EBSCO Reception Room Subscription Services Blog

Liver Cancer Cure, Are We Only Two Years Away?

Back in 2003 I had my own dealings with a liver related disease and was searching for answers. I wrote a book about my personal redemption, but during my research for a cure, I came across an article in Technology Review magazine (which BTW we carry offline ) about a new medical technology called RNA interference that would change the way we treat all disease and cancer.

I knew back then that this technology was going to be something that will probably change the world as we know it. My hopes are still high after reading the article “An Rx for Every Disease” found in the September 2010 issue of Popular Science magazine.

Also called RNAi, this technique is done by delivering small snippets of RNA into the strands of RNA or DNA of viruses and/or cells to turn off certain undesirable functions like out of control replication. It was originally discovered in the early 1990’s in work done on plants. This latest article caught my eye because it named the same company that I recognized from the Technology Review article that I found seven years ago.

My original excitement was watered down when the company had mentioned that it had not yet found a plausible delivery system into the body. And then there was the unknown of what other problems might arise by altering DNA like that especially in cells you don’t want to be affect.

However, my zeal for RNAi has been rejuvenated by this recent article because it mentions that they the research has matured to the point of small scale human testing with positive results. According to the article the new drug ALN-VSP has been administered to patients who desperately needed a last resort treatment for liver cancer not responding to chemo or radiation. The research was showing that it was stopping 62% of the blood flow to the tumors in ALL of the participating patients.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Just think if this same technique could be used to stop deadly viruses from replicating like HIV. The only hurdle to overcome would be delivery to the infection, but once solved…medicine will become the next revolution.

You can read the whole article online here. For an ongoing source of scientific breakthroughs and a positive view of your future, subscribe to Popular Science magazine.

Glamour Fall Fashions For 2010

So for “in” colors this year, it looks like purple, the bold color of 2009, is still holding on a bit, but may be fading to slate gray. Mocha, black and navy blue appear to be taking the reigns, with black being the dominant staple. Bright red is making a move to be THE accent color for accessories, especially with a black and white/cream outfit. I predict red will probably replace purple as the bold color next fall. Dark navy is the in denim of choice this season.

In the fall and winter of 2010, TEXTURE is king! When putting your outfit together be sure to emphasize lots of layering, wavy folds, and accents with lace trim. For skirts and pants, think fabrics that feel good to the touch, but have a texture like suede, smooth/crushed/combed velvet, and very soft leather.

Coarsely raised texture or ribbed cotton/blends and knit pattern or natural frizzy wool tops like sweaters dominated the pages. Basically, if you wear apparel that looks like it would feel nice to touch, then you will look like you know the most current fashion. If ever unsure, throw on something fuzzy and you are good to go.

You’ll find Jennifer Lopez in September issue of Glamour magazine sporting a lot of leopard print. After looking in the fall issues of Vogue, InStyle and Allure, you can pretty much see that leopard print is definitely getting some traction this year. You’ll see it not only in its customary orange and black, but also in red, blue and purple combinations.

There appeared to be a big push coats and outerwear accented with puffy and curly natural Mongolian Lamb for the cold winter months. Its texture looks glamorous like fur, but the soft, earthy and warm appearance makes you want to run your hands over it. If you don’t like looking like a wooly mammoth, accessorize with extravagant dark colored feathers either in your hair or as trimming accents on your apparel including jackets, skirts, shoes and handbags. The bonus is they are waterproof, so you won’t look like a shaggy wet dog if it happens to rain.

As far as makeup, the eye shadow is trending towards metallic and darker smoky colors if you’re going out on the town. Go natural colors when feeling casual. Like I said earlier, bright red for accessories is big, so brighter red lipsticks would go along with this trend if you are feeling a bold that day or wearing something black. Otherwise the natural pinks and reds that have a bluer tint still rule.

Consider yourself quite the fashionista? Why don’t you consolidate your entire favorite fashion magazine collection like Vogue, Allure, W, and InStyle with EBSCO?

