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Prices of petroleum products have been raised between 10.5 per cent and 19.7 per cent for the month of July by the government due to the increase of oil prices at the international markets.
According to the official figures the price of petrol has been increased by Rs5.92 per litre or 10.5 per cent to Rs62.13, HOBC by Rs8.50 per litre or 12.1 per cent to Rs78.78, light diesel oil Rs6.94 per litre or 14.5 per cent to Rs54.94, kerosene oil Rs7.48 per litre to Rs59.35 per litre.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Muhammad Yousuf in Bolain Kya Baat Hai?
Cricket, Cricketer, sports, pakistan, pakistani team, cricinfol.com
Monday, June 29, 2009
Spaceport America Comes Alive.
June 19, 2009 - this is the date that will be remembered in years to come as the day the world's very first purpose-built commercial spaceport broke ground in southern New Mexico.
Spaceport America will be built specifically for the commercial space tourism market, and promises the dawn of a bright future for the people of New Mexico.
New mexico Governer, Bill Richardson was there to celebrate the historic day and commented that he was happy to see Spaceport America finally becoming a reality after all the planning that has gone into the poject.
President of Virgin Galactic, Will Whitehorn, who also attended the ceremony, marked the event as an enormous milestone for Virgin Galactic. The company is investing $300 million for the development of a new space launch system which will be operational at Spaceport America once the facility opens.
Virgin Galactic was launched in 2004 with the aim of transforming the commercial space industry in terms of cost, safety and the environmental impact of space travel. The company has been actively involved in developing new technolgies in conjunction with Burt Rutan and Northrop Grumman's Scaled Composites. Scaled Composites has developed WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo for the purpose of commercial spaceflight.
Spaceport America will be a 110,000-plus square foot-facility using energy-efficient green building techniques. The facility will be built to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system.
The facility will use sustainable and clean energy technology throughout the entire design, causing Spaceport America to not only be first in Commercial Spaceflight, but also to stand as an example for environmentally friendly structures of the future. Earth-tubes will pre-condition the air which will in turn save HVAC costs by approximately 50-70%, and the facility will also use solar thermal panels on the roof for hot water, among other unique designs.
The design of the facility was done by a team combined of British and American architects. Two design firms (URS Corporation and Foster + Partners), teamed up to submit the eventual winning design in an international design competition.
It is expected that Spaceport America will employ 3,500 people by 2020.
Spaceport America will be built specifically for the commercial space tourism market, and promises the dawn of a bright future for the people of New Mexico.
New mexico Governer, Bill Richardson was there to celebrate the historic day and commented that he was happy to see Spaceport America finally becoming a reality after all the planning that has gone into the poject.
President of Virgin Galactic, Will Whitehorn, who also attended the ceremony, marked the event as an enormous milestone for Virgin Galactic. The company is investing $300 million for the development of a new space launch system which will be operational at Spaceport America once the facility opens.
Virgin Galactic was launched in 2004 with the aim of transforming the commercial space industry in terms of cost, safety and the environmental impact of space travel. The company has been actively involved in developing new technolgies in conjunction with Burt Rutan and Northrop Grumman's Scaled Composites. Scaled Composites has developed WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo for the purpose of commercial spaceflight.
Spaceport America will be a 110,000-plus square foot-facility using energy-efficient green building techniques. The facility will be built to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system.
The facility will use sustainable and clean energy technology throughout the entire design, causing Spaceport America to not only be first in Commercial Spaceflight, but also to stand as an example for environmentally friendly structures of the future. Earth-tubes will pre-condition the air which will in turn save HVAC costs by approximately 50-70%, and the facility will also use solar thermal panels on the roof for hot water, among other unique designs.
The design of the facility was done by a team combined of British and American architects. Two design firms (URS Corporation and Foster + Partners), teamed up to submit the eventual winning design in an international design competition.
It is expected that Spaceport America will employ 3,500 people by 2020.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Windows 7 pre-orders grab Amazon's top sales spots
Microsoft and e-retailers discount Windows 7 as much as 58%, buyers flock
omputerworld - Microsoft and online retailers today kicked off Windows 7 sales in the U.S., Canada and Japan, taking pre-orders at prices discounted by as much as 58%.The upgrade for Windows 7 Home Premium, priced at $49.99, immediately stormed to the top of Amazon.com's bestseller list. The $99.99 Windows 7 Professional Upgrade held the No. 2 spot in software, while Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade, a $219.99 package that has not been discounted, claimed No. 4 as of 1:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Microsoft officially announced the limited-time deal yesterday, although details had leaked earlier this month when the Engadget site published a Best Buy memo that spelled out the prices and start date.
The discounted prices are good from today through July 11 in the U.S. and Canada, or "until supplies last," Microsoft noted in fine print. Pre-order prices will cease after July 5 in Japan. Customers in the U.K., France and Germany will be offered similar pre-order discounts starting July 15.
Microsoft declined to get more specific than "until supplies last" when asked today what cap it has in mind for Windows 7 discounted pre-orders.
Prices, and the amount of the price cuts from Microsoft's suggest list, vary by country. In the U.S., Home Premium has been discounted 58%, while Professional has been reduced by 50%. Canadian users get a 50% discount on both editions, but Japanese customers receive a 53% discount on Home Premium and only 45% off Professional.
In the U.S., Windows 7 upgrades are available from Microsoft's own online store, as well as from Amazon.com, Best Buy, Frys, Newegg, Office Depot and Tiger Direct. Canadians can pre-order the OS from Microsoft, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Future Shop, London Drugs, Staples and The Source. Most are throwing in free shipping, and saying that they will deliver the operating system on Oct. 22, the date Microsoft has set for Windows 7's launch.
Only Microsoft's online store is taking orders for downloadable copies of the new operating system as well as shrink-wrapped editions. The company adds an additional $14.99 to the price if customers want a physical disc as well as the download, however.
According to Microsoft, the Windows 7 upgrades can be purchased and used by users currently running Windows Vista, Windows XP and the even-older Windows 2000. For the latter two operating systems, however, Windows 7 must be done as a "clean install" that deletes all data and applications; users must back up data before the move to Windows 7, then restore the data and resinstall all applications. Only Vista users can do an "in-place" installation that leaves data, Windows settings and applications intact.
Although some analysts have slammed Microsoft for setting Windows 7 Home Premium's upgrade at $120, they have applauded the pre-order discounts. "The $49 initial price is a nice reward for loyal customers," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Interpret, in a blog post yesterday. "But the 'real' upgrade pricing is way off for what the market will likely bear, especially during these economic times."
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9134897
England to host Pakistan v Australia series in 2010
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LONDON: Pakistan and Australia will play two test matches and two Twenty20 internationals in England next July, the English Cricket Board said on Friday.
LONDON: Pakistan and Australia will play two test matches and two Twenty20 internationals in England next July, the English Cricket Board said on Friday.
