Microsoft Corp. took its fight to overturn a $290 million patent infringement judgment to the Supreme Court Monday, in a case that gearbox could re-calibrate the balance of power in information-age intellectual property disputes.
The immediate question before the high court was whether it's too hard to get an invalid patent thrown out. The broader question, raised by the Justices, is how the law should balance providing incentives for innovation, while ensuring that private parties can't lock up obvious or previously known developments.
Microsoft attorney Thomas Hungar told the Justices that lower courts were wrong to require that the software giant prove by "clear and convincing" evidence that a patent held by Toronto-based software company i4i LP is invalid. Normally, the standard of proof in civil lawsuits requires a preponderance of evidence – a less exacting standard.
The lower court held Microsoft to the "clear and convincing" evidence standard, and refused to invalidate i4i's claim to holding a patent for a certain feature of Microsoft's popular word processing program. Microsoft had argued damper the feature was based on already known technology, not a patentable invention.
If upheld by the Supreme Court, Mr. Hungar said, the decision "ensures the enforcement of invalid patents."
But Mr. Hungar's argument ran smack into a 1934 precedent from one of the court's most revered justices, Benjamin Cardozo, who in a case involving radio technology wrote that once issued, patents enjoy a presumed validity "not to be overthrown except by clear and cogent evidence."
"You're contradicting Cardozo?" said Justice Antonin Scalia, the court's senior member, who presided over the hearing because Chief Justice John Roberts, who owns Microsoft stock, recused himself.
Mr. Hungar said the Cardozo opinion concerned a narrower and different subset of patent challenges,
"But Justice Cardozo certainly didn't limit his holding in the way you led flexible strip suggest," retorted the court's newest member, Justice Elena Kagan. "The language of that opinion is extremely broad."
Justice Samuel Alito observed that when Congress revised the patent statute in 1952, it made no reference to the requiring challengers to reach the clear and convincing standard.
"The phrase, 'shall be presumed valid,' doesn't seem to me at all to suggest clear and convincing evidence," Justice Alito said. "Most presumptions can be disproved by much less."
Attorney Seth Waxman, representing i4i, said Congress was aware both of the 1934 Cardozo opinion and nearly 30 years of lower court precedent requiring clear and convincing evidence to invalidate a patent.
"Congress has actively acquiesced" in the clear and convincing standard, Mr. Waxman said.
Justice Stephen Breyer and several other justices groped for cable ties different methods that lower courts, the Patent Office, inventors and businesses could employ to ensure that only legitimate patents were enforced.
"It's a bad thing not to give protection to an invention that deserves it; and it is just as bad a thing to give protection to an invention that doesn't deserve it," said Justice Stephen Breyer. "Both can seriously harm the economy. What we're trying to do is we're trying to get a better tool, if possible, to separate the sheep from the goats."
Showing posts with label exercise bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise bike. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
'shuttle successors'
With its shuttles about to retire, the agency has offered $270m (￡166m) of funds to four firms to help them mature designs for new orbiting vehicles.
Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp and SpaceX hope to sell bakugans astronaut "taxi" services to Nasa by mid-decade.
Until then, US crews will have go to the space station on Russian rockets.
"The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space is going to be a US commercial provider," said Ed Mango, Nasa's Commercial Crew Programme manager.
"The partnerships Nasa is forming with industry will support the development of multiple American systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit."
The winning companies have a range of concepts under developments.
SpaceX, which has garnered much publicity recently, is perhaps the most advanced in its plans. It has already flown a rocket called Falcon 9 and a capsule called Dragon. It is being offered $75m over the next year if it meets certain milestones in advancing Dragon's crew-carrying capabilities.
The long-established Boeing company stands to win the high pressure sodium lamp largest award depending on developments. It has a capsule design called CTS-100 which could transport up seven astronauts to the space station. The $92.3m Nasa support will help Boeing get the vehicle through to its preliminary design review.
Sierra Nevada Corporation has already received considerable financial support in Nasa's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) effort, and is in line to get a further ￡80m in the latest round of funding. It is developing a shuttle-like vehicle that would launch atop a rocket.
The fourth recipient, Blue Origin, is a company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin has kept much of its space development activity secret, but it has requested funds from Nasa to help it mature systems for a cone-shaped crew vehicle. It has been awarded up to ￡22m.
Perhaps just as interesting as the companies that have won awards are the companies that have missed out.
These included ATK which makes the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) that lift the space shuttle off the ground. ATK wants to marry an evolution of these SRBs with the main core stage of Europe's Ariane 5 rocket. The concept, known as Liberty, would be used to launch other companies' capsules and spaceplanes.
ATK will now have to secure funds elsewhere if it wants to exercise bike carry the Liberty idea forward.
Also missing out on CCDev money is United Launch Alliance (ULA). This is the company that operates Atlas and Delta rockets for the US Air Force and for Nasa.
These vehicles frequently orbit satellites, but ULA believes the rockets could be modified to launch humans also.
Sierra Nevada, Boeing and Blue Origin had all talked about using an Atlas 5 to loft their proposed crew ships.
Where Monday's announcement from Nasa leaves ULA's plans is uncertain. Again, it will need to use its own funds or find a partner if it wishes to continue with the project to man-rate the Atlas and Delta rockets.
Nasa is keen that the next era of vcm ids human spaceflight include a strong commercial element. It plans to substantially increase its seed funding in 2012.
The philosophy is not shared by many in the US Congress who would prefer Nasa to lead the development of a shuttle successor along traditional procurement lines.
Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp and SpaceX hope to sell bakugans astronaut "taxi" services to Nasa by mid-decade.
Until then, US crews will have go to the space station on Russian rockets.
"The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space is going to be a US commercial provider," said Ed Mango, Nasa's Commercial Crew Programme manager.
"The partnerships Nasa is forming with industry will support the development of multiple American systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit."
The winning companies have a range of concepts under developments.
SpaceX, which has garnered much publicity recently, is perhaps the most advanced in its plans. It has already flown a rocket called Falcon 9 and a capsule called Dragon. It is being offered $75m over the next year if it meets certain milestones in advancing Dragon's crew-carrying capabilities.
The long-established Boeing company stands to win the high pressure sodium lamp largest award depending on developments. It has a capsule design called CTS-100 which could transport up seven astronauts to the space station. The $92.3m Nasa support will help Boeing get the vehicle through to its preliminary design review.
Sierra Nevada Corporation has already received considerable financial support in Nasa's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) effort, and is in line to get a further ￡80m in the latest round of funding. It is developing a shuttle-like vehicle that would launch atop a rocket.
The fourth recipient, Blue Origin, is a company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin has kept much of its space development activity secret, but it has requested funds from Nasa to help it mature systems for a cone-shaped crew vehicle. It has been awarded up to ￡22m.
Perhaps just as interesting as the companies that have won awards are the companies that have missed out.
These included ATK which makes the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) that lift the space shuttle off the ground. ATK wants to marry an evolution of these SRBs with the main core stage of Europe's Ariane 5 rocket. The concept, known as Liberty, would be used to launch other companies' capsules and spaceplanes.
ATK will now have to secure funds elsewhere if it wants to exercise bike carry the Liberty idea forward.
Also missing out on CCDev money is United Launch Alliance (ULA). This is the company that operates Atlas and Delta rockets for the US Air Force and for Nasa.
These vehicles frequently orbit satellites, but ULA believes the rockets could be modified to launch humans also.
Sierra Nevada, Boeing and Blue Origin had all talked about using an Atlas 5 to loft their proposed crew ships.
Where Monday's announcement from Nasa leaves ULA's plans is uncertain. Again, it will need to use its own funds or find a partner if it wishes to continue with the project to man-rate the Atlas and Delta rockets.
Nasa is keen that the next era of vcm ids human spaceflight include a strong commercial element. It plans to substantially increase its seed funding in 2012.
The philosophy is not shared by many in the US Congress who would prefer Nasa to lead the development of a shuttle successor along traditional procurement lines.
Winklevoss Twins petition to void court ruling on Facebook settlement
On Monday, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss filed a OBD2 code scanner petition with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a court ruling from last week that said the two men can't get out of their 2008 settlement with Facebook.
For about $65 million in cash and stock, the Winklevosses settled a suit against Facebook that claimed co-founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for the social networking website while working on a site for them called ConnectU when the three were students at Harvard.
The settlement is now worth more than $160 million because of Facebook's rocketing popularity and value.
The investment firm T. Rowe Price exercise bike recently bought $190.5 million in Facebook shares.?Facebook, now the Internet's most visited website,?is valued at about $50 billion.
A three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals ruled?against the twins last week and now the two are looking to an 11-judge panel to consider their appeal.
The Winklevosses have argued in court documents that after the settlement was reached, they found out that their stock was worth less than were led to believe in the 2008 agreement.
The appeal was filed by the Winklevosses' lawyers at the law firm Howard Rice. Jerome B. Falk Jr., one of the twins' lawyers, said in a statement that the appeal is not for the courts to decide whether?the substantial settlement is worth being kept or not, but rather whether?the settlement was reached legally.
"Settlements should be based on honest dealing," Falk said. "Courts have wisely refused to high pressure sodium lamp enforce a settlement obtained by fraudulent means. The panel's decision shut the courthouse door to a solid claim that Facebook obtained this settlement by committing securities fraud. Our petition asks the full 9th Circuit to reopen that door."
Apple has sued Samsung for allegedly copying the iPad
Apple has sued Samsung for allegedly copying the iPad, iPod and iPhone with its Galaxy Tab and Galaxy handsets.
Samsung copied Apple technologies, designs and even packaging with its Google Android-based products, according to a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple is golf irons seeking a jury trial in the case.
"Instead of pursuing independent product development, Samsung has chosen to slavishly copy Apple's innovative technology, distinctive user interfaces, and elegant and distinctive product and packaging design, in violation of Apple's valuable intellectual property rights," Apple said in the complaint.
Late last year, Samsung became the first major consumer electronics maker to roll out a tablet to compete with the iPad. It is also one of the world's largest makers of mobile phones, especially handsets that use Android.
The complaint includes 10 charges of patent infringement, two of trademark violation and two of trade dress violations, plus unjust enrichment and unfair business practices. Apple named Samsung Electronics, Samsung America and Samsung Telecommunications America as defendants. The case was filed at the district court in San Francisco but is being transferred to Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler at the court's Oakland, California, location.
A spokesman for Samsung in the U.S. said the company had no cable ties comment on the lawsuit. Apple officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The allegations span a broad range of Samsung's mobile devices, including the Epic 4G, Captivate, Indulge, Nexus S and Galaxy S 4G smartphones as well as the Galaxy Tab. Apple singled out the Galaxy product line for criticism.
"The copying is so pervasive, that the Samsung Galaxy products appear to be actual Apple products -- with the same rectangular shape with rounded corners, silver edging, a flat surface face with substantial top and bottom black borders, gently curving edges on the back, and a display of colorful square icons with rounded corners," the complaint said.
Apple wants an injunction to stop Samsung's alleged intellectual property violations, along with led bulbs actual and punitive damages, Samsung's "wrongfully obtained profits" and funds for corrective advertising about the allegedly confusing products.
Samsung copied Apple technologies, designs and even packaging with its Google Android-based products, according to a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple is golf irons seeking a jury trial in the case.
"Instead of pursuing independent product development, Samsung has chosen to slavishly copy Apple's innovative technology, distinctive user interfaces, and elegant and distinctive product and packaging design, in violation of Apple's valuable intellectual property rights," Apple said in the complaint.
Late last year, Samsung became the first major consumer electronics maker to roll out a tablet to compete with the iPad. It is also one of the world's largest makers of mobile phones, especially handsets that use Android.
The complaint includes 10 charges of patent infringement, two of trademark violation and two of trade dress violations, plus unjust enrichment and unfair business practices. Apple named Samsung Electronics, Samsung America and Samsung Telecommunications America as defendants. The case was filed at the district court in San Francisco but is being transferred to Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler at the court's Oakland, California, location.
A spokesman for Samsung in the U.S. said the company had no cable ties comment on the lawsuit. Apple officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The allegations span a broad range of Samsung's mobile devices, including the Epic 4G, Captivate, Indulge, Nexus S and Galaxy S 4G smartphones as well as the Galaxy Tab. Apple singled out the Galaxy product line for criticism.
