Jared Cohen, known as a tech evangelist within the State Department, will be joining Google to launch a think tank called Google Ideas.
View full post on CNET News.com
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Turn your iPhone into a microscope for less than $5
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
Here’s a fun project for children, students, and anyone interested in getting a bigger view of the smaller world around us. All you need is a few bucks and a few minutes.
Originally posted at iPad Atlas
View full post on Crave: The gadget blog
John Lennon’s killer denied parole
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
New York (CNN) — Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s killer, was denied parole for the sixth time Tuesday, according to the New York State Division of Parole.
A three-member panel of the New York State Parole Board Commissioners conducted a video conference interview with Chapman from their offices in Rochester.
Chapman’s latest quest for freedom comes just months short of the 30th anniversary of the death of the former member of the Beatles.
The last time Chapman was up for parole, in 2008, the New York State Division of Parole issued a release saying his request was denied “due to concern for the public safety and welfare.”
He also was denied parole in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Chapman, 55, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the shooting death of Lennon outside Lennon’s New York City apartment on December 8, 1980.
He has served 29 years of his sentence at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility, where he is held in a building with other prisoners who are not considered to pose a threat to him, according to officials with the state Department of Correctional Services.
He has his own prison cell but spends most of his day outside the cell working on housekeeping and in the library, the officials said.
For the past 20 years he has been allowed conjugal visits with his wife, Gloria.
The visits are part of a state program called “family reunion” that allows inmates to spend up to 44 hours at a time with family members in a special setting. Inmates must meet certain criteria to receive the privilege.
Chapman has not had an infraction since 1994, said Erik Kriss, spokesman for the Department of Corrections said last month.
“He goes about his business, doing his prison job and without any fanfare,” Kriss said.
Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, in previous years has submitted a letter requesting that parole be denied.
Chapman is next eligible for a parole interview in August 2012.
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Tube strike brings major delays
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
7 September 2010
Last updated at 13:23 ET
Millions of Londoners are attempting to travel home amid a major Tube strike affecting nearly all its lines.
Services on all but the Northern Line are currently suspended or delayed as the first in a series of 24-hour strikes continues.
Staff walked out in two waves, at 1700 BST and 2100 BST, on Monday in a row over 800 job cuts.
Unions said support for the strike was “rock solid” while the city’s transport bosses said London “was not paralysed”.
The strike was due to finish at 2100 BST on Tuesday, but Transport for London (TfL) said there would be some disruption throughout the rest of the night.
Service resumption
It is hoped that services will be running fully on Wednesday morning.
A full service has been operating on the Northern Line, but many stations on the route are closed. There has been a full service on the Waterloo and City Line since the latter part of the morning rush hour.
The Bakerloo, Victoria, District, Central, Piccadilly, Hammersmith and City, Jubilee and Metropolitan lines are all partly suspended and more than 70 stations remain closed.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) unions are fighting London Underground (LU) plans to scrap 800 jobs in Underground ticket offices.
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Two commuters and Bob Crow from the RMT union talk about the strikes
The unions have said security could be compromised for passengers.
But LU has insisted all stations would still be staffed and pledged there would be no compulsory redundancies.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “The message to the mayor and his transport officials is clear – stop playing fast and loose with safety, stop the drive towards unstaffed stations, drop the threat of these lethal cuts and start meaningful talks on a safe and secure future for the London Tube system.”
The RMT has also accused LU of breaching safety regulations during the strike, but the Office of Rail Regulation said it was satisfied with LU’s arrangements.
Mike Brown, of LU, said: “We are doing everything possible to keep as many Tube services operating today, and to keep Londoners moving.
“Londoners will face some disruption, but the city is not paralysed and people will still be able to get around.”
An extra 100 buses and 10,000 more passenger journeys on Thames riverboat services have been laid on to cope with the strike.
Some taxi ranks were being marshalled and escorted bike rides have been operating.
A TfL spokesman said there had been an extra 2,000 completed journeys using the city’s cycle hire scheme between 0800 BST and 0900 BST, compared to the same time on Monday, a rise of about 60%.