Pakistan have been forced to seek matches in overseas venues after violent attacks in their homeland led to the removal of 2011 World Cup matches in their country.
Twenty20 world champions Pakistan also went without test cricket in 2008 due to visiting nations cancelling tours.
'The Pakistan team performed outstandingly well in the World T20 tournament in England and were worthy world champions,' ECB chairman Giles Clark said in a statement.
'The passion of the support for their team in England demonstrated why this country is an ideal venue for these matches against Australia.'
England are also scheduled to host Pakistan for four test matches, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals in August and September 2010.
dawn.com
Internet speed lows after Michal Jackson death news.
 The sheer number of queries concerned Google |
The internet suffered a number of slowdowns as people the world over rushed to verify accounts of Michael Jackson's death.
Search giant Google confirmed to the BBC that when the news first broke it feared it was under attack.
Millions of people who Googled the star's name were greeted with an error page rather than a list of results.
It warned users "your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application".
"It's true that between approximately 2.40PM Pacific and 3.15PM Pacific, some Google News users experienced difficulty accessing search results for queries related to Michael Jackson and saw the error page," said Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker.
It was around this time that the singer was officially pronounced dead.
Google's trends page showed that searches for Michael Jackson had reached such a volume that in its so called "hotness" gauge the topic was rated "volcanic".
The BBC news website reported that traffic to the site at 0400 BST was 48% higher than average.
Fail
Google was not the only company overwhelmed by the public's clamour for information.
The microblogging service Twitter crashed with the sheer volume of people using the service.
 Searches for topics related to Michael Jackson peaked at 3PM Pacific |
Queries about the star soon rocketed to the top of its updates and searches. But the amount of traffic meant it suffered one of its well-known outages.
Before the company's servers crashed, TweetVolume noted that "Michael Jackson" appeared in more than 66,500 Twitter updates.
According to initial data from Trendrr, a Web service that tracks activity on social media sites, the number of Twitter posts Thursday afternoon containing "Michael Jackson" totaled more than 100,000 per hour.
That put news of Jackson's death at least on par with the Iran protests, as Twitter posts about Iran topped 100,000 per hour on June 16 and eventually climbed to 220,000 per hour.
Early reports of Mr Jackson's death and the confusion surrounding it caused a rash of changes and corrections to be made on his Wikipedia page as editors tried to keep up with events and the number of people trying to update the page.
TMZ, the popular celebrity gossip site that broke the story following a tip-off that a paramedic had visited the singers home also crashed.
There was a domino effect as users then fled to other sites. Hollywood gossip writer Perez Hilton's site was among those to flame out.
Keynote Systems reported that its monitoring showed performance problems for the web sites of AOL, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and Yahoo.
Beginning at 2.30PM Pacific "the average speed for downloading news sites doubled from less than four seconds to almost nine seconds," said Shawn White, Keynote's director of external operations.
He told Data Center Knowledge that "during the same period, the average availability of sites on the index dropped from almost 100% to 86%".
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
In Search of True Beauty
"... Ibn Mas'ud narrates: I once saw Prophet Muhammad crying, and so I asked him the reason. He replied: I cry because of the compassion I have for these sinful people (of my community) ..."
Throughout his lifetime, Prophet Muhammed (P) delivered many of his teachings and recommendations through instances, which addressed Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib and his close companions like Abu Dharr, Salmaan, and Ibn Mas'ud. As we are remembering the Holy Prophet, let us ponder over some of the teachings Prophet Muhammed (P) conveyed to Ibn Mas'ud:
In his speech Prophet Muhammad (P) elaborates on sinning and its effects:
"O Ibn Mas'ud! Be aware of the intoxication of sins. Just as how wine is intoxicating, sins have similar effects."
For the intoxicated man loses his perception and cannot see, hear or even think correctly; and a sinner cannot distinguish between those, which are beneficial or harmful (for his prosperity). Therefore the Prophet recited the following verse to verify his point:
"They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they do not return (to the Right Path)."(1)
Then the Prophet continued to explain about the sinful people, by reciting the following verse:
"Surely We have made whatever is on the earth an embellishment for it." (2)
The Prophet is implying that those sinful people are actually unaware of their true beauty and embellishment. They misinterpret that which is not their true beauty, as beauty...
Of course earth's embellishment will be lost very soon and leave every person; as our Great Lord tells us:
"And most surely We will make what is on it bare ground without herbage."(3)
The question therefore arises on what the true beauty of man is. It is an eternal beauty that lasts before, during, and even after death. Therefore, if man dedicates his entire life to the material goods (i.e. his house, furniture, garden), he not only will have surrendered all his belongings to the ephemeral earth, but without knowledge and piety, he will have also spent his life in useless misery.
In another section of his speech Prophet Muhammed (P) recited the following to clarify what were meant by false embellishments:
"The love of desires, such as: women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and farms, is made to seem beautiful to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and Allah is He with Whom is the good return.
Say: Shall I tell you what is better than these (materialistic funds)? For those who remained pious are gardens with their Lord, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and pure mates and Allah's pleasure; and Allah sees the servants." (4)
Allah (SWT) has identified the beauties, which derive from sensual desires and love of wealth as beauties that will be lost; and He has said that the everlasting beauty of the hereafter is better than the unstable affairs of the world. The best beauties therefore lie within Allah's (SWT) The unique spiritual blessings...
Many years ago beyond decades and centuries, my Prophet has thought of me and my prosperity, so on this day let us hear from him and his pure progeny and submit to them ..
(Selection taken from "Practical and Scientific Character and Behavior of the Prophet of Islam", by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli)
Footnotes:
1- The Holy Quran, (2:18)
2- The Holy Quran, (18:7)
3- The Holy Quran, (18:8)
4- The Holy Quran, (3:14-15)
Throughout his lifetime, Prophet Muhammed (P) delivered many of his teachings and recommendations through instances, which addressed Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib and his close companions like Abu Dharr, Salmaan, and Ibn Mas'ud. As we are remembering the Holy Prophet, let us ponder over some of the teachings Prophet Muhammed (P) conveyed to Ibn Mas'ud:
In his speech Prophet Muhammad (P) elaborates on sinning and its effects:
"O Ibn Mas'ud! Be aware of the intoxication of sins. Just as how wine is intoxicating, sins have similar effects."
For the intoxicated man loses his perception and cannot see, hear or even think correctly; and a sinner cannot distinguish between those, which are beneficial or harmful (for his prosperity). Therefore the Prophet recited the following verse to verify his point:
"They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they do not return (to the Right Path)."(1)
Then the Prophet continued to explain about the sinful people, by reciting the following verse:
"Surely We have made whatever is on the earth an embellishment for it." (2)
The Prophet is implying that those sinful people are actually unaware of their true beauty and embellishment. They misinterpret that which is not their true beauty, as beauty...
