The Inquisitr

Your Google PageRank may soon depend how fast your site loads – Why?

Steven Hodson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:52:20 +0000

Google has been making a lot of news over the past while about how it wants to help speed up the web; and as nice as that might be it has gotten more than a few people wondering why.

This last week saw the announcement that the company was working on a new protocol that would sit on top of the standard HTTP protocol. The idea behind SPDY is to help reduce latency and make the overall page surfing experience a little faster.

Not long after that Google’s Matt Cutts has an interview with Mike McDonald from WebProNews were Matt lets the world know that Google is seriously looking at making the page load time a part of the algorithm used to calculate a web site’s PageRank. The idea being that the faster your site loads the better that will affect your overall score as calculated by Google and the better placement you’ll have in search results.

Interesting idea – except why is there this sudden concern with how fast pages load?

Granted we all have heard about how fanatical Google can be about page load times since the faster their pages load the more searches they can deliver. On the flip side however there is the time that it takes for the Google crawlers to index, and update, all that data out there. In this aspect of the search game they are often at the mercies of the designers of websites.

So if Google can get everyone to do everything they can to make their pages load faster it means that Google’s crawlers can do their job in the fraction of the time thus saving Google an incredible amount of money. Of course it benefits site owners as well to do what they can to increase page load speed but is Google’s rewarding faster loading sites with a better rank the right way to do this?

Douglas Karr from Marketing Tech Blog doesn’t think so and he goes as far as to suggest that this is leaning to being evil.

So, as one of the wealthiest companies in the world, Google is beginning to drop the hint… hard. Make your sites faster and we’ll reward you with better ranking. This is fantastic for companies with the infrastructure, capacity and resources… but what happens to the little guy? How does a small personal blog hosted on GoDaddy for a few dollars compete with a company hosted on a platform that costs thousands of dollars with loadsharing, caching, web acceleration or cloud technologies?

In my humble opinion, I think it leans the evil side. Let’s break it down:

The web is becoming more complex.

This requires Google to advance its technologies.

That costs Google more money.

The alternative is penalizing sites that perform slowly, requiring them to spend more and speed up their sites, reducing Google’s costs.

That doesn’t make good PR, though.

Instead, Google does it in under the auspices of enhancing the web experience.

It’s not about you and me. It’s about Google’s bottom line.

Personally I think Douglas makes a valid point and one well worth thinking about.

Best Buy Black Friday Ad 2009, Plenty Of Goodies For Techies

James Allen Johnson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:48:46 +0000

In my opinion the best Black Friday sale every year comes from the folks at Best Buy. Typically their electronics are sold at ridiculously low pricing and what tech/gadget lover wouldn’t love a sale devoted to high end, yet low price electronics. Here’s a look at some of the top offerings in the Best Buy Black Friday Ad for 2009, both for online and in-store customers.

With 272 items to choose from the Best Buy Black Friday Ad is huge, however there are some deals that really stuck out, such as the Samsung 46″ 1080P 120Hz LED HDTV, offered as a doorbuster sale for $1599.99. Gamers can also pick up the 120GB Sony PS3, with the Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank games for $299.99.

The Canon EOS Rebel T1i D-SLR Camera with the 18-55mm IS Lens is also being offered for $699.99, while not the lowest priced item to procure, it’s still a great deal on a phenomenal DSLR.

The electronics chain is also offering a Garmin Nuvi 205W GPS for $99.99 and that price gets you a widescreen display, voice by voice instructions and plenty of Points of Interest (POIs).

If laptops are more up your alley you can take advantage of the Compaq Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory and a 160GB Hard Drive for $179.99. It may not offer the fastest processor but the price is right. An upgrade to a 250GB unit is also available at $229.99

If you’re more in the mood for a Blu-Ray player they also have several models on sale, the best deal of which is the Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Disc Player for only $149.99 which is a steal for such a great high definition player.

Those are some of my personal favorite offerings from the company, however with nearly 300 items set for Black Friday you’ll definitely want to keep your eyes peeled to your local paper for the companies full spread.