USA TODAY Now Offers You A Digital Version

We have been working with USA TODAY to offer you an easier way to receive and read the nation's most popular daily newspaper.

For most of you who get the paper for your waiting areas, it's probably safe to say that many times by the end of the day the best parts of the newspaper are either missing or so disorganized that you can't find what you are looking for.  There is now a remedy for that!

Try the USA TODAY e-Edition in addition to your current paper subscription for FREE! For the next few weeks EBSCO has been authorized to give you a 60 day free trial of the USA TODAY e-Edition straight to your email inbox each day at 5:30 am.

What if you don't already get the paper version of USA TODAY?

No problem. You are still eligible to try it out risk free. And the thing that I love most about this offer is that your credit card will NOT be automatically debited at the end of the 60 day trial which seems to be common practice for other "FREE" offers these days.  All USA TODAY will need is your email address so that they know where to send the link for your digital newspaper each morning.

Maybe you are still on the fence?  Well, go checkout the live e-Edition sample online. There are all kinds of great features that a regular analog newspaper could never offer like...

• Search capability
• Linked table of contents
• Video clips
• Interactive Puzzles and Games
• Interactive Snapshots ®
• Links directly to other Internet pages
• Text to Speech
• Instant access to all back issues (since e-Edition inception)

Try the USA TODAY e-Edition! It really is a great way to make sure you never miss the news that you want to read. Add the FREE 60 day trial to the rest of your order by entering this Offer Code: USA81 into your shopping cart to subtract the $5 EBSCO introductory price.

AFAR Is By Far The Best Travel Magazine Ever

I've been noticing more and more internal searches for the travel magazine AFAR. I had to see what the fuss was all about. Two words…Great Magazine.

If you are looking for a travel magazine that doesn't feel so "commercially driven" then I think you will find that AFAR will become your new best friend. I was amazed by the ability of the writers to take me a lot deeper into the culture and nuance of a destination. It is so much better than the normal drivel about clean hotel sheets and villa amenities.

They tell you what the local people are like, which to me, is much more interesting. If someone asked me what makes AFAR different, I would say it is about traveling for soul changing life experience, not just to get away from the daily grind. Sounds a lot more fulfilling, doesn't it?  But don't take my word for it, you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect by reading a few posts from their blog.

Even the small "Try this…" articles are intriguing. After flipping through the most recent issue, there was a two paragraph blurb about Horchata a creamy refreshing summertime drink made from the tigernut found in Spain.  It sounded wonderful....I could almost taste it from the description!  It's crazy how such a simple thing can make you want to go there just to try the real deal. I've got to go there now.

If you are looking to change things up with your magazine subscriptions pretty soon…either add or switch out one of your subscriptions with AFAR magazine. Try it, I know you will look forward to getting each new bi-monthly issue.  You can get a 1 year subscription through EBSCO for $19.95.

BTW - I liked this magazine so much I'll even give you an extra $5 off your order to give it a try.  Use this code in your shopping cart: AFAR5  -- discount code expires 8/31/2010

Acceptance Is The Most Difficult Lesson

While flipping through the August 2010 issue of Redbook I found this article under Making It Work. The article caught my eye because I am going through something similar with my 3 year old…the age old war of trying new foods. Man (child) was not meant to live on chicken nuggets and peanut butter sandwiches alone!

The article is written by Alice Bradley and she expresses her pure frustration with her 7-year-old who seems to be permanently stuck on liking the opposite of everything for no particular reason.  I read the whole article hoping for some golden nugget of knowledge that I had not considered, but upon finishing I felt unfulfilled. "What? No solution highlighted in red bold call out or neatly spaced numbered list??"