Of course earth's embellishment will be lost very soon and leave every person; as our Great Lord tells us:
"And most surely We will make what is on it bare ground without herbage."(3)
The question therefore arises on what the true beauty of man is. It is an eternal beauty that lasts before, during, and even after death. Therefore, if man dedicates his entire life to the material goods (i.e. his house, furniture, garden), he not only will have surrendered all his belongings to the ephemeral earth, but without knowledge and piety, he will have also spent his life in useless misery.
In another section of his speech Prophet Muhammed (P) recited the following to clarify what were meant by false embellishments:
"The love of desires, such as: women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and farms, is made to seem beautiful to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and Allah is He with Whom is the good return.
Say: Shall I tell you what is better than these (materialistic funds)? For those who remained pious are gardens with their Lord, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and pure mates and Allah's pleasure; and Allah sees the servants." (4)
Allah (SWT) has identified the beauties, which derive from sensual desires and love of wealth as beauties that will be lost; and He has said that the everlasting beauty of the hereafter is better than the unstable affairs of the world. The best beauties therefore lie within Allah's (SWT) The unique spiritual blessings...
Many years ago beyond decades and centuries, my Prophet has thought of me and my prosperity, so on this day let us hear from him and his pure progeny and submit to them ..
(Selection taken from "Practical and Scientific Character and Behavior of the Prophet of Islam", by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli)
Footnotes:
1- The Holy Quran, (2:18)
2- The Holy Quran, (18:7)
3- The Holy Quran, (18:8)
4- The Holy Quran, (3:14-15)
Intel and Nokia partner on future mobile devices
Intel and Nokia have entered a partnership to develop a new class of Intel Architecture-based mobile computing device and chipset architectures. The Intel and Nokia effort includes collaboration in several open source mobile Linux software projects. Intel will also acquire a Nokia HSPA/3G modem IP license for use in future products. The companies plan to develop a variety of new hardware, software and mobile internet services but did not disclose any specific planned products.
The collaboration includes technology development and cooperation in several open source software initiatives in order to develop common technologies for use in the Moblin and Maemo platform projects, which will deliver Linux-based operating systems for these future mobile computing devices.
Intel and Nokia have further signed an agreement that will enable Intel to license Nokia’s HSPA/3G modem technologies. The Nokia modem licence will enable the company to extend chipsets incorporating Nokia’s modem technologies across its mobility offerings in the future.
Source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=677757
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
New ‘Google phone’ coming in August
The T-Mobile myTouch 3G is being seen as T-Mobile and Google’s answer in the highly competitive smartphone market to the newly released Apple iPhone 3GS, the Palm Pre and the latest Blackberrys from Canada’s Research in Motion.
Apple announced on Monday that it had sold more than one million iPhone 3GS in just three days.
T-Mobile, the US operation of Deutsche Telekom and Google released their first phone, the T-Mobile G1, in October of last year.
The G1 and the myTouch 3G are made by HTC of Taiwan and run on Google’s open-source Android software, which the California-based Internet search giant is hoping will be adopted as a platform by other mobile phone makers.
T-Mobile said the myTouch 3G would feature a touch-screen display with a virtual keyboard and increased ability to personalize the phone through the use of applications available through the Android Market.
T-Mobile said the myTouch features a 3.2-megapixel camera, a music player with a four-gigabyte microSD memory card, enhanced video capabilities as well as one-click upload capability to sites such as YouTube and Picasa.
MyTouch also features one-touch access to other Google services such as Google Search by voice and Google Maps.
T-Mobile said the myTouch will cost 199.99 dollars with a two-year service agreement — the same price as the new iPhone and the Palm Pre. It will be available in US stores in early August.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Six ways to improve the agent desktop
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Francis Carden looks at how the agent desktop can be improved to increase productivity.
Francis Carden looks at how the agent desktop can be improved to increase productivity.
Based on our experiences with customers around the globe, here are our six tips for raising contact centre productivity and improving the customer experience.
Tip 1. Put everything an agent needs in one place
Contact centre agents in almost every large organisation need to interact with several different applications in order to service customers properly. A recent Velociti Partners survey of contact centre agents within the financial services industry showed that the average agent worked across 6-7 applications every day and more than 15 per cent of agents worked across 12 or more. When you consider that each application has its own unique user interface and navigational logic and that the vast majority were not originally designed for contact centre agents, it’s no wonder that agent productivity and customer satisfaction suffer in this environment.
Historically, integrating these applications has been complicated, time consuming and expensive work - which is why in many cases it simply hasn’t happened.
Modern desktop-level integration tools are now available that allow IT professionals to quickly build a single contact centre agent ‘dashboard’ that unites all these applications into a single screen and shares the data across them, so, for example, information only needs to be entered once and all other systems are updated. This gives agents a true 360-degree customer view, which speeds access to key customer data, shortens call handling and wait times, streamlines agent training processes and ultimately improves customer satisfaction. A true agent productivity win.
Tip 2. Auto-navigate applications
Inbound support calls result in a significant amount of wasted time and effort. Although computer telephone integration (CTI) or softphone applications pop up with basic customer or telephone information, the agent still needs to launch the appropriate applications and navigate to specific pages within them. Integrating CTI or softphone applications with the core agent applications (e.g. CRM application) and automating the navigation to the correct customer record within an application is a sure way to improve agent productivity and simultaneously drive customer satisfaction gains.
Tip 3. Eliminate copy and paste
Automate everything you can. Agents are often forced to copy and paste customer and other data across several application windows, putting companies at great risk of errors and mistakes that cost time, money, serious compliance penalties, and also causing repetitive strain injuries to agents. Automation technologies exist that can dramatically streamline or completely automate a number of manual workflows. Examples include automating repetitive application login processes, automatically synchronising customer data across systems whenever a customer record is changed and automatically opening and navigating a knowledge management system for certain call types.
Tip 4. Automate compliance
Complying with company, client or government legislation introduces a number of challenges for agents and organisations alike. Compliance mandates such as the need to capture and log call activity accurately, reading mandatory disclosure statements and performing necessary credit or other types of verification steps add complexity to a given customer interaction and often requires an agent to remember and correctly follow defined business rules that may vary from one customer to another. It is often difficult to track the activity of every agent to know that compliance requirements are being completed.
By automating compliance-related agent workflows, you can streamline agent productivity, improve adherence to key compliance processes and simultaneously improve the ability to track and report on compliance performance.
Tip 5. Deliver timely and appropriate up-sell and cross-sell offers
Despite initial enthusiasm for up-selling and cross-selling, these are falling out of favour with contact centres because attempts to date have been mutually frustrating to both agents and customers. According the Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report, “The most dramatic drop [in call volumes] has taken place in the direct, cross or up-selling areas, which has seen the percentage of centres fall from well over 50% to 20%.” This is a shame and huge missed opportunity. Most customers genuinely appreciate it when an agent knows enough about them to offer them something they truly need or can save them time or money.