UFC 105 Couture vs. Vera Results

Duncan Riley — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:55:09 +0000

UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera saw the wildly popular UFC head across the pond to Manchester, England Saturday evening.

If you don’t want to know the UFC 105 Results, our standard disclosure: don’t read on from this point. UFC 105 is scheduled to show on a delayed telecast on Spike from 8P/7C.

The lead fight saw Randy Couture take on Brandon Vera, and in a controversial points decision Couture won despite being on a back foot for much of the fight. Vera and the commentators slammed the decision.

In the second headline fight, welterweight Dan Hardy took down Mike Swick in a unanimous points decision.

Full UFC 105 Results:

Randy Couture defeated Brandon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28)

Dan Hardy defeated Mick Swick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Michael Bisping defeated Denis Kang via TKO at 4:24, round two

Matt Brown defeated James Wilks via TKO 2:23, round three

Ross Pearson defeated Aaron Riley via TKO (doctor’s stoppage due to cut), 4:38 round two

John Hathaway defeated Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (30-26)

Terry Etim defeated Shannon Gugerty via guillotine, 1:24 round two

Nick Osipczak defeated Matt Riddle via TKO 3:52, round three

Dennis Siver defeated Paul Kelly via TKO, 2:56 round two

Alexander Gustafsson defeated Jared Hamman via KO, 0:41 round one

Andre Winner defeated Roli Delgado via KO, 3:22 round one

Bye-Bye Psystar it was nice knowing ya until Apple chewed you up and spat you out

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:21:42 +0000

Like we didn’t know that this wasn’t going to happen.

Yesterday, November 13, 2009, Apple won its expected victory over pain in the ass Psystar Corp. when Judge William Alsup agreed with Apple that the little company that wished it was did indeed violate Apple’s copyright and just for good measure the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as well.

Judge Alsup sidestepped Psystar’s claim that it was protected by the first sale doctrine, which generally gives the buyer of a protected work the right to resell it without the permission of, or any payment to, the copyright holder. The judge said first sale only applies to legal copies and that the way in which Psystar had modified the software to let it run on clones meant that the copies did not meet this standard. The judge rejected out of hand Psystar’s claims that it made legal use of Apple’s trademarks and that Apple has misued it copyrights.

Source: BusinessWeek – The Tech Beat

A hearing on remedies is scheduled for December 14 at which point the brothers behind Psystar had better be ready to kiss their financial asses good-bye.

Helicopter Crash Leaves Three Dead Near Reno

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:20:17 +0000

Reno, NV (AHN) – A medical helicopter crashed early Saturday morning near the California-Nevada border, leaving three dead.

After dropping off a patient in Reno, the Mountain Lifeflight helicopter 3 was on its way back to Susanville when the crash occurred about 2 a.m., the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the crash and the resulting fire destroyed the helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS350. At the time of the accident, the pilot was not in communication with air traffic controllers.

In a statement, Mountain Lifeflight confirmed that the crewmembers aboard had died.

New Zealand, Nigeria Qualify For World Cup

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:16:51 +0000

New Zealand will move on to the World Cup finals next year after defeating Bahrain 1-0 in the second leg Saturday night in front of a record crowd of 35,194. Nigeria will also go to the Cup after a dramatic come-from-behind win over Kenya.

Rory Fallon’s header moments into halftime will send the team to South Africa. The last time New Zealand was on that path was with the national team in 1982.

New Zealand found itself in trouble after defender Ben Sigmund was yellow-carded in just the third minute. The Whites could have scored earlier after Shane Smeltz’s header from Leo Bertos’ free-kick. But the header bounced on top of the net in the eighth minute.

Again the deadlock looked like it ended in the19th minute. Chris Killen sent a left-foot past Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Mohammed Jaffar, but it went off the crossbar. Bahrain Jaycee John’s volley was denied by New Zealand goalkeeper Mark Paston 30 minutes into the match.

Again Paston kept his team in front when he dived to his right after Sayed Mohamed Adnan’s strike.

Shane Smeltz came close to adding another goal for New Zealand in the 20th minute when his strike went wide. The Whites had a chance again in the last period when Killen’s overhead kick went over the crossbar with nine minutes left in regulation.

