US Senator Ted Stevens convicted on 7 counts
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October 27, 2008
United States Senator Ted Stevens was convicted Monday on seven counts of failing to report gifts. Stevens, a senior United States Senator from Alaska and the longest serving Republican in the Senate, had been accused not reporting tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from the VECO Corporation including free house remodeling. Bill Allen, VECO's CEO, is a longtime friend of Stevens and much of the case involved the specific interaction between Stevens and Allen. The jury in the District of Columbia found Stevens guilty on all seven counts.Stevens is up for reelection and was facing a tough reelection bid before the convictions. It is unlikely that Stevens will retain his seat in the Senate given the convictions.Stevens is considered to be a moderate Republican and was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. While a long-time Senator with many accomplishments, Stevens is known to many young people for a rambling speech against net neutrality in which he referred to the internet as a series of tubes.The New York Times has speculated that out-going United States President George W. Bush might pardon Stevens.
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| Man pulls a 126,292-pound truck over 137 feet, sets world record
September 18, 2008
Canadian Reverend Kevin Fast has set a new record in the "heaviest vehicle pulled over 100 feet", beating his previous best. The record was set on "Live's Guinness World Record Breaker Week", an annual feature on the American talk show program Live with Regis and Kelly.The previous record for this category, also set by Fast, was 125,660 lbs (57,000 kg). With the surprise addition of 92-pounder co-host Kelly Ripa to the International Loadstar truck being pulled, Last hauled a load of 126,292 (57,285 kg) lbs over 137 feet (42 meters).Between pants, the Cobourg, Ontario resident told Regis Philbin and Ripa that he was "a little worried" during the pull. But the first thing he said after the attempt was "I feel great!" Paramedics were standing by, and quickly inspected him after the attempt.Fast's only food in preparation for the event was a cup of coffee. He pulled on a rope, anchored by a parked car."Live's Guinness World Record Breaker Week" continues until Friday. Stuart Claxton from the company Guinness World Records has been judging all of the record attempts, as he has for many years for the program.
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| Study raises health concerns about shower curtains
June 16, 2008
The Canadian Environmental Law Assocation and the Canadian organization Environmental Defence jointly conducted a study that was released to the public on Thursday, saying that chemicals released by new vinyl curtains may pose a significant health risk.
The study noted that many shower curtains contain more than 100 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), phthalates and organotins, some of which may be released into the air when first taken from a package. These chemicals, responsible for the characteristic smell of new vinyl, may cause damage to kidneys, the liver and the central nervous systems, respiratory problems, nausea, headaches and loss off coordination, according to the report.
These vinyl curtains are also said to contain traces of metals like lead, cadmium and mercury.
Jennifer Foulds of Environmental Defence advises consumers to seek alternatives to new vinyl products such as shower curtains and table cloths. Older products are thought to be safe, as they have already released most of the allegedly dangerous chemicals.
Critics of the study have called it "fear-mongering", and some health professionals agree that the risk is being overblown. Warren Foster, a professor in the obstetrics and gynecology department at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario points out that, "the difference between hazard and risk is great, and without knowing the actual human exposure, it's premature to make any judgement."
Foster further commented that the study was not performed in a rigorous manner by not having controls or random sampling.
Five brands of shower curtain were examined in the study; they were purchased from American stores including Bed Bath & Beyond, Kmart, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart. Curtains of the same brand are also available in major Canadian stores.
Marion Axmith, director general of the Vinyl Council of Canada calls the report a "blatant attempt to manipulate consumers and retailers into thinking shower curtains pose a danger, and they don't." She noted that, "as far as we know, nobody's ever been harmed by a shower curtain."
Vinyl has long been a point of dispute between environmentalists and those in the chemical industry. A chemical used to make vinyl is known to be a risk for liver and other cancers for chemical plant workers, and the phthalates in vinyl products have been linked to interference with normal male hormone production.
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| Senior intelligence official suspended after leaving top secret files on train
June 13, 2008
A senior intelligence official in the United Kingdom has been suspended from his job pending an investigation into top secret documents that were left on a commuter train on Tuesday. The Cabinet Office confirmed that the documents, including reports on Al-Qaeda and Iraqi security forces, had been found on the train and handed in to the offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who turned the files in to police.
According to the BBC, one of the documents, a seven-page report entitled "Al-Qaeda Vulnerabilities", was classified "UK Top Secret" and had every page numbered and labelled "for UK/US/Canadian and Australian eyes only". The other document, "Iraqi Security Forces: More or Less Challenged?", had been commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, which the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, described as being "damning" in parts. Both were produced by the Joint Intelligence Committee, a government organisation designed to present information from several British intelligence services to ministers and senior officials.
The person believed to be responsible for the breach works for the Cabinet Office's intelligence and security unit, which contributes to the Joint Intelligence Committee. He had authority to take classified documents out of the Cabinet Office, under strict security procedures. The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident, which the Conservative Party's security spokeswoman, Dame Pauline Neville-Jones called "the latest in a long line of serious breaches of security involving either the loss of data, documents or Government laptops".
The Cabinet Office's admission of the breach came on the same day the UK government voted on a resolution allowing authorities to detain terror suspects for up to 42 days without charge.
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| Sigma (SF99) out of the shed, again...
May 21st 2008
The much dicussed about Motor Yacht Sigma (rumored name) AKA: Project SF99, has left her bulid shed to soak up some sunshine. She is rumored to be preparing for some more sea trials before she is offically finished.
