國光的H1N1疫苗安全嗎？仔細看看疫苗的仿單(說明書)吧！

轉自12/29我的email.國光的H1N1疫苗安全嗎？仔細看看疫苗的仿單(說明書)吧！

國光的H1N1疫苗安全嗎？
這種事，不是嘴巴講講，媒體報報，政客喊喊話，就可以令人民安心，請看看藥廠拿出來的疫苗說明書吧！
看看英國和加拿大，因為英國生產的疫苗在加拿大產生了不到４０例的嚴重過敏反應之後，就全面回收17萬劑，政府下令禁用。
看看台灣，國光疫苗接種之後，副作用反應這麼的嚴重，而且幾十個人住院，而事先都沒有告知疫苗接種後所會產生的副作用，這麼誇張的事，還真的是有夠嚇人！
我很想相信自己國家生物科技發展的實力，但是，我找不到能夠讓我產生信心的資料。
台灣目前只有進口瑞士諾華藥廠的疫苗，其他的都是台灣自產的疫苗。
自己的國家有能力生產H1N1疫苗，當然是最好的！
可是，它安全嗎？有效嗎？副作用呢？半衰期呢？過敏症呢？什麼樣的人不能施打呢？它的人體試驗對象是誰呢？在何時、何地、什麼年紀、多少樣本數呢？
這些資料在美國或歐盟都有明確的規範，一旦一種疫苗要上市可以公開施打，就必需揭露疫苗本身的完整訊息。
所以，我上去國光生技的網站看看http://www.adimmune.com.tw/, 想要找一下疫苗本身的藥理藥性說明書，終於被我找到，http://www.adimmune.com.tw/news.php?act=view&no=21
，請認真看清楚它上面寫的劑量，它寫了兩種病毒株，一種是A/California/7/2009(H1N1)v like strain，另一種是A/California/7/2009(Reassortant NYMC X179A)v ，但是，沒說它到底是一種但兩個名稱，又或是它是兩種，而它到底是兩種都用，還是只用了那一種，而且比例為何？
只知道它每0.5ml裡病毒含量有15ug。
而它的”重大副作用”—從痙攣，連肝機能障礙，黃疸和哮喘都有，雖然說是臨床上”罕有”的反應，但為什麼卻在媒體上，或公開資訊上，絕口不提？
乍看之下，它長長的一頁，好像很完整喔！
要不要看看諾華藥廠的，足足有39頁A4大小的說明資料：http://www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/PDFs/EPAR/focetria/emea-combined-h710en.pdf
資料很多，而且都是原文，我大概幫大家簡略的說一下，諾華的疫苗是以H5N1的模式建立的，用的只有一種病毒株，就是A/California/7/2009(H1N1)v like strain (X-181)，每0.5ml裡病毒含量有7.5ug。
回頭看看國光的，同一個劑量，病毒含量是諾華的兩倍。
諾華的施打方式是，一次0.5ml，隔至少三週再接種第二劑0.5ml，意思就是說，15ug的病毒量，要分兩次，而且隔三週注射到人體內，而且指明只能打在肩膀的三角肌肉，或是大腿外側，禁止打在皮下和血管！
而國光的施打方式是，只打一次，一次0.5ml，一次就把15ug的病毒量打到人體內，而且還能皮下注射。 
藥下得這麼重，這就不難理解，為什麼所謂”暈針”的人那麼的多！
還有，說明書內指出，並不建議孕婦施打，因為沒有足夠的資料證明，接種後會不會產生畸形兒…等副作用。
它也不建議六個月以下的嬰兒施打，原因一樣是沒有足夠的樣本數和數據。
意思是說，要打也不是不行，可是它不保證不會出現副作用，因為，沒有足夠的數據和資料來證明。
可是，回頭看看國光的資料，他建議孕婦優先施打，原因是，有2000名孕婦打過季節流感而對胎兒沒有影響。
看清楚，是”季節流感疫苗”而不是”新流感疫苗”。
意思就是說，因為有人吃了柳丁沒有過敏，所以這些人理所當然吃奇異果也不會過敏，而且我們有讓動物吃奇異果也沒有副作用，所以，其他人都可以來吃奇異果，絕不會有問題。
這是什麼邏輯啊！
我只能說，我為台灣人的勇敢感到佩服！
看過國光疫苗的副作用，來看看諾華疫苗的副作用：
其實它細分為好幾個部分，我只截取兩個最大的族群貼上來。

