Hampton Roads, VA - 11/09/2009
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Mike Gruss

Mike Gruss is the lifestyle columnist for The Virginian-Pilot. His columns appear every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in The Daily Break section. Read it in print or in ePilot. You also can follow Mike on Twitter and on Facebook.

Give me your lunch money or I'll ruin your spreadsheet

Here's a story I don't like to see.

If you're one of the 20 million Americans who get a sinus infection each year, experts agree: You're being prescribed antibiotics too often. Now some are saying you shouldn't get them at all.

The problem, the article goes on to say, is that doctors can't differentiate between bacterial and viral infections. I don't care. If I'm feeling lousy enough to drag myself to the doctor, I want my placebo. It doesn't have to be antibiotics. Just tell me I'll feel better.

Trouble in Guitar Hero world

Gibson has long had a licensing deal with Activision, the company that makes and sells Guitar Hero now, allowing the trademark shapes of its guitars to be used in the game. But in January, Gibson’s lawyers wrote to Activision to say that the game infringed on a 1999 Gibson patent “for technology to simulate a musical performance” using virtual-reality gear. Activision responded with a snort of derision and a preemptive court filing earlier this month, asking a judge to declare its game non-infringing. That matter is pending.

The new frontier of torture: workplace bullying.

In a survey released last fall, 37 percent of American workers said they had experienced bullying on the job, according to the research firm Zogby International.

The new frontier in technology that really does not deserve comment:wheelchairs for disabled pets.

 

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