Stirile care conteaza

Jucariile zgomotoase ar putea afecta auzul copiilor

2007-12-06T18:54:00.000+02:00

ucariile frumos colorate, care scot diferite zgomote sau chiar canta, create special pentru a fi pe gustul copiilor mici si perfecte pentru un cadou de Craciun, ar putea cauza deficiente de auz daca nu sunt folosite corespunzator, sustin cercetatorii.

Potrivit Reuters, cercetatorii au descoperit ca nivelul de sunet a mai mult de o treime din cele 17 jucarii muzicale examinate in cadrul studiului ating peste o suta de decibeli - un nivel de sunet echivalent cu cel emis de o drujba sau de un metrou.

"Unele jucarii zgomotoase, daca copiii le-ar tine langa ureche doar pentru cateva minute, le-ar putea afecta auzul pe termen lung", a declarat Jeff Carroll, de la Universitatea din California, care a condus echipa de cercetare.

Insa el a subliniat ca toate jucariile testate sunt inofensive daca sunt corect folosite, el adaugand ca parintii trebuie sa-si supravegheze copii, mai ales pe cei mici, atunci cand se joaca cu acestea.
[Sursa-Infoportal.ro ]

Un al doilea colet suspect descoperit în Franţa

2007-12-06T18:34:00.001+02:00

Poliţia din Franţa anunţă că a fost descoperit un al doilea colet-capcană în Paris.

Asta după ce la prânz o explozie a unui colet-capcană a ucis un om şi a rănit alţi 5 într-un birou de avocatură dintr-un cartier luxos al capitalei franceze.

Forţele speciale au trecut la dezamorsarea coletului suspect.

Deflagraţia de mai devreme a avut loc la adresa unde a lucrat în trecut fostul preşedinte francez Nicolas Sarkozy.

România este cea mai coruptă ţară din UE

2007-12-06T18:32:00.001+02:00

România este cea mai coruptă ţară din Uniunea Europeană, arată Barometrul global al corupţiei întocmit de organizaţia Transparency International.

Mai mult, media corupţiei în Uniune a crescut după intrarea ţării noastre în blocul comunitar.

O treime dintre românii chestionaţi de Transparency International recunosc că dau mită.

Cele mai multe şpăgi merg în sistemul medical.

Sănătatea conduce şi în clasamentul domeniilor în care se cere mită. 18% dintre cei intervievaţi susţin că li s-au cerut bani în spitale. De altfel, din alte studii făcute de Transparency International reiese ca, în medie, românii pierd aproape 16% din banii pe care îi cîştigă dînd mită doctorilor.

Directorul executiv al organizaţiei Transparency International, Victor Alistar, afirmă că familiile sărace sunt cele care scot de cele mai multe ori bani din buzunar pentru a plăti în plus un serviciu. De multe ori, sumele sunt la fel de mari ca cele date de românii înstăriţi.

Dintre instituţiile publice, românii percep partidele politice şi Parlamentul ca fiind cele mai corupte.

Pentru acest barometru, au fost chestionaţi aproximtiv o mie de români, în perioada iunie-septembrie, marja de eroare fiind de plus-minus 4 procente.

'Lumea, astazi'

2007-12-05T21:30:00.000+02:00

Editura RAO a lansat ieri albumul de fotografie “Lumea, astazi”, volum realizat de fotojurnalistii Reuters.

Dedicat celor aproximativ 250 de ziaristi ucisi, in zonele fierbinti ale globului, in primii sapte ani ai acestui mileniu. RAO lanseaza un album fotografic insolit, cu instantanee terifiante, fotografii document ale lumii in care traim. Valoarea imaginilor adunate in acest album depinde de calitatea jurnalistilor, iar cei de la Reuters sunt cei care slujesc o profesiune cu credinta si mai ales pasiune. Cartea este scrisa de ziaristi de la Reuters, ilustrata cu 534 de fotografii realizate de 227 de reporteri reprezentand 70 de nationalitati.

“Lumea, astazi” este povestea in imagini a secolului nostru, privita prin obiectiv – “lumea desfasurata in toata splendoare ei, si uneori in toata mizeria ei”, asa cum declara Ilies Campeanu, redactor sef al grupului editorial RAO, la conferinta de presa. Se spune ca “o imagine face mai mult decat o poveste”. “Trebuie sa intelegi povestea din spatele imaginii pentru a o reda cat mai sugestiv”, ne-a spus Florin Ghioca, fotoreporter, corespondent al Agentiei foto Gamma din Franta.

Bazata pe inegalabile resurse, de care dispune Reuters, cartea exploreaza noua teme majore ce ofera un bilant al intrebarilor pe care si le pun toti oamenii. Volumul trateaza “Probleme importante” (terorism, planeta, forte ale naturii, poluare, clima, epidemii in randul populatiei, migratie, globalizare), “Stiinta si tehnologie”, “Modele de credinta”, “Politica puterii”, “Razboi si conflict”, “Economia mondiala”, “Cultura in era digitala”, “Moduri de viata”, “Privind inainte, privind inapoi”.
Bogdan Cristel si Mihai Barbu, doi dintre fotografii Reuters, prezenti la lansare, au povestit cum e sa fii in permanenta concurenta si perfectionare, in acest domeniu, in constanta lupta cu o lume la care putini au acces, periculoasa si aventuroasa.
[Sursa-www.9am.ro]

10 ani pina la creierul uman artificial

2007-12-05T21:27:00.000+02:00

Oamenii de Stiinta de la Institutul Brain Mind din Lausanne au atins o piatra de hotar in cadrul proiectului Blue Brain, inceput in urma cu doi ani cu scopul de a realiza o simulare pe calculator a intregului creier uman, pina la cel mai mic detaliu molecular, pentru a studia mai amanuntit structura acestuia.
Ei au aratat ca simularea 3D a zonei neocorticale (cea mai complexa parte a creierului unui mamifer) la sobolani, progresul lor de pina acum, se comporta ca echivalentul sau biologic, informeaza publicatia „Technological Review“. In consecinta, cercetatorii preconizeaza ca intregul creier al unui mamifer poate fi complet modelat pe computer in urmatorii trei ani, in timp ce schema 3D completa a creierului uman ar mai avea de asteptat in jur de zece ani.

Proiectul a inceput cu scopul initial de a modela cei 10.000 de neuroni si cele 30 de milioane de conexiuni sinaptice ce formeaza neocortexul unui sobolan. Aceasta parte a creierului unui mamifer a fost aleasa pentru structura sa eterogena, ce consta in mai multe tipuri diferite de sinapse si canale ionice. „Nu are nici un rost sa visezi la modelarea creierului daca nu poti sa modelezi o mica parte a sa“, spune Henry Markram, codirector al institutului. Modelul zonei neocorticale a sobolanului a fost completat anul trecut, fiind bazat pe 15 ani de munca experimentala pe morfologia neuronala, expresia genica, conectivitatea sinaptica sau inregistrarile electrofiziologice ale acestei parti de creier.
Au fost configurate instrumente software pentru a procesa aceste informatii si pentru a reconstrui automat si cit mai precis din punct de vedere fiziologic modele 3D ale neuronilor si ale cone-xiunilor dintre ei.
Circuitele neuronale au fost testate apoi simulind anumiti stimuli si analizind comportamentul lor in comparatie cu cele biologice. Cind au dat peste parti ale creierului despre care nu stiau cum ar trebui sa se comporte, oamenii de stiinta s-au intors in laborator si s-au cufundat in experimente, cautind sa identifice comportamentele ce trebuiau reproduse. Prin testari repetate, simularea a fost rafinata pina la punctul in care Markram a fost convins ca are aceeasi conduita precum zona neocorticala reala.