"The copying is so pervasive, that the Samsung Galaxy products appear to be actual Apple products -- with the same rectangular shape with rounded corners, silver edging, a flat surface face with substantial top and bottom black borders, gently curving edges on the back, and a display of colorful square icons with rounded corners," the complaint said.
Apple wants an injunction to stop Samsung's alleged intellectual property violations, along with led bulbs actual and punitive damages, Samsung's "wrongfully obtained profits" and funds for corrective advertising about the allegedly confusing products.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The world's oldest man in Montana died, at the age of 114
Walter Breuning's earliest memories stretched back 111 years, before home entertainment came with a twist of the radio dial. They were of his grandfather's tales hydraulic motor of killing Southerners in the Civil War.
Breuning was 3 and horrified: "I thought that was a hell of a thing to say."
But the stories stuck, becoming the first building blocks into what would develop into a deceptively simple philosophy that Breuning, the world's oldest man at 114 before he died Thursday, credited to his longevity.
Here's the world's oldest man's secret to a long life:
• Embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. ("Every change is good.")
• Eat two meals a day ("That's all you need.")
• Work as long as you can ("That money's going to come in handy.")
• Help others ("The more you do for others, the better shape you're in.")
Then there's the hardest part. It's a lesson Breuning said he learned from his grandfather: Accept death.
"We're going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die," he said.
Breuning died of natural causes in a Great Falls hospital where he had been a patient for much of April with an damper undisclosed illness, said Stacia Kirby, spokeswoman for the Rainbow Senior Living retirement home where Breuning lived.
He was the oldest man in the world and the second-oldest person, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. Besse Cooper of Monroe, Ga. — born 26 days earlier — is the world's oldest person.
In an interview with The Associated Press at his home in the Rainbow Retirement Community in Great Falls last October, Breuning recounted the past century — and what its revelations and advances meant to him — with the wit and plain-spokenness that damper defined him. His life story is, in a way, a slice of the story of the country itself over more than a century.
At the beginning of the new century — that's the 20th century — Breuning moved with his family from Melrose, Minn., to De Smet, S.D., where his father had taken a job as an engineer.
That first decade of the 1900s was literally a dark age for his family. They had no electricity or running water. A bath for young Walter would require his mother to fetch water from the well outside and heat it on the coal-burning stove. When they wanted to get around, they had three options: train, horse and foot.
His parents split up and Breuning moved back to Minnesota in 1912. The following year, as Henry Ford was led downlight creating his first assembly line, the teenager got a low-level job with the Great Northern Railway in Melrose.
"I'm 16 years old, had to go to work on account of breakup of the family," he said.
That was the beginning of a 50-year career on the railroad. He was a clerk for most of that time, working seven days a week.
In 1918, his boss was promoted to a position in Great Falls and he asked Breuning to come along.
There wasn't a lot keeping Breuning in Minnesota. His mother had died the year before at age 46 and his father died in 1915 at age 50. The Montana job came with a nice raise — $90 a month for working seven days a week, "a lot of money at that time," he said.
Breuning, young and alone, was overwhelmed at first. Great Falls was a bustling town of 25,000 with hundreds of people coming and going every day on trains that arrived at all hours.
"You go down to the depot and there'd be 500 people out there all climbing into four trains going in four directions," he said.
World War I was still raging in Europe, and Breuning, who had just turned 20, signed up for military service but wasn't called up. He wanted to join an Army unit formed by Ralph Budd, who was the railroad's cable ties vice president at the time and who later would become its president.
He sent Budd an application, and the reply was disappointing. Budd said Breuning couldn't join the unit because he wanted the young man to get a college education. The war ended later that year.
"So I never got into the war. The war ended too quick for me," Breuning said.
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1919 and the nation was riding a postwar wave into the Roaring `20s.
Walter Breuning bought his first car that year.
It was a secondhand Ford and cost just $150. Breuning remembered driving around town and spooking the horses that still crowded the dirt streets.
"We had more damn runaways back in those days," Breuning said. "Horses are just scared of cars."
The year may have started well, but it went downhill fast. Drought struck. The price of hay skyrocketed and farmers had to sell their cattle. It was the first wave of agricultural depressions that would hit Montana over the next two decades.
The railroad started laying off people. Breuning had some seniority, so rather than losing his job, he was transferred to Butte. It was there he met his future wife, Agnes.
Agnes Twokey worked for the railroad as a telegrapher. She and Breuning worked the same shift in the office, and they got along well. Their friendship turned into a two-year courtship, and then they got married and returned to Great Falls.
Things were looking up for Breuning, Montana and the nation. Great Falls gave Montana its first licensed radio station in 1922. The following year, Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons fought for the world heavyweight golf irons championship east of Great Falls in Shelby.
Breuning was optimistic. He and his wife bought property for $15 and planned to build a house.
Then it all went off the tracks. The Great Depression struck.
"Everybody got laid off in the `30s," Breuning said. "Nobody had any money at all. In 1933, they built the civic center over here. Sixty-five cents an hour, you know. That was the wage — big wage."
People began to arrive in Great Falls searching for work. He recalled transplants from North Dakota telling tales of desperate families pulling weeds from the ground and cooking them up for food.
Breuning's seniority paid off again — he held onto his job. But he and his wife never built their house. They sold the lot for $25, making a tidy $10 profit. It turned out to be the only time Breuning ever owned property — he was renter for the rest of his life.
Despite the hard times of the decade, he said what he considered the nation's greatest achievement came in 1935, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed Social Security into law as part of his New Deal.
"I think when Roosevelt created Social Security, he probably did the best thing for people," Breuning said. "You hear so much about throwing Social Security out. Don't look for it. Hang on to your hat. It'll never go away.
World War II lifted the nation out of its economic slump. Industry went into overdrive to support the war. With the men headed overseas to fight, the women took their places in factories.
Montana's Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, was the sole vote against the U.S. entry into the war.
By that time, Breuning was in his 40s and too old to be drafted. So he kept working on the railroad.
The man who otherwise preached kindness and service to others acknowledged that he had mixed feelings about the war and the Nazis. He expressed some sympathy toward Hitler.
The war ended in 1945 when President Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The debate over whether Truman did the right thing was argued in the streets and cafes of Great Falls.
Breuning stuck up for Truman, saying there probably would have been a lot more people killed had Truman not made the decision to bomb the Japanese.
"I think he did pretty dang good," Breuning said. "But you know, all presidents done something good. Well, most of them. Except that last one."
Breuning, a self-described Republican, meant President George W. Bush.
"He got us into war. We can't get out of war now," he said. "I voted for him. But that's about all. His father was a high pressure sodium lamp pretty good president, not too bad. The kid had too much power. He got himself wrapped up and that's it."
The 1950s brought rock-and-roll, put the U.S. in the middle of the Korean War and kicked off the space race with the USSR's launch of Sputnik. The world was introduced to Elvis Presley, Fidel Castro and Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
For Walter Breuning, the 1950s was marked by the death of his wife. Agnes died in 1957 after 35 years of marriage.The couple didn't have any children.
More than 50 years later, Breuning kept his feelings on his marriage and Agnes' death guarded.
"We got along very good," was about all he'd say. "She wouldn't like to spend money, I'll tell you that."
Breuning never remarried. "Thought about it. That's about it."
He did what he always did. He kept working.
Work was a constant in Breuning's life, what he did to get through the hard times and what he used to keep his mind active. One of the worst things a person can do is retire young, Breuning said.
"I remember we had a worker in the First National Bank one time retired early. He wanted to go fishing and hunting so bad. Two months (later) and he went back to the bank. He got his fishing and hunting all done and he wanted to go back to work," Breuning said.
"Don't retire until you're darn sure that you can't work anymore. Keep on working as long as you can work and you'll find that it's good for you," he added.
The same year the Beatles released their first album, Breuning decided it was time for him to retire from the railroad at age 67. It was 1963 and he had put in 50 years as a railroad worker.
But he stuck by his philosophy and kept working. He became the manager and secretary for the local chapter of the Shriners, a position he held until he was 99.
But he remained a fiercely loyal railroad man, so loyal that he only took an airplane once in his life, and that was to attend the funeral of a relative in Minneapolis.
His beloved railroad underwent many changes soon after he left.In 1970 it merged with other railroad companies to become the Burlington Northern Railroad.
His fellow clerks began to feel the effects of technology. In the 1970s, computers started changing industries and the need for manpower. At the railroad, men and women were laid off at depots and freight offices. Superintendents and clerks like Breuning were given their walking papers.
But even with so many of his former co-workers out of jobs, Breuning was adamant that the rise of the computer was good for the railroad industry and the world.
"I think every change that we've ever made, ever since I was a child — 100 years — every change has been good for the people," Breuning said. "My God, we used to have to write with pen and ink, you know, (for) everything. When the machines came, it just made life so much easier."
Breuning had lived in a sparse studio apartment in the Rainbow Senior Living retirement center since 1980.
When he was recognized as the world's oldest man and brought the retirement home some notoriety, he was offered a larger room. Breuning said no, Rainbow executive director Tina Bundtrock said in October.
Breuning would spent his days in an armchair outside the Bundtrock's office in a dark suit and tie, sitting near a framed Guinness certificate proclaiming him the world's oldest man.
He would eat breakfast and lunch and then retire to his room in the early afternoon. He'd visit the doctor just twice a year for checkups and the only medication he would take was aspirin, Bundtrock said.
His good health was due to his strict diet of two meals a day, Breuning said.
"How many people in this country say that they can't take the weight off?" he said. "I tell these people, I says, 'Get on a diet and stay on it. You'll find that you're in much better shape, feel good.'"
He had no family left but a niece and a nephew. They visited a couple of times at the retirement home, but they were strangers to him, he said.
Breuning's real family, his support group, was there in the Rainbow.
"Yeah, we're all one big family, I tell you that. We all talk to each other all the time. That's what keeps life going. You talk," he said.
Breuning talked current affairs with the other residents. One of his main causes was to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"War never cured anything. Look at the North and South right today. They're still fighting over the damn war. They'll never get over that," he said.
Along with debating others about the fate of the nation, Breuning also spent time a lot of time reflecting. Sitting in his armchair, he would reach back across the century and lose himself in a flood of memories that began with his grandfather's Civil War stories.
He also thought about what might have been. After 97 years in Montana, Breuning said he thought back to his transfer to Great Falls back in 1913.
What course would he have gone on, how different would that century have been for him if he had stayed in Minnesota?
"Sometimes I wonder what would have exercise bike happened had I not moved to Great Falls. I think about that once in a while. What would have happened?" Breuning said. "I had a good job back (in Minnesota). But life is good here too."
But he didn't regret anything, and he implored others to follow his philosophy.
"Everybody says your mind is the most important thing about your body. Your mind and your body. You keep both busy, and by God you'll be here a long time," he said.
Breuning was 3 and horrified: "I thought that was a hell of a thing to say."
But the stories stuck, becoming the first building blocks into what would develop into a deceptively simple philosophy that Breuning, the world's oldest man at 114 before he died Thursday, credited to his longevity.
Here's the world's oldest man's secret to a long life:
• Embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. ("Every change is good.")
• Eat two meals a day ("That's all you need.")
• Work as long as you can ("That money's going to come in handy.")
• Help others ("The more you do for others, the better shape you're in.")
Then there's the hardest part. It's a lesson Breuning said he learned from his grandfather: Accept death.
"We're going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die," he said.
Breuning died of natural causes in a Great Falls hospital where he had been a patient for much of April with an damper undisclosed illness, said Stacia Kirby, spokeswoman for the Rainbow Senior Living retirement home where Breuning lived.
He was the oldest man in the world and the second-oldest person, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. Besse Cooper of Monroe, Ga. — born 26 days earlier — is the world's oldest person.
In an interview with The Associated Press at his home in the Rainbow Retirement Community in Great Falls last October, Breuning recounted the past century — and what its revelations and advances meant to him — with the wit and plain-spokenness that damper defined him. His life story is, in a way, a slice of the story of the country itself over more than a century.
At the beginning of the new century — that's the 20th century — Breuning moved with his family from Melrose, Minn., to De Smet, S.D., where his father had taken a job as an engineer.
That first decade of the 1900s was literally a dark age for his family. They had no electricity or running water. A bath for young Walter would require his mother to fetch water from the well outside and heat it on the coal-burning stove. When they wanted to get around, they had three options: train, horse and foot.
His parents split up and Breuning moved back to Minnesota in 1912. The following year, as Henry Ford was led downlight creating his first assembly line, the teenager got a low-level job with the Great Northern Railway in Melrose.