18-60歲成人接種反應：
（劑量：0.5ml；疫苗呈現乳白色；２劑，每劑間隔３週；但後來發現１劑就能產生足夠抗原）

一般副作用	常見副作用	少見副作用	罕見副作用
僵硬  紅斑 痠痛 頭痛 流汗 疲累 注射位置腫大、瘀血、發熱	關節痛  噁心,反胃	頭暈  蕁麻疹 抽筋 感冒症狀	眼睛腫  過敏反應

而且，以上副作用通常會在1-2天後消失。

6個月~17歲兒童青少年接種反應：
（劑量：0.5ml；疫苗呈現乳白色；接種２劑，每劑間隔３週）

6M~3歲	其他年齡
煩躁，哭泣，不睡覺，拉肚子，進食異常。	頭痛，疲倦，不舒服，反胃噁心，流汗，發冷。

至少沒有肝機能障礙，黃疸和哮喘！
最後，去看看它強調的血清轉換率和保護率，數字很高，很漂亮吧！
有沒有看到它下面補了一行字：1~9歲族群仍在臨床實驗中。
而它這張說明書是2009/11/13在網站上發佈的。
請問，政府通知全國說H1N1，是從什麼時候開始施打的？2009/11/9未滿六個月的開始施打，2009/11/16一歲以上至國小六年級(歲)的兒童開始施打。http://www.h1n1.gov.tw/mp170.htm
意思就是說，恭喜各位打到國光疫苗的小朋友，尤其是1~9歲的族群，你們將會被列入”臨床實驗”的數據當中。
我不是鼓吹去大家一定要去打特定哪一定的疫苗，只是把資料拿出來，讓大家認真的去思考和比較一下，為什麼攸關人命健康的疫苗開發，可以這麼的草率？！
還有，英國GSK那劑被回收，甚至被媒體形容為”潘朶拉之盒”的Pandemrix H1N1疫苗http://health.gsk.com/hcp/H1N1Vaccine/productOverview.htm，它的病毒株用的就是A/California/7/2009(H1N1) v-like strain (X179A)。
那麼它到底和國光標示的病毒株A/California/7/2009(Reassortant NYMC X179A)v是不是同一種呢？
我想，國光應該出來好好說明一下吧！
人命關天，小心為上！
大夥兒自個兒保重吧！

GSK的Pandemrix疫苗被回收的國內外新聞： 
http://www.dancewithshadows.com/pillscribe/glaxosmithkline-recalls-a-lot-of-h1n1-vaccine-pandemrix-from-canada-due-to-side-effects/ 
http://clareswinney.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/gsk%E2%80%99s-pandemrix-swine-flu-vaccine-pandoras-box-release/　註：潘朶拉之盒Pandora’s Box意指”萬惡的根源”。 
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/091123/5/1vj17.html 
http://www.epochtimes.com.tw/index/itarticles/cat_id/273/aid/270679

國光疫苗的仿單資料：http://www.adimmune.com.tw/news.php?act=view&no=21

諾華H1N1疫苗的相關資料和仿單資料： 
http://www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/PDFs/EPAR/focetria/emea-combined-h710en.pdf 
http://www.novartisvaccines.com/products-diseases/influenza-products/H1N1_information.shtml

By Heather Munro Prescott: Swine Flu and Student Health: Past and Present

Swine Flu and Student Health: Past and Present

By Heather Munro Prescott

Ms. Prescott, Ph.D., is Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University. She is the author of Student Bodies: The Influence of Student Health Services on American Society. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007. She blogs at: Knitting Clio.