Visul American se incheie

2007-12-05T21:20:00.000+02:00

Statele Unite, visul a milioane de imigranti sud-americani, se confrunta de cateva luni cu un fenomen nemaiintalnit: plecarea de bunavoie a strainilor, dezamagiti de conditiile economice precare si climatul politic ostil.

Potrivit cotidianului „New York Times”, numai in cursul ultimelor luni, sute de mii de brazilieni de clasa mijlocie au decis sa se intoarca acasa definitiv.

Tendinta este aceeasi pe intreg teritoriul SUA, desi principalele motive - teama de deportare silita si caderea economiei americane - fac obiectul unor importante variatii regionale, releva sursa citata.

Mai multe trenuri de calatori au inregistrat intarzieri pana la 120 de minute pe Valea Prahovei

2007-12-05T21:17:00.000+02:00

Mai multe trenuri de călători care circulau pe Valea Prahovei au înregistrat întârzieri de până la 120 de minute, din cauza unor copaci căzuţi pe liniile de contact, echipele de specialişti acţionând în continuare pentru rezolvarea situaţiei, a declarat, astazi, pentru NewsIn, directorul in cadrul CFR Calatori, Valentin Dorobanţu.

"În cursul nopţii de marţi spre miercuri, din cauza copacilor căzuţi peste liniile de contact, s-au înregistrat două incidente, între staţiile Predeal-Timişul de Sus, respectiv Câmpina-Breaza", a declarat Dorobanţu.

Potrivit acestuia, în jurul orei 23.30, şase trenuri de călători au rămas blocate între staţiile Predeal-Timişul de Sus, fiecare tren având întârzieri de până la 120 de minute fiecare. Dorobanţu a precizat că multe trenuri aveau vagoane de dormit, astfel încât călătorii "au fost afectaţi într-o mică măsură". În zona respectivă, situaţia a fost remediată miercuri dimineaţa, în jurul orei 6.00.

De asemenea, în zona Câmpina-Breaza, alte şase trenuri de călători au înregistrat întârzieri între 20 şi 40 de minute, din cauza copacilor căzuţi pe şine. În zona respectivă, echipele de intervenţie încearcă încă să remedieze situaţia.
[Sursa-www.rol.ro]

Inchirierea unui Mos Craciun costa intre 100 si 350 de lei pe ora

2007-12-05T21:04:00.000+02:00

Inchirierea unui Mos Craciun la evenimentele organizate de companii incepe sa devina o initiativa din ce in ce mai obisnuita, iar firmele cu astfel de oferte au deja comenzi pentru toata perioada sarbatorilor. Ofertele de inchirieri Mos Craciuni sau Craciunite sunt valabile pentru perioada 1 decembrie - 1 ianuarie, iar cele mai multe rezervari se fac pentru saptamana 19-26 decembrie.
Tarifele variaza in functie de perioada rezervata. Firma Rent-a-Santa, din Bucuresti, inregistreaza cele mai multe cereri pentru perioada 14-26 decembrie, iar acestea vin atat din partea firmelor si a gradinitelor, dar si a persoanelor fizice. Tariful standard este de 100 de lei pentru o ora. Acesta difera insa, in functie de perioada aleasa, astfel ca in perioada 19-26 decembrie este de 100 de lei pentru 40 de minute. Firma are un cor de colindatori, cinci Mos Craciuni, dintre care unul cu barba adevarata, a carui inchiriere costa cu 10 lei mai mult, si doua Craciunite, care pot fi inchiriate doar de catre firme.
Firma Improve It Group, tot din Bucuresti, are noua Mos Craciuni. Cele mai multe rezervari sunt inregistrate pentru perioada 14-27 decembrie. Tarifele sunt diferite, intre 200 de lei si 350 de lei, pentru 30-60 minute, in functie de perioada si serviciile cerute. Clientii care solicita aceste servicii sunt atat persoane fizice, cat si gradinite si firme. "Functionam de patru ani in acest domeniu si am reusit sa ne formam grupul nostru de clienti fideli, stim care este temperamentul fiecaruia si astfel alegem Mos Craciunul potrivit pentru fiecare client in parte. Unii vorbesc cu copiii, le spun poezii, impart cadouri, iar altii se implica in jocuri interactive sau karaoke", a spus Cristina Margine, administratorul firmei. Privit ca hobby sau ca un mijloc de a castiga in plus, Mos Craciunii sunt fie actori, medici, ingineri, fie studenti sau electricieni.
"Lucram in acest domeniu de doi ani, avem cereri atat din partea persoanelor fizice cat si a firmelor, unele organizeaza petreceri aniversare, altele organizeaza targuri de turism, iar cu fiecare an, cererile sunt mai multe si mai variate. Chiar daca este un job temporar, pot spune ca in acest domeniu cererile pe piata continua sa creasca. Anul acesta, pentru luna decembrie, avem rezervari in proportie de 80%", a mentionat Bogdan Balamat, administratorul firmei Rent-a-Santa. Agentia de publicitate Media Management din Bucuresti, are, la randul ei, in portofoliu, inchirierea de Mos Craciuni.
"Facem acest lucru de 11 ani si acum avem 10 Mos Craciuni si 20 de Craciunite, iar fiecare dintre ei participa la cel putin un eveniment pe zi in perioada sarbatorilor. Peste 60% din cereri vin din partea companiilor. Tariful de inchiriere este de 200 de lei pe ora", a afirmat Ioanid Apostol, directorul Media Management. In afara firmelor cu activitati in acest domeniu, sunt si persoane fizice care se ocupa cu inchirierea de Mos Craciuni.
Dan Corla, student din Cluj-Napoca, a deschis o firma al carei unic angajat este, dupa o experienta de trei ani ca Mos Craciun. Cele mai multe cereri vin din partea gradinitelor, circa 90%, dar sunt si persoane fizice care apeleaza la serviciile lui. Rezervarile se fac pentru perioada 1 decembrie-1 ianuarie, iar tarifele variaza intre 50 de lei si 130 de lei pe ora.
Zilele cele mai solicitate sunt 24 si 25 decembrie. "Cererile vin atat din partea persoanelor fizice, cat si a gradinitelor, iar tariful este de 50 de euro pentru 45-60 de minute. Pentru mine este un hobby, care a inceput in urma cu opt ani, cand obisnuiam sa ma costumez in Mos Craciun de sarbatori, pentru copiii mei. Ulterior, am observat ca piata a devenit receptiva si am hotarat sa merg mai departe. Acum intentionez sa deschid o firma", a spus Octavian Bernevic, din Bacau.
[Sursa-www.infoportal.ro]

Dan Iosif a incetat din viata

2007-12-05T20:49:00.000+02:00

Dan Iosif, unul dintre liderii revolutionarilor bucuresteni din decembrie 1989, consilier prezidential in timpul mandatului lui Ion Iliescu si parlamentar PSD, a murit, miercuri dimineata, din cauza unui cancer pulmonar de care suferea de mai multi ani.

