the world because of that ... I think that's why I got on Wikipedia," Altman, 47, said.
Knight's Wikipedia entry says he is "best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s" and notes that the 72-year-old who now lives in Woodstock, New York, and serves on Woodstock's Town Board.
The number of individuals profiled on the site is growing rapidly. As of late September there were 224,785 biographies of living people on the site, up from 177,512 in January and 93,392 in January 2006.
And those biographies get read. Wikipedia is the eighth most-visited U.S. destination on the Internet with 52.8 million unique visitors in September, according to comScore Media Metrix. Worldwide it attracted 210.8 million visitors.
FIRST FAME, THEN EVICTION
But the thrill of being included comes with a price.
Anybody can write an entry on the site, or update and edit an existing one. Each entry has pointers to a "history" page, where previous versions are stored, and a "discussion" page, where contributors can haggle over changes or whether the article or biography should be kept or dumped.
"It can be an unpleasant experience if ... it gets deleted because the (community) decides you aren't important enough," said Wales.
Chelsea Kate Isaacs -- a budding actress and model who earned top dollar as a hand model between the ages of 11 and 12 -- knows the pleasure and pain of Wikipedia.
Last week someone created an entry calling the 19-year-old "1998's most desirable hand model in the United States and Canada." Isaacs told Reuters last week she was shocked to see her life on Wikipedia. "It's absolutely shocking but the information (on me) is accurate. I have no clue who did this."
"I guess I do have a fan club out there," Isaacs said.
But then after just a few days, contributors to Wikipedia dumped Isaacs' page.
"That's so sad!" Isaacs said on Monday about her eviction. "I kind of liked the idea of being on Wikipedia."
The site is governed by three basic policies: Entries should not include any original research; facts must be verifiable via a published and reputable source; and all entries should be written from a neutral point of view.
Wikipedia isn't without its critics. Because anyone can edit it, documents are vulnerable to endless mistakes.
But a series of incidents has led to changes, including Wales appointing a small group of administrators to serve as chief watchdogs who can delete articles or protect them from further changes and block certain users from editing.
"What's on there about me is highly accurate," said Knight. "I don't want to be taken down. Who does? I hope the people who loved me before Wikipedia will still love me if I am taken off."

Plating is a surface covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Plating has been done for hundreds of years; it is also critical for modern technology. Plating is used to decorate objects, for corrosion inhibition, to improve solderability, to harden, to improve wearability, to reduce friction, to improve paint adhesion, to alter conductivity, to improve IR reflectivity, for radiation shielding, and for other purposes. Jewelry typically uses plating to give a silver or gold finish.

delete 
verb [I or T]
to remove or draw a line through something, especially a written word or words:
They insisted that all expletives be deleted from the article.
Here is a list of possible answers. Please delete (= draw a line through them) as appropriate.

deletion 
noun [C or U]
In 1982, the management ordered the deletion (= removal and loss) of all computer files on this subject.
There have been some deletions (= words have been removed) from this text.


statusn.

1. Position relative to that of others; standing: Her status is that of a guest.
2. High standing; prestige: a position of status in the community.
3. Law. The legal character or condition of a person or thing: the status of a minor.
4. A state of affairs; situation. See synonyms at state.

[Latin.]

USAGE NOTE In a recent survey of the Usage Panel, 53 percent of the Panelists preferred the pronunciation (stăt'əs), 36 percent preferred (stā'təs), and 11 percent said they use both pronunciations. The pronunciation (stā'təs) is the older, more traditional pronunciation, and it remains the most common one in British English.

status symbol noun [C]（社会的）地位の象徴.
any thing which people want to have because they think other people will admire them if they have it:
Among young people, this brand of designer clothing is the ultimate status symbol.

Vuvuzela

　

Vuvuzela - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- [ 翻譯此頁 ]Demand for earplugs to protect from hearing loss during the World Cup ..... Herald Sun (News Corporation). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/vuvu-gets-big- ...
破了
　 　今年的世界杯，有一項罕見 的要求賠償的項目，元兇竟然是出盡風頭的嗚嗚祖啦。也 許是樂極生悲，一個名叫梅耶的29歲女球迷，因為吹這種小喇叭過 度，造成了喉嚨破裂。醫生告訴梅耶要讓喉嚨全面休息，再不能刺激傷口，也就是說，梅耶整整挨了兩天餓，到了第三天，才能喝湯和吃一點酸奶。據信，她是這次 世界杯賽吹喇叭受傷的第一人。現在她已經向投保的人身健康保險公司申報索賠，要求按意外事故賠償醫療費用。現在，傷勢見好的梅耶成了運動場邊義務服務者， 她告訴即將觀看比賽的人們要小心，教給他們如何正確地吹喇叭，避免他們受到和她一樣的傷害。
　　聾了
　　如果吹喇叭一案只是單獨的索賠案 例，那麼保險公司真要燒高香了。因為據估計，受到這種小喇叭傷害的賠償，將是本次世界杯最多的個人索賠案件。
　 　到目前為止，已經有很 多 暴露在這種小喇叭超過100分貝的聲浪中的人，抱怨出現耳聾、耳鳴等不適症狀。這些人包括在球場看球的人、在夜總會和足 球俱樂部等處休閒的球迷和普通客人。當幾千人一起吹響喇叭，那種強大持續的鳴響給人心理造成的壓力，也持久不退，很多人表示出現了煩躁和失眠的情況。而在 體育場館、足球俱樂部等處的工作人員受害更加嚴重。
　　業內人士認為，在世界杯結束後，這些小喇叭將被人們帶回家，流散至各國去，那 麼 給保險公司的很可能是長期和大量的索賠案件。