Like other members of academic communities, I am anxiously waiting to see what will happen with the swine flu epidemic once students return to campus in the fall. Since I am a historian of medicine, and my most recent work is on the topic of student health services (Student Bodies: the Influence of Student Health Services on American Society), I have been spending my time reflecting on how the past can inform current health care practices on campus.

It is easy to use the 1918-19 influenza pandemic as a point of comparison: as in the case of today’s epidemic thus far, the 1918-19 pandemic was unusual in that it disproportionately affected young people in the prime of life. The degree of preparedness of various colleges and universities at that time varied widely: fewer than 10 percent of institutions of higher education had campus health services equipped to isolate students with contagious diseases and provide inpatient care. Among these was the University of Minnesota, which had established a health service for students in March 1918. In his memoirs, Minnesota President Marion LeRoy Burton recalled, “There seemed something almost providential about getting the Health Service started just in time to serve during that pandemic.” During the 1918-19 academic year, the university health service treated 2,000 cases of influenza, with only twenty deaths, a rate dramatically lower than the estimated national mortality rate of 10 percent.

Yet, it was not simply luck that Minnesota was among the few that had a campus health service: Burton was previously President of Smith College, which, like other elite women’s colleges, instituted student health services when they were created in the late nineteenth century. These women’s colleges were not more enlightened about preventive medicine, though. They were responding to Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Edward Clarke’s best-selling book, Sex in Education, or, A Fair Chance for the Girls (1873), which argued that higher education damaged women’s bodies by drawing nervous energy away from the processes of reproduction. Women who ignored these basic facts of nature by pursuing a college education risked nervous collapse and sterility. These anxieties about the fitness of the female body for advanced study shaped the design of women’s colleges and the female divisions of coeducational institutions. The earliest college health programs emerged in order to address concerns about the impact of higher education on the female body.

These initiatives for women later served as models for further developments in college student health for male students. The trustees of Amherst College, observing that nearby Mount Holyoke Female Seminary excelled in preserving the health of their students, decided to give a fair chance to the boys by creating a Hygiene Department and appointing a college physician in 1860. Most of the other elite men’s colleges followed suit during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thus, during the 1918-1919 pandemic, these colleges tended to have much lower incidence of disease and mortality than did other campuses. Princeton escaped relatively unscathed: none of the 192 students who became ill with influenza died. Nevertheless, the Women’s Committee of the Princeton Endowment Fund the campus infirmary could barely contain the number of students who became ill, and began collecting funds to build a new, larger, and more modern facility.

State colleges and universities were slower to create health services, partly for financial reasons, but also because local physicians’ groups and the American Medical Association argued that college health centers, by providing medical services to students for a fixed annual fee, had an unfair monopoly on student health care. The objections of the AMA became even louder following the First World War, when Congress allocated funds to some state colleges and universities to enhance efforts to prevent communicable diseases – especially the dreaded “venereal” diseases that were a more intractable scourge at this time than was influenza. During the 1920s, the AMA launched a successful campaign to convince Congress to abolish “socialized medicine” and the federal funds for college health centers were discontinued. The financial crisis experienced by many public institutions of higher education during the Great Depression of the 1930s led to even more cutbacks in health services to students.

It was not until the period following the Second World War that the majority of colleges and universities established student health services. These efforts were aided by the 1947 report of President Truman’s Commission on Higher Education, Higher Education for American Democracy: The Report of the President’s Commission on Higher Education. In addition to recommending an end to racial and religious discrimination, increases in financial aid programs, and creation of community colleges, the report also stated that promotion of physical and mental health was a central part of the mission of higher education. The emphasis on the prevention of disease and the educational functions of college and university health services eventually led the American Medical Association to accept these centers as a legitimate site of health care delivery.