Dan Iosif s-a nascut in 14 octombrie 1950, in sectorul 1 al Capitalei, era necasatorit si avea doi copii.

Intre 1967 si 1969 a urmat Scoala de maistri militari Sibiu si 12 clase la liceele IL Caragiale si George Calinescu.

Pana in 1900 a fost electronist, pana in 1992 senator, urmatorii patru ani consilier, intre 1996 si 2000 a fost sef de biroul senatorial, iar pana in 2004 consilier de stat. Din decembrie 2004, Dan Iosif a fost deputat ales pe listele Uniunii Nationale PSD-PUR. Dan Iosif a fost decorat cu Ordinul Serviciul Credincios in rang de Cavaler.

Trupul neinsufletit al lui Dan Iosif a fost depus la Casa de pompe funebre din Novosibirsk, urmand ca, dupa finalizarea formalitatilor de repatriere, sa fie adus in Romania cat mai rapid, cu o cursa charter, a declarat Dinu Pistolea, secretar I in Ambasada romana din Moscova.

Pistolea, care ocupa de asemenea functia de sef ad interim al sectiei consulare a declarat ca ambasada Romaniei la Moscova a luat legatura cu membrii familiei lui Dan Iosif, dintre care o parte se afla la Novosibirsk.

Intrebat daca familia acestuia a solicitat sprijinul ambasadei, Dinu Pistolea a spus ca a luat legatura cu familia, care si-a exprimat dorinta ca formalitatile pentru repatriere sa dureze cat mai putin si sa fie adus in Romania direct, cu o cursa charter.

Pistolea a spus ca deocamdata nu stie data la care Dan Iosif va fi repatriat, dar a precizat ca ambasada este in contact cu Casa de Pompe Funebre de la Novosibirsk. Reprezentantii Casei de Pompe Funebre nu au emis inca certificatul de deces al deputatului, a mai spus diplomatul roman.

Pistolea a dat asigurari ca atat ambasada, cat si sectia consulara depun toate diligentele pentru repatrierea cat mai rapida a lui Dan Iosif si, in cazul in care va fi necesar, un reprezentant al misiunii diplomatice se va deplasa imediat la Novosibirsk.
[Sursa-www.infoportal.ro]

Terminator plans videogame assault

2007-12-03T21:04:00.000+02:00

"The Terminator" will be back on video game consoles.
The Halcyon Co., which owns the rights to the "Terminator" movie franchise, is forming its own gaming subsidiary and making a game adaptation of the upcoming film "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" its first release.

The game, which will be available on all formats, including next-generation consoles, PC and mobile, is expected to hit the marketplace at the same time as the film, which is slated for release in summer 2009. (Christian Bale is in talks to star in the film, playing freedom-fighter John Connor.)

Peter Levin, the acting CEO of Halcyon Games, said the privately financed parent company opted to form its own game division rather that outsource the "Terminator" license in order "to control our own destiny."

Like a lot of blockbuster film franchises, "Terminator" has had its share of licensed games, most of which have done well in the marketplace. In May, Halcyon announced its acquisition of the franchise rights to "Terminator" from movie producers Andrew Vajna and Mario Kassar.
Development of the "Terminator" game has been under way for several months.

"Terminator" will not be the only franchise in the Halcyon Games stable. Halcyon created a splash this year when it secured first-look rights to the works for famed science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The Halcyon executives said they are looking at bringing out titles based on the Dick books beginning in 2010. Previous screen adaptations of Dick's work, including "Total Recall," "Minority Report," "A Scanner Darkly" and "Blade Runner," have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
[Source-news.yahoo.com

Stop animal abuse

2007-11-24T13:49:00.000+02:00

Stop torturing animals

Every year in September, a bull is tortured and killed during a fiesta called 'Toro de la Vega' in the Spanish town Tordesillas. Hundreds of agressive men on foot and on horse chase the bull and stab him with long lances, until he collapses. Then, they cut off his tail and testicles, after which he is killed.

What you see in that picture is a horse bleeding to death. It's happening in a city in Romania. He was hit by a car and his owner decided to kill him to get rid of him. The only way he could think of doing that, was by cutting its throat....This is happening in a European Union country that has absolutely no valid laws to protect animals from any form of cruelty or suffering. A country where people of all ages find pleasure and enjoyment in beating animals to death, burning them alive, cutting their throats or ripping their bellies.

A country where stray dogs are collected from the streets only to be killed by barbarian methods: locked in a cell and starved to death, gassed or poisoned. A country where thousands of cats and dogs are killed by speeding drivers or, even worse, injured in such a way that they are left paralyzed and die an agonizing death. A country where there are virtually no shelters for animals, and even the few that do exist are not supported in any way by the State.
The same State that doesn't do anything to punish such people as described above...

The worst that can happen in Romania to someone who hurts, tortures or kills an animal is to get a fine. That is, to pay a certain amount of money. In most cases, he will escape even that. Do you think that's fair? Is it possible to assess a life's worth in the amount of the fine??? Would you sleep better at night knowing that the country's budget is richer by a few dollars.... just because an animal died in horrible conditions?

The only way to change this is to pressure the Romanian Government to enforce a law to protect animals against all forms of abuse and torture ! A law to establish that any act of cruelty against animals is a crime!! A law to set forward tougher penalties! The people who do such things belong in jail, they shouldn't be left walking free in the streets. And not only because they might be a physical danger to us, but because they threaten and destroy the humanity in all of us. Because they alter our dignity as human beings. Because they are beasts and they make us participate in their horrible killings. Because if we do nothing against them, we are responsible too for the pain and suffering they cause!!
Please sign this petition and spread the word! Please help raise awareness about what is happening! Please help, in any way you can, to stop this!
Sign the petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-human-beasts-from-torturing-animala

Stop animal testing

A bunny, her eyes are taped wide open, and a stinging liquid (Laundry Detergent), is slowly dripped into her open eyes. The test was/is done to see how much laundry detergent is needed, before the animal goes blind, or her eyes are completely burned out. The test showed: Laundry detergent is damaging when splashed into eyes. Really? No way!
Remember the last time you accidentally splashed some water into your eyes, uncomfortable at best, right? Can’t imagine the pain that animal was in.

Animal abuse is not just the result of a minor personality flaw in the abuser but rather a symptom of a deep mental disturbance. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty toward animals don’t stop there; many of them move on to their fellow humans.

A study conducted by Northeastern University and the Massachusetts SPCA found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans. The majority of inmates scheduled to be executed for murder at California’s San Quentin penitentiary “practiced” their crimes on animals, according to the warden.