The next morning I realized that I was being lazy waiting for a magazine writer to serve me a perfect how-to solution, when the point of the article is actually an anecdote of acceptance.  My theory is, as adults I think we like predictability since it appears to anchor our sanity, especially with children.  However, when a child explores a new path, we feel out of sync with our offspring.  It feels uncomfortable to us because we are the ones who crave consistency and patterns.

So it appears that I made the same fatal error in judgment with the magazine as we do sometimes with our children.  I was disappointed that the answer was not handed to me on a silver platter. Instead of being disappointed, I should have taken the path of acceptance.  Accept that sometimes the solution to a problem is to embrace it. And maybe, just maybe find the humor within the folly.

Un-cloud your judgment with more articles like this found in Redbook magazine. You can get 12 issues a year for only $12! That will save you 71% off the cover price.

Protecting Your Kids With Digital Omniscience?

I almost skipped the article in GQ magazine this month (July 2010) about tasers because I consider myself a pacifist. I do however like that we as a society are becoming a little more sophisticated by building weapons that incapacitate rather than take life.  And to be honest, who doesn’t get a great chuckle out of watching a rude fan get tased in the middle of professional baseball game.

As I quickly skimmed over the pages not really intending to read, it was actually one of the article’s call outs that caught my eye…mostly because it looked out of place.  It was talking about a new product being offered by the company that popularized Tasers called Protector.

Now the interesting product aspects that I thought were important were the car based features.  Not only will the device deactivate your teen’s phone while they are driving (no texting), but it can also send parents information about location and sudden car movements that are irregular like extreme acceleration/deceleration, swerving or weaving.

The product does sound useful, and I wish the company all the luck in selling it…sounds a bit Big Brother creepy and I am sure somewhat expensive.  And if you think back to when you were a teen, it does have its defensive holes.  Logically every child would have to have one of these to make it actually useful. What is going to stop your kid from sending something off limits from another kid’s phone?  And that begs the question, do we want to monitor our kids 24/7, I know I don’t…

Plus I feel like I would be telling them that I didn’t trust them which most of the time can actually cause more problems. Personal experience has shown me that when you tell humans not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, they are going to do it anyway.  Ah, the paradoxes of parenting and life.

This surprisingly great article is not available online yet, but I will add the link as if/when it becomes available.  In the meantime, if you don’t get GQ magazine, you may want to consider a subscription. Outside of the tips/advice on men’s grooming and higher fashion, you can count on the articles about news, politics, women, gadgets, travel and entertainment all to be pretty top notch.

Print Version Of Natural History Magazine May Become Extinct

Natural History magazine has been around for decades. I have always found it to be an excellent publication provided by the American Museum of Natural History in New York. As with all things in life, there comes a time when an entity must decide if it will evolve or transition into the great beyond.  It is our understanding that it is that time for Natural History magazine.

Being that it is a science magazine, it would make a lot of sense for it to become fully digital like Skiing Magazine's recent decision. However, you can predict the final outcome especially in times where there are cost cuts and smaller grants for the arts and education. 

So for now, please be aware that at least the print version of this publication is on "suspension," meaning that we will no long accept new orders for this subscription.  We will notify you if it finally ends up becoming discontinued. 

Skiing Magazine Has Gone Digital Only

We were just notified yesterday that the printed version Skiing Magazine is now discontinued.  So as of this week it can no long be found in our online catalog. They intend to go to a digital version only for the new generation of electronic readers like the iPad

Your last Skiing Magazine issue through EBSCO would have been the February/March 2010 issue.  If you did not get SKI Magazine as a replacement, then you need to contact us.  All new orders to Skiing Magazine from April end of June will be sent SKI Magazine.

If you do not want SKI Magazine, please use the Contact Us form or Live Chat to request different replacement title or refund for all unmailed issues.

You can view our full list of other winter sports magazines in our Snow and Watersports Magazines category.