Nigeria also qualified for the Cup with a late rally to beat Kenya 3-2 in Nairobi. Obafemi Martins tallied two goals to help his team come from behind.

Nigeria was behind at half-time after a 15th-minute goal from Kenya’s Denis Oliech. But Nigeria moved ahead 2-1 with Martins strike. Martin netted the winner in the 83rd minute.

Jack Is Back: Wilson Inks Two-Year Deal With Mariners

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:13:01 +0000

Seattle, WA (AHN) – Jack Wilson is going to remain a Seattle Mariner. The veteran was re-signed to a two-year deal for $10-million Friday.

General manager Jack Zduriencik told the Seattle Times that Wilson was his long-term shortstop.

“I saw him play many games when I was with Milwaukee and he was with Pittsburgh, and I always admired him,” Zduriencik told reporter Larry Stone. “He was one of those pain-in-the-butt guys. He’s a superb defensive player, and I’m extremely happy he’ll be with us for the next two years.”

Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell came over from the Pittsburgh Pirates July 29 for three minor-league players, catcher Jeff Clement and shortstop Ronny Cedeno.

Wilson struggled with injuries, including his hamstring and heel woes, after his arrival to Seattle. He batted .224 in just 31 games.

“There’s nothing like a rough year to give you an extra incentive to do more in the offseason,” Wilson said.

There was a delay in the contract becoming final.

Wilson was denied an $8.4 million option for 2010, paying him a $600,000 buyout.

The Mariners offered Wilson a new contract worth $5 million for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Pac-Man Vs. Junito: Pound For Pound ‘Champ’ Takes On WBO Welterweight Titlist

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:07:57 +0000

Las Vegas, Nevada (AHN) – It’s fight night in the world of boxing. Pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao is going up against current WBO Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The boxers are fighting at a catchweight of 145 lbs, two pounds under the welterweight limit of 147 lbs.

Pacquiao is quicker and hoping he can capitalize on Cotto dropping the pounds.

Pacquiao weighed in at 144 lbs and Cotto found the contract limit of 145 lbs.

Cotto packs a powerful punch, but many question if he’ll be able to catch up with Pacquiao. And cutting weight may take away from Cotto’s strength.

Cotto was very vulnerable as a junior welterweight went he cut pounds. The weight was the biggest factor in getting the contract signed.

“Pacman” Pacquiao enters the match almost invincible.

He’s fought four weight classes his last five fights while going 5-0. He’s been a super featherweight to a welterweight and knocked out Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya along the way.

Not so for Cotto. He crumbled against Antonio Margarito.

The winner could face Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez or Floyd Mayweather.

Parenteau Permission: Forward’s Goal Lifts Rangers Over Ottawa In Shootout

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:04:56 +0000

Ottawa, CA (AHN) – P.A. Parenteau is making a name quickly for himself after being recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday. Parenteau scored the winning goal in the New York Rangers 2-1 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators Saturday.

Parenteau ripped a shot into the top right corner in the seventh round of the SO to defeat Brian Elliott (27 saves).

It was a boost for the Rangers, who struggled on the road this season. New York entered the contest with a 1-4-1 road record.

Senators’ Brian Lee scored in the second period with a snap shot at 4:29. Vinny Prospal knotted it with a short-handed goal less then seven minutes later.

Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 35 shots for the Rangers, who improved to 11-8-1. Ottawa dropped to 8-6-3.

The Senators have lost five of their last seven.

Parenteau, 26, was summoned to help fill the gap because of injuries to centers Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky.

It was his second call up from Hartford this season. He played two games last month after Marian Gaborik was injured.

Parenteau had 10 goals and ranked second in the AHL with 20 points

The International Olympics Commission gets to keep being sexists – no female ski jumpers allowed

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:07:35 +0000

I’m sorry but I have to say this from the very beginning – this is utter and total bullshit.

Word has come down from the British Columbia Court of Appeals that the International Olympics Commissions can not be forced to allow female ski jumpers on the grounds that their rules go against the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Justice Ann Rowles, one of the three appeal court judges who heard the case over the last two days, said she was aware a decision was needed quickly. Reasons for the decision will be released next week.