Automating the offer look-up process and presenting the offer to the agent in real time and at the proper stage of the call flow can dramatically improve up-sell revenue performance.
Tip 6. Expose more business processes to self service
Self service has become a firmly established, accepted and used channel by customers. Web and IVR-related self service now account for nearly one third of all inbound transactions.
Many processes, however, are not being adapted to self-service solutions simply because they require human involvement or access to applications or data currently only available via agents’ desktops. New technologies are now in place that enable contact centres to expose virtually any business process workflow – even those that involve an agent desktop application. And it’s clear – the more processes that can be exposed to self service not only improve customer satisfaction but also improve agent productivity.
Courtesy: http://www.callcentrehelper.com/six-ways-to-improve-the-agent-desktop-3758.htm
Friday, June 19, 2009
Google rush Farsi versions
 Google now works in 42 different languages |
Search giant Google has stepped up work to release a tool that will translate Farsi into English and vice-versa.
The company told the BBC it was speeding up the project because of the huge interest in what was currently going on in Iran.
At the same time, the world's biggest social networking site, Facebook, is launching a Persian version.
Both companies say they hope their efforts will improve access to information and communication.
"There is a huge amount of interest in events in Iran and people want to know what is going on inside and outside the country," Google's principal scientist, Franz Och, told the BBC.
"Providing access to information across language boundaries should be very helpful. It's one more tool that Persian speakers can use to communicate directly to the world and vice-versa."
Facebook announced that it had also accelerated work on its Farsi translation.
In a blog posting, the company noted that people around the world had been using Facebook to exchange information about the aftermath of the Iranian election, but that most of that had not been in English.
"Much of the content created and shared on Facebook related to these events has been in Persian - the native language of Iran - but the users have had to navigate the site in English or other languages," it said.
As a result, Facebook has now made the entire site available in a test version of Persian, "so Persian speakers inside of Iran and around the world can begin using it in their native language".
Challenges
Both companies stress privately that there is no political motivation in what they are doing, and that their main goal is to facilitate communication and the flow of information.
Google's stated mission is to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. To that end, it is already available in 41 other languages from Arabic to Spanish and from Danish to Vietnamese.
 Native speakers helped Facebook with its Farsi translation |
Mr Och said he and his team had been working hard over the past few days to rush the Farsi service out. As a result, it was about 80% perfect.
"This is done using machine translation which, in general, is not as good as human translation and so, for some languages, the quality is mixed," explained Mr Och.
"With Spanish to English we get a nice translation, but for others it's much harder because we don't have so much data from which we can build our systems.
"Farsi is one of those where the translation is not as good but we hope to make it better relatively soon."
Likewise Facebook has said its translated site is not a polished product but "we felt it was important to help people communicate rather than wait".
However the company said a lot of its success in being able to go live with what it has done is down to the more than 400 Persian speakers who submitted thousands of individual translations of the site.
Both companies are looking to perfect their work and said they welcomed help from Persian speakers.
Milestone
Much has been written about the role of the internet and social networking sites in spreading news, video, pictures and information about the post-election chaos.
 YouTube is showing video from the streets of Tehran |
These latest moves to provide Farsi translations have been praised by the Personal Democracy Forum, which looks at how technological advances and global internet trends are reinventing politics, democracy, society and government.
"The ability to translate the information flow that is going on at the moment into Farsi will benefit everybody on both sides of this battle," the Forum's co-founder, Andrew Rasiej, told the BBC.
"What these efforts do is add to the bigger idea which is that as people are more and more connected, the basic human right of free speech spreads with it.
"This is another milestone in allowing human beings to communicate with each other and break down the barriers that might have prevented them from understanding each other due to language," said Mr Rasiej.
"We hope we will have a positive impact," said Google's Mr Och.
Source: new.bbc.co.uk
Personal data exposed on website.
 Parcelforce allows customers to track the progress of their delivery |
Personal data including the signatures of recipients has been exposed to those tracking deliveries on the Parcelforce website, the BBC has discovered.
A failure in the system allowed people using the mail tracing service access to the name, postcode and signature of various addressees.
The breakdown put Parcelforce at risk of breaching data protection rules.
The delivery service, part of the Royal Mail Group, apologised. It said the problem had been resolved.
Fail track
Customers sending a package with Parcelforce Worldwide are given a reference number which allows them to track the progress of the delivery.
However, when the BBC News website entered reference numbers into the "track and trace" feature on the Parcelforce website, a series of unconnected deliveries was revealed.
Although the same reference number was typed in, the specifics of parcels with other reference details were displayed.
Within the space of 30 minutes, the system handed out details of parcels in Cleveland, Swansea and even awaiting customs clearance en route from Shanghai.
These included some parcels that had already been delivered. On the page declaring "proof of delivery", the name and postcode at its destination were shown, alongside a reproduction of the signature of the recipient.
Such information would give an identity fraudster easy access to people's names, addresses and signatures.
During the BBC's investigations, we saw the details of Linda Mitchell, of Farnham in Surrey, and the signature of her mother who signed for the parcel.
Mrs Mitchell noticed a problem when she entered the reference number on the website and it said her parcel was in Glasgow, then Coventry.
"The more you think about it, the more you wonder what is going on," she said.
And BBC News website reader Steve Davis, of Twickenham, said he was left confused by the tracking service fault.
"I thought that the bike I had been waiting for all week had been delivered and accepted in Germany," he said.
Data Protection
Businesses have a responsibility to keep personal and sensitive information secure, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
 Parcelforce Worldwide is part of the Royal Mail Group |
"Any organisation which processes personal information must ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to keep that information secure," said a spokeswoman for the ICO.
"Failure to protect personal details such as names, addresses and signatures could lead to information falling into the wrong hands and ultimately the loss of customers' trust and confidence.
"We will be contacting Parcelforce to establish how this security breach occurred and to find out what steps it will be taking to ensure that such a breach cannot happen again."
On some occasions, the website suggested the tracking service was "temporarily unavailable".
A spokesman for Parcelforce Worldwide apologised to customers who had been affected.
He said the problem emerged after work to the computer system late on Wednesday night and early on Thursday morning. Attempts were being made to fix it, with the online and telephone system halted until this had been done.
"We can confirm that the fault was rectified and the service restored on Thursday night. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused."
Parcelforce Worldwide advertises itself as able to deliver to 99.6% of the world's population. It aims to be "the UK's most trusted worldwide express carrier".
In the nine months to Christmas last year, all four Royal Mail businesses were profitable for the first time in almost 20 years. Royal Mail Letters, the Post Office, Parcelforce Worldwide and European parcels business GLS contributed to an operating profit of £255m.
The government is planning to sell 30% of Royal Mail's parcels and letters service.
Data loss
This is not the first case of potential exposure of sensitive data.
Last month, it was revealed that a laptop computer with details of 109,000 members of six pension schemes had been stolen from offices in Marlow in Buckinghamshire.
