Tuesday, June 7, 2011

At the company’s own Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote at the Moscone West center in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the next generation of software products from Apple. Apple unveiled Lion, the new version of their Mac OS X operating system for desktop and laptop computers that brings new features to the software. They also demonstrated iOS 5, a new version of the operating system that powers iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. Alongside both announcements, Jobs also announced a new iCloud service to sync data among all devices. All 5,200 participating developers will spend the rest of the week in workshops with Apple employees; developer releases of each product were made available today.

Mac OS X Lion will be shipped in July through the online Mac App Store available on Mac computers for US$29. According to Apple, the update adds over 250 new features to the OS. Employee Phil Schiller discussed new multitouch gestures along with a dynamic task manager named Mission Control that shows open applications. During the keynote, Schiller said, “The Mac has outpaced the PC industry every quarter for five years running and with OS X Lion we plan to keep extending our lead.” It also adds full support for the Mac port of the popular App Store, full screen applications, iOS-style app icon lists called Launchpad, and other iOS-like features including a revamped Mail and Auto Save among others. Mac OS X Lion was announced at a different Apple event several months ago and will replace Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which was released in 2009.

Soon after, the company also introduced the latest installment in its popular mobile operating system iOS. The fifth version (iOS 5) introduces around 200 new features, including a revamped notification system, which combines messages and notifications from all applications installed on the user’s device. Scott Forestall, an Apple employee, also revealed that iOS devices would no longer require a computer for setup, allowing users to ‘cut the cord’ between their devices and PCs. Magazines and newspapers also have a new folder interface; the Twitter social network is now integrated significantly into iOS devices. Improvements to the mobile Safari browser were also announced; tabbed browsing and a Reader feature introduce desktop-like functionality. Finally, new camera features are built in, including the ability to take snapshots from the lock screen, as well as iMessages, a new messaging platform for iPhones and iPads.

CEO Steve Jobs returned to the stage to reveal Apple’s new cloud services offering, iCloud. The service integrates with Lion and iOS applications and syncs data between a user’s iOS devices. For example, calendar events created on a user’s laptop would be sent to their iPhone through iCloud. Apps, books, documents, photos, and more purchased or created on one device will be shared with others. The service is intended to launch in the fall of 2011 alongside iOS 5 and will be available with 5 gigabytes (GB) of storage for 10 devices for free. Earlier this year, Apple opened a 500,000 square foot data center in North Carolina intended to facilitate this new service. Jobs rounded the services off by unveiling a new iTunes feature that mirrors a user’s library in the cloud, allowing them to listen and download music to authorized devices. “We are going to demote the PC to just be a device. We are going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud,” said Steve Jobs during the keynote. iCloud and iOS 5 will be released in the fall of 2011; Apple announced no new hardware products.

Sunday, July 9, 2006

India‘s most sophisticated Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) to date, the Agni III was test-fired off the Orissa coast earlier today. The missile took off from a fixed platform at the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island at 11:05 IST (05:35 GMT) in the presence of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his scientific advisor M. Natarajan.

The missile took off vertically into space before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down near Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal. Three sophisticated radars, six electro-optical tracking systems and three telemetric data stations on the mainland at Dhamra, Chandipur and the Andamans, together with a ship anchored near the splash-down point monitored the missile’s trajectory. According to eyewitnesses, the missile blasted off into the sky leaving behind a trail of thick yellow smoke and disappeared out of sight into the clouds within seconds.

The Agni-III, which has a range of 3,500 km and can carry up to 1000 kg of payload, has been described as the most powerful missile developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation. The missile, which is 16 metres long and has a diametre of 1.8 metres, has solid fuel boosters and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. The Agni-I and Agni-II, which were the earlier versions of the Agni series developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), have already been inducted into the Indian Army. Boosters for the earlier two missiles had been provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation, however, the Agni-III uses an entirely new booster vehicle.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

State officials in Queensland, Australia, have begun working on a draft protocol to use security cameras to record conversations in taxis. The new draft proposes to change a current policy which allows for cameras in taxis which do not record sound for privacy reasons, in the hope that audio recordings will make some investigations easier.

The paper, which says audio recordings would “provide greater certainty with regard to investigations, particularly in situation of conflicting statements,” is currently at the Transport and Main Roads department. The proposal also suggests extending the time taxi companies can keep recordings downloaded from security cameras from the current 30–35 days.

The chairman of one taxi company said the proposed measure would increase the safety of his drivers. “In 2006 the government introduced the security cameras and most cabs now have GPS units,” he said. “What we’ve got now is an improvement over having nothing at all and as a result there has been a fair improvement in the reduction of assaults on taxi drivers.”

Queensland Taxi Advisers Incorporated, a union of taxi operators, said they supported the introduction of audio recording because it would create “greater transparency and certainty in investigations where there were conflicting statements from drivers and passengers.”

To address privacy concerns, the paper proposes to add stickers to the entry points at the taxis. The text will read, “Security cameras and microphones fitted. You will be photographed. Conversations will be recorded”. However, the legislation draft has met opposition from some. Scott Emerson, a spokesperson for the Liberal National Party of Queensland, objected to the measure on privacy grounds. “We need to know how these recordings are going to be used,” he said. “Who’s going to have access to them?”