The women could seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but lawyer Ross Clark, who is representing the ski jumpers, said such an appeal would need to overcome a lot of hurdles.

The appeal to B.C.’s highest court was an attempt to overturn a B.C. Supreme Court decision that found that while excluding the women from competing is discriminatory, the International Olympic Committee is not subject to the Charter and cannot be forced to hold a women’s ski jumping event.

Source: The Toronto Star

I’m not blaming the British Columbia Court of Appeals for their decision because in fact they were right. However that doesn’t change the fact that the IOC policy against female ski jumpers is archaic and just plain wrong. The IOC argument has always been thatthere are not enough competitions to merit making a woman’s ski jumping an Olympic sport.

Like I said at the beginning this is bullshit and the IOC is totally wrong in excluding woman from participating in a female ski jumping category.

Graph: Who was in your house, eating your cookies…

Kim LaCapria — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:30:29 +0000

Suspiciously absent: kissing your babymama under the tree.

[Graphjam]

Canadian television is about protectionism

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:10:09 +0000

There is a big discussion going on right now in Canada about the whole idea of a fee-for-carriage ‘tax’ being added to our cable bills in order to insure the survival of ‘local’ television. This tax being asked for by the over-the-air broadcasters is suggested to be in the area of $10.00 per month and you would see it added to your monthly bill.

While this might be an interesting discussion (see the embedded video of a recent discussion about this area of contention) Prof. Michael Geist points out another area that the over-the-air broadcasters are pushing for the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission – a government regulatory body similar to the FTC in the US) to force the cable and satellite companies to create a new policy of “program deletion”.

Currently in Canada our the television networks that are carrying US programming work under what is called “simultaneous substitution”. What this means is that our broadcasters must broadcast their purchased show (which has been purchased from the originating US broadcaster in most cases) at the same time that the show is being run in the US.

Part of the argument that Canadian broadcasters have used, and is being used in the current fee-for-carriage bullshit argument, is that this puts the Canadian content show, which they are required to carry as a part of their licencing with the CRTC, at a disadvantage since the US shows get the prime slots.

What the Canadian broadcasters want is for the CTRC to step in and mandate that when a Canadian broadcaster buys the Canadian rights to a US show the US based broadcast would be blocked coming into Canada for a seven-day window.

In other words, rather than the current simultaneous substitution policy, which allows for the programs to air at the same time and for the substitution of the Canadian broadcast on the U.S. channel (thereby leading to the annual complaints about Super Bowl commercials), the U.S. broadcast would be blocked altogether. That would allow Canadian broadcasters to air the U.S. program whenever they like and block the U.S. version altogether. – Prof. Michael Geist

On the note about “saving local television” and the fee-for-carriage argument that is going on before the CRTC I have been a cable subscriber on and off since it was first available in our community, as well as any city across Canada that I have lived in, and I can count on one hand that has had it’s fingers removed how many times I have watched any local television, cable or otherwise. The only thing that adding yet another $10.00 to an already outrageous cable bill that keeps climbing each year would be to either cut back to the most basic package or to cancel it altogether.

As far as t he idea of totally blocking the US broadcast version for seven days – well, good luck with that plan. As you can hear in the video below the old media mouthpieces still don’t understand that access to media is changing. For them PVRs and Internet streaming are still just blips on the horizon. As one person puts it everyone wants to watch their favorite shows in hi-def and on big flat screens.

All the arguments that are before the CRTC currently are nothing more than efforts to drag out the control of television to the benefit of the broadcasters for as long as they possibly can. None of the arguments put forth do anything to benefit the people who actually use the service instead we are be treated like never-ending cash cows.

Carrie Prejean’s “biggest mistake” just got bigger, total of 8 “sex tapes” revealed

Kim LaCapria — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:38:34 +0000

It was revealed today that Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California who was dethroned and came under massive public scrutiny for her anti-gay beliefs, has filmed seven additional videos of herself masturbating, meaning that the “biggest mistake” she ever made (filming one sex tape) was actually not that uncommon of an occurrence.