"I'm 16 years old, had to go to work on account of breakup of the family," he said.
That was the beginning of a 50-year career on the railroad. He was a clerk for most of that time, working seven days a week.
In 1918, his boss was promoted to a position in Great Falls and he asked Breuning to come along.
There wasn't a lot keeping Breuning in Minnesota. His mother had died the year before at age 46 and his father died in 1915 at age 50. The Montana job came with a nice raise — $90 a month for working seven days a week, "a lot of money at that time," he said.
Breuning, young and alone, was overwhelmed at first. Great Falls was a bustling town of 25,000 with hundreds of people coming and going every day on trains that arrived at all hours.
"You go down to the depot and there'd be 500 people out there all climbing into four trains going in four directions," he said.
World War I was still raging in Europe, and Breuning, who had just turned 20, signed up for military service but wasn't called up. He wanted to join an Army unit formed by Ralph Budd, who was the railroad's cable ties vice president at the time and who later would become its president.
He sent Budd an application, and the reply was disappointing. Budd said Breuning couldn't join the unit because he wanted the young man to get a college education. The war ended later that year.
"So I never got into the war. The war ended too quick for me," Breuning said.
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1919 and the nation was riding a postwar wave into the Roaring `20s.
Walter Breuning bought his first car that year.
It was a secondhand Ford and cost just $150. Breuning remembered driving around town and spooking the horses that still crowded the dirt streets.
"We had more damn runaways back in those days," Breuning said. "Horses are just scared of cars."
The year may have started well, but it went downhill fast. Drought struck. The price of hay skyrocketed and farmers had to sell their cattle. It was the first wave of agricultural depressions that would hit Montana over the next two decades.
The railroad started laying off people. Breuning had some seniority, so rather than losing his job, he was transferred to Butte. It was there he met his future wife, Agnes.
Agnes Twokey worked for the railroad as a telegrapher. She and Breuning worked the same shift in the office, and they got along well. Their friendship turned into a two-year courtship, and then they got married and returned to Great Falls.
Things were looking up for Breuning, Montana and the nation. Great Falls gave Montana its first licensed radio station in 1922. The following year, Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons fought for the world heavyweight golf irons championship east of Great Falls in Shelby.
Breuning was optimistic. He and his wife bought property for $15 and planned to build a house.
Then it all went off the tracks. The Great Depression struck.
"Everybody got laid off in the `30s," Breuning said. "Nobody had any money at all. In 1933, they built the civic center over here. Sixty-five cents an hour, you know. That was the wage — big wage."
People began to arrive in Great Falls searching for work. He recalled transplants from North Dakota telling tales of desperate families pulling weeds from the ground and cooking them up for food.
Breuning's seniority paid off again — he held onto his job. But he and his wife never built their house. They sold the lot for $25, making a tidy $10 profit. It turned out to be the only time Breuning ever owned property — he was renter for the rest of his life.
Despite the hard times of the decade, he said what he considered the nation's greatest achievement came in 1935, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed Social Security into law as part of his New Deal.
"I think when Roosevelt created Social Security, he probably did the best thing for people," Breuning said. "You hear so much about throwing Social Security out. Don't look for it. Hang on to your hat. It'll never go away.
World War II lifted the nation out of its economic slump. Industry went into overdrive to support the war. With the men headed overseas to fight, the women took their places in factories.
Montana's Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, was the sole vote against the U.S. entry into the war.
By that time, Breuning was in his 40s and too old to be drafted. So he kept working on the railroad.
The man who otherwise preached kindness and service to others acknowledged that he had mixed feelings about the war and the Nazis. He expressed some sympathy toward Hitler.
The war ended in 1945 when President Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The debate over whether Truman did the right thing was argued in the streets and cafes of Great Falls.
Breuning stuck up for Truman, saying there probably would have been a lot more people killed had Truman not made the decision to bomb the Japanese.
"I think he did pretty dang good," Breuning said. "But you know, all presidents done something good. Well, most of them. Except that last one."
Breuning, a self-described Republican, meant President George W. Bush.
"He got us into war. We can't get out of war now," he said. "I voted for him. But that's about all. His father was a high pressure sodium lamp pretty good president, not too bad. The kid had too much power. He got himself wrapped up and that's it."
The 1950s brought rock-and-roll, put the U.S. in the middle of the Korean War and kicked off the space race with the USSR's launch of Sputnik. The world was introduced to Elvis Presley, Fidel Castro and Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
For Walter Breuning, the 1950s was marked by the death of his wife. Agnes died in 1957 after 35 years of marriage.The couple didn't have any children.
More than 50 years later, Breuning kept his feelings on his marriage and Agnes' death guarded.
"We got along very good," was about all he'd say. "She wouldn't like to spend money, I'll tell you that."
Breuning never remarried. "Thought about it. That's about it."
He did what he always did. He kept working.
Work was a constant in Breuning's life, what he did to get through the hard times and what he used to keep his mind active. One of the worst things a person can do is retire young, Breuning said.
"I remember we had a worker in the First National Bank one time retired early. He wanted to go fishing and hunting so bad. Two months (later) and he went back to the bank. He got his fishing and hunting all done and he wanted to go back to work," Breuning said.
"Don't retire until you're darn sure that you can't work anymore. Keep on working as long as you can work and you'll find that it's good for you," he added.
The same year the Beatles released their first album, Breuning decided it was time for him to retire from the railroad at age 67. It was 1963 and he had put in 50 years as a railroad worker.
But he stuck by his philosophy and kept working. He became the manager and secretary for the local chapter of the Shriners, a position he held until he was 99.
But he remained a fiercely loyal railroad man, so loyal that he only took an airplane once in his life, and that was to attend the funeral of a relative in Minneapolis.
His beloved railroad underwent many changes soon after he left.In 1970 it merged with other railroad companies to become the Burlington Northern Railroad.
His fellow clerks began to feel the effects of technology. In the 1970s, computers started changing industries and the need for manpower. At the railroad, men and women were laid off at depots and freight offices. Superintendents and clerks like Breuning were given their walking papers.
But even with so many of his former co-workers out of jobs, Breuning was adamant that the rise of the computer was good for the railroad industry and the world.
"I think every change that we've ever made, ever since I was a child — 100 years — every change has been good for the people," Breuning said. "My God, we used to have to write with pen and ink, you know, (for) everything. When the machines came, it just made life so much easier."
Breuning had lived in a sparse studio apartment in the Rainbow Senior Living retirement center since 1980.
When he was recognized as the world's oldest man and brought the retirement home some notoriety, he was offered a larger room. Breuning said no, Rainbow executive director Tina Bundtrock said in October.
Breuning would spent his days in an armchair outside the Bundtrock's office in a dark suit and tie, sitting near a framed Guinness certificate proclaiming him the world's oldest man.
He would eat breakfast and lunch and then retire to his room in the early afternoon. He'd visit the doctor just twice a year for checkups and the only medication he would take was aspirin, Bundtrock said.
His good health was due to his strict diet of two meals a day, Breuning said.
"How many people in this country say that they can't take the weight off?" he said. "I tell these people, I says, 'Get on a diet and stay on it. You'll find that you're in much better shape, feel good.'"
He had no family left but a niece and a nephew. They visited a couple of times at the retirement home, but they were strangers to him, he said.
Breuning's real family, his support group, was there in the Rainbow.
"Yeah, we're all one big family, I tell you that. We all talk to each other all the time. That's what keeps life going. You talk," he said.
Breuning talked current affairs with the other residents. One of his main causes was to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"War never cured anything. Look at the North and South right today. They're still fighting over the damn war. They'll never get over that," he said.
Along with debating others about the fate of the nation, Breuning also spent time a lot of time reflecting. Sitting in his armchair, he would reach back across the century and lose himself in a flood of memories that began with his grandfather's Civil War stories.
He also thought about what might have been. After 97 years in Montana, Breuning said he thought back to his transfer to Great Falls back in 1913.
What course would he have gone on, how different would that century have been for him if he had stayed in Minnesota?
"Sometimes I wonder what would have exercise bike happened had I not moved to Great Falls. I think about that once in a while. What would have happened?" Breuning said. "I had a good job back (in Minnesota). But life is good here too."
But he didn't regret anything, and he implored others to follow his philosophy.
"Everybody says your mind is the most important thing about your body. Your mind and your body. You keep both busy, and by God you'll be here a long time," he said.
China Home Sales Increase in First Quarter
China’s housing sales value rose 26 percent in the first quarter as homebuyers increased their purchases even as the government stepped up its measures to curb speculation. Property stocks exercise bike climbed to a five-month high.
The value of homes sold increased to 860.7 billion yuan ($132 billion) from a year earlier, the Statistics Bureau said today, driving overall property transactions 27 percent higher to 1.02 trillion yuan. The amount was released separately from home prices after the government in January changed the way it reports housing price data in 70 cities.
Premier Wen Jiabao said April 13 in a cabinet meeting that the country faces challenges including rising property prices in many cities even as real estate transactions shrink. About 40 Chinese cities last month said they will cap new home prices below annual economic and disposable per-capita income growth or keep them steady following the central government’s measures to rein in housing values.
“Home sales and investment, lagging indexes, remained strong, but the volume for new construction dropped,” said Bai Hongwei, a Beijing-based property analyst at China International Capital Corp., the country’s biggest investment bank. “It showed the government’s measures are working. If real estate investment drops sharply, it will immediately impact China’s economic growth a lot.”
China’s economy grew a more-than-estimated 9.7 percent in the first quarter and high pressure sodium lamp inflation accelerated in March to the fastest pace since 2008, the government said today.
Home sales value in March rose to 414 billion yuan, close to the total of the first two months this year of 447.1 billion yuan, based on calculations subtracting government data in the first two months from the first-quarter figures. A total of 158.5 million square meters (1.7 billion square feet) of homes were sold from January to March.
New home construction rose 20 percent in the first quarter to 310.2 million square meters, the statistics bureau said.
The effects of the government’s controls on the property market were evident in the first quarter, Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the statistics bureau, said in Beijing today. The government is pushing for the golf irons development of more low-cost homes, which will have a “relatively big” impact on housing prices as supply increases, he said.
February new home prices increased in all but two of the 70 Chinese cities monitored by the government. The national statistics bureau is scheduled to report March’s home price data on April 18. Nationwide prices rose 0.6 percent in March, led by smaller cities, SouFun Holdings Ltd. (SFUN) said on April 1.
China’s investment in real estate rose 34 percent to 885 billion yuan in the first quarter, according to the government data today. The current tightening measures will remain in place for the led downlight remainder of 2011 and likely into 2012, Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consulting company, said this week.
The value of homes sold increased to 860.7 billion yuan ($132 billion) from a year earlier, the Statistics Bureau said today, driving overall property transactions 27 percent higher to 1.02 trillion yuan. The amount was released separately from home prices after the government in January changed the way it reports housing price data in 70 cities.
Premier Wen Jiabao said April 13 in a cabinet meeting that the country faces challenges including rising property prices in many cities even as real estate transactions shrink. About 40 Chinese cities last month said they will cap new home prices below annual economic and disposable per-capita income growth or keep them steady following the central government’s measures to rein in housing values.
“Home sales and investment, lagging indexes, remained strong, but the volume for new construction dropped,” said Bai Hongwei, a Beijing-based property analyst at China International Capital Corp., the country’s biggest investment bank. “It showed the government’s measures are working. If real estate investment drops sharply, it will immediately impact China’s economic growth a lot.”
China’s economy grew a more-than-estimated 9.7 percent in the first quarter and high pressure sodium lamp inflation accelerated in March to the fastest pace since 2008, the government said today.
Shares Rise
The measure tracking property stocks on the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.9 percent to the highest since Nov. 8 as of the 11:30 a.m. midday break. It’s also the biggest advance among five industry groups on the benchmark gauge today.Home sales value in March rose to 414 billion yuan, close to the total of the first two months this year of 447.1 billion yuan, based on calculations subtracting government data in the first two months from the first-quarter figures. A total of 158.5 million square meters (1.7 billion square feet) of homes were sold from January to March.
New home construction rose 20 percent in the first quarter to 310.2 million square meters, the statistics bureau said.
The effects of the government’s controls on the property market were evident in the first quarter, Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the statistics bureau, said in Beijing today. The government is pushing for the golf irons development of more low-cost homes, which will have a “relatively big” impact on housing prices as supply increases, he said.