Michael Cope, the president of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties said he opposed the measure because the recordings might be used by taxi companies in civil cases concerning driver complaints. “We’re swapping from saying it’s about safety to saying it’s about setting fare disputes,” he said. “We don’t think that justifies collecting … intensely personal information that audio recordings collect.”

Queensland’s privacy commissioner Linda Matthews reacted said the recordings would be used for genuine law enforcement purposes. Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland’s Transport Minister, said the ideas within the proposal would be heavily considered before being implemented. She said: “If people think it’s a good idea then we go to full consultation. I would be meeting with the privacy commissioner, I’d be meeting with the taxi industry, I’d be consulting with members of the public in a much more formal way.”

Friday, September 22, 2006

Twenty-three people died when a Transrapid maglev train travelling on the system’s test track in Lathen in Germany, near the Netherlands border, collided with a maintenance vehicle on the track. Ten others were severely injured according to Karl-Heinz Brüggemann, a spokesman for the rescue effort.

The driverless train was estimated as operating at 170 km/h (105 mph) when the accident occurred around 09:30 local time (07:30 UTC). The unmanned train, with 31 passengers aboard crashed into a maintenance wagon containing 2 workers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the site to pay her respect to the victims and the rescuers.

The train had traveled about 1 km (0.6 miles) from its departure station when it struck the maintenance vehicle. Debris from the accident was spread over a 300 m (984 ft) section of track. Police spokesman Hans Kley confirmed that the Transrapid train did not leave the track, which is elevated approximately 5 metres (16 ft) above the ground. Other reports indicate that the train’s roof was torn off in the collision. Rescue workers used ladder trucks from local fire departments to evacuate the stopped train. On hearing of the accident, Germany’s Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee suspended his trip in China and made preparations to return to Germany to view the accident scene.

The 31.8 km (20 mile) test system in Germany was built by a consortium of Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp. It has been in operation since 1984 and is regularly used by tour groups for demonstration runs four days per week. Transrapid trains are capable of speeds up to 450 km/h (280 mph). This accident is the first on the system that included fatalities; analysts so far attribute the cause of the accident to a lack of communications between the train operators and the maintenance employees. The only commercial installation of Transrapid technology in service is currently the Shanghai Maglev Train linking Shanghai Metro Line 2‘s Longyang Road station to Pudong International Airport.

Monday, December 10, 2007

This past Saturday at 2007 Taipei IT Month, Intel of Taiwan invited hardware engineers, overclocking experts, and gamers to participate in the “Intel Taiwan Overclocking Live Test” at the Taipei World Trade Center to share techniques and technology for overclocking and other hardware tweaking.

According to Intel Taiwan, this “Live Test” event was a friendly competition for participating engineers. It was similar to the “Live Test Center” previously held by Russian computing magazine PC Professionel. At this overclocking festival, Intel provided high-standard hardware on which the participants challenged the extremes of overclocking as measured by benchmark records on PCMark05, 3DMark 2006, and Super PI 1M.

Throughout these tests, the organizers frequently reminded spectators not to get too close to the hardware due to the dangers of overclocking and tweaking hardware. Finally, a new Taiwan Record of 15335 points on PCMark05 was established by Wei-che Chang.

Friday, June 5, 2009

General Motors Corporation (GM), an American automaker which has filed for bankruptcy protection, announced on Friday that the Penske Automotive Group (PAG) was selected to purchase Saturn Corporation. The transaction should be completed in October.

The purchase includes rights to the Saturn brand, its five current models and its dealership network. Two models would be discontinued, the Sky and Astra. GM would continue building the Aura sedan, the SUV’s, Vue and Outlook for at least two more years.

Saturn has 350 dealers across the United States. The dealers employ more than 13,000 jobs and sell only the Saturn autos. Canadian Saturn dealers are not included in the deal.

According to Penske future Saturn vehicles will be fuel economy focused. An expert indicated that this would move Saturn back to its roots of a entry level car company. PAG is in talks with several international automakers to replace GM after 2011. Automotive News reports that Renault Samsung Motors of Korea is the most likely candidate.

Penske wants Jill Lajdziak, Saturn’s general manager, and Tom LaSorda, former Chrysler President to head up the company when it is independent of GM.

Serra Automotive in Grand Blanc Township, Genesee County, Michigan, is in talks to take a partial ownership in a new Saturn lead by Penske.

Friday, June 1, 2007

A former mailman who proposed to paint the town hall pink, turn the local town square into a nudist pool, and to plant a marijuana field in the local park has been elected to the Reus, Spain town council.

Ariel Santamaria promised to show up to the town’s council meetings dressed up as Elvis Presley if he was elected and kept his word at the town’s first meeting on Thursday.

Before being elected, Santamaria who is a member of the Reus Independent Coordination, had also promised the town’s 100,000 residents that he would install a GPS system at the police department that would allow officers to track people who are smoking marijuana and provide them with a light if they need one.

An unnamed media consultant who works for Santamaria set up a website for his campaign and followed Santamaria wherever he went, dressed as a pirate.