Prejean, clearly a big fat hypocrite in addition to being rude, unpleasant and vapid, has tried tirelessly to promote herself as a paragon of Christian values since scoring a modicum of fame for bashing gay marriage during a pageant. But in addition to the eight “sex tapes” of Carrie performing for the camera nude or partially nude, “dozens” of nude pictures have allegedly surfaced of the 22-year-old former pageant queen as well.

Timing of the “discovery” of the sex tapes and nude pics happened to coincide with the release of her book, and Prejean seems pretty intent on staying in the news by throwing tantrums on live TV and flashing her vagina at cameras. We can only hope that the new Carrie Prejean sex tapes will alienate the conservative Christian fans she claims to have and hasten her inevitable rapid decline into obscurity.

If you’re looking to stream Carrie Prejean’s sex tapes, they have not yet made it to the internet- be wary of sites claiming to have them. However, given that so many of them exist, it’s likely a matter of time before the Prejean sex tapes are everywhere.

Video: Ty Lawson dunk on Powell, Mbenga

Kim LaCapria — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:12:02 +0000

Video clip below of Denver rookie Ty Lawson dunking on DJ Mbenga forward Josh Powell, each who have about a foot on him, give or take.

That should be against the Law! …son.

We heard you like Boxee so we put your Boxee in a Box: Boxee Box confirmed

Kim LaCapria — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:52:04 +0000

Popular content streaming application Boxee confirmed plans this week to unveil a “Boxee Box” to streamline the process of using Boxee with your TV.

Boxee founder Avner Ronen announced a December 7th event in Brooklyn (holla!) where details of the device and mockups (like the one shown above) will be revealed. (You can RSVP to the event on the Boxee blog.) About the deal, Ronen says:

I am very happy to announce we have signed our first partnership with a CE company. At this point we can not say more about the partner or the specs of the device, but we can tell you we are working closely with them to make sure we deliver a great Boxee experience on it.

Ronen goes on to talk about forging the connection between computers/devices and TV, which remains a huge stumbling block for consumers who wish to use services like Hulu and Boxee. People constantly tell me to use them, but I rarely have the self control to put my laptop down and lack the initiative to hook my devices to my TV. A dedicated box is perfect for lazy consumers like myself that are interested in the service but not as keen of getting off our asses to access it.

Ronen describes the uses the Boxee box is expected to have:

This will be the first connected device running Boxee, but the idea is to provide consumers with a way to get Boxee in their living rooms, no matter whether it’s on a Connected TV, game console, set-top box, BluRay player, computer, etc.

More details as they’re released.

Man Says Jesus To Blame For Drug Accessories

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:38:16 +0000

Louisville, KY (AHN) – A Kentucky man on house arrest told police Jesus set him up, leaving a burnt teaspoon in his home.

Louisville police were performing a home check on Craig A. Dunn when they found burnt tube of aluminum foil burnt on one end and a spoon with burn marks and possible drug residue, WLKY-TV reported.

When police asked Dunn about the items, he said they weren’t his-and told police that the spoon and foil belonged to Jesus, who he maintains is trying to set him up.

Police were checking on Dunn because he is under home incarceration because of a parole violation. He faces a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

No word from on high regarding the claims against Jesus.

Jazz In Tune On Road; Rip Sixers

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:40:56 +0000

Philadelphia, PA (AHN) – All-Star point guard Deron Williams was not available Friday, but the Utah Jazz still handed the Philadelphia 76ers a 112-90 setback.

Carlos Boozer pumped in 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Erik Maynor had 13 points and 11 assists to fill the gap for Williams.

The Jazz guard had to tend to a family matter, but Williams’ mates still took care of business particularly on the defensive end.

Utah trailed 32-30 after one quarter, but held Philly to just 38 points in the second and third quarters combined to forge a 82-69 lead heading into the fourth.

Wes Matthews added 16 points for the Jazz, while Mehmet Okur had 15.

Philly starters Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams combined to shoot just 7-of-22 field goals to hurt the Sixers’ cause.

Thaddeus Young led Philly with 17 points as the 76ers went to their bench early and often.