As you can see from the photos, she is quite an impressive yacht. I bet some heads will be turning this summer as she cruises the world.
A large view of her
Her main super structure and her top mast
A view of what looks to be some sort of mooring hatch.
If we could ask one question of the owner; how in the world are you (your crew) going to wash this? Our prayers are with those poor deckies!
Here is a view we will all be seeing in the near future...
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| HP to aquire EDS for 13.9B
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May 13, 2008
Hewlett-Packard (HP), a global technology leader with major businesses operations in computer hardware, software, printing and services announced today that they will aquire Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for US$13.9 billion in an all cash deal. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the deal has been in various stages of development since October 2007 when the CEO of EDS, Ron Rittenmeyer, approached HP CEO Mark Hurd with a proposition to join forces.
This acquisition models a strong pattern of robust M&A activity since the arrival of current CEO Mr. Hurd. Since his arrival in 2005, HP has worked to expand their overall IT portfolio through organic R&D growth and the purchase of "best of breed" companies such as Mercury, Opsware.
ProCurve and Peregrine.This purchase will bolster the services arm of HP placing the company in second place worldwide behind IBM in terms of IT services. The added revenue will work to double Hewlett-Packard's sales from services to almost $40 billion, about as much as it gets from PCs. The combined forces of EDS and HP will represent a total worldwide workforce of 309,000 people in more than 80 countries representing 7% of the worldwide IT Service market.In 2006
HP surpassed IBM as the largest technology company in the world in terms of overall revenue and since that time the two industry titans have fiercely battled for market dominance. Analysts at Briefing.com said: "Adding EDS would expand HP's service offering and also increase its market share in the industry, helping it better compete with industry heavyweight IBM."
Like any deal of this size it is not without its optimists and pessimists. From the positive side American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said. "I am not saying this deal is a slam dunk by any means, but people have underestimated Mark Hurd before."
"EDS is more mature and more sophisticated in many of the processes that they bring to market than where we are", Hurd, 51, told analysts on a conference call yesterday. "We wouldn't do the deal if we didn't think we had an opportunity to improve the operating profit level that EDS currently has."
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| Microsoft drops bid for Yahoo
May 4, 2008
Microsoft has announced it is dropping it bid to acquire one of their Internet competitors, Yahoo!, after a three-month courting effort by Microsoft.
Microsoft chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer notified Yahoo! chief executive officer, chairman and co-founder, Jerry Yang via a letter that Microsoft was dropping their bid for the Sunnyvale, California based search engine giant.
In a press release from Microsoft, Ballmer said, “Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly US$5 billion, Yahoo! has not moved toward accepting our offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo! do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal”.
Microsoft withdrew its bid effort after raising their bid from $44.6 billion to $47.5 billion, which works out at $33 per share. However, Yahoo! were waiting for a bid of around $53 billion, which was more than Microsoft were willing to pay.
Microsoft had previously wanted to takeover Yahoo! in-order to compete with Google, the market leader in online advertising. The online advertising market was worth $40 billion in 2007 and will rise to an expected $80 billion in 2010.
Some observers, however, are speculating that the bid withdrawal could just be another tactic in their attempt to acquire Yahoo!. Yahoo shares have dropped since the bid was pulled out.
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| Skype launches "Unlimited" monthly service to change communication style
April 23, 2008
Monday, Luxembourg-based Skype Limited announced a new monthly service plan called "Unlimited". It's expected that the service will bring on different opportunities for mobile users and change style on communications.
As of Skype Limited, this "Unlimited" monthly service with no long-term contract is designed for different kind users from 34 countries. There are three main services, "Unlimited Country" for local landline call by user's choice, "Unlimited World" to communicate with 34 countries globally, and exclusivity services for different continents in Europe, Asia, and North America.
In a launch press conference in Taiwan today, Robert Lo, Vice President of PChome Online, commented this new service to media in Taiwan and said: "After the WiMAX technology was progressively accepted in public world-wide, the population of Skype will be more improved."
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| Japan Airlines fined US$110 million for price fixing
April 17, 2008
After admiting to price fixing on cargo services between Japan and the United States, Japan Airlines (JAL) has been fined US$110 million.
Prosecuters alledge JAL earned $2 billion illegally between 2000 and 2006, although it is possible the scheme was operating as early as 1995. British Airways, Korean Air and Qantas have all previously admitted being involved and paid fines. The cartel was exposed by whistleblower Lufthansa, who alerted authorities in exchange for immunity to prosecution. Three other airlines are also involved.
JAL is the biggest carrier in Japan and the biggest carrier of cargo between Japan and the US.
Japan will not take any further action against the carrier. The investigation was performed by two US groups, the FBI and the Department of Justice.
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| Snow falls over much of UK
April 6, 2008
Snow fell over much of the United Kingdom overnight, with many roads being closed as a result of this. The M56 has been closed in both directions.
The city of Bristol was subject to it's heaviest snow in over a year. BBC News has reported that up to 3 inches of snow will fall in parts of Southern England. Major cities including London were hit by the snow.
A Wikinews reporter noticed at approximately 10:00 local time (09:00 UTC) that there appeared to be no significant effect on the traffic as a result of the snow. It is probable that this is because the majority of the snow had either been cleared or melted.
The snow continued to fall until mid morning in most off the South of England, however melted away in the afternoon. In Liverpool, North West England and Bristol occasional snow flurries occured through to the early afternoon, this continued in Liverpool throught the afternoon to early evening.
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