The data, which was not encrypted, included names, addresses, dates of birth, employers' details, national insurance numbers, salary details and, in the case of those receiving their pensions, their bank details too.
Last October, a laptop containing personal details of more than 100,000 members of the Network Rail and British Transport Police pension schemes was stolen from the accountancy firm Deloitte.
And in November 2007, HM Revenue and Customs lost two computer discs that held the entire child benefit database, including the personal details of 25 million people, covering 7.25 million families.
If a business regularly fails to safeguard sensitive information, it can be served with an enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner. Any breach of such a notice is a criminal offence.
New iPhone
The new iPhone went on sale in the US Friday morning, greeted by much smaller lines and less hoopla than previous models.
A few hundred people were in line just before the seven AM (1100 GMT) opening of Apple Inc.'s flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, a fraction of the people who lined up around the block for last year's launch.
That launch turned into a debacle, as Apple's servers failed to cope with the load of new customers trying to activate their phones. People who already had iPhones were trying to install a software update on the same day, adding to the pressure.
This year, Apple and AT&T Inc., the phone's US carrier, defused the drama by taking pre-orders for the new phone online. That means fewer prospective buyers had a reason to stand in line, and it sped up the activation process.
Apple also released its software update for previous customers two days early. There were only scattered reports of problems with that upgrade.
For new customers signing a two-year contract with AT&T, the 3G S model that went on sale Friday costs $199 or $299 depending on the memory capacity. Compared to the 3G, it has a faster processor and an upgraded camera. AT&T said it had taken pre-orders for ‘hundreds of thousands’ of 3G S phones.
Owners of the previous model, the iPhone 3G, will have to pay more than that. Most of them are not eligible for the new-customer pricing because the AT&T subsidizes the cost of the phone and requires customers to ‘pay off’ the subsidy through their monthly service fees before it will subsidize a new phone.
In line at the Fifth Avenue store, Brandon Dennie, 27, was not put off by the prospect of having to pay the unsubsidized price of $599 for the new phone. He's had a 3G for only six months, so he didn't qualify for the lowest price. He's creating his own subsidy by selling his old phone for $200 to a colleague, and he has an Apple gift card. ‘I want the video option and the speed,’ Dennie said.
In its two-year life, the iPhone range has revolutionized phone design and given AT&T a leg up on its rivals in recruiting customers willing to pay high monthly fees.
At an AT&T store in the New York borough of Queens, there were three people in line at 5:45 AM (0945 GMT). Sarah Gates and Ed Phyfe, the couple who were first in line, didn't know about the pre-order option until it was too late, and wanted to be sure to get phones from the small stock set aside for walk-ins.
‘We got Sprint smart phones since just before the first iPhone came out, and we immediately regretted it,’ said Gates, 33. She has nothing against Sprint Nextel Corp., but felt that their Motorola Q phones were awful.
‘I feel kind of bad to leave Sprint ... but I don't like any of the phones they have half as much the iPhone,’ she added.
Scource: dawn.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Ambitious Rs489bn budget for Punjab
LAHORE: The Shahbaz Sharif government presented on Tuesday an ambitious but risk-prone budget for the financial year 2009-10, with a total outlay of Rs489.873 billion, including non-development expenditure of Rs314.873 billion and a development programme of Rs175 billion.
No new tax has been imposed, nor have the rates of the existing taxes been revised.
The government announced an increase in the salaries and pensions of its employees on an ad hoc basis, in line with the federal government’s decision.
Local governments will get Rs119.42 billion, compared to this year’s Rs106.482 billion.
The government hopes to save Rs108.638 billion from its revenue, Rs25.976 billion from capital account and Rs1.106 billion from public account, to partly finance the annual development programme.
Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira presented the budget in the provincial assembly amid shouting and heckling by opposition members.
Tight security arrangements had been made around the provincial assembly for the session.
The estimated income of Rs423.511 billion is 8.6 per cent more than the current year’s estimates of Rs389.896 billion. The province hopes to receive Rs321billion as its share from the federal divisible pool, Rs4.625 billion in direct transfers and Rs11.122 billion in federal grants.
The remaining Rs86.74 billion will be raised from provincial resources — tax revenue of Rs49.647 billion and non-tax revenue of Rs37.093 billion.
The tax collection target appears ambitious in view of a collection of only Rs28.141 billion against a target of Rs40.362 billion in current year.
Analysts say that a sluggish economy could hamper efforts to increase tax revenue like I the current year in the absence of any new tax and revision of rates.
The non-development expenditure estimates, which include pro-poor subsidies of Rs26.7 billion, are up 22 per cent from the current year’s estimated expenditure of Rs256.948 billion.
Although the government has plans to cut non-development spending by Rs5 billion, it appears unlikely as the expenditure rose to Rs282.281 billion in the revised estimates for the current year.
Major non-development expenditures include Rs43.6 billion for law and order, including police; Rs11 billion for courts, prisons, fire protection, etc; Rs51.909 billion for economic affairs; Rs43.12 billion for agriculture, irrigation, forestry and fishing; Rs2.271 billion for housing and community development; Rs21.771 billon for health; Rs22.384 billion for education and services; and Rs46 million for environment protection.
The government will finance the province’s development expenditure which includes a Rs172 billion Annual Development Programme (ADP) and Rs3 billion Daanish School project from its savings of Rs135.7 billion, federal grants of Rs2.558 billion and foreign assistance of Rs10.471 billion.
The development budget indicates a wide resource gap in the form of an operational shortfall of Rs26.25 billion between financing and spending targets.
Analysts say the development programme appears unrealistic in view of the resource deficit. The situation may exacerbate if the province fails to achieve its tax collection target or if its share from the federal divisible tax pool is cut at the end of the year because of lower than projected collection by the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR).
‘The operational shortfall reflects unavailability of funds for the budgeted schemes at the time of presentation of the budget. This gap is filled by borrowing from banks or multilateral and bilateral lenders (through federal government) or imposition of new taxes,’ an official told Dawn. If it fails to arrange additional financing, the government will have to cut the expenditure on development.
The provincial planning and development department expects to spend less than 80 per cent of the revised development programme of Rs155 billion for the current year. According to Mr Kaira, the utilisation of the development budget could be around 60 per cent at the end of the year.
The minister mentioned several events and factors that had hampered economic growth and reduced revenue collection, including a deteriorating security environment, domestic and global economic slowdown and imposition of governor’s rule.
He presented a list of the Punjab government’s achievements: procurement of 5.8 million tons of wheat, financial assistance of Rs10 million and extension of medical services to displaced people in the NWFP, efforts for providing speedy and cheap justice to people, implementation of a Rs13 billion food subsidy programme for 1.3 million poor families, providing ‘sasti roti’ and improvement in health facilities.