Clear Targets
The government has clear targets, is resolute and has forceful measures to control the market, he said at a briefing to discuss the nation’s first-quarter economic performance.February new home prices increased in all but two of the 70 Chinese cities monitored by the government. The national statistics bureau is scheduled to report March’s home price data on April 18. Nationwide prices rose 0.6 percent in March, led by smaller cities, SouFun Holdings Ltd. (SFUN) said on April 1.
China’s investment in real estate rose 34 percent to 885 billion yuan in the first quarter, according to the government data today. The current tightening measures will remain in place for the led downlight remainder of 2011 and likely into 2012, Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consulting company, said this week.
Sales of Video, Computer Games Drop 16% in March
March wasn't a good month for the gaming industry.
Sales of video and computer games dropped 16% last month to $735.4 million, according to NPD Group data, as reported by the.
Hardware sales, meanwhile, were up 12%, to $494.5 million, thanks in part to Nintendo's new 3DS handheld console.
But overall, when including accessories and other game-related gadgets, the gaming industry saw its total sales drop 4% from a year ago, to $1.53 billion.
But, the Times notes, the good news for the industry is that consumers may still be spending big on games, by instead putting their money into apps for mobile devices or buying downloadable games, and those numbers weren't included in NPD's most recent report.
Sales of video and computer games dropped 16% last month to $735.4 million, according to NPD Group data, as reported by the.
Hardware sales, meanwhile, were up 12%, to $494.5 million, thanks in part to Nintendo's new 3DS handheld console.
But overall, when including accessories and other game-related gadgets, the gaming industry saw its total sales drop 4% from a year ago, to $1.53 billion.
But, the Times notes, the good news for the industry is that consumers may still be spending big on games, by instead putting their money into apps for mobile devices or buying downloadable games, and those numbers weren't included in NPD's most recent report.
Dinosaurs May Have Hunted at Night
Some dinosaurs didn't go to sleep when the sun went down. Like many living animals, some paleo-beasts stayed awake or woke up to forage or begin the hunt for prey.
This discovery, which relied on evidence within fossilized remains of dinosaur eyes, challenges the conventional wisdom damper that early mammals were nocturnal, or active at night, because dinosaurs had already taken the day shift.
"When we look at living vertebrates today, living birds, lizards and mammals we see such a great diversity of when they're active during the day," said study researcher Lars Schmitz, a postdoctoral researcher in ecology and evolution at the University of California Davis.
Some animals today, like us, are active during the day, while others prefer nighttime. Still others are active periodically throughout a 24-hour cycle. So Schmitz said he and colleague geologist Ryosuke Motani asked: "Why isn’t it possible that dinosaurs are nocturnal as well?"
To find out, they looked into the preserved beasts' eyes. Specifically, they looked at the width of the eye socket, and the dimensions of the scleral ring, a ring of bone that surrounds the iris of the eye in birds, lizards and dinosaurs. (Humans and other mammals don't have this bone.)
Nocturnal animals need to let the maximum amount of light possible into their eyes, so they need a larger opening within the scleral ring. Daytime living species, meanwhile, have much more light with which to see. A smaller opening reduces the amount of energy these animals have to spend constricting their pupils to reduce the amount of light coming in, and it also allows them to see a clear and focused image at a large range of depth, according to Schmitz.
Other animals are active at dusk and dawn or at sporadic intervals throughout the day — nowadays this includes large herbivores, like the fallow deer, certain birds, the large hairy armadillo, the Amazon tree gearbox boa and even dogs. Their eyes need both acuity and a good sensitivity to light. As a result, they have an intermediate-size scleral ring — among those that have this bone — and an overall larger eye.
In the fossils, researchers examined the proportions of certain features of the eye to determine a species' habits. They looked at the size of the opening inside the scleral ring, where the pupil would be, as well as the eye socket to determine the diameter of the eye, and at the diameter of the external edge of the scleral ring to determine the length of the eye. They then compared this information with data from living species.
Day, night and in between
Among 33 species of dinosaurs living during the Mesozoic era, about 250 million to 65 million years ago, they found a spread of lifestyles that resembled those among modern animals, an indication that dinosaurs too spread out to occupy the available ecological niches.
As with modern flyers, like birds and bats, the majority of the flying dinosaurs — including three pterosaurs and all of the four avian dinosaurs (the ancestors of modern birds) studied — were awake during the day. However, five species of dinosaur fliers were either nocturnal or awake periodically, two of which may have had activity resembling certain nocturnal seabirds.
Most of the plant-eating dinosaurs were awake periodically. For herbivorous animals, like elephants and the herbivorous dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi, larger size means a need to spend more time foraging and eating. Large animals are also more prone to overheat, so they try to avoid being active during the heat of the day, shifting their activity into nighttime hours, according to Schmitz.
Predators, both dinosaur and modern, gain an advantage by hunting at night, and all of the dinosaur predators analyzed were either nocturnal or periodically active. The finding could help to set the stage for other dinosaur findings. For instance, fossil evidence has documented an attack by one of these night dwellers, Velociraptor mongoliensis, on the periodically awake Protoceratops. This attack probably happened in the OBD2 code scanner twilight or low-light conditions, the researchers write.
These results indicate that dinosaurs and early mammals did not split the day and night; in fact, it's not yet clear whether early mammals were nocturnal at all, and that idea needs to be evaluated, Schmitz said.
This discovery, which relied on evidence within fossilized remains of dinosaur eyes, challenges the conventional wisdom damper that early mammals were nocturnal, or active at night, because dinosaurs had already taken the day shift.
"When we look at living vertebrates today, living birds, lizards and mammals we see such a great diversity of when they're active during the day," said study researcher Lars Schmitz, a postdoctoral researcher in ecology and evolution at the University of California Davis.
Some animals today, like us, are active during the day, while others prefer nighttime. Still others are active periodically throughout a 24-hour cycle. So Schmitz said he and colleague geologist Ryosuke Motani asked: "Why isn’t it possible that dinosaurs are nocturnal as well?"
To find out, they looked into the preserved beasts' eyes. Specifically, they looked at the width of the eye socket, and the dimensions of the scleral ring, a ring of bone that surrounds the iris of the eye in birds, lizards and dinosaurs. (Humans and other mammals don't have this bone.)
Nocturnal animals need to let the maximum amount of light possible into their eyes, so they need a larger opening within the scleral ring. Daytime living species, meanwhile, have much more light with which to see. A smaller opening reduces the amount of energy these animals have to spend constricting their pupils to reduce the amount of light coming in, and it also allows them to see a clear and focused image at a large range of depth, according to Schmitz.
Other animals are active at dusk and dawn or at sporadic intervals throughout the day — nowadays this includes large herbivores, like the fallow deer, certain birds, the large hairy armadillo, the Amazon tree gearbox boa and even dogs. Their eyes need both acuity and a good sensitivity to light. As a result, they have an intermediate-size scleral ring — among those that have this bone — and an overall larger eye.
In the fossils, researchers examined the proportions of certain features of the eye to determine a species' habits. They looked at the size of the opening inside the scleral ring, where the pupil would be, as well as the eye socket to determine the diameter of the eye, and at the diameter of the external edge of the scleral ring to determine the length of the eye. They then compared this information with data from living species.
Day, night and in between
Among 33 species of dinosaurs living during the Mesozoic era, about 250 million to 65 million years ago, they found a spread of lifestyles that resembled those among modern animals, an indication that dinosaurs too spread out to occupy the available ecological niches.
As with modern flyers, like birds and bats, the majority of the flying dinosaurs — including three pterosaurs and all of the four avian dinosaurs (the ancestors of modern birds) studied — were awake during the day. However, five species of dinosaur fliers were either nocturnal or awake periodically, two of which may have had activity resembling certain nocturnal seabirds.
Most of the plant-eating dinosaurs were awake periodically. For herbivorous animals, like elephants and the herbivorous dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi, larger size means a need to spend more time foraging and eating. Large animals are also more prone to overheat, so they try to avoid being active during the heat of the day, shifting their activity into nighttime hours, according to Schmitz.
Predators, both dinosaur and modern, gain an advantage by hunting at night, and all of the dinosaur predators analyzed were either nocturnal or periodically active. The finding could help to set the stage for other dinosaur findings. For instance, fossil evidence has documented an attack by one of these night dwellers, Velociraptor mongoliensis, on the periodically awake Protoceratops. This attack probably happened in the OBD2 code scanner twilight or low-light conditions, the researchers write.
These results indicate that dinosaurs and early mammals did not split the day and night; in fact, it's not yet clear whether early mammals were nocturnal at all, and that idea needs to be evaluated, Schmitz said.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Texas forest fire destroyed homes, buildings
The Texas Forest Service reported more than 60,000 acres burned and 40 homes lost in one blaze that raced through West Texas and into the small mountain town of Fort Davis. The fire rushed across 20 miles in 90 minutes.
Officials at the scene, however, estimated at least 100,000 acres in two counties had burned from the shaded pold motor fire, which continued to grow Sunday evening.
"I can only describe it as an ocean of black, with a few islands of yellow," State Representative Pete Gallego said.
Flames "licked at the edges" of the town but did not burn their way through its center, sparing more buildings than expected, he said.
But 17 to 20 homes were destroyed, and as many as 30 more buildings were burned, he said after visiting the town, including a more than 100-year-old historic wooden ranch home. Residents had worked overnight to save their homes and moved on to help their neighbors, he said.
Hot spots still burned along the highway, and a glow from miles away was visible at night, he said.
"Even now, the flames in some places are 15 to 20 feet high," Gallego said.
The town was without impact crusher power Sunday evening. Gallego said many of the residents may not have been insured for fire.
Presidio County Emergency Management Coordinator Gary Mitschke said it was the first fire to scare him in 13 years of fighting grass fires. The blaze crossed railroad tracks and state highways as it roared past Fort Davis, he said.
Without a change in winds, which were keeping aircraft from helping firefighting efforts, the fire could burn for days or weeks, he said.
"Frankly, it moved almost as quick as a truck," Mitschke said. "When you hear the word firestorm, this is what I imagine."
A federal emergency management spokesman said a fire grant for the county had been approved Saturday and that the agency stood by to support as needed.
Wildfires fed by dry, windy conditions have charred more than 270,000 acres in eight days across Texas, burning homes, killing livestock and drawing in crews and equipment from 25 states.
Plants that thrived in wet weather turned to tinder under a cold, dry winter. Weeks of high winds and little moisture have made every spark dangerous.
A Texas firefighter was in critical condition with severe burns Sunday afternoon after electronic ballast fighting an estimated 60,000-acre fire in the northern Panhandle.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but it started in an isolated area near a natural gas plant and a few other industrial sites in an empty town called Masterson, said David Garrett, an emergency management spokesman for Moore County.
"Kind of like a wide spot in the road that has a name," Garrett said. "The fire started in open country and stayed in open country."
Two nearby communities were considered threatened but were not evacuated late Sunday afternoon, according to the forest service.
A Midland County wildfire burned 40 homes and at least 15,000 acres, according to the service.
Crews had stopped from crossing a highway a sprawling 71,000-acre fire that killed almost 170 head of cattle in Stonewall County, spokesman Lee McNeely said.
Air tankers had dropped 60,000 gallons of retardant to help slow the blaze.
Firefighters had most of the day to prepare for a cold front with gusting winds, McNeely said.
High winds and dry conditions were expected to persist into the evening across West Texas, the National Weather Service warned.
In Oklahoma, where Governor Mary Fallin has extended a 30-day state of emergency she declared on March 11, firefighters and helicopters on Sunday mopped up the smoldering remains of two fires that stainless steel pipe erupted Saturday.
One wildfire in Cleveland in north central Oklahoma charred more than 1,500 acres and forced 350 people to evacuate while another struck near Granite in southwest Oklahoma, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Emergency Management.
Officials at the scene, however, estimated at least 100,000 acres in two counties had burned from the shaded pold motor fire, which continued to grow Sunday evening.
"I can only describe it as an ocean of black, with a few islands of yellow," State Representative Pete Gallego said.
Flames "licked at the edges" of the town but did not burn their way through its center, sparing more buildings than expected, he said.
But 17 to 20 homes were destroyed, and as many as 30 more buildings were burned, he said after visiting the town, including a more than 100-year-old historic wooden ranch home. Residents had worked overnight to save their homes and moved on to help their neighbors, he said.
Hot spots still burned along the highway, and a glow from miles away was visible at night, he said.
"Even now, the flames in some places are 15 to 20 feet high," Gallego said.