Smart Companies Take Healthcare into Their Own Hands

I’d like to toot the horn of the company I work for here at EBSCO. As an employee (of 5 years), I have been impressed with the new initiative to improve the health and well-being of their workforce. Like most medium to large sized companies, the problem of healthcare becoming outrageously expensive had reached a boiling point, so they decided to try something totally new. May 5th of this year, EBSCO launched a company wide program called Virgin Healthmiles. And yes, it is an off-shoot of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. So what exactly is it that has inspired me to rave about it?

I mean, what's the big deal?

Well, first of all, I like that at its core, the company is doing something smart by compensating me to get more active. Yes, they are taking somewhat of what may appear to be a risk (from a business standpoint), but I can appreciate how they have put the trust in me to follow through. It can take a lot “faith” that gains in health through improved active lifestyle will bring down future company insurance payments.

However, therein lies the benefit to EBSCO offered by the Virgin Healthmiles system. As a third party, VH insulates the employee’s privacy, while helping them measure return on their investment. Brilliant! And they do this by giving you a few non-intrusive measuring tools like…a digital pedometer, plus a private on campus electronic scale, body fat monitor, and blood pressure machine.

Okay, but what is in the secret sauce?

Now I will tell you this…the most impressive parts are both the simplicity of the tools/tracking and the well-thought-out incentive system. Personally, I like it because it’s not pushy and offers bonus incentive points at the right time. I also find it top notch because it takes the focus off long term goals (which is why most self help health programs don’t work) and keeps it on your day to day improvement. Virgin Healthmiles has kept it simple, while simultaneously doing an excellent job of offering bonus incentives at times when you might begin to lose interest.

And here is the craziest part!

Oddly enough, EBSCO didn’t tell me to write this! Honestly…I genuinely think it is a great program (dare I say even kind of fun) so far. Like the other 92% of its current participants, I highly recommend that you test drive it with your business if you can afford it. I’d be willing to bet that you pay a lot more in health insurance than you would for this program. You will see results, there are a lot of employee’s here that have already begun to benefit and we have only been using it for little over a month.

But don’t take my word for it…you can also find articles that mention here in Forbes and Bloomberg Businessweek. There is one facet left in the health equation and is an open opportunity for some business to fill…

How can you incentivize people to eat better?

Until a trailblazing entrepreneur tackles that end of things, I guess we will have to continue to rely on healthy eating articles from magazines like Cooking Light or the other Health and Fitness magazines.

Winner, Winner BBQ Chicken Dinner!

Summer is in full swing and Every Day with Rachael Ray has their June/July 2010 Grilling Issue out. And it is a big ole frothy chilled glass of SPECTACULAR!

Even if you don’t get a subscription to Every Day with Rachael Ray, I recommend you go out and at least buy this issue. So why am I pontificating about it? All I can say is, the recipes are rockin’!  I especially like the Talk section on pages 17-20.  EDWRR asks its readers to give up some of their best grilling secrets.  Some of the marinades listed on page 17 are worth their weight in gold.

But wait, there’s more!

Of course, summer is the time when we honor BBQ.  If you are interested in the history behind BBQ check out the article from our email archive.  Or if you're getting hungry, then keep reading…

This issue of EDWRR asks you what your BBQ capital is on page 42.  I don’t know why every article I see on the subject thinks this, but apparently the main stream media thinks the dominant sauce in Alabama is a mayo based white sauce.  I can tell you first hand that this is not true.  While it is offered on some of the tables here, Alabama is more of a tomato based-tangy red sauce state, closer to what you would find in Memphis if you are not a dry rub fan. However, if you’ve never had the white sauce before, it rocks on smoky BBQ chicken or turkey. Some people like it on pork, but personally I think it overpowers pork.

Here’s a recipe for "Alabama" white BBQ Sauce, if you might like to try it...

• 3 cups mayo
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar (IMO white vinegar makes it taste too sharp)
• ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt (some recipes call for 2 tsp)
• 1 tbsp black pepper (freshly ground is better)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

For the lighter version, check out the Cooking Light recipe here.