He said the province would provide pro-poor subsidies to the tune of Rs30 billion, including an enhanced funding of Rs16.2 billion for the food support programme. He said the government intended to amend the law to ensure utilisation of surplus assets and funds under the control of the Punjab Cooperative Board for Liquidation for social sector development. ‘We will also constitute an authority for the utilisation of a subsidy of Rs7.5 billion for providing sasti roti to the poor and Rs2 billion to small farmers for buying tractors.’
The minister said the government would launch tax administration reforms and form an autonomous provincial board of revenue to improve tax collection and eliminate corruption.
‘We also plan to construct 200 small dams and begin work on the construction of the Khanki barrage,’ he said.
Major initiatives for the year include restructuring of public transport system and addition of subsidised CNG buses to the fleet; construction of apartments in each divisional headquarters at a cost of Rs2 billion for people of slum areas; provision of free medical treatment and medicines to the poor at the district and tehsil hospitals; provision of free land to homeless families for building houses; establishment of a knowledge park and city on 800 acres near Lahore; establishment of the Daanish School System and a centres of excellence authority for providing quality education to poor children; computerisation of laboratories in 4,286 high schools; initiation of prison reforms; provision of missing facilities at schools and colleges and renovation of old and construction of new college buildings; establishment of four new medical colleges and construction of emergency wards in 10 district headquarters hospitals with the facilities of CT scan and MRI; improvement in water supply and sewerage; and provision of wireless internet facility in public parks and libraries.
Mr Kaira said the government was giving attention to improvement of agriculture, livestock, forestry, wildlife and fish farming.
He said huge resources had been allocated for the development of the under-developed southern region of the province. He said the government would launch a three-year project for spurring economic growth in the region with the help of the United Kingdom. He said measures were being taken for improving medical facilities in Multan, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur.
He said social and economic infrastructure development had been given priority in the development budget.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/13+ambitious+rs489bn+budget+for+punjab-za-08
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sales and Profit Decline at Adobe
The software maker Adobe Systems said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit and sales declined on weaker demand.
The company’s revenue in the quarter surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, however, and adjusted earnings met those estimates.
For the three months ended May 29, Adobe Systems said Tuesday that it earned $126.1 million, or 24 cents a share. That is down 41 percent from $214.9 million, or 40 cents a share, in the period a year ago.
Excluding special items, the company, based in San Jose, Calif., said it earned 35 cents a share, matching analysts’ forecasts.
Revenue fell 21 percent, to $704.7 million. That is slightly above the $694.8 million that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predicted.
Source: www.nytimes.com
The company’s revenue in the quarter surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, however, and adjusted earnings met those estimates.
For the three months ended May 29, Adobe Systems said Tuesday that it earned $126.1 million, or 24 cents a share. That is down 41 percent from $214.9 million, or 40 cents a share, in the period a year ago.
Excluding special items, the company, based in San Jose, Calif., said it earned 35 cents a share, matching analysts’ forecasts.
Revenue fell 21 percent, to $704.7 million. That is slightly above the $694.8 million that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predicted.
Source: www.nytimes.com
MySpace Cuts 30% Of Workforce
The social networking site's parent company, News Corp., saw a 47% dip in its operating income in the third quarter of its current fiscal year.
MySpace will lay off about 30% of its workforce under a restructuring plan that spans all American divisions of the company and leaves the social networking site with 1,000 U.S. employees.
"Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company," MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta said in a statement released on Tuesday. "I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product."
he division of News Corporation "grew too big considering the realities of today's marketplace," said Jonathan Miller, News Corporation's CEO of Digital Media and chief digital officer.
"I believe this restructuring will help MySpace operate much more effectively both structurally and financially moving forward," Miller said in a prepared statement. "I am confident in MySpace's next phase under the leadership of Owen and his team."
The company did not provide details on the exact number of employees being laid off or the timing. It also declined to disclose severance terms or how much MySpace would save by reducing its workforce and eliminating nearly 500 U.S. employees.
News Corp. said MySpace plans to "return to a start-up culture" and said its restructuring plans aim to make MySpace more innovative, efficient, and entrepreneurial.
The social networking site ranks second, behind MySpace, for popularity as measured by global users.
News Corp.'s operating income plummeted 47% in the third quarter of its current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
source: www.informationweek.com
Sprint unveils BlackBerry Tour smartphone
Sprint has launched the BlackBerry Tour smartphone on its nationwide 3G (EV-DO Rev. A) network in the US. The device also works on 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA and quad-band EDGE/GSM/GPRS networks where Sprint has international roaming agreements. The BlackBerry Tour smartphone comes with a high-resolution display (480 x 360 at 245 ppi) plus intuitive trackball navigation, full qwerty keyboard, corporate and personal e-mail with attachment viewing, calendar, integrated address book, 3.2 megapixel camera up to 16 GB of expandable memory with a microSD/SDHC card, a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, support for Bluetooth stereo headsets (A2DP/AVCRP), and built-in GPS supporting location-based services. The new device will be available at Sprint stores, online and over the phone later this summer for USD 199.99 with a two-year service agreement and USD 50 instant rebate and USD 100 mail-in rebate. Research In Motion said the handset will launch with other North American carriers this summer.
Source: www.telecompaper.com
Source: www.telecompaper.com
No new tax in Rs327bn Sindh budget .
KARACHI: No new tax has been proposed in the Rs327 billion Sindh budget for 2009-10 presented in the provincial assembly on Monday by Sindh Chief Minister Qasim Ali Shah.
Source: dawn.com
A Rs113 billion development outlay includes the Annual Development Programme of Rs75 billion, district government allocations of Rs15 billion, Rs16.6 billion federal grants for the Public Sector Development Plan (PSDP), foreign project assistance of Rs4.4 billion and drought emergency relief assistance of Rs893 million.
The chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said: ‘No additional taxes had been levied in the budget for 2009-10’.
Referring to the resource gap, he said the government would provide it with austerity measures. The problem that issue would be solved, he added, if the federal government settled the issue of Rs204 billion arrears of GST on services. The figure, he said, had been revised from the previous estimate of Rs183.2 billion.
Sindh, he said, expected to get Rs125 billion, or 12.7 per cent more from funds allocated in 2008-09 from the divisible pool, including grant-in-aid.
According to him, oil and gas receipts are expected to generate Rs50 billion, or six per cent less than this year’s revised estimate of Rs53.4 billion.
The province, the chief minister said, was likely to generate Rs39 billion, or 29 per cent increase over revised estimates of outgoing fiscal, from its own resources and bulk of the increase was expected payment of land sale arrears and encashment of bank guarantees.
On the expenditure side, he said, current expenditure was likely to be Rs213.4 billion with an increase of 15 per cent over the revised estimate of Rs185 billion.
He said that Sindh was likely to accrue a current capital surplus of Rs5.4 billion in the shape of support loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Local governments would get 21 per cent more or Rs94.4 billion, including the district support grant of Rs27.6 billion, allocated on the basis of the Provincial Finance Commission award.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to increase development spending, the Sindh chief minister said that despite fiscal constraints, the government would increase the size of the ADP to Rs90 billion from Rs67 billion.