The town was without impact crusher power Sunday evening. Gallego said many of the residents may not have been insured for fire.
Presidio County Emergency Management Coordinator Gary Mitschke said it was the first fire to scare him in 13 years of fighting grass fires. The blaze crossed railroad tracks and state highways as it roared past Fort Davis, he said.
Without a change in winds, which were keeping aircraft from helping firefighting efforts, the fire could burn for days or weeks, he said.
"Frankly, it moved almost as quick as a truck," Mitschke said. "When you hear the word firestorm, this is what I imagine."
A federal emergency management spokesman said a fire grant for the county had been approved Saturday and that the agency stood by to support as needed.
Wildfires fed by dry, windy conditions have charred more than 270,000 acres in eight days across Texas, burning homes, killing livestock and drawing in crews and equipment from 25 states.
Plants that thrived in wet weather turned to tinder under a cold, dry winter. Weeks of high winds and little moisture have made every spark dangerous.
A Texas firefighter was in critical condition with severe burns Sunday afternoon after electronic ballast fighting an estimated 60,000-acre fire in the northern Panhandle.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but it started in an isolated area near a natural gas plant and a few other industrial sites in an empty town called Masterson, said David Garrett, an emergency management spokesman for Moore County.
"Kind of like a wide spot in the road that has a name," Garrett said. "The fire started in open country and stayed in open country."
Two nearby communities were considered threatened but were not evacuated late Sunday afternoon, according to the forest service.
A Midland County wildfire burned 40 homes and at least 15,000 acres, according to the service.
Crews had stopped from crossing a highway a sprawling 71,000-acre fire that killed almost 170 head of cattle in Stonewall County, spokesman Lee McNeely said.
Air tankers had dropped 60,000 gallons of retardant to help slow the blaze.
Firefighters had most of the day to prepare for a cold front with gusting winds, McNeely said.
High winds and dry conditions were expected to persist into the evening across West Texas, the National Weather Service warned.
In Oklahoma, where Governor Mary Fallin has extended a 30-day state of emergency she declared on March 11, firefighters and helicopters on Sunday mopped up the smoldering remains of two fires that stainless steel pipe erupted Saturday.
One wildfire in Cleveland in north central Oklahoma charred more than 1,500 acres and forced 350 people to evacuate while another struck near Granite in southwest Oklahoma, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Emergency Management.
'Catch Me' doesn't capture art of the con
Frank Abagnale Jr., the former con artist whose memoir inspired a Steven Spielberg movie, managed to pass himself off as an airline pilot, a pediatrician and an attorney before turning 21.
One feat that Abagnale did not attempt was writing and bridge rectifier starring in a stage musical about his youthful adventures. And now we know why.
Not that Catch Me If You Can(* * ½ out of four), the new Broadway show based on the aforementioned film and autobiography of the same name, is a dud. Boasting a score by the famously witty team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and a book by Terrence McNally, Catch Me is too ambitious and stylish in its efforts to entertain and move us to induce boredom.
The main problem with this production, which opened Sunday at the Neil Simon Theatre, Coach Bags is that only one of the two leading men is consistently compelling. And it's not the one playing Abagnale (Aaron Tveit).
Rather, it's the actor cast as his nemesis. Norbert Leo Butz is predictably marvelous as Carl Hanratty, the schlumpy federal agent who stalks and eventually nails the underage schemer — though not as handily as Butz walks away with the show.
Don't blame Tveit, the square-jawed young actor who plays Frank Jr. — at least not entirely. A robust singer and fluid dancer, Tveit exudes the kind of slick charm that surely helped Abagnale finagle his way into diverse fields, not to mention considerable fortune.
But that charm wears thin over 2½ hours in which Frank Jr. and veterinary syringes his exploits are so dominant. The musical is structured so that we see our mischievous finagler crafting his own story, introducing some numbers and then literally trying to sing and dance his way out of trouble. It's a canny conceit, but one that only emphasizes the character's disingenuousness.
Frank Jr.'s troubled family background also is documented, with a poignant Tom Wopat as Frank Sr., a less successful player who is nonetheless idolized by his son. But Tveit is most authentic when trying to seduce or impress us; he doesn't reveal the kind of vulnerability that would make us care about the younger Frank, as Leonardo DiCaprio did in the screen version.
In contrast, Butz imbues Carl (played by Tom Hanks in the film) with wry humor and bittersweet humanity. It's no accident that Tveit's Frank Jr. is more sympathetic in his scenes with Carl, who emerges both as a father figure and a fellow lonely soul.
Butz also handles the musical numbers with an ease that often trumps Tveit's more aggressive virtuosity. Certainly, Butz is more adept at milking Shaiman's jazzy nuances, which nod tothe more sophisticated side of '60s pop culture, from James Bond to Sinatra.
There are other elegant and frisky flourishes, from William Ivey Long's eye-candy costumes to Jerry Mitchell's vampish choreography — both of which draw attention to the leggy, voluptuous figures in the female ensemble.
Still, in failing to deliver a youthful protagonist you can really cheer for, this Catch Me If You Can may leave you feeling a bit cheated.
One feat that Abagnale did not attempt was writing and bridge rectifier starring in a stage musical about his youthful adventures. And now we know why.
Not that Catch Me If You Can(* * ½ out of four), the new Broadway show based on the aforementioned film and autobiography of the same name, is a dud. Boasting a score by the famously witty team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and a book by Terrence McNally, Catch Me is too ambitious and stylish in its efforts to entertain and move us to induce boredom.
The main problem with this production, which opened Sunday at the Neil Simon Theatre, Coach Bags is that only one of the two leading men is consistently compelling. And it's not the one playing Abagnale (Aaron Tveit).
Rather, it's the actor cast as his nemesis. Norbert Leo Butz is predictably marvelous as Carl Hanratty, the schlumpy federal agent who stalks and eventually nails the underage schemer — though not as handily as Butz walks away with the show.
Don't blame Tveit, the square-jawed young actor who plays Frank Jr. — at least not entirely. A robust singer and fluid dancer, Tveit exudes the kind of slick charm that surely helped Abagnale finagle his way into diverse fields, not to mention considerable fortune.
But that charm wears thin over 2½ hours in which Frank Jr. and veterinary syringes his exploits are so dominant. The musical is structured so that we see our mischievous finagler crafting his own story, introducing some numbers and then literally trying to sing and dance his way out of trouble. It's a canny conceit, but one that only emphasizes the character's disingenuousness.
Frank Jr.'s troubled family background also is documented, with a poignant Tom Wopat as Frank Sr., a less successful player who is nonetheless idolized by his son. But Tveit is most authentic when trying to seduce or impress us; he doesn't reveal the kind of vulnerability that would make us care about the younger Frank, as Leonardo DiCaprio did in the screen version.
In contrast, Butz imbues Carl (played by Tom Hanks in the film) with wry humor and bittersweet humanity. It's no accident that Tveit's Frank Jr. is more sympathetic in his scenes with Carl, who emerges both as a father figure and a fellow lonely soul.
Butz also handles the musical numbers with an ease that often trumps Tveit's more aggressive virtuosity. Certainly, Butz is more adept at milking Shaiman's jazzy nuances, which nod tothe more sophisticated side of '60s pop culture, from James Bond to Sinatra.
There are other elegant and frisky flourishes, from William Ivey Long's eye-candy costumes to Jerry Mitchell's vampish choreography — both of which draw attention to the leggy, voluptuous figures in the female ensemble.
Still, in failing to deliver a youthful protagonist you can really cheer for, this Catch Me If You Can may leave you feeling a bit cheated.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Registered Facebook, sharing energy-saving code
Facebook Inc. on Thursday launched an open-source hardware project to electronic ballast share what the company has learned about designing energy-reducing, cost-efficient computer servers and data centers with the entire technology industry.
"We think coal is actually a small issue in the grand scheme of energy efficiency," said Jonathan Heiliger, Facebook's vice president of technical operations. "Instead of worrying about what energy source you may choose and the impact of that source on the environment, the best way of improving CO{-2} (emissions) and improving the environment is to cut energy consumption."
"We're not doing this in a dark closet somewhere, but we're sharing it with the world, we're sharing it with our peers," Heiliger said.
Although the environmental activist group Greenpeace International still criticized the social media giant for relying on coal-generated electricity, Facebook officials said their Open Compute Project stainless steel pipe has already delivered a 38 percent increase in energy efficiency for 24 percent less cost.
Data center energy costs are a major concern for Internet companies like Facebook , which has an estimated 600 million members worldwide. Facebook said that if one-quarter of U.S. data centers used Open Compute specifications, the energy saved could power more than 160,000 homes.
The company's $188 million, 147,000-square-foot Prineville center saved money by using less material, including paint, logos and stickers, and engineers examined details such as how to reduce power loss inside servers.
Facebook believes publishing technical specifications for the company-designed equipment used in its new Prineville, Ore., bridge rectifier data center will inspire faster development of even more efficient servers, power supplies, server racks and buildings.
The equipment was co-developed with other tech heavyweights, including Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Dell Inc., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Dell has already built servers based on the Open Compute specifications.
But Greenpeace has long criticized Facebook and the plant's utility provider, Pacific Power, which supplies some of the electricity from coal-burning plants.
Greenpeace climate campaigner Casey Harrell praised Facebook for its efforts, but said "efficiency is simply not enough."
The Palo Alto firm compared the project to the open-source software movement, which allows widespread collaboration on computer programs instead of relying on individual, proprietary development.
"As the global warming footprint of the IT industry, and Facebook specifically, continues to grow significantly, a focus on energy efficiency alone will only slow the speeding train of unsustainable emissions growth," Harrell said in a statement. "If Facebook wants to be a truly green company, it needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Coach Bags the way to do that is decouple its growth from its emissions footprint by using clean, renewable energy to power its business instead of dirty coal and dangerous nuclear power."
"We think coal is actually a small issue in the grand scheme of energy efficiency," said Jonathan Heiliger, Facebook's vice president of technical operations. "Instead of worrying about what energy source you may choose and the impact of that source on the environment, the best way of improving CO{-2} (emissions) and improving the environment is to cut energy consumption."
"We're not doing this in a dark closet somewhere, but we're sharing it with the world, we're sharing it with our peers," Heiliger said.
Although the environmental activist group Greenpeace International still criticized the social media giant for relying on coal-generated electricity, Facebook officials said their Open Compute Project stainless steel pipe has already delivered a 38 percent increase in energy efficiency for 24 percent less cost.
Data center energy costs are a major concern for Internet companies like Facebook , which has an estimated 600 million members worldwide. Facebook said that if one-quarter of U.S. data centers used Open Compute specifications, the energy saved could power more than 160,000 homes.
The company's $188 million, 147,000-square-foot Prineville center saved money by using less material, including paint, logos and stickers, and engineers examined details such as how to reduce power loss inside servers.
Facebook believes publishing technical specifications for the company-designed equipment used in its new Prineville, Ore., bridge rectifier data center will inspire faster development of even more efficient servers, power supplies, server racks and buildings.
The equipment was co-developed with other tech heavyweights, including Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Dell Inc., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Dell has already built servers based on the Open Compute specifications.
But Greenpeace has long criticized Facebook and the plant's utility provider, Pacific Power, which supplies some of the electricity from coal-burning plants.
Greenpeace climate campaigner Casey Harrell praised Facebook for its efforts, but said "efficiency is simply not enough."
The Palo Alto firm compared the project to the open-source software movement, which allows widespread collaboration on computer programs instead of relying on individual, proprietary development.
"As the global warming footprint of the IT industry, and Facebook specifically, continues to grow significantly, a focus on energy efficiency alone will only slow the speeding train of unsustainable emissions growth," Harrell said in a statement. "If Facebook wants to be a truly green company, it needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Coach Bags the way to do that is decouple its growth from its emissions footprint by using clean, renewable energy to power its business instead of dirty coal and dangerous nuclear power."
CDC said before going abroad, babies need MMR vaccine for measles
The Centers for Disease Control announced today that it is investigating seven cases of measles in American babies who traveled overseas and caught the disease. None had received the MMR vaccine cone crusher for measles, mumps and rubella.
This comes one day after reports that some tourists to the Orlando area returned home with the measles — and could have caught the disease here.
Although measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, it is still present in other regions of the world, including Western Europe. Imported cases continue to occur among U.S. residents returning from foreign travel and among foreign visitors to the United States.