So, what can we learn from this history? Like the era of the Great Depression, today’s financial problems are leading colleges and universities to cut back on student services like health centers and mental health programs. College students are among the most poorly insured groups in America: 20 to 30 percent lack any form of health insurance. Those who are young and fortunate enough to be insured under their parents’ policies may lose these benefits in the next round of layoffs. Poor health and inadequate medical care create significant barriers to regular college attendance just as surely as do lack of funds. As in the past, attempts at health care reform are encountering fierce opposition from conservatives alleging that President Obama is trying to inflict “socialized medicine” on the American public. Yet, there’s nothing like an epidemic to mobilize the money and will necessary to avert a public health catastrophe at the nation’s institutions of higher education. One can only hope that the same level of commitment to promoting healthy campuses will continue once the current epidemic is over.

By Jolie O'Dell: Google Names 30 Best Mobile Apps for Android

Google Names 30 Best Mobile Apps for Android

Written by Jolie O'Dell / November 30, 2009

Wrapping up a six month-long challenge to mobile developers, Google has announced a string of winners of their second Android Developers Challenge (ADC).

From games and social networking apps to productivity and privacy tools, the cream of the ADC 2 crop includes an app for just about every kind of mobile user — and just in time, as the Droid has recently become "the fastest-selling Android phone to date." Take a peek at the innovative apps waiting in the wings for the lucky owners of Android-powered devices.

As Android adoption swells and trends suggest the OS might be the second most widely used mobile OS by 2010, it's important that the app universe keeps pace with users. Google announced this challenge in May at their Google I/O developer conference, and offered well over $1.5 million in cash prizes to the winning developers in 10 categories.

The applications - some of which might remind you of already popular iPhone apps - should be available shortly to Android users.

The overall ADC 2 winners are:

1. SweetDreams, a revolutionary tool that will finally allow you to go to sleep without worrying about changing your phone settings in order to avoid unwelcome late night calls. You can even use those inactivity periods to save battery power as well.
2. What the Doodle!?, a real-time online multiplayer game where one player tries to draw out a given phrase and others try to guess it. Features FFA and Team games, Global Highscores, Personal Face Doodles, integrated Voice Recognition and more.
3. WaveSecure, a complete mobile security solution that protects your device, data and privacy. Track your phone's location and who is using it, lock down your phone remotely, back up all your data, wipe out your data remotely, and finally, restore your data.

Winners in the education and reference category are:

1. Plink Art, an app for identifying, discovering and sharing art.
2. The Word Puzzle, a fun way to learn basic English words for preschool children.
3. Celeste, an educational augmented reality app that displays the Sun, Moon, planets and their paths through the sky onto your camera view.

The entertainment category winners are:

1. A World of Photo, a casual, globally multiplayer game inspired by Spin the Bottle.
2. SongDNA, a widget that allows you to quickly look up detailed information about a song.
3. Solo, an easy-to-play and feature-rich pocket guitar for your phone.

Winners for the arcade/action game subcategory include:

1. Speed Forge, in which heavy duty hover vehicles normally used for mining are now seen in illegal races organized in abondoned factories and dark Marsian alleys.
2. Graviturn, a game that makes you tilt your phone to move the red circles out of the screen while keeping the green circles.
3. Moto X Mayhem, an app that includes seven levels of motorbike action in a side scrolling bike game.

Winners for the casual gaming category are:

1. What the Doodle!?
2. Totemo, a unique puzzle game with over 60 mind-soothing logic tasks.
3. Mazeness, a rather simple game involving moving balls to their goals with help of barriers, teleports and holders.

These are Google's lifestyle category winners:

1. SweetDreams
2. SpecTrek, an augmented reality ghost hunting game that doubles as a fitness app.
3. FoxyRing, an app that analyzes the ambient noise and adjusts the ringer volume on your phone.

Media category winners are:

1. Buzz Deck, an app that gets all the web content you care about most, along with Twitter & Facebook updates.
2. SPB TV, a highly usable IP-TV application optimized to run on mobile devices.
3. FxCamera, which lets you take pictures with various effects.

Here are the winning productivity tools:

1. WaveSecure
2. Hoccer, an application for gesture-based ad-hoc data exchange.
3. Tasker, an app that lets users link any Task (action set) to the Contexts (application, time, day, location, event, widget press) where it should run.