Many jurisdictions around the world have enacted statutes which forbid cruelty to some animals; for example, see Animal Protection Laws of the USA & Canada(2007) or Cruelty to Animals Acts in the United States (2001). These statutes provide minimum requirements for care and treatment of animals, but do not require optimal treatment or address issues of confinement, lack of environmental enrichments, or stress. They require that animals be provided shelter, food, water and medical treatment and that animals not be tortured, or killed in an inhumane manner. Some practices, even if controversial (such as treatment of rodeo and circus animals or medical research or animals deemed pests, including geese), are usually exempted from the enforcement of laws against cruelty.

Did you know?

That the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that only 10% of the 15,000 tigers in the U.S. are in professionally regulated zoos and sanctuaries. Add to that more than 5000 cougars and assorted other big cats and you start to see the enormity of the problem.

That there are only 23 sanctuaries that are accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries even though there are thousands of places that claim to be animal refuges.

There are only 1200-2000 tigers left in the wild due primarily to habitat loss and hunting. According to the World Wildlife Fund the tiger population has declined by as much as 95% in the past hundred years.

How to Promote & Advertise Your Business Online

2007-11-24T10:33:00.000+02:00

Learn how to promote your business online correctly yourself.

All you need is a computer,internet access and willingness to succeed in Business.

Here is a quick-guide to promote your business online.

Google AdWords

AdWords helps you target local online customers by setting the key words or phrases that pertain to your business and what you offer. The pay-per-click ads appear only when people search a particular city, state or region. There's no minimum spending requirement, so your daily budget is up to you.

Yahoo! Local Listings

Local Listings will promote your business to customers looking for information in Yahoo! Local. This is the 2nd largest search engine behind Google.

Craigslist

From Real Estate to Exercise Equipment, you can find it here locally. Craigslist gets an estimated 10 million unique visitors per day. With an online classified ad format organized by region or city, Craigslist connects buyers and sellers in more than 300 communities. Most postings are FREE.

YellowPages.com

YellowPages.com is a large online local directory site featuring city guides and advertising solutions.

CitySearch

CitySearch offers online advertising tools to easily open your account, manage your daily results and receive ad placement on MSN, Yahoo!, Google and Ask.com. This is similar to the idea of pay-per-click advertising. CitySearch offers two easy paid plans.

Ask.com's AskCity

On one screen, consumers can map a route, make dinner reservations, purchase movie tickets and e-mail plans to others. Pricing for advertising on Ask.com varies.

AOL's CityGuide

AOL's CityGuide specializes in providing local entertainment information to AOL service members. Advertising with AOL allows marketers to target consumers specifically by lifestyle and market.

MerchantCircle.com

This free site offers a local business listing service that allows you to better manage your online reputation and become more visible in search engine results.

Dotster

Dotster is a web domain registration and hosting company offering a local web advertising package called "Local Site Promotion." You set your monthly budget and Dotster will make your ad visible on all the major search engines.

Local.com

Advertising on Local.com will give you access to their 10 million-plus monthly customers. Choose from a free basic listing or pay-per-click options.

Froogle Local

Google's shopping search engine allows users to search for specific products by location. It's a great way for users to find retail stores regardless of whether you use e-commerce

RegisterLocal

RegisterLocal is a service, costing $199.95 per year, that allows you to create a master profile they submit to search engines and directories on your behalf.

TrueLocal

This local search engine features full-text searching and offers advertising opportunities for businesses. Currently indexing more than 13 million local businesses, TrueLocal starts at just $1 per month.

Web.com's MyEzClicks program

MyEzClicks lists your business on more than 30 major search engines, including Google, Yahoo! and MSN for a monthly fee.

New York City's murder rate may be lowest in 40 years

2007-11-24T10:18:00.000+02:00

The city is on track to have fewer than 500 murders in 2007, the lowest amount in a 12-month period in more than 40 years, according to a published report Thursday.

New York City's murder rate is on track to be the lowest in more than 40 years.

There were 427 murders logged as of Monday -- 411 killings plus 16 crime victims who died this year from injuries they got years ago, The New York Times reported on its Web site. That makes the city's average slightly more than one per day.

Last year, the city reported 579 homicides through December 24 -- a nearly 10 percent increase from the year before.

The city's homicide rate reached an all-time high of 2,245 in 1990, making it the murder capital of the nation. Since then, the rate has plummeted to levels not seen since the 1960s. There were 570 homicides in 2004, dropping to 539 in 2005.

This year, police have determined a relationship between the victim and assailant in nearly half of the slayings committed as of November 18, The Times reported. The motives in the remainder of the killings were still being analyzed.

The majority died in disputes with acquaintances, rival drug crew members or spouses and family.

Police department analysts found only 35 cases where the victim did not know the killer, as compared to 121 instances last year, officials said, according to The Times.

In the first half of 2007, New York City had a 5 percent decline in violent crimes, 23,887, down from 25,132. The city also had a 4 percent drop in property crimes for the first half of the year, according to a recent state report.
[Source- http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/11/23/newyork.homicide.ap/index.html ]

Web advertising to come under EU scrutiny

2007-11-23T22:46:00.000+02:00

Targeted online advertising is set to face increased scrutiny from European Union regulators concerned about invasion of privacy, threatening the growth of a potentially big online revenue-booster for media companies.

"This is a very hot topic that can be expected to be part of our work program next year," Gabriele Loewnau, a senior legal adviser for the German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, said on Friday.

The German commissioner currently heads the European Union's advisory body on data protection matters, the so-called Article 29 Working Party.

Recommendations from the working party have been used by the European Commission to get Google to curtail the amount of time it stored past Web searches to 18 months.

When an individual makes an online search or purchase, the computer can remember the entry through so-called cookies and pass on the information to advertisers.

"Targeted advertising will become a major tool for us, it will irrigate various parts of the group and help increase our average revenue per user," Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of telecoms and media group Vivendi, told a telecoms conference in Montpellier last week.

Brussels' heightened awareness comes as more than 13,000 Facebook users have signed a petition protesting against the networking site's new advertising system which alerts members of friends' purchases online.

Members can opt for their transactions to be kept private but critics say the option is easily missed.

Some Facebook members have even threatened to leave, complaining the new system allowed their friends to find out what they were planning to give them for Christmas. The Facebook petition was led by the U.S. civic action group MoveOn.org.

"Sites like Facebook are revolutionizing how we communicate with each other in a 21st century democracy," said Adam Green, a spokesman for MoveOn.org Civic Action.

"But we need to make sure they place the needs and privacy rights of their users ahead of the needs of corporate advertisers," he said in an e-mailed statement.

Facebook says it spares no effort in respecting members' privacy and stresses they can always prevent their purchases from being passed on to friends.

FAST GROWING

Online advertising is the fastest-growing segment of the ad industry, gaining more than 25 percent a year, or more than five times the recent average annual growth all media included.

Between 6-7 percent of advertising is spent on the Internet globally, analysts estimate.

Internet giants including Google, its YouTube division, Yahoo, and MySpace have all said they were keen to develop targeted advertising to boost revenues. But a balance would have to be struck with privacy, analysts say.