The risk of complications or death from measles is highest among young cold room children. In the first two months of 2011, seven cases of measles were reported among 6- through 23-month-old American infants who traveled abroad. Four of the children were hospitalized due to severe measles-related complications.
Although all seven children had been eligible for vaccination before travel, none had received the MMR vaccine, the only measles-containing vaccine currently available in the United States.
The CDC is reminding parents that travelers of all ages should be up to date with their vaccinations before traveling abroad.
Considering the high risk of measles complications in children, infants aged 6 to 11 months should receive one dose of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine before traveling internationally, and children aged 12 months and older should autoclave receive two doses (separated by at least 28 days).
Physicians should consider measles as a possible diagnosis of rash illness among patients with a recent history of international travel.
This comes one day after reports that some tourists to the Orlando area returned home with the measles — and could have caught the disease here.
Although measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, it is still present in other regions of the world, including Western Europe. Imported cases continue to occur among U.S. residents returning from foreign travel and among foreign visitors to the United States.
The risk of complications or death from measles is highest among young cold room children. In the first two months of 2011, seven cases of measles were reported among 6- through 23-month-old American infants who traveled abroad. Four of the children were hospitalized due to severe measles-related complications.
Although all seven children had been eligible for vaccination before travel, none had received the MMR vaccine, the only measles-containing vaccine currently available in the United States.
The CDC is reminding parents that travelers of all ages should be up to date with their vaccinations before traveling abroad.
Considering the high risk of measles complications in children, infants aged 6 to 11 months should receive one dose of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine before traveling internationally, and children aged 12 months and older should autoclave receive two doses (separated by at least 28 days).
Physicians should consider measles as a possible diagnosis of rash illness among patients with a recent history of international travel.
Nobody saw this coming: An 'American Idol' shocker
American Idol viewers eliminated their fifth consecutive female singer Thursday. In a development that left contestants, judges and the studio audience stunned, Pia Toscano was exercise bike sent packing. Though the judges had told her she needed to work on her stage presence and had criticized her for singing too many ballads, many considered Pia to have given Wednesday's best performance and to be almost a lock for the finals.
Jennifer's in tears. "I have no idea what just happened here. I'm shocked. I'm angry. I don't even know what to say."
"What a shock, what a surprise," Ryan says as boos axial fan rain down from the audience.
"A mistake is one thing, but a lack of passion is unforgivable," Steven says. "They're wrong."
"We're all in shock," says Randy. "I'm gutted."
Pia's exit almost guarantees a male winner for the fourth consecutive year. But with such unpredictable voting from week to week, a once-promising season suddenly looks much, much different.
As her swansong, Pia sings The Pretenders' I'll Stand by You, breaking down at the end and receiving a standing ovation impact crusher from everyone in the room, many of them in tears.
Jennifer's in tears. "I have no idea what just happened here. I'm shocked. I'm angry. I don't even know what to say."
"What a shock, what a surprise," Ryan says as boos axial fan rain down from the audience.
"A mistake is one thing, but a lack of passion is unforgivable," Steven says. "They're wrong."
"We're all in shock," says Randy. "I'm gutted."
Pia's exit almost guarantees a male winner for the fourth consecutive year. But with such unpredictable voting from week to week, a once-promising season suddenly looks much, much different.
As her swansong, Pia sings The Pretenders' I'll Stand by You, breaking down at the end and receiving a standing ovation impact crusher from everyone in the room, many of them in tears.
Crave Caffeine? It May Be in Your Genes
DNA may play a large role in determining how much caffeine people consume in beverages such as coffee, tea, and soda and food such as chocolate, new research indicates.
Scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, the National Cancer Institute, electronic ballast and other institutions say they have discovered two genetic variations that influence the metabolism of caffeine and are associated with how much caffeine people consume. People with particular variations of two specific genes are more likely to consume caffeine, and to drink more of it when they do, study leader Marilyn C. Cornelis, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, tells WebMD.
The researchers say in a news release that their conclusions are based on an analysis of five studies conducted between 1984 and 2001. Average caffeine consumption via coffee, tea, caffeinated sodas, or chocolate was recorded.
So what does this mean?
Caffeine is implicated in a number of medical and physiological conditions. Caffeine affects mood, sleep patterns, energy levels, and mental and physical performance.
“Clearly these genetic variants are affecting stainless steel pipe how our body processes caffeine,” she tells WebMD.
About 80% of the caffeine intake among participants involved in the analysis was from coffee, similar to the adult caffeine consumption in the U.S. “We propose that those with the genotype corresponding to ‘higher caffeine consumption’ are metabolizing caffeine at a different rate vs. those with the ‘lower caffeine consumption’ genotype, and so require a different level of intake to maintain or achieve physiological caffeine levels that produce pleasurable effects,” Cornelis tells WebMD.
“Caffeinated products, particularly coffee, have long been implicated in various health conditions.”
She says that “studying the effects of caffeine, say, on the cardiovascular system, would be challenging if the group of subjects we’re studying process caffeine differently.”
The genes are identified as CYP1A2, long known to play some role in caffeine metabolism, bridge rectifier and another called AHR, which affects regulation of CYP1A2.
Cornelis says her own father may carry the variations that correspond to higher caffeine consumption because he drinks “at least 10 cups” daily.
“He’s not trying to achieve pleasurable effects,” she tells WebMD. “Rather, he’s trying to maintain levels as a means to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. Without a cup he’d wake up in the middle of the night with a headache.”
All people have both genes, but the study, involving more than 47,000 middle-aged Americans of European descent, finds that people with the highest-consumption variant for either gene consumed about 40 milligrams more caffeine than people with the lowest-consumption gene varieties. Forty milligrams is the equivalent of 1/3 cup of caffeinated coffee or one can of soda.
That suggests he “could possibly have the genetic profile of a fast caffeine metabolizer,” she says in an email.
The researchers say it’s likely that genetics plays a major role in other behaviors, such as alcohol consumption and smoking.
This genetic knowledge could be used “to advance caffeine research and potentially identify subgroups, Coach Bags defined by genotype, of the population most susceptible to the effects of caffeine,” Cornelis tells WebMD. “More research on the precise function of these variants is needed, however, and there are likely more ‘caffeine genes’ to be identified.”
She tells WebMD that her team’s findings “demonstrate that our search approach -- scanning the entire human genome -- works.”
Also, it shows for the first time that genetics may be responsible for inherited differences in how people drink coffee.
Scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, the National Cancer Institute, electronic ballast and other institutions say they have discovered two genetic variations that influence the metabolism of caffeine and are associated with how much caffeine people consume. People with particular variations of two specific genes are more likely to consume caffeine, and to drink more of it when they do, study leader Marilyn C. Cornelis, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, tells WebMD.
Coffee Consumption
The researchers say in a news release that their conclusions are based on an analysis of five studies conducted between 1984 and 2001. Average caffeine consumption via coffee, tea, caffeinated sodas, or chocolate was recorded.
So what does this mean?
Caffeine is implicated in a number of medical and physiological conditions. Caffeine affects mood, sleep patterns, energy levels, and mental and physical performance.
“Clearly these genetic variants are affecting stainless steel pipe how our body processes caffeine,” she tells WebMD.
About 80% of the caffeine intake among participants involved in the analysis was from coffee, similar to the adult caffeine consumption in the U.S. “We propose that those with the genotype corresponding to ‘higher caffeine consumption’ are metabolizing caffeine at a different rate vs. those with the ‘lower caffeine consumption’ genotype, and so require a different level of intake to maintain or achieve physiological caffeine levels that produce pleasurable effects,” Cornelis tells WebMD.
“Caffeinated products, particularly coffee, have long been implicated in various health conditions.”
She says that “studying the effects of caffeine, say, on the cardiovascular system, would be challenging if the group of subjects we’re studying process caffeine differently.”
Genes and Coffee
The genes are identified as CYP1A2, long known to play some role in caffeine metabolism, bridge rectifier and another called AHR, which affects regulation of CYP1A2.
Cornelis says her own father may carry the variations that correspond to higher caffeine consumption because he drinks “at least 10 cups” daily.
“He’s not trying to achieve pleasurable effects,” she tells WebMD. “Rather, he’s trying to maintain levels as a means to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. Without a cup he’d wake up in the middle of the night with a headache.”
All people have both genes, but the study, involving more than 47,000 middle-aged Americans of European descent, finds that people with the highest-consumption variant for either gene consumed about 40 milligrams more caffeine than people with the lowest-consumption gene varieties. Forty milligrams is the equivalent of 1/3 cup of caffeinated coffee or one can of soda.
That suggests he “could possibly have the genetic profile of a fast caffeine metabolizer,” she says in an email.
The researchers say it’s likely that genetics plays a major role in other behaviors, such as alcohol consumption and smoking.
More ‘Caffeine Genes’ May Be Identified
This genetic knowledge could be used “to advance caffeine research and potentially identify subgroups, Coach Bags defined by genotype, of the population most susceptible to the effects of caffeine,” Cornelis tells WebMD. “More research on the precise function of these variants is needed, however, and there are likely more ‘caffeine genes’ to be identified.”
She tells WebMD that her team’s findings “demonstrate that our search approach -- scanning the entire human genome -- works.”
Also, it shows for the first time that genetics may be responsible for inherited differences in how people drink coffee.
Lawyers want grim Jackson autopsy photos excluded from trial
Showing the pictures of the "Thriller" singer's autopsy risk jeopardizing the trial in May of Dr. Conrad Murray, they said. Murray is charged with inadvertently causing Jackson's June 2009 death by giving him the bridge rectifier powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, as well as other sedatives.
They argued that "admission of these photographs to the jurors will jeopardize Dr. Murray's right to a fair trial because of the significant risk that the jury will base their decision not on the evidence presented, but on emotional grounds which play no part in a criminal action."
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled for May 9. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor is expected to rule later this month on the defense request.
"These photographs are graphic, gruesome and highly prejudicial," Murray's attorneys wrote in the court papers.
Murray's attorneys, Ed Chernoff and Nareg Gourjian, stainless steel pipe argued that, "there is absolutely no relevance whatsoever to all of this sexually scandalous information."
Jackson, 50, chose Murray as his personal physician as he rehearsed for a series of comeback concerts in London.
v
Murray's lawyers also want references to Murray's trips to strip clubs, where he met at least one woman with whom he had an affair, to be excluded from evidence at the trial.
Jury selection for the trial has been underway for more than two weeks.
Murray's attorneys have suggested in electronic ballast previous court hearings that Jackson had grown dependent on propofol, and plan to argue at trial that the singer administered the fatal dose of the anesthetic to himself.
A 29-page questionnaire, publicly released on Thursday, asks potential jurors if they are fans of Jackson or his family. It also asks whether they know anyone with addiction to prescription medication; if they think celebrities are jaw crusher treated differently in the court system; and if they are familiar with the anesthetic propofol and other medications.
They argued that "admission of these photographs to the jurors will jeopardize Dr. Murray's right to a fair trial because of the significant risk that the jury will base their decision not on the evidence presented, but on emotional grounds which play no part in a criminal action."
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled for May 9. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor is expected to rule later this month on the defense request.
"These photographs are graphic, gruesome and highly prejudicial," Murray's attorneys wrote in the court papers.
Murray's attorneys, Ed Chernoff and Nareg Gourjian, stainless steel pipe argued that, "there is absolutely no relevance whatsoever to all of this sexually scandalous information."
Jackson, 50, chose Murray as his personal physician as he rehearsed for a series of comeback concerts in London.
v
Murray's lawyers also want references to Murray's trips to strip clubs, where he met at least one woman with whom he had an affair, to be excluded from evidence at the trial.
Jury selection for the trial has been underway for more than two weeks.
Murray's attorneys have suggested in electronic ballast previous court hearings that Jackson had grown dependent on propofol, and plan to argue at trial that the singer administered the fatal dose of the anesthetic to himself.
A 29-page questionnaire, publicly released on Thursday, asks potential jurors if they are fans of Jackson or his family. It also asks whether they know anyone with addiction to prescription medication; if they think celebrities are jaw crusher treated differently in the court system; and if they are familiar with the anesthetic propofol and other medications.
FOREX-Yen downtrend pauses,euro rally pause file
* Yen off lows but downtrend firmly in place
* Euro rally takes a breather after expected ECB rate hike
* Aussie also pauses after scaling fresh peak vs USD
The broad selloff in the yen stalled early in Asia on Friday as shaded pold motor investors took profit on short positions following a major aftershock in northeast Japan, while comments from the European Central Bank head saw the euro retreat from 14-month highs.