Despite the need for additional resources, the chief minister said, no new taxes would be levied budget was being presented. ‘Steps are being taken for rationalising tax measures to provide more relief to the people’.
Announcing relief measures for exporters, he said there was a proposal to reduce the stamp duty on the ‘Bill of Exchange’ by 50 per cent from 0.15 per cent to 0.3 per cent.
Mr Shah said that the stamp duty on acknowledgement receipts, agreements or memoranda of agreements, bonds, certificates, or other documents, contracts, purchase orders, counterparts or duplicates, leases, promissory note, and settlements was also being ‘rationalised and increased because rates written on these documents have become irrelevant’.
‘The increase will not impose any direct burden on the general public,’ he said.
He announced that the government would reduce the ‘occupancy ratio’ from existing 80 per cent to 40 per cent in case of hotels charging up to Rs1,000, and 80 per cent to 60 per cent in case of hotels charging above Rs1000.
He also proposed death penalty for driving a vehicle without registration, prevent default and reduce the misuse of unregistered vehicles in crimes.
The chief minister said that electricity duty would be reduced to provide relief to consumers.Source: dawn.com
Twitter Used in Iran for Election protests.
Iranian supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi (portrait) chant slogans against the Islamic republic's re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a protest outside the Iranian consulate in Dubai on June 15, 2009
Source: dawn.com
SAN FRANCISCO: Protestors in Iran on Monday used Twitter for battle cries and to spread word about clashes with police and ‘hard line supporters’ of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Twitter messages, some with links to pictures, streamed from Iran despite reported efforts by authorities there to block news of protests over Ahmadinejad’s claim of having been fairly re-elected.
Pictures of wounded or dead people that senders claim were Iranian protestors ricocheted about Twitter and wound up posted at online photo-sharing websites such as Flickr.
A protestor was reportedly shot dead during clashes in Tehran on Monday as massive crowds of people defied a ban to stage a rally against the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad.
A local photographer said the protestor had been shot with a bullet to the head and that more were wounded when violence erupted outside a local base of the Islamic Basji militia, which had been set ablaze.
People were seen fleeing the area as police fired tear gas on protestors who set motorbikes, tires and dustbins ablaze, an AFP correspondent said, as huge clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky.
The violence flared after Ahmadinejad’s defeated rival Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared in public for the first time since an election that has sharply divided the nation and triggered protests and rioting.
‘Iranelection’ was the top Twitter trend of the day, and a message thread led by ‘Persiankiwi’ appeared to be orchestrating hacker attacks on official Iran websites while firing off updates on developments in the streets.
‘We are going offline to get a phone free for calling out,’ Persiankiwi tweeted at mid-day. ‘We are also moving location—too long here—is dangerous.’ A subsequent Persiankiwi tweet reads ‘Attacked in streets by mob on motorbikes with batons—firing guns into air—street fires all over town—roads closed.’ Twitter users were also slamming mainstream media outlets for not covering the Iranian election aftermath more intensely.
A ‘CNNfail’ threat at the US-based micro-blogging service critiqued the cable news network's coverage throughout the weekend.
‘This is all seriously power to the people, in more ways than one,’ a Twitter member using the screen name ‘kianarama’ tweeted in exchanges at CNNfail and Iranelection on Monday.Source: dawn.com
Monday, June 15, 2009
WiMax launch in Atlanta is biggest city so far in Clearwire roadmap
Clearwire Corp. officially celebrates the launch of its WiMax service in Atlanta on Tuesday, but the formal launch in its largest city so far still has experts wondering how the fast wireless Internet service will catch on around the nation.
Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Wash., has an ambitious plan to roll out WiMax service nationwide under the Clear brand over several years, with backing from major players such as Intel Corp., Google Inc., Sprint Nextel Inc. and cable providers such as Time Warner Cable.
The cities of Portland, Ore., and Baltimore have held official WiMax launches, but other cities such as Chicago have been provisioning the technology for more than a year without a formal launch party. Still, Clearwire in March said it plans to have WiMax rolled out in eight cities, including Atlanta, this year, and four more in 2010.
The Atlanta launch was described in a full-page advertisement in today's Atlanta Journal and Constitution, although there is no separate mention on the Clearwire Web site. A public celebration at the city's Atlantic Station is planned.
A Clearwire official couldn't be reached for comment, although the company said in May there would be an Atlanta launch sometime this month. In fact, Clearwire has been signing up customers in advance of a formal launch, based on various reports.
Clear services were also quietly launched in Las Vegas, with an official launch planned for this summer, according to the FierceBroadbandWireless site.
Jeffrey Kagan, an independent analyst based in Atlanta, has been a trial customer of Clear for two weeks, and remarked in an e-mail, "so far this technology works great." He reported getting fast speeds of 5Mbit/sec. to 9Mbit/sec. from a WiMax card inserted into his laptop.
He also noted that when he leaves Atlanta, he loses the signal. In the future, Kagan said he hopes to use a laptop card that will automatically move from a Sprint 3G wireless signal to WiMax and back again, when needed.
"WiMax is similar to Wi-Fi, but the coverage is an entire city compared to just a store," Kagan noted.
Whether those WiMax-capable cities remain islands unto themselves is the big question facing Clearwire. "Success for Clearwire depends on how they advertise and market and how the competition responds," Kagan said. "I don't think the competitors will react at this point unless and until Clearwire starts winning business from them."
Clearwire holds its annual stockholder meeting Wednesday, but analysts don't expect much more information on the timetable for Clear city rollouts.
One WiMax competitor, AT&T Inc., is planning to offer LTE (Long Term Evolution) as its next-generation wireless service. An AT&T spokesman based in Atlanta said the big question facing wireless customers will be how widespread WiMax service will be. "LTE will be everywhere," he said.
Generally, LTE is not expected to be broadly available until after 2012, and WiMax-backers see WiMax as widely available as much as a year to two years earlier.
Source: http://www.computerworld.com/
Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Wash., has an ambitious plan to roll out WiMax service nationwide under the Clear brand over several years, with backing from major players such as Intel Corp., Google Inc., Sprint Nextel Inc. and cable providers such as Time Warner Cable.
The cities of Portland, Ore., and Baltimore have held official WiMax launches, but other cities such as Chicago have been provisioning the technology for more than a year without a formal launch party. Still, Clearwire in March said it plans to have WiMax rolled out in eight cities, including Atlanta, this year, and four more in 2010.
The Atlanta launch was described in a full-page advertisement in today's Atlanta Journal and Constitution, although there is no separate mention on the Clearwire Web site. A public celebration at the city's Atlantic Station is planned.
A Clearwire official couldn't be reached for comment, although the company said in May there would be an Atlanta launch sometime this month. In fact, Clearwire has been signing up customers in advance of a formal launch, based on various reports.
