February 20, 2010

Hi there,

This week's BioEdge seems largely devoted to the controversial issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide. We didn't plan it that way, but it cropped up several times.

This is an issue about which it is difficult to write without copping vehement criticism from one side or the other. Occasionally I have even received some hate mail in response to articles I have written – "I hope that you die in excruciating agony of cancer" and so on – but at BioEdge we do our best to present the facts fairly. Our apologies if some readers see it differently.

We have improved the layout of the front page of the website so that it is easier to make comments.

Cheers,
Michael Cook
Editor

February 12, 2010

Hi there,

We are slowing implementing some improvements to BioEdge and the BioEdge newsletter. Please visit the site to see a fresh layout for the articles, which is clearer and more attractive – at least I hope so! Further changes are on the way, too.

We are also trying to increase our coverage. There is so much to report that we have winnow the most interesting and relevant material  from a large number of newspaper and journal articles. This involves judgements about what is most important. If you feel that we are missing something significant, please contact me with your ideas.

We also want to encourage comments. Few areas are more contentious than bioethics and it would be good to see an intelligent exchange of views on the site. Just click on the link below each article. 

Finally, I must apologise for missing a newsletter last week. Part of the reason was personal business – we’ll try to plan better from now on. But the site was also attacked by Chinese hackers who filled it with “malware”. It took several days to purge the innards of the site.

Till next time,

Michael Cook
Editor, BioEdge

Hi there,

We are in the middle of a very hot week Down Under so I will make this message short and sweet. But first, a word from the technology department. Google Apps informs us that they are "phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well asother older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers." Phasing out begins March 1. Already IE 6.0 is the cause of some complaints we receive about our comments system; now, basically, this browser is toast, so any readers using it should think about changing to any of the following: Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above -- all of which will be supported by Google.