Following a widely expected 25 basis-point interest rate hike to 1.25 percent, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the central bank had not decided that Thursday's rate rise was the first in a series of moves.
"The EUR experienced a classic "buy the rumor, sell the fact" reaction to the ECB rate hike ... which proved to be one of the most universally expected events of the year," said Michael Woolfolk, analyst at BNY Mellon.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the ECB to stand pat for a couple of months before raising rates again in July.
"With Trichet failing to provide any guidance on further rate hikes and the phrase "strong vigilance" removed from the policy statement, players took profit on long EUR positions."
The euro last traded just under $1.4300, having slipped to a low of $1.4240, down from a 14-month peak around $1.4350 set on Wednesday.
Its downside, however, was limited by a calm bond market reaction to Portugal's plea autoclave for financial help from the European Union. Fears of contagion to Spain also eased after Madrid comfortably sold 4.1 billion euros of a new three-year bond.
Indeed, traders said there is demand for short-term upside strikes in the $1.4400 region as market players looked to protect against a further rise in the euro.
On the charts, a break of the key $1.4280 level is positive for the euro and BNP Paribas analysts expect the euro to next aim for $1.4375.
Still, some analysts expect a deeper pullback given exercise bike the common currency had risen 3.8 percent since early March when Trichet first hinted at an April rate hike, far earlier than markets had then been expecting.
Meanwhile, the yen's decline stalled as investors booked some profits after a 7.4 magnitude quake hit northeast Japan late on Thursday.
* Euro rally takes a breather after expected ECB rate hike
* Aussie also pauses after scaling fresh peak vs USD
The broad selloff in the yen stalled early in Asia on Friday as shaded pold motor investors took profit on short positions following a major aftershock in northeast Japan, while comments from the European Central Bank head saw the euro retreat from 14-month highs.
Following a widely expected 25 basis-point interest rate hike to 1.25 percent, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the central bank had not decided that Thursday's rate rise was the first in a series of moves.
"The EUR experienced a classic "buy the rumor, sell the fact" reaction to the ECB rate hike ... which proved to be one of the most universally expected events of the year," said Michael Woolfolk, analyst at BNY Mellon.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the ECB to stand pat for a couple of months before raising rates again in July.
"With Trichet failing to provide any guidance on further rate hikes and the phrase "strong vigilance" removed from the policy statement, players took profit on long EUR positions."
The euro last traded just under $1.4300, having slipped to a low of $1.4240, down from a 14-month peak around $1.4350 set on Wednesday.
Its downside, however, was limited by a calm bond market reaction to Portugal's plea autoclave for financial help from the European Union. Fears of contagion to Spain also eased after Madrid comfortably sold 4.1 billion euros of a new three-year bond.
Indeed, traders said there is demand for short-term upside strikes in the $1.4400 region as market players looked to protect against a further rise in the euro.
On the charts, a break of the key $1.4280 level is positive for the euro and BNP Paribas analysts expect the euro to next aim for $1.4375.
Still, some analysts expect a deeper pullback given exercise bike the common currency had risen 3.8 percent since early March when Trichet first hinted at an April rate hike, far earlier than markets had then been expecting.
Meanwhile, the yen's decline stalled as investors booked some profits after a 7.4 magnitude quake hit northeast Japan late on Thursday.
Snooki And JWoww Reveal 'Jersey Shore' Spin-Off Details
On Thursday (April 7), MTV announced that we will be seeing a lot more of Snooki, JWoww and Pauly D. The three "Jersey Shore" castmembers will be featured in two untitled reality projects cold room set to debut on MTV in 2012.
"The 'Jersey Shore' cast is at the center of the show's ongoing success, and Nicole, Pauly D and Jenni have become household names as a result of their unique, sometimes outrageous and often hilarious personalities," said Chris Linn, MTV executive vice president of programming and head of production.
The inseparable dynamic duo of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and best friend Jenni "JWoww" Farley will give viewers a look at what life, love and friendship is like away from Seaside Heights.
"It's pretty much just the concept of me and Jenni being on our own without our roommates," Snooki told MTV News recently.
The two best friends mobile crusher will be living in a yet-announced location, but it seems the girls planned to be roommates even if the cameras weren't rolling.
"It was a concept before the show [was green-lit]. We legitimately just wanted to buy a house together,"
JWoww revealed. "She wanted to get out of her dad's, and I wanted to move out of the home that everyone could see on TV, so they were like, 'Let's shoot it!' "
JWoww and Snooki will share the spotlight with fellow castmember DJ Pauly D. The cameras will follow him (and his blowout) as he continues to pursue his dream of becoming one of the most successful and recognized DJs in the music business.
"I used to be this DJ in Rhode Island, DJing two sets a week, hustling, promoting," he earlier this year, "and all of a sudden, I'm on this show, and now they're sending private jets for me to DJ for these electronic ballast huge crowds, yet I'm still the same guy that was DJing for 200 people, just loving life."
Both untitled series will be 12 episodes, and production begins later this year.
"The 'Jersey Shore' cast is at the center of the show's ongoing success, and Nicole, Pauly D and Jenni have become household names as a result of their unique, sometimes outrageous and often hilarious personalities," said Chris Linn, MTV executive vice president of programming and head of production.
The inseparable dynamic duo of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and best friend Jenni "JWoww" Farley will give viewers a look at what life, love and friendship is like away from Seaside Heights.
"It's pretty much just the concept of me and Jenni being on our own without our roommates," Snooki told MTV News recently.
The two best friends mobile crusher will be living in a yet-announced location, but it seems the girls planned to be roommates even if the cameras weren't rolling.
"It was a concept before the show [was green-lit]. We legitimately just wanted to buy a house together,"
JWoww revealed. "She wanted to get out of her dad's, and I wanted to move out of the home that everyone could see on TV, so they were like, 'Let's shoot it!' "
JWoww and Snooki will share the spotlight with fellow castmember DJ Pauly D. The cameras will follow him (and his blowout) as he continues to pursue his dream of becoming one of the most successful and recognized DJs in the music business.
"I used to be this DJ in Rhode Island, DJing two sets a week, hustling, promoting," he earlier this year, "and all of a sudden, I'm on this show, and now they're sending private jets for me to DJ for these electronic ballast huge crowds, yet I'm still the same guy that was DJing for 200 people, just loving life."
Both untitled series will be 12 episodes, and production begins later this year.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
U.S. gets tough on privacy protection
With social networking emerging as the most potent force on the Internet, federal regulators are moving to limit how companies can exploit personal information.
Google Inc. just became Exhibit A.
In a settlement hailed as the first of its kind, the Federal Trade Commission said laminating machine Google had agreed to strict new measures to protect the privacy of its users. Moreover, the company agreed to submit to independent audits for the next 20 years to ensure that it is following the rules.
The agreement settles claims that Google used deceptive tactics in recruiting its Gmail customers last year for its Buzz social network, a competitor to Facebook. In signing up for Buzz, many Gmail users unwittingly agreed to make public a list of the people with whom they emailed most frequently.
FTC officials said it was the first time the government had required a company to put in place a sweeping privacy policy to protect consumer data.
"When companies make privacy pledges, they need to honor them," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in announcing the terms Wednesday. "This is a tough settlement that ensures that Google will honor its commitments to consumers and build strong privacy protections into all of its operations."
Privacy advocates said the action has far-reaching implications beyond Google, as Internet search and social network ventures rely heavily on the mining of user information to sell advertising.
Facebook, for example, sells targeted advertising to its users based on their stated preferences in movies and music. Google computers scan the contents of Gmail messages, looking for key words such as "camping," say, to hit users with ads for camping gear. In both cases, the companies explain those features in their privacy notices.
"This will limit the data mining of social media companies that try to do it without a clear-cut explanation of what they're doing," said Joseph Turow, a professor at University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. "The FTC is trying to stake out territory to say that when a company says it's doing something to keep data private, it better do it."
Even so, privacy experts said the FTC's recent actions were evidence of Stainless Steel Pipe a greater industrywide problem. The absence of strong federal privacy laws has allowed many technology companies to freely gather a great deal of information about consumers without their explicit permission — and without federal oversight.
The agreement came as Google once again launched into the social networking arena Wednesday with a tool, called +1, that lets users tag search results and advertisements so they can recommend them to friends.
The feature, aimed at competing with Facebook and getting a bigger foothold in social networking, connects to the same list of personal contacts that Buzz did. The idea is that users will trust Web page recommendations from friends over those from the computerized search engine.
Several of Google's best-known products have attracted intense scrutiny and even penalties in the U.S. and abroad.
Google was fined 100,000 euros — about $141,300 — by the French government last week for improperly gathering private data for its Street View feature, which allows users of Google's maps to view street-level photos of hundreds of thousands of homes and locations around the world.
Last year, officials discovered that the camera-equipped cars Google uses to gather the photos also had been collecting data from private Wi-Fi networks — in some cases passwords, personal emails and Web browsing histories.
Google has said it didn't realize that it had been gathering that data and said it would erase the information as soon as possible.
The company also has come under pressure recently over whether its search engine unnecessarily shares data about users searches with commercial websites, as well as whether software on its Android smartphones too easily shares exercise bike data about users' geographic locations with advertisers.
Google's settlement with the FTC emphasizes the government's stepped-up scrutiny of privacy issues.
The FTC said this month that it settled with short-message site Twitter Inc. for "serious lapses" in which the company "deceived consumers and put their privacy at risk" by failing to adequately protect their information.
Twitter admitted the episode was a "very serious breach of security" and agreed to create a comprehensive information security plan, as well as to allow the FTC to audit the company every other year for 10 years.
Facebook andApple Inc. each have come under scrutiny from lawmakers over concerns that they were sharing user information with third parties. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who is drafting a broad privacy bill, said the Google settlement showed the need for tough new laws.
"Google has admitted error, but Google is far from alone in the collection, use and distribution of immense amounts of our information," Kerry said. "Every company should adhere to this kind of standard, not just Google.
Google has admitted that Buzz was beset with problems.
"The launch of Google Buzz fell short of our usual standards for transparency and user control — letting our users and Google down," Alma Whitten, its autoclave director of privacy, product and engineering, wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
The settlement "thankfully put this incident behind us," she said.
Under the terms, Google will be required to give users "clear and prominent notice" and obtain "express affirmative consent" before sharing the users' information with any third party "in connection with a change, addition or enhancement to any product or service."
The independent review every two years for two decades will certify that Google's privacy policy adheres to standards set in the settlement. Google faces civil penalties of up to $16,000 for each violation.
"It's a broad reaching order, applicable to all their products," said Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
She noted that the FTC dismissed a complaint against Google for its Street View data collection last year because there was no violation of law. If a similar incident comes up now, it could violate the settlement and allow the FTC to take action, she said.
The Google case arose from a complaint filed last year with the FTC by the cold room Electronic Privacy Information Center.
"The message to companies is they're going to have to be more careful about the collection and use of information from users," said Marc Rotenberg, EPIC's executive director.
Google Inc. just became Exhibit A.
In a settlement hailed as the first of its kind, the Federal Trade Commission said laminating machine Google had agreed to strict new measures to protect the privacy of its users. Moreover, the company agreed to submit to independent audits for the next 20 years to ensure that it is following the rules.
The agreement settles claims that Google used deceptive tactics in recruiting its Gmail customers last year for its Buzz social network, a competitor to Facebook. In signing up for Buzz, many Gmail users unwittingly agreed to make public a list of the people with whom they emailed most frequently.
FTC officials said it was the first time the government had required a company to put in place a sweeping privacy policy to protect consumer data.
"When companies make privacy pledges, they need to honor them," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in announcing the terms Wednesday. "This is a tough settlement that ensures that Google will honor its commitments to consumers and build strong privacy protections into all of its operations."
Privacy advocates said the action has far-reaching implications beyond Google, as Internet search and social network ventures rely heavily on the mining of user information to sell advertising.
Facebook, for example, sells targeted advertising to its users based on their stated preferences in movies and music. Google computers scan the contents of Gmail messages, looking for key words such as "camping," say, to hit users with ads for camping gear. In both cases, the companies explain those features in their privacy notices.
"This will limit the data mining of social media companies that try to do it without a clear-cut explanation of what they're doing," said Joseph Turow, a professor at University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. "The FTC is trying to stake out territory to say that when a company says it's doing something to keep data private, it better do it."