But commuters expressed their frustration at the disruptions.
Sandra Gibson, who queued for buses, a taxi and the Tube to reach Praed Street from Paddington station, said: “Gave up and headed home. As a contractor this cost me half a days wage through no fault of my own.”
Andrew Ross, of north London, said: “I’ve had two job interviews today which I was late for both. Walking to Russell Square also got me soaked from head to toe.
“Wondering if Bob Crowe’s umbrella handler will accompany me on my next walk?”
Paul Simmons, who walked to his destination, said: “I’m now walking from Paddington to Golders Green via Edgware Road, Kilburn and West Hampstead.
“Less a call to arms, more a call to feet. Come on Londoners enjoy your city.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said new staffing proposals for the Underground were “moderate and sensible” and accused the unions of “cynically deciding to try the patience” of commuters.
Maintenance staff walked out first on Monday followed by drivers, signallers and station staff.
TfL said that on Tuesday almost 40% of its trains were running and only the Circle Line was completely suspended.
Mr Johnson said new staffing proposals for the Underground were “moderate and sensible” and accused the unions of “cynically deciding to try the patience” of commuters.
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The scene at King’s Cross during rush hour
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New IBM projects striving for cleaner water
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
Harnessing the power of its World Community Grid of users, Big Blue embarks on a series of projects designed to improve the quality of drinking water around the world.
View full post on CNET News.com
Report: Android to win half of smartphone market
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
A bevy of Android devices will ultimately mean that Google’s mobile OS will control largely half of the market, according to a Piper Jaffray report.
View full post on CNET News.com
Trapped miners to get help from NASA
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
Copiapo, Chile (CNN) — NASA teams usually use their knowledge to help astronauts many miles above the earth’s surface. But on Tuesday, a group of experts from the U.S. space agency will share their advice for the 33 miners who have been trapped 2,300 feet underground in Chile since August 5.
“It’s an opportunity for us to bring the space flight experience back down to the ground,” Dr. Michael Duncan, the deputy chief medical officer at Johnson Space Center, said before NASA’s four-person team left for Chile last month.
The team includes two medical doctors, a psychologist and an engineer.
Interactive: Explore the mine and learn more about the miners
In a briefing after its arrival last week, the team said creating a strict organizational structure for the miners’ daily lives would be important. Duncan also noted that healthy eating would be key to helping the miners survive.
That means increasing the amount of calories the men are taking in, he said, and giving them food that tastes good.
“Part of nutrition also is making it a certain variety so it maintains their interest. All of us in this room can appreciate the value of good food,” he said.
When rescuers first found them, the miners told officials they had survived for more than 17 days by sharing a jar of peaches and small amounts of tuna and mackerel that were in their shelter below.
By last Thursday, their meals included bread with ham and turkey, wine cookies, stroganoff with pasta primavera, peaches in juice, nutritional supplements, bread with caramel spread, chicken in sauce and plantains.
The NASA team members are also helping design the system rescuers will eventually use to hoist the miners to the surface.
On Friday, a new drill arrived at the rescue scene that engineers hope could reach the miners in about two months.
Rescuers have started using that drill, normally used to bore water holes, but temporarily stopped after encountering a problem Monday.
The Chilean government has said another drilling operation, which started a week ago and had reached a depth of around 295 feet (90 meters) by Monday, could take up to four months to reach the miners.
Officials also announced a third plan on Sunday — using an oil drill. Although that option could turn out to be the fastest, officials said, it may not be ready until late September.
All three plans can proceed simultaneously as they approach the mine from different directions.
In the meantime, Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich told CNN the miners have been assigned tasks underground.
The men have been divided into teams to manage the tubes that carry the supplies that are their lifeblood. One miner is in charge of setting the schedule of when they eat and sleep, another of nutritional matters and another of medical needs, he said.
Officials have asked them to simulate night and day on their own and to sleep in shifts — half the men will sleep while the other half work and make sure their sleeping coworkers are okay, Manalich said.