In social networking, the winners are:

1. Ce:real, an app that displays geographically based, real-world trends, including photo stories paired with Twitter keywords.
2. SocialMuse, which lets users find people with similar musical taste or just explore the world through music.
3. SpotMessage, a communication tool using GPS. Send a message designating a spot with Google Maps then the message will be notified when the recipient arrives at the spot.

For the travel category, Google name these top apps:

1. Trip Journal, a trip tracking and sharing solution sending real-time updates from the places you are visiting.
2. iNap: Arrival Alert, an application that allows traveling users to sleep (or work, or just zone out) then relies on GPS to alert them with an alarm when the destination is nearby.
3. Car Locator, which navigates you back to your car should you ever have trouble finding it.

Finally, here are three miscellaneous winners:

1. Rhythm Guitar, which plays like a real six-string, five-fret guitar.
2. Andrometer, and app that measures the approximate distance from you to an object that you can see using GPS, accelerometer and geomagnetic sensors.
3. Calton Hill GPSCaddy, an app that allows golfers to quickly and easily map any golf course either out on the course using GPS or in the comfort of home using satellite imagery.

By Josh Catone: 5 Rules for Better Web Writing

View my

5 Rules for Better Web Writing

September 8th, 2009 | by Josh Catone

This post originally appeared on theAmerican Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of putting together a website or social media campaign is the copy. Many people assume that the same words that work for print campaigns or materials can just be copied and pasted for the web, but that’s just not true. The web is an entirely different medium, and copy needs to be treated with the same respect that design and user interface elements get.

Text is a very important part of user experience on the web, so it needs and deserves the same sort of design consideration. You must make your text usable in the same manner that you do the rest of your website or social media campaign materials. In short: text is user interface. Here are five rules for writing better for the web.

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1. Know Your Objective

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This actually applies to any sort of copywriting. Unless you have a clear picture of the end result, your writing won’t be as clear as it could be. Ask yourself what you’re trying to achieve with each bit of text you write. Once you know the objective, you’ll be able to more clearly articulate what you need to get across to your customers in your copy, and you’ll be able to identify any superfluous text that you can throw out.

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2. Know Your Audience

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The web is unique as a marketing platform because it can be so hyper-targeted. You can theoretically know exactly who your audience is and target your writing accordingly. Further, depending on where you’re writing, your audience will be different. Any time your audience changes, you may need to make changes in your copy as well. Obviously writing for Twitter is different than writing for your blog, but writing for your blog is different than writing for email, which is different than writing forFacebook, which is different than writing forMySpace, and so on. Before you lay any words down on the page, figure out who you’re speaking to, and write with them in mind.

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3. Keep it Short

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Studies have found that the more words you add to a web page the less time people spend reading it. Attention spans are shorter on the web, so your writing will be more effective if it is also kept shorter. One study found that users only spend about 4.4 seconds on a page for every 100 words of content. When you factor in average reading speeds, that means users generally only read about 18% of the text on a page (perhaps less — since at least some portion of that 4.4 seconds is probably spent doing things other than reading page copy). That suggests that if you keep your copy as concise as possible, it will be more likely that your website visitors will actually read more of your text. Of course, you can adjust this rule based on your audience — some audiences might be more likely to read long articles than others.

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4. Make it Scannable

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Because only a portion of your text is actually likely to be read by your audience, it’s also important to write with scannability in mind. That means readers should be able to get the main gist of your copy even if they just scan it. When it comes to scannability, large blocks of text are your enemy. It is nearly impossible to quickly draw out the key points from a long paragraph, so when presented with one, many readers will just skip over it automatically. Make it easier for them to pull out the central topic points by using descriptive headers and sub-headers (like the ones in this article), bulleted lists, highlighting of key points, and images or diagrams, which can both break up the monotony of text and present the same information in a different way.

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5. Embrace Constraints

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Every platform has its own set of constraints when it comes to writing copy. The most obvious example right now is Twitter, which enforces a 140 character limit on every message you send, but every platform has limitations (for example, messages on Facebook can only have very limited formatting). These limits can be seen as a burden, or they can force you to think creatively about your content. If you only have 140 characters to work with, for example, you have to work extra hard to pack as much information as you can into each tweet while maintaining a voice consistent with your brand’s other copy.