"Online sites have to make sure they are not intruding people's privacy, otherwise targeted advertising will backfire," said Vincent Bonneau from French telecoms research group Idate.

YouTube introduced in August a new type of targeted advertising - banners that pop-up at the bottom of videos. The ads target consumers according to the content viewed.

"It will be a significant booster to the business. We will be able to charge more for that," Patrick Walker, director of video partnerships at YouTube for Europe told Reuters last week.

But if targeted advertising is regarded as the next big thing, media specialists say there are few statistics available on its effectiveness and it is still traffic that counts.

[Source-http://news.yahoo.com/ ]

Why Men Are Happier Than Women

2007-11-11T13:22:00.000+02:00

1. We keep our last name.

2. The garage is all ours.

3. Wedding plans take care of themselves.

4. Chocolate is just another snack.

5. We can be president.

6. We can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.

7. Car mechanics tell us the truth.

8. The world is our urinal.

9. We never have to drive to another gas station because this one's just too icky.

10. Same work, more pay.

11. Wrinkles add character.

12. Wedding dress - $5000; tux rental - $100.

13. People never stare at our chest when we're talking to them.

14. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.

15. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle our feet.

16. One mood, ALL the time.

17. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.

18. We know stuff about tanks.

19. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.

20. We can open all our own jars.

21. We get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

22. If someone forgets to invite us, he or she can still be our friend.

23. Our underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.

24. Everything on our face stays its original color.

25. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.

26. We don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

27. We almost never have strap problems in public.

28. We are unable to see wrinkles in our clothes.

29. The same hair style lasts for years, maybe decades.

30. We don't have to shave below our neck.

31. Our belly usually hides our big hips.

32. One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.

33. We can "do" our nails with a pocket-knife.

34. We have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

35. We can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives, on December 24, in 45 minutes.

What is MRSA?

2007-11-11T10:27:00.000+02:00

Q:What is MRSA?

A:MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a type of ''staph'' bacterial infection that is resistant to usual antibiotics.

Q:How dangerous is it?

A:MRSA infections can range from mild skin infections to more severe infections of the bloodstream, lungs and surgical wounds.

A report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month found that MRSA caused more than 94,000 life-threatening infections and 18,650 deaths in the United States in 2005.

Attention to the disease has increased since the deaths of a 17-year-old in Virginia and a 12-year-old in Brooklyn, N.Y., were blamed on MRSA infections.

Q:Who's at risk?

A:Most cases (about 85 percent) occur during hospital stays. Rates of infection are highest among people 65 or older. African-Americans are affected at twice the rate of whites.

Besides hospital patients and nursing-home residents, athletes are at high risk because of skin-to-skin contact in games and practices.

Q:How is MRSA transmitted?

A:It can be spread through skin-to-skin contact with someone who carries the bacteria or has an active infection. It also can be spread indirectly through shared items, such as towels, razors, clothing or athletic equipment. MRSA is not spread by coughing or sneezing.

Q:When should I be concerned that a skin lesion is MRSA?

A:If a pimple-like lesion, boil, infected hair follicle or suspected insect bite progresses to a painful, swollen, reddened area, contact your doctor.

Q: Should schools close if a student or staff member is diagnosed with MRSA?

A: No, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Closing schools has not been found to reduce the spread of MRSA from one person to another.

Q:What should schools do?

A:Hand-washing is the most effective method of infection control for MRSA, as well as for the common cold and influenza, the state health department says. Schools should allow time for frequent and thorough hand-washing by students and staff members.

Waterless hand sanitizers can be used as an alternative if soap and water are not available.

Other suggestions by the state for schools:

Students with MRSA infections should not be excluded from attending school unless the wound cannot be covered and contained with a clean, dry bandage.

Students or staff members who have severely compromised immune systems should not share a classroom with a person who has an active MRSA infection.

Students with open wounds should not use whirlpools, hydro-therapy pools, cold tubs, swimming pools and other common tubs.

Routine cleaning of classrooms and common areas helps to prevent the spread of all potential infections, including MRSA. Special attention should be given to surfaces and equipment that students and staff members touch with their hands, such as light switches, door handles, desks, tables and keyboards. If contamination of a surface with MRSA bacteria has occurred, clean the area using household bleach diluted 1:100 with water.

Q:How is MRSA treated?

A:Although MRSA is resistant to some antibiotics — including methicillin, oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin — it can be treated with antibiotics.

If given an antibiotic, you should take all the doses — even if the infection is getting better — unless your doctor tells you to stop taking it.

However, many staph skin infections may be treated by draining the abscess and may not require antibiotics.

[Source-http://www.ohio.com ]

Pulitzer winner Norman Mailer dead at 84

2007-11-11T10:13:00.000+02:00

Norman Mailer, the pugnacious prince of American letters who for decades reigned as the country's literary conscience and provocateur with such books as "The Naked and the Dead" and "The Executioner's Song," has died at the age of 84.

Mailer died Saturday of acute renal failure at Mount Sinai Hospital, J. Michael Lennon, the author's literary executor and biographer, said.

"He was a great American voice," said a tearful Joan Didion, author of "The Year of Magical Thinking" and other works, struggling for words upon learning of Mailer's death.

From his classic debut novel to such masterworks of literary journalism as "The Armies of the Night," the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner always got credit for insight, passion and originality.

Some of his works were highly praised, some panned, but none was pronounced the Great American Novel that seemed to be his life quest from the time he soared to the top as a brash 25-year-old "enfant terrible."

Mailer built and nurtured an image over the years as bellicose, street-wise and high-living. He drank, fought, smoked pot, married six times and stabbed his second wife, almost fatally, during a drunken party.

He had nine children, made a quixotic bid to become mayor of New York City on a "left conservative" platform, produced five forgettable films, dabbled in journalism, flew gliders, challenged professional boxers, was banned from a Manhattan YWHA for reciting obscene poetry, feuded publicly with writer Gore Vidal and crusaded against women's liberation.

Mailer had numerous minor run-ins with the law, usually for being drunk or disorderly, but was also jailed briefly during the Pentagon protests in the late 1960s. While directing the film "Maidstone" in 1968, the self-described "old club fighter" punched actor Lane Smith, breaking his jaw, and bit actor Rip Torn's ear in another scuffle.

But as Newsweek reviewer Raymond Sokolov said in 1968, "In the end, it is the writing that will count."

Mailer, he wrote, possessed "a superb natural style that does not crack under the pressures he puts upon it, a talent for narrative and characters with real blood streams and nervous systems, a great openness and eagerness for experience, a sense of urgency about the need to test thought and character in the crucible of a difficult era."

Norman Mailer was born Jan. 31, 1923, in Long Branch, N.J. His father, Isaac, a South Africa-born accountant, and mother, Fanny, who ran a housekeeping and nursing agency, soon moved to Brooklyn.

Mailer earned an engineering science degree in 1943 from Harvard University, where he decided to become a writer, and was soon drafted into the Army. Sent to the Philippines as an infantryman, he saw enough of soldiering to provide a basis for his first book, "The Naked and the Dead," published in 1948 while he was a postgraduate student in Paris.

The book became a best seller, and Mailer returned home to find himself anointed the new Hemingway, Dos Passos and Melville.

