With most states reporting massive new voter registrations and many political observers worrying about potential voter confusion and allegations of fraud on Nov. 2, one organization has created a web-based tool to answer questions and provide information.
The site, www.mypollingplace.com, is sponsored by the People for the American Way Foundation, a group that has dedicated significant resources toward voter access projects since the contested election in Florida in 2000.
By typing their home address and zip code into the searchable database, voters are given the location of their polling place, a map to reach it and information on the type of voting equipment used at the polling place and how to operate it.
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West Virginia a grid power: Researchers and businesses in West Virginia will be able to log onto the first state-sponsored public internet computing grid when the Global Grid Exchange is launched next month.
The project, which will function as a supercomputer at a fraction of the cost, is a joint effort of the state, the West Virginia High Technology Consortium, Verizon (VZ) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ).
The consortium received a $15 million grant from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority to develop the grid, which will link computers in academic institutions, government offices and home personal computers that have excess capacity to advance work in such fields as biometrics and cancer research.
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Pain relief for the heart: The Food and Drug Administration told Merck that it requires further safety and efficacy data before it will approve its successor drug to now defunct pain reliever Vioxx, said the pharmaceutical maker.
Most analysts and doctors were expecting the FDA to seek additional information before approving Arcoxia because Merck (MRK) pulled Vioxx from the market last month after a study showed it doubled patients risk of heart attacks and strokes. The two products are in the same class of drugs known as cox-2 inhibitors.
Merck is scheduled to finish a 23,500 patient study that was designed to study cardiovascular safety in early 2006. Many analysts and doctors believed Arcoxia would only be approved after that study is completed and it demonstrates the drug doesn't increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
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Japanese electronics surge: Hitachi reported that its group net profit surged nearly eight-fold for the first fiscal half as sales grew on solid global demand for digital home products.
The report came the same day that Toshiba posted a profit in the first half of its fiscal year, rebounding from losses last year and boosted its forecast for the year.
Hitachi (HIT) said its business fared well in computer chips and other electronics parts for digital products, including plasma display TVs. It also said its hard disk drive operations returned to profitability.
But the companies remain worried about slowing global electronics demand in coming months and remain cautious about the rest of the year.
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Compiled by David Cohn. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