By David Cotriss: 8 Tips and Resources for Managing Your Business Finances

September 10, 2009

By David Cotriss

One area many business owners struggle with is keeping track of their finances, but it is one of the most important areas given that cash flow is the lifeblood of the business. Small mistakes and a lack of knowledge and resources can be costly and problematic.

We’ve selected some of the most important things to consider and provide these tips and resources.

• Find the best local credit union. Given their frequent willingness to provide loans, finding a credit union that understands the needs of your business can go a long way. There are many online tools to find credit unions based on specified criteria. Many local credit unions require membership in an affiliated organization, often listed on their web site, but costs to join are usually minimal and well worth it. Here are a few tools to start with: Find A Credit Union, Credit Unions Online, Credit Union National Association.
• Find a trusted mentor. Access to free help is just a click away, with sites that help connect entrepreneurs with mentors fitting their needs. Having a mentor assist with setting up finances can be invaluable if the person is trustworthy. One resource is the Association of Small Business Development Centers, which provides access to full-time business counselors around the country, often former entrepreneurs or M.B.A. graduates. Other sites for finding mentors include SCORE(affiliated with the Small Business Administration), iMantri and MicroMentor.
• Choose the correct accounting software. While software is a mainstay of small business finance, sorting through dozens of choices isn’t easy, since there may be better options for your specific needs than the popular QuickBooks program and related packages. Find Accounting Software is a free tool that helps find exactly the right solution through a detailed questionnaire. TaxSites provides extensive resources including a list of software for small businesses.
• Consider hiring a bookkeeper. A good, trusted bookkeeper can handle all of the mundane tasks that go along with keeping finances on track. Be sure to understand the various types of bookkeepers and how to avoid fraud. A free bookkeeper hiring test (to be taken by prospective hires) can be requested.
• Accelerate cash flow with mobile payment systems. Mobile payment systems can allow faster and easier acceptance of payments for products and services. A system called GoPayment from Intuit allows acceptance of payments through mobile phones and can directly download the data into QuickBooks. To monitor transactions, users can access Intuit’s online Merchant Service Center to search, view and create reports.
• Look into factoring receivables. Accounts receivable financing allows immediate payment for invoices rather than waiting 30 days or longer and tying up working capital as a result. Factoring services advance the amount of the invoice minus a “discount”, or fee (advances of 80 to 90 percent are common), and provide a “rebate” when invoices are paid – the amount depends on how long it takes the customer to pay. FactorFind provides a directory of factors specializing in small businesses. Businesses can be matched with the most appropriate factors at theInternational Factoring Association, BuyerZone, and Resource Nation.
• Understand and measure capital versus operational costs. The goal often is to drive down the totals on the capital costs side of the spreadsheet and move more over to the operational side of the equation. Operating costs don’t require complex depreciation calculations and are more easily adjusted from year to year. Outsourcing is one way to do this because it sits on the operating cost side and helps to free up cash by not tying it up in capital investments (such as IT infrastructure, servers, etc.) or tasks like head hunting and payroll management.
• Measure bottom line impact by looking at the service budget year over year. Are the costs for delivering a service going up, staying the same or dropping? Figure out how much it costs to deliver specific services to the business such as recruitment, payroll or benefits management. Understanding cost-to-serve offers the business great insight into projects and tasks, how long it actually takes to do them, and as a result how much they cost. If you want to pare back on the budget, there are hard numbers to work with that show exactly what the impact on quantity and quality of service will be if resources are reduced.

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About the Author: David Cotriss is a business/tech and new media writer, having published 500+ news and feature articles to date worldwide in magazines ranging from PC Magazine to The Industry Standard.

By John Mariotti : 20 Tips to Save Time and Money in Your Small Business and At Home

September 4, 2009

By John Mariotti

These are difficult times and every small business (and large one) needs to find ways to save money and time without delivering less value to their customers. Service to customers must be maintained, and product or service value is the key to continued business. So what can you do?