Utah improved to 4-5, while Philly slipped to 4-5.

Netanyahu May Make Peace With Syria

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:38:16 +0000

Speaking at the forum of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Syrian President Bashar Assad warned Israel that if the Golan Heights are not returned through peaceful negotiations Syria will take the disputed territory militarily.

That was followed Wednesday by hints from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he was open to peace talks with Syria over the Golan, a plateau Israel captured in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981. A senior Netanyahu aid said that the Israeli leader had told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that “He is willing to meet with the Syrian president at any time and anywhere to move the peace negotiations along on the basis of no pre-conditions.”

The Syrian president then responded on Wednesday saying that Syria was not setting conditions on making peace with Israel, but that “we do have rights that we will not renounce.”

Al-Arabiya then reported that Netanyahu had asked Sarkozy to pass a message to Syrian President Assad that Israel was ready to resume peace negotiations. Netanyahu’s office has denied the report. Assad is set to meet Sarkozy on Friday for talks in Paris.

Dr Ronen Hoffman, a member of Israel’s negotiating team during previous talks with Syria and a research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said both sides were trying to improve their international image.

“It is important to distinguish between creating momentum and gaining political points, versus making concessions and actually negotiating,” Dr Hoffman told The Media Line. “These are two very different diplomatic processes. Right now I think that both sides are not ready to make serious concessions but both sides feel that negotiations will help their image in the international area, so we are just seeing gestures and public diplomacy.”

“For now, both sides can be positive and gain points with the international community simply through the perception that they are willing to talk to each other,” he said. “If they actually start to talk, they will have to show their reservations and emphasize any gaps between them. Then they will look different.”

Dr Hoffman said Netanyahu had a particular interest in seeming open to negotiations.

“While there is no progress on the Israeli Palestinian track, for Netanyahu to say that he is willing to negotiate with the Syrians without preconditions gets him some points while he knows that, in fact, there is no chance the Syrians will start to negotiate without preconditions,” he said. “In other words he can get credit from the international community without actually getting himself into a situation in which he has to make concessions.”

Dr Samir Al-Taqi, director of the Orient Center for International Studies, Syria’s leading think tank, said Syrians were highly suspicious of the Israeli leader’s intentions.

“Netanyahu’s declaration is a kind of refusal,” he told The Media Line. “In principal what Syria is advancing is an issue of rights, including the international community’s demand that Israel return land. So if Israel is not ready to go forward with land for peace, then the Syrians will not go ahead with any negotiations.”

“The Israelis have been dragging their feet for 19 years since the Madrid conference,” Al-Taqi said. “do they want to drag their feet for another 40 years?”

“I think Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure from the Americans and Europeans so he needs to deflate the pressure, but practically he is intransigent and is not ready to compromise on anything so we will not help them to deflate the international pressure.”

During his first term as prime minister, Netanyahu supported what has been termed a ‘cold peace’ with Syria, in which the two countries would sign a partial peace agreement in exchange for a partial Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

“Netanyahu could surprise us and get serious on the Syrian track,” Dr Hoffman said. “It’s easier for him than the Palestinian track. There are only about 20,000 settlers in the Golan Heights where on the West Bank we are talking about hundreds of thousands of settlers. The core issues here are far less sensitive.”

“Netanyahu would like non-belligerency in a way that we can make sure there is no war or military actions and he can just partially withdraw,” Dr Hoffman said. “From my experience the Syrians will reject this, but there are other areas for negotiation.”

“One interesting idea would be to differentiate between sovereignty and the withdrawal from the land,” he said. “Maybe the Israelis will give the Syrians their lost pride by giving them sovereignty over the Golan Heights while insisting on leasing some of the land for warning stations and things like this.”

“If one wants to be creative it’s possible,” Dr Hoffman added. “It’s just a question of how serious you are in achieving an agreement.”

Uzi Dayan, former head of the National Security Council, former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Israeli army, and a parliament member in Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said returning the Golan Heights is not an option available to the Israeli leader even if it was his intention.