Buoyed by instant literary celebrity, Mailer embraced the early 1950s counterculture, defining "hip" in his essay "The White Negro," allying himself with Beat Generation gurus Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and writing social and political commentary for the Village Voice, which he helped found. He also churned out two more novels, "Barbary Shore" (1951) and "Deer Park" (1955), neither embraced kindly by readers or critics.

Mailer turned reporter to cover the 1960 Democratic Party convention for Esquire and later claimed, with typical hubris, that his piece, "Superman Comes to the Supermarket," had made the difference in John F. Kennedy's razor-thin margin of victory over Republican Richard M. Nixon.

While Life magazine called his next book, "An American Dream" (1965), "the big comeback of Norman Mailer," the author-journalist was chronicling major events of the day: an anti-war march on Washington, the 1968 political conventions, the Ali-Patterson fight, an Apollo moon shot.

His 1968 account of the peace march on the Pentagon, "The Armies of the Night," won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and was listed in the top 20 on a 1999 New York University survey of 100 examples of the best journalism of the century.

When he covered the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago for Harper's magazine, Mailer was torn between keeping to a tight deadline or joining the anti-war protests that led to a violent police crackdown. "I was in a moral quandary. I didn't know if I was being scared or being professional," he later testified in the trial of the so-called Chicago Seven.

Jorge Herralde, editor of Mailer's Spanish publishers, Anagrama, said Saturday that Mailer was a titan of literature who, like Kafka, was never awarded a Nobel prize. "He surely had too excessive a profile for that award," Herralde said.

Mailer's personal life was as turbulent as the times in which he lived. In 1960, at a party at his Brooklyn Heights home, he stabbed his second wife, Adele Morales, with a knife. She declined to press charges, and it was not until 1997 that she revealed in her memoir how close she had come to dying.

His other wives were: Beatrice Silverman, Lady Jeanne Campbell, Beverly Bentley, Carol Stevens and Norris Church. He had five daughters, three sons and a stepson.

"He had such a compendious vision of what it meant to be alive. He had serious opinions on everything there was to have an opinion on, and everything he had was so original," friend William Kennedy, author of "Ironweed."

Mailer's suspicion of technology — "insidious, debilitating and depressing" — was so deep that while most writers used typewriters or computers, he wrote with a pen, some 1,500 words a day. In a 1971 magazine piece about the new women's liberation movement, Mailer equated the dehumanizing effect of technology with what he said was feminists' need to abolish the mystery, romance and "blind, goat-kicking lust" from sex.

Time magazine said the broadside should "earn him a permanent niche in their pantheon of male chauvinist pigs."

"He could do anything he wanted to do — the movie business, writing, theater, politics," author Gay Talese said Saturday. "He never thought the boundaries were restricted. He'd go anywhere and try anything. He was a courageous person, a great person, fully confident, with a great sense of optimism."

In "Advertisements for Myself" (1959), Mailer promised to write the greatest novel yet, but later conceded he had not. Among other notable works: "Cannibals and Christians" (1966); "Why Are We in Vietnam?" (1967); and "Miami and the Siege of Chicago" (1968).

"The Executioner's Song" (1979), an epic account of the life and death of petty criminal Gary Gilmore, won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. "Ancient Evenings" (1983), a novel of ancient Egypt that took 11 years to complete, was critically panned.

"Tough Guys Don't Dance" (1984) became a 1987 film. Some critics found "Harlot's Ghost" (1991), a novel about the CIA, surprisingly sympathetic, considering Mailer's left-leaning past. In 1997, he came out with "The Gospel According to the Son," a novel told from Jesus Christ's point of view. The following year, he marked his 75th birthday with the epic-length anthology "The Time of Our Time."

Mailer lived for decades in a Brooklyn Heights town house with a view of New York harbor and lower Manhattan from the rooftop "crow's nest," and kept a home in Provincetown, Mass., where he spent increasing time in his later years.

Despite heart surgery, hearing loss and arthritic knees that forced him to walk with canes, Mailer retained his enthusiasm for writing and in early 2007 released "The Castle in the Forest," a novel about Hitler's early years. "On God: An Uncommon Conversation," came out in the fall.

In 2005, Mailer received a gold medal for lifetime achievement at the National Book Awards, where he deplored what he called the "withering" of general interest in the "serious novel." Authors like himself, he said often, had become anachronisms as people focused on television and young writers aspired to screenwriting or journalism.
[Source-http://news.yahoo.com/]

The iPhone Invades Europe

2007-11-10T19:33:00.000+02:00

Apple's knack for generating fanatical customer loyalty was clearly on display in London Nov. 9, as a line of plucky fans braved inclement British weather outside the company's Regent Street store. They wanted to be the first to get their hands on the iPhone, which finally launched that day in Britain and Germany.

Bracing himself against the cold, student John MacGregor, 23, says he has been looking forward to the iPhone's British launch since the device was first unveiled in January, 2007. "There's nothing quite like it out there at the moment," he says.

Despite the hoopla surrounding the iPhone—more than 1.4 million units already have been sold in the U.S.—Apple's bid to grab a share of the European mobile-phone market is no sure bet. The European market is home to well-entrenched locals Nokia (NOK) and Sony Ericsson, which enjoy dominant market share and offer their own multimedia music phones. European consumers also could turn up their noses at a phone that, despite its groundbreaking user interface, offers lesser specifications and slower data speeds than some of its rivals.

Exclusive Deals Signed
"European users have higher expectations for mobile phones than their U.S. counterparts," says Aleksandra Bosnjak, media and technology analyst at StrategyEye Digital Media in London. "The iPhone is a great product, but in terms of full functionality [for the European market], it still has a long way to go."

That hasn't stopped Britain's O2 (TEF) and Germany's T-Mobile (DT) from signing exclusive deals with Apple (AAPL) to offer the iPhone to their domestic customers. In Britain, subscribers will have to pay between $74 and $115 per month for an 18-month contract, while in Germany, customers must fork over $72 to $130 per month for a two-year contract.

Such figures are in addition to the cost of the iPhone handset—which is itself a radical departure for the European market, where most phones are heavily subsidized by operators. British and German customers must pay $565 and $439, respectively, for the iPhone, compared with $399 for U.S. consumers.

Dead-Simple Operation
"The handset price could be an issue because people don't usually pay for their phones," says Jonathan Arber, analyst at telecom consultanncy Ovum in Britain. "Apple is banking on the cachet of its product to overcome the extra cost."

The question is whether buyers will opt for specs or coolness. Nokia's N95, for example, sports a 5-megapixel camera, vs. the iPhone's 2-megapixel offering. The Sony Ericsson W960 handset can download data over speedy third-generation (3G) networks, whereas the iPhone runs only on a souped-up second-generation technology called EDGE. But no other phone on the market today has the iPhone's touch-screen technology and dead-simple operation.

Another issue for Apple will be prying customers away from existing contracts and phones. According to mobile market researcher M:Metrics, a third of people who express interest in buying an iPhone already own a 3G phone, while 40% of potential buyers already have a phone with a 2-megapixel or above camera.