Here are 20 tips that are proven time or money savers. Time is money so the two savings are combined here. Since many small businesses are operated out of home offices, these will also save money and/or time at home. Choose the ones that work for you and start saving now.

1. STOP BUYING “STUFF”: If you don’t need something, don’t buy it — no matter how great the deal is. There’s no right price for something you don’t really need. Learn the typical promotional cycles-clearance sales in January (before the retailers’ fiscal year end), for example. Buy office products when the ones you need are on sale-plan ahead. Buy non-perishable holiday supplies after the holiday, and save money next year.

2. DIY (Do It Yourself) INSTEAD OF HIRING SOMEONE: Do the simple jobs yourself instead of hiring it done. Janitorial services charge more if you have them empty wastebaskets and replace liners every day. Few people fill wastebaskets daily, some don’t in a week. Tell everyone where the dumpster is and have them plan to dump their trash while on another trip. Ditto for window washing. It’s nice to have clean windows, but staying in business is nicer.

3. SHOP FOR BEST BANKING DEALS: Switch bank accounts to the places where they offer free, unlimited check writing, no fees on accounts, etc. Shop around and see whose deal is best. If you plan to keep a healthy balance in any account, ask where it can be parked to earn interest and swept to the checking account when needed.

4. USE EMAIL TO AVOID PHONE TAG: Use email to set up phone calls and avoid frustrating phone tag. Tell the person what you want to talk about, and whether you need a decision from them, information, or just a discussion.

5. PHOTO DOCUMENT MISHAPS: Use the camera on your cell phone to document mishaps. Photos of the damage, an accident, the site where it happened, etc. can be invaluable if a dispute arises or an insurance claim needs to be filed.

6. USE EMAIL WISELY: Don’t argue on email. It is damaging, counterproductive and usually escalates an argument instead of resolving it. Meet face to face (first choice) or talk person to person on the phone. Assume that you can and will resolve the argument and say so-that alone goes a long way to resolving it. Don’t print emails unless you need a hard copy for some good reason – it just wastes paper, ink, time and money.

7. PRIVATE LABEL GOODS ARE GOOD BUYS: Buy private label goods where the store guarantees them or will replace them with brand names if you are dissatisfied. Kroger and OfficeMax both do this. Wal-Mart will match any competitor’s advertised deal-but bring the ad along. Compare prices and learn who has the best deals, on what.

8. SHOP (& NEGOTIATE) GAS PRICES: Pay attention to which service stations seem to always have the best gas prices and plan fill ups. If there is a loyalty program with a grocery store, wait to fill up until you can use a discount for more gallons of gas. Negotiate with your favorite gas station if you are a heavy user, or have a fleet of vehicles. Ask for a discount-they are often available. Use the right grade of gas for best mileage and don’t be a “lead foot,” it’s not a race.

9. COMBINE SAVINGS WITH GIFT CARDS: Take advantage of gift cards sold in stores with such programs (Giant Eagle is one such chain). You can buy a $1,000 worth of stuff at Home Depot with two $500 gift cards purchased at Giant Eagle and save a lot on future gas purchases at Giant Eagle.

10. PLAN AHEAD - AVOID WASTED TRAVEL TIME & FUEL: Plan trips, in fact, plan all activities, to avoid doubling back or traveling further than necessary. Think of making a loop, hitting all the stops and ending up where you want to be. Arrange the pickups/dropoffs in an order that takes you out & back in the loop, not in & out, back and forth. You’ll save time, fuel, wear & tear on vehicles-and money.

11. GROUP SIMILAR TASKS: Accumulate similar tasks and do them in a group. Often the “make ready time” is a sizable part of the job, so whether its paying bills, returning calls, mailings, filing or whatever-group the work then “knock it out.” Assembly lines in plants are efficient because they combine work in the best way.

12. MINIMIZE SMALL TALK – e.g., HOW’S THE WEATHER: Small talk is nice, but it wastes time. Discussing the weather is the most common time waster. If you need to bond with someone ask about family, fun or favorite sports team. Otherwise, get on with business. That includes Texts and Twitter Tweets, unless there is a valid reason for them.