CNN’s Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.
View full post on CNN.com
Pension rallies hit French cities
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
7 September 2010
Last updated at 10:17 ET
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The BBC’s Christian Fraser describes the disruption caused by the strikes
Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of France to register anger over the government’s austerity measures.
The rallies come as a 24-hour national strike has disrupted flight and rail services, and closed schools.
Officials said 450,000 people were marching in cities across the country, ahead of the main rally in Paris later.
The activists are angry at government plans to overhaul pensions and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
The BBC’s Christian Fraser in Paris says French retirement age is well below the European average, but the proposal would represent a sizeable jump in a country that guards jealously its way of life.
Under current rules, both men and women in France can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years – although they are not entitled to a full pension until they are 65.
The government says it will save 70bn euros (£58bn) by raising the retirement age to 62 by 2018, the qualification to 41.5 years, and the pension age to 67 by 2018.
President Nicolas Sarkozy says reforms are needed to cope with an ageing population and the country’s high public spending.
The government is also looking to find 100bn euros of savings in three years, and is planning cuts in the bloated civil sector, our correspondent adds.
Some secondary school teachers went on strike on Monday, protesting against plans to cut 7,000 jobs in education.
State railway operator SNCF said only two out of five TGV high-speed trains were running, and there was a greatly reduced service on many other lines.
Eurostar said its trains between France and London would operate normally.
Some air-traffic controllers walked out, forcing the cancellation or delay of about a quarter of flights from Paris airports.
Air France said it was operating all of its long-haul flights as planned, but short and medium-haul flights had been affected.
Senate debates
France’s largest union, the CGT, said it expected the turnout for the protest marches across the country to be stronger than during the rallies in June, when more than 800,000 people took part.
“We may have an exceptional day and, if it is exceptional, we will perhaps be at a turning point,” CGT leader Bernard Thibault said.
The pensions bill is one of the key reforms the president hopes to push through during the last two years of his mandate.
It will be presented to the National Assembly by Labour Minister Eric Woerth.
Separately, the French Senate will debate the ban on the full face veil approved by the lower house in July.
Senators are also expected to debate a controversial new security law.
It would see recent immigrants stripped of French citizenship if they committed serious crimes such as killing a police officer.
The law would also allow electronic tagging for foreign criminals facing deportation.
The proposals and the recent deportation of about 1,000 Roma (Gypsies) have led to protests across the country.
The European Parliament is scheduled to debate the situation of the Roma minority in Europe on Tuesday.
Are you affected by the strikes? How serious are the disruptions in your area? Are you taking part in the protests? Send us your comments.
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SoloPower trumpets certification for flexible solar modules
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
Silicon Valley-based company claims industry-first UL certification for solar modules made from thin-film CIGS material which are making their way to market from multiple suppliers.
View full post on CNET News.com
Mystery: Google Doodle Gets Bouncy Balls Animation on Google Search Page Today
Posted Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | No Comments
Google Doodles are getting better and better with every rendition. In the earlier days, all we got was static paintings inspired by that day’s special event. We’ve seen Google Doodles celebrating the birthdays of Da Vinci, Valentine’s Day, Earth Hour, Pac-Man and just recently Bucky Balls!
Today’s Google Doodle – which really can’t be called a doodle, since it is anything but a playful doodle – is an animated bubbly logo in which the individual bubbles disperse as soon as you move your mouse close to them. The animation can take up the entire screen and is fun to play around with… for 10 seconds.
Word is that today’s Doodle is to celebrate Google’s birthday which is either on 7th or 27th September. But we really can’t say as the doodle has nothing particularly birthday-ish about it, neither has Google confirmed anything about this. This mysterious Google Doodle can be seen in action on Google US or UK homepage here.
You may also like to check out:
- Google Doodle Shows Water on the Moon
- Google says: All your O are belong to us
- Zero Wing restores Google’s O
- Gandhi and Google – Today, They Go Together
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