“If we talk about internal Israeli politics, there is a new generation of Israelis today and one million new immigrants from Russia,” Dayan told The Media Line. “They don’t see any reason to give the Golan Heights back to Syria. They see the Golan as a nice place, a strategic military asset and at the same time there is no demographic problem – we are not ruling other people.”

“For this reason, I don’t think that any government in Israel today could ever succeed in giving the Golan back to Syria,” he said. “Indeed more Israelis support keeping the Golan Heights, even in return for a peace agreement, than Israelis who support not dividing Jerusalem.”

Dayan, a nephew of the famous former eye-patched Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan, said that despite being a member of Netanyahu’s party, he disagreed with any negotiations with Syria.

“I find myself even more extreme than Netanyahu,” he said. “Starting negotiations with Syria would be immoral and not in the interest of Israel. About eight months ago we proved to everyone on this planet that Syria was trying to build a nuclear capacity that could be used against us.”

“So what do we want from Syria?” he asked. “We want them to stop supporting Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations, and stop them being a station on the axis between Tehran and Beirut.”

“But I don’t think giving the Golan Heights back will stop Syria’s relationship with Iran,” he said. “So I think Israel should isolate and try to weaken Syria and if the Syrians want to talk, let’s first of all talk about the connection between Hezbollah and Syria.”

Dr Mordechai Kedar, of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University in Israel, said the recent cross-border rhetoric between the two countries was reflective more of a broad transformation in the balance of power in the Middle East than it was of any realistic chance for peace negotiations.

“The balance of power in the middle east is changing rapidly,” he told The Media Line. “Iran has become much more influential and America much less, so when America is viewed as the losing horse in the middle east, America’s friends like Israel are looked upon as parties that can now be squeezed. So when you hear Assad threatening Israel with Hezbollah or Hamas style warfare, this is exactly what’s going on.”

“Assad knows that Israel cannot take this kind of war and now he thinks that nobody will touch him because he has a good friend named Iran,” Dr Kedar said. “Assad looks at the balance of power in the world and thinks to himself what is America good for these days? Nothing. He and the rest of the Arab world just see an American president who speaks nice words but has no clue how to deal with the Middle East.”

“Also, when American opinion makers say that Israel is more of a burden than it is an asset, this has a direct effect on the balance of power in terms of Arab and Islamic perceptions of Israel’s strength,” Dr Kedar added. “So Netanyahu sees the decreasing influence of the West in the Middle East and he is very concerned that the West may abandon Israel.”

Research: Older Mercury Dental Fillings May Be Less Toxic Than Previously Thought

AHN — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:36:07 +0000

Saskatoon, Canada (AHN) – Surface forms of mercury in older “silver” dental fillings (also known as amalgams) might be less toxic than was previously thought, researchers say.

A new study by a University of Saskatchewan team of scientists is among the latest research in the ongoing controversy over the safety of older dental fillings that contain mercury.

“The dental amalgam on the surface of an old tooth filling may have lost as much as 95 per cent of its mercury but what’s left is in a form that is unlikely to be toxic in the body,” said University of Saskatchewan Canada Research Chair Graham George, the lead researcher on the study.

Mercury-based fillings have been used by dentists for over a century. However, researchers say that human exposure to mercury from deteriorating fillings is still a concern and that more research is needed.

The study was published in the American Chemical Society journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Menq EasyPC E790 Wants You To Have A Netbook For $80

James Allen Johnson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:42:33 +0000

The Menq EasyPC E790 is currently running Windows CE, but the company has announced plans to push out a Google Android update in the next month and at a very reasonable $80.

So what does $80 buy you these days? How about a 7 inch display that pushes out 800 x 480 pixels of resolution, a full qwerty keyboard and an all around netbook design. Sure the Samsung ARM926EJ-S3C2450 processor isn’t going to give you gaming power at your fingertips, but it’s enough to give users quick access to browse the web and open basic programs.

Future units are expected to carry an ARM Cortex A8 option for an extra $10-$20, which in our opinion is well worth the upgrade, especially considering that the price will still come in at under a Benjamin.

There’s no official word on when or where you’ll be able to pick up the Menq EasyPC E790. [SlashGear]

Here’s a video of the E790 in action: