Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann urged both their governments to expedite work on an agreement to build the Austrian section of a gas pipeline to southeast Europe.
"A special agreement is now being drafted between our countries on the project's implementation and the federal chancellor and I spoke for finishing the work on the document within a short period of time," Putin said after talks in Moscow with Faymann.
The South Stream gas project, scheduled to be completed by 2015, is part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations. It is a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would bypass Russia.
The 25 billion-euro ($36.5 bln) project is designed to annually pump 31 billion cubic meters of Central Asian and Russian gas to the Balkans and on to other European countries, bypassing Ukraine, which has frequent disputes with Russia over gas supplies and transits. The pipeline's capacity is expected to be eventually increased to 63 billion cubic meters.
On May 15, Russian energy giant Gazprom signed a package of project-related documents with Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. Similar agreements are now being coordinated with Slovenia and Austria.
Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091111/156797045.html
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Iran urges Russia to fulfill S-300 missile supply contract. 11.11.2009.
Russia has to fulfill its contract on the supply of S-300 defensive surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Wednesday.
"We have a contract with Russia to buy S-300 missiles. I don't think it is right for Russia to be seen in the world as a country which does not fulfill its contractual obligations," Vahidi was quoted by Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) as saying.
Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of S-300 missiles to the Islamic Republic in December 2005. However, there have been no official reports about the start of the contract's implementation since then.
In December 2008, the Iranian media reported that Russia had started delivering elements of the advanced version of the S-300 missile. However, Russia's Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation has denied such reports.
The latest version of the S-300 series is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.
It is considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.
Source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20091111/156796483.html
"We have a contract with Russia to buy S-300 missiles. I don't think it is right for Russia to be seen in the world as a country which does not fulfill its contractual obligations," Vahidi was quoted by Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) as saying.
Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of S-300 missiles to the Islamic Republic in December 2005. However, there have been no official reports about the start of the contract's implementation since then.
In December 2008, the Iranian media reported that Russia had started delivering elements of the advanced version of the S-300 missile. However, Russia's Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation has denied such reports.
The latest version of the S-300 series is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.
It is considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.
Source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20091111/156796483.html
Monday, November 9, 2009
Medvedev approved the amendments on the use of the army abroad. 09.11.2009.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has approved amendments to the Federal Law "On Defense," said the official website of the president. Changes relate to the operational use of the RF Armed Forces outside the country.
Under the new law, the pretext for military action outside of Russia could be attacked stationed abroad, Russia's military units, the need to protect the citizens of Russia, ensuring the safety of navigation, as well as a request of another state, contact the authorities of Russia for protection. The decision to use armed forces abroad made by the President by order of the Federation Council.
Amendments to the Law "On Defense" will prevent future situations similar to that which occurred in August 2008 in South Ossetia. The lack of legal grounds for military action hindered rapid decision-making at the beginning of the war with Georgia. In turn, the Georgian leadership has criticized the amendment, describing them as a belated attempt to put the actions of Russian forces in South Ossetia in the legal framework.
Earlier amendments to the law "On Defense" were approved in the State Duma and Federation Council.
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2009/11/09/doctrine/
Under the new law, the pretext for military action outside of Russia could be attacked stationed abroad, Russia's military units, the need to protect the citizens of Russia, ensuring the safety of navigation, as well as a request of another state, contact the authorities of Russia for protection. The decision to use armed forces abroad made by the President by order of the Federation Council.
Amendments to the Law "On Defense" will prevent future situations similar to that which occurred in August 2008 in South Ossetia. The lack of legal grounds for military action hindered rapid decision-making at the beginning of the war with Georgia. In turn, the Georgian leadership has criticized the amendment, describing them as a belated attempt to put the actions of Russian forces in South Ossetia in the legal framework.
Earlier amendments to the law "On Defense" were approved in the State Duma and Federation Council.
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2009/11/09/doctrine/
Fort Hood shooting investigators appeal for help. 09.11.2009.
Army investigators on Sunday asked troops and civilians for help in the probe of a deadly mass shooting at Fort Hood last week, saying some who fled the gunfire might have evidence.
"The Fort Hood office of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is seeking any military or civilian personnel who may have left the scene ... with gunshot damage such as damaged privately owned vehicles, personnel clothing, etc.," investigators said in a written statement. "CID is also seeking any military or civilian personnel who may have inadvertently left the scene of this incident with material that could be used as firearms residue related evidence such as shell casings inside the boot, etc."
The statement said such objects would help Army investigators and the FBI "in their bullet trajectory analysis of the scene, to insure the comprehensiveness of the ongoing investigation."
Thirteen people -- a dozen soldiers and a civilian -- died Thursday in the shooting at the Fort Hood Army Post. Some 42 people were wounded, according to the post's public information office. It was unclear how many of those suffered gunshot wounds.
Among the wounded was Pvt. Joseph Foster, 21, who was preparing for his January deployment to Afghanistan when he was hit in the hip during the attack. With his wife and 6-week-old daughter beside him, he told reporters gathered outside his home Sunday that it was difficult to accept such an attack on his own post.
"Not here at home -- but as we've seen, anything is possible," Foster said. "We are at war."
As of Sunday, 16 gunshot victims remained hospitalized plus the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, spokesman Col. John Rossi told reporters. He did not say where all those hospitalized were being treated. Of the 16, seven were in intensive care, he said.
When Staff Sgt. Alvin Howard's wife heard he was hurt at the post, her feelings were "indescribable," she said Sunday.
Kaneesha Howard told reporters her husband was set to deploy to Afghanistan in January. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq, she said.
Daughters, Alanna, 9, and Kristen, 7, were shaken by the event.
Alanna said of her younger sister: "She started crying when we went to the hospital because she [had] never seen her dad bandaged up like that."
Howard was shot in the shoulder and was recovering in the hospital, his family said. They were unsure when he would be released.
Rossi said Hasan, a 39-year-old licensed Army psychiatrist who worked at a hospital on the post, is no longer on a ventilator, but remained in critical but stable condition and in intensive care at Brooke Army Medical Center.
Authorities have not identified a motive in the attack at Fort Hood's military processing center, where soldiers report before they head to war.
Efforts to assist those affected by the incident, including family members of soldiers at the post, were ongoing, Rossi said. Fort Hood was awaiting the arrival of two specialists in child psychology and disaster management, he said. "This is not just for those directly affected by this tragedy," Rossi said, noting that effects from trauma sometimes are not immediately apparent.
However, he said, soldiers are trained to respond to violence by controlling and securing the scene.
"Their training kicks in, and that's what we saw," Rossi said. "The troubling part of it is it happened here in our own house."
Army Criminal Investigation Command spokesman Chris Grey said Saturday that all evidence indicates that the suspect acted alone and there was no indication of "friendly fire."
The processing center has been moved to another location so its work can continue while investigators work at the crime scene, Rossi said Sunday.
He told reporters he did not know Hasan's schedule on the day of the shooting, but "my understanding is that there was no purpose for him" to be in the processing center.
The remains of those killed are currently at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, undergoing the same process as the remains of soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. "These heroes are being treated the same way," Rossi said.
Rossi said he had visited with Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley -- the civilian officer who confronted and disabled Hasan in a shootout -- and with an injured soldier.
"Truthfully, it was an honor just to be in their presence," he said. But, he said, "I cannot tell you how many times they reiterated to me that this is not about them."
Munley has drawn national praise for her actions. Her husband has been brought in from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to be with her, Rossi said. In a statement Saturday, Munley's family said she had undergone a second surgery and was in good condition.
The suspect's brother, Eyad Hasan, released a statement Saturday saying the family was in a "state of shock and disbelief over this dreadful news."
He wrote, "I've known my brother Nidal to be a peaceful, loving and compassionate person who has shown great interest in the medical field and in helping others. He has never committed an act of violence and was always known to be a good, law-abiding citizen."
Eyad Hasan said the family has faith in the legal system.
An earlier statement from another family member said Hasan, a U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, had been telling his family that he wanted to get out of the military but had been unsuccessful in doing so.
Rossi said Saturday that Hasan had a late November deployment date to Afghanistan. It was to have been his first overseas deployment.
The shooting, on the nation's largest military base, sparked outrage. In his Saturday radio address, President Obama said it was "an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred any place in America."
But, he said, "it's all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims."
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend a Tuesday memorial service for the victims.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/08/fort.hood.shootings/index.html
"The Fort Hood office of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is seeking any military or civilian personnel who may have left the scene ... with gunshot damage such as damaged privately owned vehicles, personnel clothing, etc.," investigators said in a written statement. "CID is also seeking any military or civilian personnel who may have inadvertently left the scene of this incident with material that could be used as firearms residue related evidence such as shell casings inside the boot, etc."
The statement said such objects would help Army investigators and the FBI "in their bullet trajectory analysis of the scene, to insure the comprehensiveness of the ongoing investigation."
Thirteen people -- a dozen soldiers and a civilian -- died Thursday in the shooting at the Fort Hood Army Post. Some 42 people were wounded, according to the post's public information office. It was unclear how many of those suffered gunshot wounds.
Among the wounded was Pvt. Joseph Foster, 21, who was preparing for his January deployment to Afghanistan when he was hit in the hip during the attack. With his wife and 6-week-old daughter beside him, he told reporters gathered outside his home Sunday that it was difficult to accept such an attack on his own post.
"Not here at home -- but as we've seen, anything is possible," Foster said. "We are at war."
As of Sunday, 16 gunshot victims remained hospitalized plus the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, spokesman Col. John Rossi told reporters. He did not say where all those hospitalized were being treated. Of the 16, seven were in intensive care, he said.
When Staff Sgt. Alvin Howard's wife heard he was hurt at the post, her feelings were "indescribable," she said Sunday.
Kaneesha Howard told reporters her husband was set to deploy to Afghanistan in January. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq, she said.
Daughters, Alanna, 9, and Kristen, 7, were shaken by the event.
Alanna said of her younger sister: "She started crying when we went to the hospital because she [had] never seen her dad bandaged up like that."
Howard was shot in the shoulder and was recovering in the hospital, his family said. They were unsure when he would be released.
Rossi said Hasan, a 39-year-old licensed Army psychiatrist who worked at a hospital on the post, is no longer on a ventilator, but remained in critical but stable condition and in intensive care at Brooke Army Medical Center.
Authorities have not identified a motive in the attack at Fort Hood's military processing center, where soldiers report before they head to war.
Efforts to assist those affected by the incident, including family members of soldiers at the post, were ongoing, Rossi said. Fort Hood was awaiting the arrival of two specialists in child psychology and disaster management, he said. "This is not just for those directly affected by this tragedy," Rossi said, noting that effects from trauma sometimes are not immediately apparent.
However, he said, soldiers are trained to respond to violence by controlling and securing the scene.
"Their training kicks in, and that's what we saw," Rossi said. "The troubling part of it is it happened here in our own house."
Army Criminal Investigation Command spokesman Chris Grey said Saturday that all evidence indicates that the suspect acted alone and there was no indication of "friendly fire."
The processing center has been moved to another location so its work can continue while investigators work at the crime scene, Rossi said Sunday.
He told reporters he did not know Hasan's schedule on the day of the shooting, but "my understanding is that there was no purpose for him" to be in the processing center.
The remains of those killed are currently at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, undergoing the same process as the remains of soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. "These heroes are being treated the same way," Rossi said.
Rossi said he had visited with Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley -- the civilian officer who confronted and disabled Hasan in a shootout -- and with an injured soldier.
"Truthfully, it was an honor just to be in their presence," he said. But, he said, "I cannot tell you how many times they reiterated to me that this is not about them."
Munley has drawn national praise for her actions. Her husband has been brought in from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to be with her, Rossi said. In a statement Saturday, Munley's family said she had undergone a second surgery and was in good condition.
The suspect's brother, Eyad Hasan, released a statement Saturday saying the family was in a "state of shock and disbelief over this dreadful news."
He wrote, "I've known my brother Nidal to be a peaceful, loving and compassionate person who has shown great interest in the medical field and in helping others. He has never committed an act of violence and was always known to be a good, law-abiding citizen."
Eyad Hasan said the family has faith in the legal system.
An earlier statement from another family member said Hasan, a U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, had been telling his family that he wanted to get out of the military but had been unsuccessful in doing so.
Rossi said Saturday that Hasan had a late November deployment date to Afghanistan. It was to have been his first overseas deployment.
The shooting, on the nation's largest military base, sparked outrage. In his Saturday radio address, President Obama said it was "an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred any place in America."
But, he said, "it's all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims."
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend a Tuesday memorial service for the victims.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/08/fort.hood.shootings/index.html
First iPhone worm discovered - ikee changes wallpaper to Rick Astley photo. 09.11.2009.
Apple iPhone owners in Australia have reported that their smartphones have been infected by a worm that has changed their wallpaper to an image of 1980s pop crooner Rick Astley.
The worm, which could have spread to other countries although we have no confirmed reports outside Australia, is capable of breaking into jailbroken iPhones if their owners have not changed the default password after installing SSH. Once in place, the worm appears to attempt to find other iPhones on the mobile phone network that are similarly vulnerable, and installs itself again
On each installation, the worm - written by a hacker calling themselves "ikex" - changes the lock background wallpaper to an image of Rick Astley with the message: "ikee is never going to give you up".
What's clear is that if you have jailbroken your iPhone or iPod Touch, and installed SSH, then you must always change your root user password to something different than the default, "alpine". In fact, it would be a good idea if you didn't use a dictionary word at all.
The worm will not affect users who have not jailbroken their iPhones or who have not installed SSH.
Wallpaper of Rick Astley displayed by the ikee iPhone worm
SophosLabs is analysing the worm's code, which suggests that at least four variants have been written so far. One of the attributes of the latest variant (labelled the "D" version) is that it tries to hide its presence by using a filepath suggestive of the Cydia application.
The source code is littered with comments from the author suggesting the worm has been written as an experiment. One of the comments berates affected users for not following instructions when installing SSH, because if they had changed the default password the worm would not have been able to infect them.
Presently it appears that the worm does nothing more malicious than spread and change the infected user's lock screen wallpaper. However, that doesn't mean that attacks like this can be considered harmless.
Accessing someone else's computing device and changing their data without permission is an offence in many countries - and just as with graffiti there is a cost involved in cleaning-up affected iPhones.
Other inquisitive hackers may also be tempted to experiment once they read about the world's first iPhone worm. Furthermore, a more malicious hacker could take the code written by ikee and adapt it to have a more sinister payload.
iPhone users may rush into jailbreaking their iPhones in order to add functionality that Apple may have denied to them, but if they do so carelessly they may also risk their iPhone becoming the target of a hacker.
My prediction is that we may see more attacks like this in the future. Indeed, only last week we saw hacked iPhones in the Netherlands being held hostage for 5 Euros.
The source code of the worm says at its start:
/ "ikee virus" by ikex
/ Revision: 10 (Variant D)
A quick trawl of the Whirlpool forum where users are reporting that their iPhones are unexpectedly displaying an image of Rick Astley, reveals a user calling themselves "ike_x".
According to ike_x's user profile on the Whirlpool forum his nearest city is Sydney, Australia . Further searching on the internet reveals other pages seemingly related to ike_x of Wollongong, New South Wales, using the name "Ash" or "Ashley Towns". For instance, here is a MySpace page and this appears to be Ash/ikex on Twitter.
The worm's author appears to have realised that people might be interested to learn why he wrote the worm, and posted this explanation inside the code:
Why?: Boredom, because i found it so stupid the fact that on my initial scan of my 3G optus range i found 27 hosts running SSH daemons, i could access 26 of them with root:alpine. Doesn't anyone RTFM anymore?
There is a certain irony in the notion that a hacker who says he was trying to expose sloppy security by the owners of jailbroken iPhones has done such a bad job of covering his own tracks.
Source: http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/11/08/iphone-worm-discovered-wallpaper-rick-astley-photo/
The worm, which could have spread to other countries although we have no confirmed reports outside Australia, is capable of breaking into jailbroken iPhones if their owners have not changed the default password after installing SSH. Once in place, the worm appears to attempt to find other iPhones on the mobile phone network that are similarly vulnerable, and installs itself again
On each installation, the worm - written by a hacker calling themselves "ikex" - changes the lock background wallpaper to an image of Rick Astley with the message: "ikee is never going to give you up".
What's clear is that if you have jailbroken your iPhone or iPod Touch, and installed SSH, then you must always change your root user password to something different than the default, "alpine". In fact, it would be a good idea if you didn't use a dictionary word at all.
The worm will not affect users who have not jailbroken their iPhones or who have not installed SSH.
Wallpaper of Rick Astley displayed by the ikee iPhone worm
SophosLabs is analysing the worm's code, which suggests that at least four variants have been written so far. One of the attributes of the latest variant (labelled the "D" version) is that it tries to hide its presence by using a filepath suggestive of the Cydia application.
The source code is littered with comments from the author suggesting the worm has been written as an experiment. One of the comments berates affected users for not following instructions when installing SSH, because if they had changed the default password the worm would not have been able to infect them.
Presently it appears that the worm does nothing more malicious than spread and change the infected user's lock screen wallpaper. However, that doesn't mean that attacks like this can be considered harmless.
Accessing someone else's computing device and changing their data without permission is an offence in many countries - and just as with graffiti there is a cost involved in cleaning-up affected iPhones.
Other inquisitive hackers may also be tempted to experiment once they read about the world's first iPhone worm. Furthermore, a more malicious hacker could take the code written by ikee and adapt it to have a more sinister payload.
iPhone users may rush into jailbreaking their iPhones in order to add functionality that Apple may have denied to them, but if they do so carelessly they may also risk their iPhone becoming the target of a hacker.
My prediction is that we may see more attacks like this in the future. Indeed, only last week we saw hacked iPhones in the Netherlands being held hostage for 5 Euros.
The source code of the worm says at its start:
/ "ikee virus" by ikex
/ Revision: 10 (Variant D)
A quick trawl of the Whirlpool forum where users are reporting that their iPhones are unexpectedly displaying an image of Rick Astley, reveals a user calling themselves "ike_x".
According to ike_x's user profile on the Whirlpool forum his nearest city is Sydney, Australia . Further searching on the internet reveals other pages seemingly related to ike_x of Wollongong, New South Wales, using the name "Ash" or "Ashley Towns". For instance, here is a MySpace page and this appears to be Ash/ikex on Twitter.
The worm's author appears to have realised that people might be interested to learn why he wrote the worm, and posted this explanation inside the code:
Why?: Boredom, because i found it so stupid the fact that on my initial scan of my 3G optus range i found 27 hosts running SSH daemons, i could access 26 of them with root:alpine. Doesn't anyone RTFM anymore?
There is a certain irony in the notion that a hacker who says he was trying to expose sloppy security by the owners of jailbroken iPhones has done such a bad job of covering his own tracks.
Source: http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/11/08/iphone-worm-discovered-wallpaper-rick-astley-photo/
Internet access protection wins telecoms deal. 09.11.2009.
A compromise to defend the rights of people suspected of using the Internet illegally has secured a European Union agreement on reforms to the bloc’s telecoms law. Cut their access if they have downloaded copyrighted material without paying first, or child pornography? Not without a prior fair hearing.
The deal was reached between the Council of EU telecoms ministers and the European Parliament.
Green MEP Philippe Lamberts said: “We compromised. Basically it preserves what we consider as a fundamental right: access to the Internet. Any cut-off restriction must be subject to a judicial procedure, obviously before the cutoff decision is taken.”
The whole telecoms package is meant to beef up consumers’ contractual rights. The reform will also create a pan-EU supervisory agency to improve how the rules are applied. This aims to expose all operators to competition. An important motivation was to encourage investment in the 300-billion-euro a year sector.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/05/internet-access-protection-wins-telecoms-deal/
The deal was reached between the Council of EU telecoms ministers and the European Parliament.
Green MEP Philippe Lamberts said: “We compromised. Basically it preserves what we consider as a fundamental right: access to the Internet. Any cut-off restriction must be subject to a judicial procedure, obviously before the cutoff decision is taken.”
The whole telecoms package is meant to beef up consumers’ contractual rights. The reform will also create a pan-EU supervisory agency to improve how the rules are applied. This aims to expose all operators to competition. An important motivation was to encourage investment in the 300-billion-euro a year sector.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/05/internet-access-protection-wins-telecoms-deal/
Friday, November 6, 2009
Seven shot dead at US army base. 06.11.2009.
Seven people have been killed and at least 20 injured in a pair of shootings at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, the US Army has confirmed.
One person has been arrested and at least one more is on the run, officials said. The base has been locked down.
NBC News network said the two suspects were in military uniform and that the shooter-at-large was believed to have a high-powered sniper rifle.
Fort Hood, near the town of Killeen, is the largest US base in the world.
Home to about 40,000 US troops, the base lies between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (97 km) from each city.
It is not yet clear whether those killed and injured are civilians or military personnel.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident.
Army spokesman Lt Col Nathan Banks at the Pentagon told the Associated Press news agency the shootings had begun at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical processing centre at Fort Hood.
He said two shooters had been involved.
The second incident took place at a theatre on the base, he said. Emergency response officials named the site as Howze Theatre.
NBC reports that the suspect in custody is in his 20s.
At this point all those involved are believed to be military personnel, ABC reports. It says there are conflicting reports about whether there is a third shooter.
A serviceman stationed at Fort Hood who asked to remain anonymous told the BBC: "We're on lockdown. I heard the emergency announcement over the speakers outside and saw people rushing to get indoors.
"In our office we're okay but we're hearing about the deaths. It's horrible and very shocking."
The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says there are military police and Swat teams on the scene, and the FBI is on the way from Austin and Waco. Schools in the area have also been locked down.
Units at the base are among those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some will have returned from there, our correspondent says.
The base is essentially like a small town, he adds, and has a centre that deals with combat stress.
Local congressman John Carter, speaking to NBC News, said gunfire had erupted half an hour before a graduation ceremony was due to begin.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson said in a statement: "I am shocked and saddened by today's outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others.
"My heart goes out to their loved ones."
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8345713.stm
One person has been arrested and at least one more is on the run, officials said. The base has been locked down.
NBC News network said the two suspects were in military uniform and that the shooter-at-large was believed to have a high-powered sniper rifle.
Fort Hood, near the town of Killeen, is the largest US base in the world.
Home to about 40,000 US troops, the base lies between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (97 km) from each city.
It is not yet clear whether those killed and injured are civilians or military personnel.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident.
Army spokesman Lt Col Nathan Banks at the Pentagon told the Associated Press news agency the shootings had begun at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical processing centre at Fort Hood.
He said two shooters had been involved.
The second incident took place at a theatre on the base, he said. Emergency response officials named the site as Howze Theatre.
NBC reports that the suspect in custody is in his 20s.
At this point all those involved are believed to be military personnel, ABC reports. It says there are conflicting reports about whether there is a third shooter.
A serviceman stationed at Fort Hood who asked to remain anonymous told the BBC: "We're on lockdown. I heard the emergency announcement over the speakers outside and saw people rushing to get indoors.
"In our office we're okay but we're hearing about the deaths. It's horrible and very shocking."
The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says there are military police and Swat teams on the scene, and the FBI is on the way from Austin and Waco. Schools in the area have also been locked down.
Units at the base are among those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some will have returned from there, our correspondent says.
The base is essentially like a small town, he adds, and has a centre that deals with combat stress.
Local congressman John Carter, speaking to NBC News, said gunfire had erupted half an hour before a graduation ceremony was due to begin.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson said in a statement: "I am shocked and saddened by today's outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others.
"My heart goes out to their loved ones."
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8345713.stm
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Mandriva announces the upcoming launch of Mandriva Linux 2010. 05.11.2009.
Mandriva announces the upcoming launch of Mandriva Linux 2010, the latest version of its innovative operating system. Mandriva Linux 2010 will be available from Tuesday, 3rd November.
Mandriva Linux offers new functionalities which will revolutionise the desktop. These include 'Smart Desktop', an original technology which offers dynamic acces to all your files by labelling your photos, documents, mails or videos and managing your personal data in a completely customised approach.
Mandriva Linux 2010 not only proposes the most advanced and easy to use Linux operating system on the market but also integrates a list of the most far-reaching software.
Mandriva Linux is a convivial operating system which will adapt to your computer and devices. You will be able to customise it according to your needs, or to improve it, and it allows your circle of acquaintances to share the experience.
Mandriva Linux 2010 will be available in three editions: Powerpack (the commercial edition, including exclusive commercial software, support, and services), One (a live CD which can also be installed to the system permanently) and Free (an edition which contains only free / open source software).
It brings you KDE 4.3 as the default KDE desktop. This major new release of KDE further enhances the KDE desktop experience. Other major new software versions include GNOME 2.28, OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 and Mozilla Firefox 3.5. Mandriva 2010 is using the 2.6.31 Linux Kernel, with the usual assortment of patches by the excellent Mandriva Kernel Team to make sure it's tailored to the distro.
As always, Mandriva Linux 2010's hardware compatibility is second to none. As well as conventional systems, it boasts excellent support for a wide range of netbooks, including all currently available Asus Eee PC models, the Acer Aspire One, the MSI Wind, and others.
You can download the Mandriva Linux 2010 One Live CD or the Free DVD from here . You can also buy the boxed PowerPack edition or purchase the PowerPack subscription from the Mandriva Store
Source: http://www.mandriva.com/enterprise/en/company/press/mandriva-announces-the-upcoming-launch-of-mandriva-linux-2010
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Bone marrow break through. 04.11.2009.
In London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, the doors to certain rooms are sealed because the children on that ward have serious genetic defects in their immune systems called Primary Immunodeficiencies or (PID) which means they have to live in completely sterile surroundings. Children with PID don’t survive without a bone marrow transplant and fifty such transplants are carried out each year. Until now chemotherapy has been used to kill the patient’s own bone marrow before the transplant.
But doctors here have discovered a new form of treatment. PID patients can now be given antibodies instead of standard chemotherapy before a transplant to make space for the donor cells. This is more effective and has fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy which can cause organ damage and infertility.
Dr Persis Amrolia, a specialist in the area, says that with the antibody protocol, staff see no hair loss, virtually no sickness and very little damage to the liver, lungs and gut. They hope that this will translate later on into less late effects, so that the children will go on to grow normally, go through puberty normally and be fertile, which was not always the case after chemotherapy.
In this new technique antibodies target a molecule specific to bone marrow cells, meaning that the antibody effectively kills the bone marrow but leaves other tissues unaffected.
So far 13 out of 16 patients in the trial have survived and have been cured. Now doctors will use this technique to develop similar approaches to children with other genetic diseases like leukaemia.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/09/07/bone-marrow-break-through/
But doctors here have discovered a new form of treatment. PID patients can now be given antibodies instead of standard chemotherapy before a transplant to make space for the donor cells. This is more effective and has fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy which can cause organ damage and infertility.
Dr Persis Amrolia, a specialist in the area, says that with the antibody protocol, staff see no hair loss, virtually no sickness and very little damage to the liver, lungs and gut. They hope that this will translate later on into less late effects, so that the children will go on to grow normally, go through puberty normally and be fertile, which was not always the case after chemotherapy.
In this new technique antibodies target a molecule specific to bone marrow cells, meaning that the antibody effectively kills the bone marrow but leaves other tissues unaffected.
So far 13 out of 16 patients in the trial have survived and have been cured. Now doctors will use this technique to develop similar approaches to children with other genetic diseases like leukaemia.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/09/07/bone-marrow-break-through/
Obama one year on. 04.11.2009.
It has been one year exactly since Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. He promised the one thing voters wanted most – change. But following Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey yesterday, and his approval rating dropping to 50 per cent, how is the President doing?
America’s economy is still struggling, despite the President’s bailouts, stimulus packages and new legislation. His toughest battle has been with healthcare, which he named his top priority. But political hostility is making the process arduous. There are tough decisions to be made about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Obama has another three years left of his first term. Undoubtedly his popularity has fallen since his election triumph a year ago, but he still has time to regain the confidence of the American people. The next test will be a year from now, when voters elect a new Congress.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/04/obama-one-year-on/
America’s economy is still struggling, despite the President’s bailouts, stimulus packages and new legislation. His toughest battle has been with healthcare, which he named his top priority. But political hostility is making the process arduous. There are tough decisions to be made about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Obama has another three years left of his first term. Undoubtedly his popularity has fallen since his election triumph a year ago, but he still has time to regain the confidence of the American people. The next test will be a year from now, when voters elect a new Congress.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/04/obama-one-year-on/
US and EU move closer on climate change. 04.11.2009.
US President Barack Obama says the United States and the European Union have agreed to boost their efforts for success on climate change at the Copenhagen conference next month.
The fight against climate warming has highlighted serious differences between the US and the EU.
The Europeans have criticized the Americans for not doing enough. Obama agrees greater effort is necessary:
“We discussed climate change extensively and all of us agreed that it was imperative for us to redouble our efforts in the weeks between now and the Copenhagen meetings to assure that we create a framework for progress in dealing with what is a potential ecologic disaster.”
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said:
“Regarding climate change, I would want to say that I am more confident now than I was some days ago. As I said earlier, President Obama changed the climate on the climate negotiations, because with the strong leadership of the United States, we can indeed make an agreement. We are working on a framework agreement in Copenhagen that will be an important agreement for the world.”
The symbol of Barcelona, la Sagrada Familia has been transformed into a monument for saving the climate. As delegates from 180 countries meet in the Spanish city to prepare for the Copenhagen conference, Greenpeace reminded the big powers of their responsibilities toward the poorer countries. They will reportedly need a 100 billion euros a year till 2020 to fight climate change.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/04/us-and-eu-move-closer-on-climate-change/
The fight against climate warming has highlighted serious differences between the US and the EU.
The Europeans have criticized the Americans for not doing enough. Obama agrees greater effort is necessary:
“We discussed climate change extensively and all of us agreed that it was imperative for us to redouble our efforts in the weeks between now and the Copenhagen meetings to assure that we create a framework for progress in dealing with what is a potential ecologic disaster.”
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said:
“Regarding climate change, I would want to say that I am more confident now than I was some days ago. As I said earlier, President Obama changed the climate on the climate negotiations, because with the strong leadership of the United States, we can indeed make an agreement. We are working on a framework agreement in Copenhagen that will be an important agreement for the world.”
The symbol of Barcelona, la Sagrada Familia has been transformed into a monument for saving the climate. As delegates from 180 countries meet in the Spanish city to prepare for the Copenhagen conference, Greenpeace reminded the big powers of their responsibilities toward the poorer countries. They will reportedly need a 100 billion euros a year till 2020 to fight climate change.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/04/us-and-eu-move-closer-on-climate-change/
African Desert Rift Confirmed as New Ocean in the Making. 04.11.2009.
In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial.
Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans, and the rift is indeed likely the beginning of a new sea.
View Larger Map
The new study, published in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters, suggests that the highly active volcanic boundaries along the edges of tectonic ocean plates may suddenly break apart in large sections, instead of little by little as has been predominantly believed. In addition, such sudden large-scale events on land pose a much more serious hazard to populations living near the rift than would several smaller events, says Cindy Ebinger, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester and co-author of the study.
"This work is a breakthrough in our understanding of continental rifting leading to the creation of new ocean basins," says Ken Macdonald, professor emeritus in the Department of Earth Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and who is not affiliated with the research. "For the first time they demonstrate that activity on one rift segment can trigger a major episode of magma injection and associated deformation on a neighboring segment. Careful study of the 2005 mega-dike intrusion and its aftermath will continue to provide extraordinary opportunities for learning about continental rifts and mid-ocean ridges."
"The whole point of this study is to learn whether what is happening in Ethiopia is like what is happening at the bottom of the ocean where it's almost impossible for us to go," says Ebinger. "We knew that if we could establish that, then Ethiopia would essentially be a unique and superb ocean-ridge laboratory for us. Because of the unprecedented cross-border collaboration behind this research, we now know that the answer is yes, it is analogous."
Atalay Ayele, professor at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, led the investigation, painstakingly gathering seismic data surrounding the 2005 event that led to the giant rift opening more than 20 feet in width in just days. Along with the seismic information from Ethiopia, Ayele combined data from neighboring Eritrea with the help of Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi, professor at the Eritrea Institute of Technology, and from Yemen with the help of Jamal Sholan of the National Yemen Seismological Observatory Center. The map he drew of when and where earthquakes happened in the region fit tremendously well with the more detailed analyses Ebinger has conducted in more recent years.
Ayele's reconstruction of events showed that the rift did not open in a series of small earthquakes over an extended period of time, but tore open along its entire 35-mile length in just days. A volcano called Dabbahu at the northern end of the rift erupted first, then magma pushed up through the middle of the rift area and began "unzipping" the rift in both directions, says Ebinger.
Since the 2005 event, Ebinger and her colleagues have installed seismometers and measured 12 similar—though dramatically less intense—events.
"We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this," says Ebinger. She explains that since the areas where the seafloor is spreading are almost always situated under miles of ocean, it's nearly impossible to monitor more than a small section of the ridge at once so there's no way for geologists to know how much of the ridge may break open and spread at any one time. "Seafloor ridges are made up of sections, each of which can be hundreds of miles long. Because of this study, we now know that each one of those segments can tear open in a just a few days."
Ebinger and her colleagues are continuing to monitor the area in Ethiopia to learn more about how the magma system beneath the rift evolves as the rift continues to grow.
Additional authors of the study include Derek Keir, Tim Wright, and Graham Stuart, professors of earth and environment at the University of Leeds, U.K.; Roger Buck, professor at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, N.Y.; and Eric Jacques, professor at the Institute de Physique du Globe de Paris, France.
Source: http://rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3486
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Finland makes 1Mb broadband access a legal right. 15.10.2009.
Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications has made 1-megabit broadband Web access a legal right, YLE, the country's national broadcasting company, reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, every person in Finland (a little over 5 million people, according to a 2009 estimate) will have the right of access to a 1Mb broadband connection starting in July. And they may ultimately gain the right to a 100Mb broadband connection.
Just more than a year ago, Finland said it would make a 100Mb broadband connection a legal right by the end of 2015. Wednesday's announcement is considered an intermediate step.
France, one of a few countries that has made Internet access a human right, did so earlier this year. France's Constitutional Council ruled that Internet access is a basic human right. That said, it stopped short of making "broadband access" a legal right. Finland says that it's the first country to make broadband access a legal right.
But Finland's definition of "access" to broadband is a little fuzzy. According to the Helsinki Times when it reported the 100Mb target last year, the Finnish government said that no household "would be farther than 2 kilometers from a connection capable of delivering broadband Internet with a capacity of at least 100 megabits of data a second." It did say, though, that "about 2,000 (households) in far-flung corners of the country" wouldn't be included. Ostensibly, Finland plans to keep that same distribution when its 1Mb broadband access is implemented.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10374831-2.html
According to the report, every person in Finland (a little over 5 million people, according to a 2009 estimate) will have the right of access to a 1Mb broadband connection starting in July. And they may ultimately gain the right to a 100Mb broadband connection.
Just more than a year ago, Finland said it would make a 100Mb broadband connection a legal right by the end of 2015. Wednesday's announcement is considered an intermediate step.
France, one of a few countries that has made Internet access a human right, did so earlier this year. France's Constitutional Council ruled that Internet access is a basic human right. That said, it stopped short of making "broadband access" a legal right. Finland says that it's the first country to make broadband access a legal right.
But Finland's definition of "access" to broadband is a little fuzzy. According to the Helsinki Times when it reported the 100Mb target last year, the Finnish government said that no household "would be farther than 2 kilometers from a connection capable of delivering broadband Internet with a capacity of at least 100 megabits of data a second." It did say, though, that "about 2,000 (households) in far-flung corners of the country" wouldn't be included. Ostensibly, Finland plans to keep that same distribution when its 1Mb broadband access is implemented.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10374831-2.html
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
German centre-right coalition in the making. Euronews. 06.10.2009.
Negotiations on the make-up of Germany’s new conservative coalition have been taking place amid a growing clamour for action on the nuclear industry.
Hundreds of protestors gathered in Berlin calling for an end to nuclear power and demanding Germany’s reactors close as promised by 2020.
Fresh from winning last week’s election, Chancellor Angela Merkel has begun talks with the liberal FDP party on forming Germany’s first centre-right coalition in 11 years.
Guido Westerwelle, is head of the pro business FDP. He said: “There will certainly be differences, that’s normal. But I am sure they can be overcome and we can work out a good coalition agreement.”
The big losers in the general election, the SPD Social Democrats are trying desperately to bridge deep divisions in the party. Many members are not happy with what they see as the SPD’s authoritarian leadership and the candidacy of Sigmar Gabriel, former environment minister, for the party chairmanship: Gabriel said, “I am the candidate for the leadership and all my colleagues who are candidates for other posts in the party are only candidates too.”
The selection of prominent leftwinger Andrea Nahles, whom the steering committee agrees should be general secretary, is seen as a clear signal the SPD has begun its shift back to the left.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/06/german-centre-right-coalition-in-the-making/
Hundreds of protestors gathered in Berlin calling for an end to nuclear power and demanding Germany’s reactors close as promised by 2020.
Fresh from winning last week’s election, Chancellor Angela Merkel has begun talks with the liberal FDP party on forming Germany’s first centre-right coalition in 11 years.
Guido Westerwelle, is head of the pro business FDP. He said: “There will certainly be differences, that’s normal. But I am sure they can be overcome and we can work out a good coalition agreement.”
The big losers in the general election, the SPD Social Democrats are trying desperately to bridge deep divisions in the party. Many members are not happy with what they see as the SPD’s authoritarian leadership and the candidacy of Sigmar Gabriel, former environment minister, for the party chairmanship: Gabriel said, “I am the candidate for the leadership and all my colleagues who are candidates for other posts in the party are only candidates too.”
The selection of prominent leftwinger Andrea Nahles, whom the steering committee agrees should be general secretary, is seen as a clear signal the SPD has begun its shift back to the left.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/06/german-centre-right-coalition-in-the-making/
Monday, October 5, 2009
Scheme removes entropy from ultracold atoms. 05.10.2009.
Studying the quantum properties of gases requires cooling them down to a fraction of a Kelvin using various laser-based and magnetic techniques. Creating Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs), for example, means reaching just a few tens or hundreds of nanoKelvin. At this point an atom's de Broglie wavelength, which is inversely proportional to its momentum, becomes long enough so that it is comparable to the spacing between atoms, which causes all the atoms to condense into the quantum ground state.
In addition to cooling atoms, however, physicists also want to minimize their entropy. One principal aim is to create "quantum simulators", in which the atoms exhibit similar quantum phenomena to that in superconductors and other "real-life" materials.
Ease of control
A simulator could consist of a lattice of ultracold atoms held in place by laser beams in which the properties of the atoms are easily tunable. For example, the probability of an atom tunnelling from one lattice site to another or the interaction between the particles could be easily controlled, something that is extremely difficult to do in condensed-matter systems such as crystals.
Moreover, unlike crystals, in which impurities or defects could mask some basic quantum properties, atoms in optical lattices represent almost ideal systems with virtually no impurities. The challenge in building such a simulator, however, is ensuring that the atoms have a low enough entropy – a quantity related to disorder – that they can exist in precise lattice arrangements.
Now, Massimo Inguscio, Francesco Minardi and colleagues at the University of Florence, together with Sandro Stringari at the University of Trento, have demonstrated a new scheme that makes it easier to reach such low entropies. This involves putting a mixture of potassium and rubidium atoms into a magnetic trap and then cooling the mixture. Directing a laser beam with just the right wavelength into the trap compresses the potassium at the focal point of the beam while leaving the rubidium virtually unchanged.
Classical explanation
The result is that entropy is transferred from the potassium to the rubidium atoms in a process that can be understood using classical thermodynamics. Filling an isolated box with one gas and compressing the gas with a piston would raise the temperature of that gas. But mixing it with a second gas that can flow through the piston will result in a transfer of heat and therefore entropy from the first to the second gas when the first gas is compressed.
Commenting on the work, Dan Stamper-Kurn of the University of California Berkeley writes that the Florence team is not the first to use one quantum gas to cool another. But, he says, unlike previous groups, it has managed to transfer this entropy reversibly, in other words it has been able to shuttle the entropy back and forth between the refrigerator and target gases. This was shown by repeatedly moving the potassium into and out of the BEC state. This is important because it shows that the process is not irreversible and introducing heat into the system that cannot be removed.
Stamper-Kurn adds that the system can also be used to identify phase transitions of poorly understood target gases with exotic quantum properties. This, he says, can be achieved by measuring the state variables, such as temperature, pressure or magnetization, of the well known refrigerator gas at two different points in the experiment since these reveal how the entropy and temperature of the target gas change.
Textbook thermodynamics
Other groups, such as that of Wolfgang Ketterle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, have transferred entropy not between two distinct gases but between one region of a gas and another. However, Florence team member Jacopo Catani points out that Ketterle's research was aimed more at producing BECs reversibly, whereas the work of his group is a more versatile way of reducing entropy since the target and refrigerator gases can be easily isolated. He estimates that this research might lead to the creation of a quantum simulator within the next three years, but adds that it is not just the potential applications of the work that he finds satisfying. "It is also really nice to see how textbook thermodynamics can be applied to a quantum system," he says.
The research is reported in Physical Review Letters.
Source: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/40570
Sony develops highly efficient wireless power transfer system based on magnetic resonance. 05.10.2009.
Transfers 60 Watts of electrical power over a distance of 50cm.
Sony Corporation today announced the development of a highly efficient wireless power transfer system that eliminates the use of power cables from electronic products such as television sets. Using this system, up to 60 Watts of electrical energy can be transferred over a distance of 50cm (at an efficiency of approximately 80%, approximately 60% including rectifier).
This new wireless power transfer system incorporates a form of contactless electrical energy transmission technology based on magnetic resonance. With magnetic resonance, electromagnetic energy is only transferred to recipient devices that share the identical resonant frequencies as the energy source, so energy transfer efficiency is maintained, even when misalignment occurs. Furthermore, even if there are metal objects located between the transmitter and receiver, no heat induction occurs.
Sony has also drawn on its years of experience developing high radio frequency (RF) technologies for use in wireless communications and broadcast products to create a new rectifier that realizes both high speed and high efficiency. The new wireless power transfer system combines these technologies to realize a transfer efficiency of 60%, even when a rectifier is included. Sony has also developed passive extender units that are set to the same frequencies as the transmission and recipient devices, enabling the transfer distance to be extended from 50cm to 80cm* without any degradation in transfer efficiency.
With the growth in networked products, the number of cables used to connect these products has also increased. While data cables are rapidly being replaced with wireless communication systems such as Wi-Fi, the demand for wireless power transfer systems is also continuing to grow. Sony will proceed with its efforts to develop further technologies that meet customer needs for the wireless transfer of power across a wide range of products, distances and energy levels.
High speed rectifier realizing high transfer efficiency
Transfer distance is able to be extended using passive extender units
Sony Corporation today announced the development of a highly efficient wireless power transfer system that eliminates the use of power cables from electronic products such as television sets. Using this system, up to 60 Watts of electrical energy can be transferred over a distance of 50cm (at an efficiency of approximately 80%, approximately 60% including rectifier).
This new wireless power transfer system incorporates a form of contactless electrical energy transmission technology based on magnetic resonance. With magnetic resonance, electromagnetic energy is only transferred to recipient devices that share the identical resonant frequencies as the energy source, so energy transfer efficiency is maintained, even when misalignment occurs. Furthermore, even if there are metal objects located between the transmitter and receiver, no heat induction occurs.
Sony has also drawn on its years of experience developing high radio frequency (RF) technologies for use in wireless communications and broadcast products to create a new rectifier that realizes both high speed and high efficiency. The new wireless power transfer system combines these technologies to realize a transfer efficiency of 60%, even when a rectifier is included. Sony has also developed passive extender units that are set to the same frequencies as the transmission and recipient devices, enabling the transfer distance to be extended from 50cm to 80cm* without any degradation in transfer efficiency.
With the growth in networked products, the number of cables used to connect these products has also increased. While data cables are rapidly being replaced with wireless communication systems such as Wi-Fi, the demand for wireless power transfer systems is also continuing to grow. Sony will proceed with its efforts to develop further technologies that meet customer needs for the wireless transfer of power across a wide range of products, distances and energy levels.
High speed rectifier realizing high transfer efficiency
- Sony has drawn on its years of experience and expertise in RF technologies, and also incorporated optimal new components to develop a new rectifier that combines both high speeds and high efficiency. This minimizes energy loss when transferring energy from the transmitter to the receiver, and enables products such as television sets and mobile PCs to be efficiently powered, wirelessly.
Transfer distance is able to be extended using passive extender units- Passive extender units placed between the transmitter and receiver units enable the transfer distance to be extended without any degradation in efficiency. Based on fundamental experiments conducted using the component devices only, transfer distance can be extended from 50cm to 80cm. Although relatively large transmitter and receiver units are generally required for transferring energy over long distances, passive extender units can be used to relay power between small-sized transmitter and receiver unit.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
US relaxes grip on the internet. BBC News. 01.10.2009.
The US government has relaxed its control over how the internet is run.
It has signed a four-page "affirmation of commitments" with the net regulator Icann, giving the body autonomy for the first time.
Previous agreements gave the US close oversight of Icann - drawing criticism from other countries and groups.
The new agreement comes into effect on 1 October, exactly 40 years since the first two computers were connected on the prototype of the net.
"It's a beautifully historic day," Rod Beckstrom, Icann's head, told BBC News.
The European Commission, which has long been critical of Icann's alliance with the US government, welcomed the new deal.
"Internet users worldwide can now anticipate that Icann's decisions...will be more independent and more accountable, taking into account everyone's interests," said Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for information society and media.
'Global system'
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) is a not-for-profit private sector corporation - set up by the US government - to oversee critical parts of the internet, such as the top-level domain (TLD) name system. Top level domains include .com and .uk.
Since its inception in 1998, it has periodically signed accords - known collectively as the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) - with the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
we endorse this Affirmation and applaud the maturing of Icann's role in the provision of internet stability
Eric Schmidt
CEO, Google
These papers meant that the US government was responsible for reviewing the work of the body.
These have now been abandoned in favour of the new "affirmation of commitments", a brief document which turns the review process over to the global "internet community".
"Under the JPA, Icann staff would conduct reviews and hand them over to the US government," explained Mr Beckstrom.
"Now we submit those reviews to the world and post them publically for all to comment."
In addition, independent review panels - including representatives of foreign governments - would specifically oversee Icann's work in three specific areas: security, competition and accountability.
The US will retain a permanent seat on the accountability panel.
Mr Beckstrom said the decision to break away from the US government in all other areas had been made "over the last year and a half".
"Stakeholders told us that the JPA should not be renewed and that it wasn't appropriate for it to be renewed," he told BBC News.
"It is also recognition by the US government that the internet is a global system."
The internet began as a research project by the US military, known as Arpanet.
On 1 October 1969, the second computer was connected to the network, said Mr Beckstrom. Ever since, the US has paid close attention to the workings and growth of the net.
"Today's announcement bolsters the long-term viability of the internet as a force for innovation, economic growth, and freedom of expression," said US Assistant Secretary for communications and information Lawrence Strickling.
"This framework puts the public interest front and centre."
Businesses have also welcomed the change of direction by the US.
"Google and its users depend every day on a vibrant and expanding internet; we endorse this affirmation and applaud the maturing of Icann's role in the provision of internet stability," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.
However, the new agreement does not totally sever the links between the US government and Icann entirely.
In addition, Icann also has a separate agreement with the US - to run the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) - that expires in 2011.
The IANA oversees the net's addressing system.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8283310.stm
It has signed a four-page "affirmation of commitments" with the net regulator Icann, giving the body autonomy for the first time.
Previous agreements gave the US close oversight of Icann - drawing criticism from other countries and groups.
The new agreement comes into effect on 1 October, exactly 40 years since the first two computers were connected on the prototype of the net.
"It's a beautifully historic day," Rod Beckstrom, Icann's head, told BBC News.
The European Commission, which has long been critical of Icann's alliance with the US government, welcomed the new deal.
"Internet users worldwide can now anticipate that Icann's decisions...will be more independent and more accountable, taking into account everyone's interests," said Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for information society and media.
'Global system'
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) is a not-for-profit private sector corporation - set up by the US government - to oversee critical parts of the internet, such as the top-level domain (TLD) name system. Top level domains include .com and .uk.
Since its inception in 1998, it has periodically signed accords - known collectively as the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) - with the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
we endorse this Affirmation and applaud the maturing of Icann's role in the provision of internet stability
Eric Schmidt
CEO, Google
These papers meant that the US government was responsible for reviewing the work of the body.
These have now been abandoned in favour of the new "affirmation of commitments", a brief document which turns the review process over to the global "internet community".
"Under the JPA, Icann staff would conduct reviews and hand them over to the US government," explained Mr Beckstrom.
"Now we submit those reviews to the world and post them publically for all to comment."
In addition, independent review panels - including representatives of foreign governments - would specifically oversee Icann's work in three specific areas: security, competition and accountability.
The US will retain a permanent seat on the accountability panel.
Mr Beckstrom said the decision to break away from the US government in all other areas had been made "over the last year and a half".
"Stakeholders told us that the JPA should not be renewed and that it wasn't appropriate for it to be renewed," he told BBC News.
"It is also recognition by the US government that the internet is a global system."
The internet began as a research project by the US military, known as Arpanet.
On 1 October 1969, the second computer was connected to the network, said Mr Beckstrom. Ever since, the US has paid close attention to the workings and growth of the net.
"Today's announcement bolsters the long-term viability of the internet as a force for innovation, economic growth, and freedom of expression," said US Assistant Secretary for communications and information Lawrence Strickling.
"This framework puts the public interest front and centre."
Businesses have also welcomed the change of direction by the US.
"Google and its users depend every day on a vibrant and expanding internet; we endorse this affirmation and applaud the maturing of Icann's role in the provision of internet stability," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.
However, the new agreement does not totally sever the links between the US government and Icann entirely.
In addition, Icann also has a separate agreement with the US - to run the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) - that expires in 2011.
The IANA oversees the net's addressing system.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8283310.stm
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Free will is not an illusion after all. 24.09.2009.
Champions of free will, take heart. A landmark 1980s experiment that purported to show free will doesn't exist is being challenged.
In 1983, neuroscientist Benjamin Libet asked volunteers wearing scalp electrodes to flex a finger or wrist. When they did, the movements were preceded by a dip in the signals being recorded, called the "readiness potential". Libet interpreted this RP as the brain preparing for movement.
Crucially, the RP came a few tenths of a second before the volunteers said they had decided to move. Libet concluded that unconscious neural processesMovie Camera determine our actions before we are ever aware of making a decision.
Since then, others have quoted the experiment as evidence that free will is an illusion – a conclusion that was always controversial, particularly as there is no proof the RP represents a decision to move.
Sound decisions
Long sceptical of Libet's interpretation, Jeff Miller and Judy Trevena of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, attempted to tease apart what prompts the RP using a similar experiment, with a key twist.
They also used scalp electrodes, but instead of letting their volunteers decide when to move, Miller and Trevena asked them
to wait for an audio tone before deciding whether to tap a key. If Libet's interpretation were correct, Miller reasoned, the RP should be greater after the tone when a person chose to tap the key.
While there was an RP before volunteers made their decision to move, the signal was the same whether or not they elected to tap. Miller concludes that the RP may merely be a sign that the brain is paying attention and does not indicate that a decision has been made.
Miller and Trevena also failed to find evidence of subconscious decision-making in a second experiment. This time they asked volunteers to press a key after the tone, but to decide on the spot whether to use their left or right hand. As movement in the right limbs is related to the brain signals in the left hemisphere and vice versa, they reasoned that if an unconscious process is driving this decision, where it occurs in the brain should depend on which hand is chosen. But they found no such correlation.
Paradigm shift
Marcel Brass of Ghent University in Belgium says it is wrong to use Miller and Trevena's results to reinterpret Libet's experiment, in which volunteers were not prompted to make a decision. The audio tone "changes the paradigm", so the two can't be compared, he says. What's more, in 2008, he and his colleagues detected patterns in brain activity that predicted better than chance whether or not a subject would press a key, before they were aware of making a decision.
But Frank Durgin, a psychologist at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, says that Brass's results do "seem to undermine Libet's preferred interpretation", though they don't contradict it outright.
На русском / In Russian: http://mikhailworld.blogspot.com/2009/09/lentaru-24092009.html
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17835-free-will-is-not-an-illusion-after-all.html
In 1983, neuroscientist Benjamin Libet asked volunteers wearing scalp electrodes to flex a finger or wrist. When they did, the movements were preceded by a dip in the signals being recorded, called the "readiness potential". Libet interpreted this RP as the brain preparing for movement.
Crucially, the RP came a few tenths of a second before the volunteers said they had decided to move. Libet concluded that unconscious neural processesMovie Camera determine our actions before we are ever aware of making a decision.
Since then, others have quoted the experiment as evidence that free will is an illusion – a conclusion that was always controversial, particularly as there is no proof the RP represents a decision to move.
Sound decisions
Long sceptical of Libet's interpretation, Jeff Miller and Judy Trevena of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, attempted to tease apart what prompts the RP using a similar experiment, with a key twist.
They also used scalp electrodes, but instead of letting their volunteers decide when to move, Miller and Trevena asked them
to wait for an audio tone before deciding whether to tap a key. If Libet's interpretation were correct, Miller reasoned, the RP should be greater after the tone when a person chose to tap the key.
While there was an RP before volunteers made their decision to move, the signal was the same whether or not they elected to tap. Miller concludes that the RP may merely be a sign that the brain is paying attention and does not indicate that a decision has been made.
Miller and Trevena also failed to find evidence of subconscious decision-making in a second experiment. This time they asked volunteers to press a key after the tone, but to decide on the spot whether to use their left or right hand. As movement in the right limbs is related to the brain signals in the left hemisphere and vice versa, they reasoned that if an unconscious process is driving this decision, where it occurs in the brain should depend on which hand is chosen. But they found no such correlation.
Paradigm shift
Marcel Brass of Ghent University in Belgium says it is wrong to use Miller and Trevena's results to reinterpret Libet's experiment, in which volunteers were not prompted to make a decision. The audio tone "changes the paradigm", so the two can't be compared, he says. What's more, in 2008, he and his colleagues detected patterns in brain activity that predicted better than chance whether or not a subject would press a key, before they were aware of making a decision.
But Frank Durgin, a psychologist at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, says that Brass's results do "seem to undermine Libet's preferred interpretation", though they don't contradict it outright.
На русском / In Russian: http://mikhailworld.blogspot.com/2009/09/lentaru-24092009.html
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17835-free-will-is-not-an-illusion-after-all.html
Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11: eight years on but the pain continues. 11.09.2009.
It has been exactly eight years since the simple date September 11 became an horrific watershed moment for America and the rest of the world.
Still, after these eight years, new pictures continue to be made public of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the aftermath and even the Guantanamo detainee who claims he masterminded the whole atrocity.
And after eight years, thousands of firefighters, police officers and civilians who ignored the toxic dust to clear the debris at Ground Zero are still fighting for compensation to help with respiratory illness, injury and the psychological damage. John Feal is among them.
He said: “Don’t call us heroes. Don’t parade us around and then treat us like we are common trash. Because that’s what’s happening and I take that personally. I’ve been to too many funerals, I’ve been to too many hospitals, I’ve seen too many body parts removed from men and women, while we get to see more lip service from elected officials.”
A compensation bill does exist, but still sits unpassed on desks in Congress.
Campaigners like Denis Hughes met at Ground Zero on the eve of the grim anniversary to denounce the delays in getting compensation to the victims of the clean-up operation.
“It’s an outrage that I stand before you and we haven’t got this bill passed. It is an outrage that people are denied benefits. It is an outrage that families find themselves in adverse economic conditions because this legislation has not been passed,” said Hughes.
John Gallagher, who was one of the many who helped clear the debris of the Twin Towers, echoed this feeling of injustice: “Why? Why don’t we have this bill? We can spend money to bail out car companies. We bail out sick insurance companies but we don’t want to give money to sick workers. There is no excuse for it.”
For many, after eight years, September 11 is not yet a scar but still an open wound.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/09/11/911-eight-years-on-but-the-pain-continues/
Still, after these eight years, new pictures continue to be made public of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the aftermath and even the Guantanamo detainee who claims he masterminded the whole atrocity.
And after eight years, thousands of firefighters, police officers and civilians who ignored the toxic dust to clear the debris at Ground Zero are still fighting for compensation to help with respiratory illness, injury and the psychological damage. John Feal is among them.
He said: “Don’t call us heroes. Don’t parade us around and then treat us like we are common trash. Because that’s what’s happening and I take that personally. I’ve been to too many funerals, I’ve been to too many hospitals, I’ve seen too many body parts removed from men and women, while we get to see more lip service from elected officials.”
A compensation bill does exist, but still sits unpassed on desks in Congress.
Campaigners like Denis Hughes met at Ground Zero on the eve of the grim anniversary to denounce the delays in getting compensation to the victims of the clean-up operation.
“It’s an outrage that I stand before you and we haven’t got this bill passed. It is an outrage that people are denied benefits. It is an outrage that families find themselves in adverse economic conditions because this legislation has not been passed,” said Hughes.
John Gallagher, who was one of the many who helped clear the debris of the Twin Towers, echoed this feeling of injustice: “Why? Why don’t we have this bill? We can spend money to bail out car companies. We bail out sick insurance companies but we don’t want to give money to sick workers. There is no excuse for it.”
For many, after eight years, September 11 is not yet a scar but still an open wound.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2009/09/11/911-eight-years-on-but-the-pain-continues/
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Chinese will invest $ 500 million in IFC's "The Hermitage" on the Moscow Ring Road. 07.09.2009.
Corporation of China Jin Yuan intends to invest about $ 500 million in the construction of a multifunctional complex (IFC), the Hermitage on the Moscow Ring Road. According to the newspaper "RBC daily" ( http://www.rbcdaily.ru/ ), the relevant Chinese businessmen have reached an agreement with the company "Slavyansky Mir" Valery and Vladimir Leschikovyh, which owns the building plots.
IFC, which will include 1.5 million square meters of commercial, warehouse, office and hotel space, located on-site construction fair "41-th km of Moscow Ring Road", located at the intersection of the Moscow Ring Road and the Kaluga road. The old market will be relocated to a neighboring area, also owned by brothers Leschikovym.
According to the newspaper, in exchange for participation in the project joint venture Tszinyuan and the Russia-China Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation can get the right long-term lease of land for the complex. RKTSTES also negotiated the lease for the Chinese, 30 thousand square meters of space in the central market, which is created in the area.
Before the crisis, "lavyansky Mir" planned to construct on-site fair complex in the style of the Winter Palace, which would include a million square meters of housing and two million square meters of commercial real estate. Now it is only on the construction of commercial space.
Vladimir Leschikov stated that it is now summed up the communication and soon developer intends to begin construction. According to him, the project has already invested 70-80 million dollars.
In early September it became known, the corporation Jin Yuan, specializing in the oil industry and real estate plans in the next few years to create in Russia a network of trade and logistics systems "Eurasia". At the initial stage of the project in the purchase of ready and under construction total area of 1.5 million square meters of Chinese are willing to invest nearly a billion dollars.
Source: http://realty.lenta.ru/news/2009/09/07/investments/
IFC, which will include 1.5 million square meters of commercial, warehouse, office and hotel space, located on-site construction fair "41-th km of Moscow Ring Road", located at the intersection of the Moscow Ring Road and the Kaluga road. The old market will be relocated to a neighboring area, also owned by brothers Leschikovym.
According to the newspaper, in exchange for participation in the project joint venture Tszinyuan and the Russia-China Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation can get the right long-term lease of land for the complex. RKTSTES also negotiated the lease for the Chinese, 30 thousand square meters of space in the central market, which is created in the area.
Before the crisis, "lavyansky Mir" planned to construct on-site fair complex in the style of the Winter Palace, which would include a million square meters of housing and two million square meters of commercial real estate. Now it is only on the construction of commercial space.
Vladimir Leschikov stated that it is now summed up the communication and soon developer intends to begin construction. According to him, the project has already invested 70-80 million dollars.
In early September it became known, the corporation Jin Yuan, specializing in the oil industry and real estate plans in the next few years to create in Russia a network of trade and logistics systems "Eurasia". At the initial stage of the project in the purchase of ready and under construction total area of 1.5 million square meters of Chinese are willing to invest nearly a billion dollars.
Source: http://realty.lenta.ru/news/2009/09/07/investments/
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Traveled over the network, stumbled upon the locomotive with gas turbine engine. Gazoturbovoz GT1. 29.07.2009.
Locomotive with gas turbine engine "Gazoturbovoz GT1-001".
Gazoturbovoz GT1 — contemporary Russian locomotive with gas turbine engine. It uses an electric transfer: gas turbine engine that runs on liquefied natural gas, is connected to the generator. Electric power supplied to the motors, which lead locomotive in motion.
Locomotive designed for operation on non-electrified sections of railways.
Power locomotive of 8.3 thousand kW, which is the largest value for this type of locomotive in the world.
RZhD (Russian Railway) results following the tested models: up to 100 km/h, one filling is enough for 750 km, the fuel — compressed natural gas. Locomotive was demonstrated at the exhibition "Innotrans-2008" in Berlin.
Development began in December 2006 after the signing of an agreement between Russian Railways and Samara Scientific-Technical Complex named ND Kuznetsova, who created the gas turbine engine NK-361 and power unit of locomotive.
In 2007, manufactured on the basis of experimental locomotive electric VL15-008. The turbines are made in Samara, build a locomotive made in Yekaterinburg.
July 4, 2008 — GT1-001 for the first time held a cargo of. Load was equal to 3 tons. Test took place at the "Kinel—Zhigulevskoe Sea" Kuibyshev Railway. Planned that the first locomotive be used in areas of Siberia, where there are large reserves of natural gas.
December 22, 2008 — locomotive GT1-001 for the first time held a cargo weight of 10 thousand tons (116 wagons).
January 23, 2009 — locomotive GT1-001 for the first time held a cargo weight of 15 thousand tons (159 wagons).
Source: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Газотурбовоз_ГТ1
Gazoturbovoz GT1 — contemporary Russian locomotive with gas turbine engine. It uses an electric transfer: gas turbine engine that runs on liquefied natural gas, is connected to the generator. Electric power supplied to the motors, which lead locomotive in motion.
Locomotive designed for operation on non-electrified sections of railways.
Power locomotive of 8.3 thousand kW, which is the largest value for this type of locomotive in the world.
RZhD (Russian Railway) results following the tested models: up to 100 km/h, one filling is enough for 750 km, the fuel — compressed natural gas. Locomotive was demonstrated at the exhibition "Innotrans-2008" in Berlin.
Development began in December 2006 after the signing of an agreement between Russian Railways and Samara Scientific-Technical Complex named ND Kuznetsova, who created the gas turbine engine NK-361 and power unit of locomotive.
In 2007, manufactured on the basis of experimental locomotive electric VL15-008. The turbines are made in Samara, build a locomotive made in Yekaterinburg.
July 4, 2008 — GT1-001 for the first time held a cargo of. Load was equal to 3 tons. Test took place at the "Kinel—Zhigulevskoe Sea" Kuibyshev Railway. Planned that the first locomotive be used in areas of Siberia, where there are large reserves of natural gas.
December 22, 2008 — locomotive GT1-001 for the first time held a cargo weight of 10 thousand tons (116 wagons).
January 23, 2009 — locomotive GT1-001 for the first time held a cargo weight of 15 thousand tons (159 wagons).
Source: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Газотурбовоз_ГТ1
Thursday, July 23, 2009
About fuel tank lid of Suzuki Grang Vitara and fuel and refuellers in filling stations. 23.07.2009.
Suzuki Grang Vitara have a bug: if the fuel tank lid carelessly closed, you do not open. Fixation must be exactly one, otherwise it can hold the button, which you open in the cabin. Specifically in the passenger pulls a lever and the lid does not open.
The essence of this problem — we close the lid gently, and not as refuellers — flakes with force. It was after action refuellers I learned about this flaw. Since then not allowed refuellers to the car.
A recently discovered that there is a category of people who are not able fill the car.
The essence of this problem — we close the lid gently, and not as refuellers — flakes with force. It was after action refuellers I learned about this flaw. Since then not allowed refuellers to the car.
A recently discovered that there is a category of people who are not able fill the car.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
It is easy to get out on the Vitara on the ice. Events in February 2008. 02.06.2009
History occurred in February 2007. We went to Geocaching in the Tula region for the whole day. On the road stuck in a field. Vitara rides over the drifts above the glass. But above the roof failed. Hour digging. Then go to the place of another road. By the time I was decently tired. Behind the wheel just me.The sun came out. Playing nice music. Around the field, beauty. Road - pure ice. I'm tired. Not included four-wheel drive (not 4x4). The sun and the rate of about 70 km / h.
Suddenly, a leading rear wheel hits the asphalt. And again the ice! Drifts went. SPIKES - no thorns, no matter. Fly right. Road to the embankment. Right ravine. Behind him the trees. Could go to the left. Now fly to the left. In the field. Little experience. On the road, could not resist.
The winter of 2007/2008, I began training in the field. A month later there was a similar situation to the highway. Then was ld on the excellent asphalt, the rate of 80. Heavy traffic. I was ready and made the necessary steps immediately. In the summer of 2009 successfully resolved a similar situation on a gravel road at 70 km / h.
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