13. USE MEETING AGENDAS & TIMES: Don’t hold a meeting without an agenda, a time frame, and a statement of what is to be accomplished (information exchange, decision, next steps by whom and when, etc.) Take notes and record who will do what by when — then follow up. It’s a powerful time saving habit.

14. USE FEWER WORDS – GET TO THE POINT: Don’t write long letters or emails if short ones will do. Ditto voicemails. What’s the subject, what do you need (info, help, meet, etc.), when can you be reached with a call-back?

15. DON’T REPLY TO ALL: Don’t use the “reply to all” function. It just makes more emails for everyone else to read, wasting time. Occasionally an embarrassing email goes to someone who shouldn’t get it — and that can cause big trouble.

16. CONSOLIDATE INTO A SMART PHONE: Electronically consolidate all of your calendar, contact information, etc. on a “smart phone” which is backed up to your computer (in case of loss or damage). Preferably choose a smart phone will also do email, text messaging and have web access; most can also serve as a calculator, camera and alarm clock … and more. Print out your calendar and address book once in a while, and put it in a safe place — just in case.

17. SAVE ELECTRICITY: Turn off lights when no one’s around. (It doesn’t cost more to turn lights on and off. It costs more to leave them on). Turn off copiers; unplug chargers, shut down computers over night. All use electricity even when idle. Use compact fluorescent bulbs or the new LED bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs — they use less electricity and pay off in savings over a few years. Use timers (or motion sensor) to turn lights off — or on — when appropriate.

18. SAVE ON ALL UTILITIES: Turn down the thermostat (or up) — one degree makes a difference; 2-3 saves more. In winter, wear heavier clothing; in summer, dress cooler. Use a programmable thermostat-reduce heat and A/C use when gone or sleeping. Reduce water heater temperature settings; run only full loads in washers, dryers & dishwashers. Maintain your HVAC, and it can save you money. A humidifier in winter keeps the air feeling warmer, and reduces health problems due to winter dryness. Maintain furnace filters — change (or clean) them regularly.

19. BUNDLE YOUR TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUYS: Negotiate a bundle of your phone & electronic communications. You get a better deal buying Internet, Phone and Data (and cable or satellite TV too, if you need it) from one source. Shop around. Cell phones added to a plan and bundled minutes are very economical. Call and ask for a better deal. If you need to keep a “wired phone line” negotiate that deal too. If they can’t find one, talk to the department that keeps people from switching via price concessions (AT&T’s is called “Retention”).

20. CLIP COUPONS & USE THEM: Use coupons and deals aggressively for office products. Some superstores will begin sending them every month. Other stores will honor them even if expired. Plan your purchases to maximize the savings-but only buy stuff you need. Use affinity plans that give you discounts too. Shop at super-discount places like Aldi Foods that sell house brands or generics. Many are made by major manufacturers and are as good as brand name goods. There are many coupon websites, and most major manufacturers, and some retailers have coupons too.

Finally, smile a lot and keep an upbeat attitude. Make “saving time and money” into “fun.” Give recognition to employees who find new ways of saving money. A “certificate” and praise — in front of peers — are very valuable motivators.

If the people you work with see you with a positive, can do attitude, that’s contagious. Try it — it works.

Editor’s note: this article was originally published at the American Express OPEN Forum.

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About the Author: John L. Mariotti is President and CEO of The Enterprise Group. He was President of Huffy Bicycles, Group President of Rubbermaid Office Products Group, and now serves as a Director on several corporate boards. He has written eight business books and a novel and has been a conference keynote speaker, a radio talk-show host, and a multi-national columnist for IndustryWeek, Management Centre Europe, the American Management Association, Fortune Small Business, Tiempo de Mercadeo, and a contributor toBusiness – The Ultimate Resource and the Encyclopedia of Health Care Management. His electronic newsletter THE ENTERPRISE is published weekly. His Web site is The Enterprise Group.