Even so, privacy experts said the FTC's recent actions were evidence of Stainless Steel Pipe a greater industrywide problem. The absence of strong federal privacy laws has allowed many technology companies to freely gather a great deal of information about consumers without their explicit permission — and without federal oversight.
The agreement came as Google once again launched into the social networking arena Wednesday with a tool, called +1, that lets users tag search results and advertisements so they can recommend them to friends.
The feature, aimed at competing with Facebook and getting a bigger foothold in social networking, connects to the same list of personal contacts that Buzz did. The idea is that users will trust Web page recommendations from friends over those from the computerized search engine.
Several of Google's best-known products have attracted intense scrutiny and even penalties in the U.S. and abroad.
Google was fined 100,000 euros — about $141,300 — by the French government last week for improperly gathering private data for its Street View feature, which allows users of Google's maps to view street-level photos of hundreds of thousands of homes and locations around the world.
Last year, officials discovered that the camera-equipped cars Google uses to gather the photos also had been collecting data from private Wi-Fi networks — in some cases passwords, personal emails and Web browsing histories.
Google has said it didn't realize that it had been gathering that data and said it would erase the information as soon as possible.
The company also has come under pressure recently over whether its search engine unnecessarily shares data about users searches with commercial websites, as well as whether software on its Android smartphones too easily shares exercise bike data about users' geographic locations with advertisers.
Google's settlement with the FTC emphasizes the government's stepped-up scrutiny of privacy issues.
The FTC said this month that it settled with short-message site Twitter Inc. for "serious lapses" in which the company "deceived consumers and put their privacy at risk" by failing to adequately protect their information.
Twitter admitted the episode was a "very serious breach of security" and agreed to create a comprehensive information security plan, as well as to allow the FTC to audit the company every other year for 10 years.
Facebook andApple Inc. each have come under scrutiny from lawmakers over concerns that they were sharing user information with third parties. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who is drafting a broad privacy bill, said the Google settlement showed the need for tough new laws.
"Google has admitted error, but Google is far from alone in the collection, use and distribution of immense amounts of our information," Kerry said. "Every company should adhere to this kind of standard, not just Google.
Google has admitted that Buzz was beset with problems.
"The launch of Google Buzz fell short of our usual standards for transparency and user control — letting our users and Google down," Alma Whitten, its autoclave director of privacy, product and engineering, wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
The settlement "thankfully put this incident behind us," she said.
Under the terms, Google will be required to give users "clear and prominent notice" and obtain "express affirmative consent" before sharing the users' information with any third party "in connection with a change, addition or enhancement to any product or service."
The independent review every two years for two decades will certify that Google's privacy policy adheres to standards set in the settlement. Google faces civil penalties of up to $16,000 for each violation.
"It's a broad reaching order, applicable to all their products," said Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
She noted that the FTC dismissed a complaint against Google for its Street View data collection last year because there was no violation of law. If a similar incident comes up now, it could violate the settlement and allow the FTC to take action, she said.
The Google case arose from a complaint filed last year with the FTC by the cold room Electronic Privacy Information Center.
"The message to companies is they're going to have to be more careful about the collection and use of information from users," said Marc Rotenberg, EPIC's executive director.
Google adds +1 for recommendations
Taking a cue from Facebook's popular "Like" button, Google (GOOG) on Wednesday announced a new option for its users to recommend individual search results to their friends and contacts.
Google's new program, known as "+1", represents the Mountain View search giant's latest move to capitalize on the growing power of online social networks exercise bike, as it also tries to fend off the increasing competitive threat posed by Facebook and other rivals.
Recommendations have become a key part of online interactions, said industry analyst Hadley Reynolds, director of search and digital marketplace technologies for the IDC research firm. "It's becoming almost a standard of web commerce."
The new program works by letting a Google user click on a "+1" button to recommend a particular search result or search ad; eventually it will let them click on a similar button when they visit a web page. When someone else in that user's circle of contacts conducts a search on a similar topic, they will get the usual list of results and ads, but those endorsed by their friend will be flagged with a note that says their friend "+1'd this."
Google said the recommendations will eventually become one of the factors used to calculate search rankings, although a spokeswoman said it "will take some time to figure out how strong a signal or how useful it is."
But after the recent outcry over privacy concerns related to its Google Buzz initiative last year, Google stressed that "+1" has safeguards to protect users from revealing information they don't intend to share.
Coincidentally, Google reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over the Buzz issue on Wednesday.
"You have the option to never '+1' something," said Google spokeswoman Katie Watson. Users who click on the button will be reminded that their recommendation will be made public to others, she added. "If you're not prepared to share it with the world, you shouldn't '+1' it, and we're being very explicit about that."
Users must create a Google account and a profile to participate in the program. If a recommendation autoclave comes from outside their circle of contacts, users may see how many people endorsed a site, but not the endorsers' names.
The new program expands on earlier moves that Google has taken to add social networking features to its services. Since 2009, for example, users who search while logged into their Google account have been able to see results that are flagged if they include blog posts,Twitter links or other content created by friends in their circle.
Google plans to eventually show "+1" endorsements from users' contacts in other public networks, such as Twitter or Flickr. For now, participants will only see endorsements from the people listed in their Gmail contacts, Gmail chat buddy list or people they're following on Google Reader or Buzz. The program won't include Facebook friends because Facebook does not make that information public.
Facebook has a similar program that lets its users recommend posts, pages or even ads to their friends, by clicking a "Like" button. It recently launched a partnership with Microsoft that lets Facebook "likes" show up in results from Microsoft's Bing search engine.
The power of recommendations can be seen in their increasing use by a variety of Internet companies, from Amazon to Yelp, said IDC's Reynolds. "Many web commerce businesses are now much more dependent on the presence of recommendations, and the tone of recommendations, than they have ever been before."
The exploding popularity of Facebook has created a huge audience for advertisers, which analysts say could pose an increasing threat to Google's ad business. That's led to speculation that Google is attempting to build its own social network with programs like "+1."
But at this point, Reynolds noted that Google still dominates the Internet search business, handling cold room nearly two-thirds of all searches in the United States.
"Having that kind of audience, that can now consume a recommendation feature, gives Google yet another way of influencing commerce that it's not clear to me that Facebook can match," said Reynolds.
Google's new program, known as "+1", represents the Mountain View search giant's latest move to capitalize on the growing power of online social networks exercise bike, as it also tries to fend off the increasing competitive threat posed by Facebook and other rivals.
Recommendations have become a key part of online interactions, said industry analyst Hadley Reynolds, director of search and digital marketplace technologies for the IDC research firm. "It's becoming almost a standard of web commerce."
The new program works by letting a Google user click on a "+1" button to recommend a particular search result or search ad; eventually it will let them click on a similar button when they visit a web page. When someone else in that user's circle of contacts conducts a search on a similar topic, they will get the usual list of results and ads, but those endorsed by their friend will be flagged with a note that says their friend "+1'd this."
Google said the recommendations will eventually become one of the factors used to calculate search rankings, although a spokeswoman said it "will take some time to figure out how strong a signal or how useful it is."
But after the recent outcry over privacy concerns related to its Google Buzz initiative last year, Google stressed that "+1" has safeguards to protect users from revealing information they don't intend to share.
Coincidentally, Google reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over the Buzz issue on Wednesday.
"You have the option to never '+1' something," said Google spokeswoman Katie Watson. Users who click on the button will be reminded that their recommendation will be made public to others, she added. "If you're not prepared to share it with the world, you shouldn't '+1' it, and we're being very explicit about that."
Users must create a Google account and a profile to participate in the program. If a recommendation autoclave comes from outside their circle of contacts, users may see how many people endorsed a site, but not the endorsers' names.
The new program expands on earlier moves that Google has taken to add social networking features to its services. Since 2009, for example, users who search while logged into their Google account have been able to see results that are flagged if they include blog posts,Twitter links or other content created by friends in their circle.
Google plans to eventually show "+1" endorsements from users' contacts in other public networks, such as Twitter or Flickr. For now, participants will only see endorsements from the people listed in their Gmail contacts, Gmail chat buddy list or people they're following on Google Reader or Buzz. The program won't include Facebook friends because Facebook does not make that information public.
Facebook has a similar program that lets its users recommend posts, pages or even ads to their friends, by clicking a "Like" button. It recently launched a partnership with Microsoft that lets Facebook "likes" show up in results from Microsoft's Bing search engine.
The power of recommendations can be seen in their increasing use by a variety of Internet companies, from Amazon to Yelp, said IDC's Reynolds. "Many web commerce businesses are now much more dependent on the presence of recommendations, and the tone of recommendations, than they have ever been before."
The exploding popularity of Facebook has created a huge audience for advertisers, which analysts say could pose an increasing threat to Google's ad business. That's led to speculation that Google is attempting to build its own social network with programs like "+1."
But at this point, Reynolds noted that Google still dominates the Internet search business, handling cold room nearly two-thirds of all searches in the United States.
"Having that kind of audience, that can now consume a recommendation feature, gives Google yet another way of influencing commerce that it's not clear to me that Facebook can match," said Reynolds.
why Nokia has become such a huge player
In the world of mobile communications, the world is divided into two basic places, the U.S. and everywhere else. While I hate to think of this as an Us versus Them situation, that’s actually what it is. The reason ultimately boils down to exercise bike relatively little competition in the way phones are sold in the U.S., and in how wireless companies operate.
In the U.S., for example, you see a nearly even divide between CDMA and GSM phones. Outside of North America, CDMA hardly exists. Just about everyone uses GSM, the frequencies are mostly compatible and the carriers don’t have nearly the leverage on handset selection as they do in the U.S.
Visit a mobile phone store outside the U.S., for example, and you’ll find phones, but you’ll find either no carrier presence at all or you’ll find that the store will carry SIM cards for several carriers. While the carriers do have their own phone stores, they don’t have the dominance that they have in the U.S. Even the process of adding money to your SIM card is divorced from the carriers. When I was in Germany covering CeBIT, I added money to my German T-Mobile SIM card by going to the Shell service station across the street from my hotel.
This nearly total disconnect between phones and carriers means that there are a lot more phones available outside the U.S. In addition, the differences in economic circumstances and social communications are different from what happens in the U.S. In India, for example, there is an entire social network based not on Web browsing as you do with Facebook, but on SMS messages.
This is the world that phone makers compete in outside the U.S. and this is why Nokia has become such a huge player. In the U.S., most of the competition seems to be centered around smartphones. Elsewhere, most people can’t afford an iPhone or a BlackBerry. They need a phone with some features, but it has to be affordable. Nokia is a major player in this global phone market and its Symbian operating system is a major part of Nokia phones.
This outside-the-U.S. phone market is now changing. Nokia, which has long been the biggest European phone company, has decided to move autoclave ahead with Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft. This is the phone OS that will power the smartphones and in many cases the higher-end feature phones in the rest of the world. As a result, recent reports that Windows Phone 7 may be a dominant player might not be too far off the mark.
In the U.S., for example, you see a nearly even divide between CDMA and GSM phones. Outside of North America, CDMA hardly exists. Just about everyone uses GSM, the frequencies are mostly compatible and the carriers don’t have nearly the leverage on handset selection as they do in the U.S.
Visit a mobile phone store outside the U.S., for example, and you’ll find phones, but you’ll find either no carrier presence at all or you’ll find that the store will carry SIM cards for several carriers. While the carriers do have their own phone stores, they don’t have the dominance that they have in the U.S. Even the process of adding money to your SIM card is divorced from the carriers. When I was in Germany covering CeBIT, I added money to my German T-Mobile SIM card by going to the Shell service station across the street from my hotel.
This nearly total disconnect between phones and carriers means that there are a lot more phones available outside the U.S. In addition, the differences in economic circumstances and social communications are different from what happens in the U.S. In India, for example, there is an entire social network based not on Web browsing as you do with Facebook, but on SMS messages.
This is the world that phone makers compete in outside the U.S. and this is why Nokia has become such a huge player. In the U.S., most of the competition seems to be centered around smartphones. Elsewhere, most people can’t afford an iPhone or a BlackBerry. They need a phone with some features, but it has to be affordable. Nokia is a major player in this global phone market and its Symbian operating system is a major part of Nokia phones.
This outside-the-U.S. phone market is now changing. Nokia, which has long been the biggest European phone company, has decided to move autoclave ahead with Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft. This is the phone OS that will power the smartphones and in many cases the higher-end feature phones in the rest of the world. As a result, recent reports that Windows Phone 7 may be a dominant player might not be too far off the mark.
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