[Source-http://www.businessweek.com]

Oil prices rise to record above $98 a barrel

2007-11-07T18:07:00.000+02:00

Record oil prices edged closer to $100 a barrel Wednesday amid expectations of declining U.S. supplies. The weak dollar and OPEC's apparent reluctance to pump more crude into the market also boosted prices.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery surged $1.24 to $97.94 a barrel by midday in Europe after earlier reaching a record $98.62 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract hit a high of $97.10 Tuesday before closing at $96.70 a barrel, a record settlement 66% higher than the closing price on the first trading day of the year.

In London, Brent crude rose $1.29 to $94.55 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. A number of North Sea oil platforms were evacuated Tuesday ahead of expected severe weather, and BP said it expects to shut production Thursday from its Valhall oil and gas field.

Traders remain worried about whether supplies will be adequate to meet demand for heating fuel in the approaching Northern Hemisphere winter. News of an attack Monday on an oil pipeline in Yemen added to those concerns.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Wednesday | LONDON | Vienna | Singapore | OPEC | Victor Shum

"The oil market sentiment remains bullish ... there is an overall upward trend toward the $100 level," said Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "Meanwhile, we can expect extreme volatility where on the one hand some traders will take profit while others will buy back positions."

Global Insight energy analyst Simon Wardell was even more unequivocal.

"The run on $100 ... (a barrel) now seems inevitable," he said in a research note. "In the short term all eyes will be fixed on the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration ... inventory data."

Those figures to be released later Wednesday are expected to show crude supplies dropped last week. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires predict, on average, that crude oil inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels.

"The price rise is really driven by expectations of drawdowns in crude oil and distillate stocks inventories in the U.S. inventory report," said Shum. "Some cold weather reports out of the U.S. and Europe serve as a reminder that winter is coming and that there are still supply concerns."

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration said oil stocks in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are forecast to fall this winter, ending the year at the lowest level since January 2005.

In London, International Energy Agency head Nobuo Tanaka said he shared those concerns.

"Stocks (oil in storage) provide an important cushion between supply and demand," he told reporters. "They add supply side flexibility, reduce volatility and minimize the incentive for speculation.

"At current prices the market is signaling that (oil reserves) need to be higher — something that is in the power of producers to address.

"In the longer term, there is little doubt that both producers and consumers share the responsibility to ensure more investment in supply and greater effort to improve energy efficiency."

According to the Paris-based IEA, consumers and governments globally are currently doing too little to improve energy supply security and cut pollution. In its annual outlook for energy through 2030, the agency said the next 10 years are critical for governments globally to address these challenges as energy demand surges in the booming economies of China and India.

Continuing strong global oil demand and lower-than-expected output from countries outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will put more reliance on supplies from OPEC and global inventories, the U.S. EIA said in its short-term outlook.

Any reduction in oil inventories is likely due to a suspension of output at Mexico's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, a major crude exporter to the United States, which temporarily shut its ports last week due to severe weather.

The weak U.S. dollar, which fell to another new low against the euro Wednesday, is also lifting oil prices. Oil futures offer a hedge against a weak dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.

OPEC — supplier of about 40% of the globe's crude — appeared unimpressed. In Vienna, PVM Oil Associates noted that — despite record prices — OPEC "has not shown any intention of increasing supplies on top of the 5,000,000 b/d (barrel a day) hike, which became effective at the beginning of this month."

Heating oil futures added 2.56 cents to $2.6334 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices rose 2.02 cents to $2.4552 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 4.7 cents to $7.910 per 1,000 cubic feet.

[Source-http://www.usatoday.com ]

Tips: How to Gesture Effectively

2007-11-03T09:57:00.000+02:00

Gestures are reflections of every speaker's individual personality. What's right for one speaker may not be right for another; however, the following six rules apply to anyone who seeks to become a dynamic effective speaker.

1. Respond naturally to what you think, feel, and see. - It's natural for you to gesture, and it's unnatural for you not to. If you inhibit your impulse to gesture, you will probably become tense.

2. Create the condition for gesturing, not the gesture - When you speak, you should be totally involved in communicating-not thinking about your hands. Your gestures should be motivated by the content of your presentation.

3. Suit the action to the word and the occasion - Your visual and verbal messages must function as partners in communicating the same thought or feeling. Every gesture you make should be purposeful and reflective of your words so the audience will note only the effect, not the gesture itself. Don't overdo the gesturing. You'll draw the listener away from your message. Young audiences are usually attracted to a speaker who uses vigorous gestures, but older, more conservative groups may feel irritated or threatened by a speaker whose physical actions are overwhelming.

4. Make your gestures convincing - Your gestures should be lively and distinct if they are to convey the intended impressions. Effective gestures are vigorous enough to be convincing yet slow enough and broad enough to be clearly visible without being overpowering.

5. Make your gestures smooth and well timed - Every gesture has three parts:

The Approach - Your body begins to move in anticipation.
The Stroke - The gesture itself.
The Return - This brings your body back to a balanced posture.
The flow of a gesture - the approach, the stroke, the return-must be smoothly executed so that only the stroke is evident to the audience. While it is advisable to practice gesturing, don't try to memorize your every move. This makes your gesturing stilted and ineffective. The last rule is perhaps the most important but also the hardest.

6. Make natural, spontaneous gesturing a habit- The first step in becoming adept at gesturing is to determine what, if anything, you are doing now. The best way to discover this is to videotape yourself. The camcorder is completely truthful and unforgiving. If you want to become a better speaker, you need to make the camcorder your best friend.

Videotape yourself and identify your bad habits, then work at eliminating them, one at a time. You will need to continue to record yourself and evaluate your progress if you expect to eliminate all your distracting mannerisms.

To improve gestures, practice - but never during a speech. Practice gesturing while speaking informally to friends, family member, and coworkers.

[Source-http://www.ljlseminars.com]

Climate affects security

2007-11-03T09:49:00.000+02:00

Climate change could be one of the greatest national security challenges ever faced by U.S. policy makers, according to a new joint study by two U.S. think tanks.

The report, to be released Monday, raises the threat of dramatic population migrations, wars over water and resources, and a realignment of power among nations.

During the last two decades, climate scientists have underestimated how quickly the Earth is changing — perhaps to avoid being branded as "alarmists," the study said. But policy planners should count on climate-induced instability in critical parts of the world within 30 years.

The report was compiled by a panel of security and climate specialists, sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security. The Associated Press received an advance copy.

Climate change is likely to breed new conflicts, but it already is magnifying existing problems, from the desertification of Darfur and competition for water in the Middle East to the disruptive monsoons in Asia which increase the pressure for land, the report said.

It examined three scenarios, ranging from the consequences of an expected temperature increase of 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040, to the catastrophic implications of a 10-degree rise by the end of the century.

At the very least, the report said, the U.S. can expect more population migrations, both internally and from across its borders; a proliferation of diseases; greater conflict in weak states, especially in Africa where climates will change most drastically; and a restructuring in global power in line with the accessibility of natural resources.

Left unchecked, "the collapse and chaos associated with extreme climate change futures would destabilize virtually every aspect of modern life," said the report, comparing the potential outcome with the Cold War doomsday scenarios of a nuclear holocaust.

"Climate change has the potential to be one of the greatest national security challenges that this or any other generation of policy makers is likely to confront," said the report.

Among its contributors were former CIA director James Woolsey, Nobel laureate Thomas Schelling, National Academy of Sciences President Ralph Cicerone, President Bill Clinton's former chief of staff John Podesta and former Vice President Al Gore's security adviser Leon Fuerth.

The report listed 10 implications of climate change that policy makers should consider, including rising tensions between rich and poor nations, the backlash resulting from massive migrations, health problems partly caused by water shortages and crop failures, and concerns over nuclear proliferation as nations increasingly rely on nuclear energy.

The global balance of power will shift unpredictably as trade patterns change, it said. China's importance in the climate equation will grow as it increases emissions of greenhouse gases, and Russia's influence will increase alongside its exports of natural gas, the report said.

Attention began to focus earlier this year on the strategic consequences of climate change. But the latest report, more than 100 pages long, is among the most detailed analyses published so far on security aspects.

Last April, a a panel of retired top-ranking military officers issued the alarm that global warming was a "serious security threat" likely to aggravate terrorism and world instability.

The Office of the National Intelligence Director said the following month it has begun working on an assessment of the national security implications of climate change.

[Source-http://news.yahoo.com]

Plan would limit tracking of web surfing

2007-10-31T17:31:00.000+02:00

A coalition of privacy groups Wednesday called for creation of a "Do Not Track List," that would prohibit advertisers from tracking online movements of consumers.

Similar to the popular Do Not Call telephone lists, the Internet proposal comes as online advertising revenues are growing rapidly, providing critical revenue to startups and Web giants such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Online ad revenue is forecast to more than double to $44 billion in 2011 from $17 billion in 2006, according to eMarketer.com.

Computer users should be notified when their Web surfing is tracked by online advertisers and Web publishers, argue the Consumer Federation of America, the World Privacy Forum and the Center for Democracy and Technology, among other groups in a coalition promoting the idea.
Rather than burying privacy policies in fine print, companies should also disclose them more fully and provide easier ways to opt out, the groups said.

The organizations submitted the proposals to the Federal Trade Commission, ahead of the consumer watchdog agency's workshop on Nov. 1-2 to study the increasing use of tracking technology to target online ads.

The issue arose during recent congressional hearings on Google's $3.1 billion bid to buy DoubleClick Inc., which places and tracks online ads.

Industry representatives say targeting means users are more likely to see ads for products they are interested in, rather than random ads.

Consumer groups counter that companies such as DoubleClick collect vast amounts of data on Web users that amount to a potential privacy threat.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the San Diego-based World Privacy Forum, added that the practice could lead to price discrimination. For example, lower-income Web surfers might receive higher interest-rate mortgage or other loan offers than what higher-income consumers receive.
Other advocates warn that the collected data is vulnerable to hackers and other security breaches, not to mention possible government agency efforts to subpoena the information.
AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc., said Wednesday it will begin a consumer-awareness campaign and provide customers more information about targeted advertising.
The campaign, which includes millions of clickable banner ads on the practice and the opportunity for consumers to opt-out of Web tracking, AOL officials said.

AOL also said it will expand the use of extended opt-out technology, developed by Tacoda, an online ad company AOL bought earlier this year
Currently, if users choose to opt-out from online ad tracking, a cookie, or small piece of software, is placed on their browser reflecting that choice.
But if users delete their cookies, then the opt-out is lost. AOL's technology would enable the opt-out cookie to reset after cookies are deleted.
The technology amounts to a "de facto do not track list," Polonetsky said, adding:"We want to make the opt-out process as simple and transparent as possible," said Jules Polonetsky, chief privacy officer at AOL.

[Source-http://news.yahoo.com]

Uruguay buys first '$100 laptops'

2007-10-30T12:24:00.000+02:00

The first official order for the so-called "$100 laptop" has been placed by the government of Uruguay.

The South American country has bought 100,000 of the machines for schoolchildren aged six to 12.

A further 300,000 may be purchased to provide a machine for every child in the country by 2009.

The order will be a boost for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organisation behind the project which has admitted difficulties getting concrete orders.

"I have to some degree underestimated the difference between shaking the hand of a head of state and having a cheque written," Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the organisation, recently told the New York Times.

However, he said he was "delighted" with the first deal.

"We commend Uruguay for being the first country to take concrete actions to provide laptops to all its children and teachers and look forward to other countries following this example," he said.

[Source-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7068084.stm ]

No credit card, no iPhone

2007-10-29T20:33:00.000+02:00

People looking to walk into an Apple retailer and buy an iPhone with cash will be out of luck. The company is now accepting only credit or debit card payments for the devices so they can track who purchases the phone, according to an employee at the Apple Store in New York's SoHo neighborhood.

The new policy is Apple's attempt to prevent people from purchasing and then unlocking and reselling iPhones, a situation that has been a problem for the company. Apple won't let anyone without a credit card or debit card in their name purchase iPhones, according to an unidentified Apple Store employee in a phone interview.

"We need to track the purchases of the iPhone [because] we have people buying the phones, unlocking the phones and selling them," she said.

A report by the Associated Press last week said Apple was limiting the purchases to two devices and allowing users to purchase them only with credit or debit cards. According to store employees, the two-device limit has always been in place, but the noncash policy is new.

Apple's public relations team did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the new policy. However, it's no secret the company is trying to stem the tide of unlocked and resold phones, now totaling about 250,000. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook mentioned that number last week in a quarterly results conference call as the difference between the number of handsets sold -- approximately 1.4 million -- and those actually connecting via AT&T Wireless, the iPhone's exclusive U.S. carrier.

If one analyst's estimate is correct, those unlocked phones are costing Apple millions of dollars. Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster said that he believes Apple receives US$18 per iPhone per month from AT&T Wireless, based on iPhone-related revenue Apple reported in its latest quarterly earnings , totaling more than $4.5 million in lost revenue.
[Source-http://news.yahoo.com]

Strange USB Gadgets

2007-10-28T18:22:00.000+02:00

1.The USB Powered Missile Launcher
Is your neighbor in the cubicle next door driving you nuts with his constant off-key humming of "Sweet Child of Mine?" Maybe you have a stalker that likes to sneak up behind you and breathe heavily until you agree to notice him? Imagine the satisfaction you will get by pelting them with your little foam rockets from hell.

2.ThinkGeek USB Snowbot
Along the same vein as the popular seasonal creation the USB Christmas Tree, the ThinkGeek USB Snowbot ranks highly on the strange but cool scale due to its very Battlestar Galactica style scanning eyeball. Imagine walking into a dark room this Christmas and seeing this thing staring back at you with that sinister red eye and otherworldly noises. Merry Christmas human, you will be assimilated!

3.USB self destruction button
Why on earth would you want a USB powered self destruction button? You can read that it can be used to block access to certain applications. Ok. That’s really neat. This one is so weird that I don’t even know how it’s supposed to be used. It’s definitely worth a place on this list.