Clear services were also quietly launched in Las Vegas, with an official launch planned for this summer, according to the FierceBroadbandWireless site.
Jeffrey Kagan, an independent analyst based in Atlanta, has been a trial customer of Clear for two weeks, and remarked in an e-mail, "so far this technology works great." He reported getting fast speeds of 5Mbit/sec. to 9Mbit/sec. from a WiMax card inserted into his laptop.
He also noted that when he leaves Atlanta, he loses the signal. In the future, Kagan said he hopes to use a laptop card that will automatically move from a Sprint 3G wireless signal to WiMax and back again, when needed.
"WiMax is similar to Wi-Fi, but the coverage is an entire city compared to just a store," Kagan noted.
Whether those WiMax-capable cities remain islands unto themselves is the big question facing Clearwire. "Success for Clearwire depends on how they advertise and market and how the competition responds," Kagan said. "I don't think the competitors will react at this point unless and until Clearwire starts winning business from them."
Clearwire holds its annual stockholder meeting Wednesday, but analysts don't expect much more information on the timetable for Clear city rollouts.
One WiMax competitor, AT&T Inc., is planning to offer LTE (Long Term Evolution) as its next-generation wireless service. An AT&T spokesman based in Atlanta said the big question facing wireless customers will be how widespread WiMax service will be. "LTE will be everywhere," he said.
Generally, LTE is not expected to be broadly available until after 2012, and WiMax-backers see WiMax as widely available as much as a year to two years earlier.
Source: http://www.computerworld.com/
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Microsoft giving away free any-virut
.
Microsoft is poised to start giving away security software.
The company is reportedly trialling free anti-virus software internally and said the beta version would be released "soon".
Called Morro, the software will tackle viruses but lack the broader range of utilities, such as parental locks, found in paid-for security suites.
Morro will be Microsoft's second venture in the highly competitive security market.
Microsoft's first attempt revolved around the Windows Live OneCare service that did not succeed in turning many customers away from rivals such as Symantec and McAfee.
Microsoft plans to discontinue Live OneCare once the Morro software is ready.
No specific date has been given for when Morro will be released, but in the past Microsoft has said it would be out by the end of 2009 at the latest.
Microsoft said Morro would tackle viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans.
Janice Chaffin, Symantec's president of consumer products, said customers wanted more than just basic protection.
"A full internet security suite is what consumers require today to stay fully protected," she said.
Security software for home PCs typically cost around £30-40 and often allow users to install protections on more than one computer.
Other companies, such as AVG and Alwil already produce and distribute free anti-virus products.
Fake help
In its latest update, Microsoft added code that detects and deletes the widespread Internet Antivirus Pro family of fake security software programs.
Such programs, also known as scareware, have been proving more popular with hi-tech criminals in recent months.
The Anti-Phishing Working Group estimated that there were 9,287 bogus anti-malware program in circulation in December 2008 - a rise of 225% since January 2008.
The US government has moved to shut down some companies peddling the programs that falsely claim to find malicious software on PCs and then charge for the non-existent threats to be removed.
In addition, the Internet Antivirus Pro software displays fake Windows security messages to try and trick people into thinking the product is legitimate. The software also contains a password stealer that watches where people go online and grabs login data.
Source: bbc.com
Friday, June 12, 2009
No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe
European buyers of Windows 7 will have to download and install a web browser for themselves. Bowing to European competition rules, Microsoft Windows 7 will ship without Internet Explorer. The company said it would make it easy for PC makers and users to get at and install the web browsing program. In response the European Commission expressed scepticism over the move and whether it would allay accusations of Microsoft abusing its market position. Abusive behaviour "We're committed to making Windows 7 available in Europe at the same time that it launches in the rest of the world," Dave Heiner, Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a statement, "but we also must comply with European competition law as we launch the product. "We believe that this new approach, while not our first choice, is the best path forward given the ongoing legal case in Europe." In response the European Commission said "it would also have to consider whether this initial step of technical separation of IE from Windows could be negated by other actions by Microsoft". In early 2008, Microsoft was fined 899m euros (£765m) by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour over bundling in the media player and browser into Windows. In January 2009, Brussels reached a "preliminary view" that Microsoft was denting the chance for true competition by bundling its browser software in with its operating system. Microsoft is due to defend itself against the charges in a hearing. If Microsoft fails to convince the Commission that it is not harming competition could mean more fines and enforced changes to the way it does business. "We're committed to launching Windows 7 on time in Europe, so we need to address the legal realities in Europe, including the risk of large fines," said Mr Heiner. Windows 7 is due to be released worldwide on 22 October. "In terms of potential remedies, if the Commission were to find that Microsoft had committed an abuse, the Commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a choice of browser not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all," said the Commission in a statement responding to Microsoft's announcement. It said Microsoft's approach of offering the program to computer manufacturers "may potentially be more positive" in terms of remedying its alleged abusive behaviour. It added that if Microsoft were found to be abusing its position, the commission would have to work out if the uncoupling of IE offset that behavior. | |
Source: bbc.com
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Well crafted speech with little substance for the Muslims
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=32606
"Words are easy and many, while great deeds are difficult and rare." British Primer Minister Winston Churchill
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Just before the well-orchestrated Obama speech, the leading Cairo newspaper Al Ahram asked me: Do you think Obama’s messages of reconciliation are part of a media stunt—an attempt to achieve political gains—or a sincere attempt to bridge gaps with the Muslim world?
My response was: I am afraid that his repeated reconciliation messages may prove a media stunt if they are not followed by changes in his administration’s policies towards the Muslim World in general and Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestine issue in particular.
Now what we find in his image-building speech? It was well crafted and rich with good gestures. Its tone was striking. It was very carefully worded, non-committal and lacking substance. But the much hyped speech did not amount to a breakaway from American policies that have created the deep divide between the United States and the Muslim World since 9/11. Vague and flowery rhetoric was used as an adjustment of the language to cloak the US policy.
Contrary to the expectations aroused by the White House about his outreach speech to the Muslim world, Obama continues long war against terror which he has renamed as “violent extremism.” He described extremism (read terrorism) as the first issue. “The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms.” Unlike his predecessor, George Bush, he did not mentioned terrorism a single time during his 55 minute speech.
However, Obama's decision to close the infamous Guantanamo Bay military prison is seen merely as a move that appeared to symbolically separate his administration from Bush's. Tellingly, in a court filing, the Justice Department has argued that the president has the authority to detain terrorism suspects without criminal charges, much as the Bush administration asserted. It provided a broad definition of those who can be held, which was not significantly different from the one used by Bush.
At the same time, the US detention facility at Bagram, in Afghanistan, is being expanded -- nearly doubled in size -- in order, possibly, to accommodate 200- plus detainees from Guantanamo, as well as future POWs from Obama's expanded war on Afghanistan.
Perhaps most important part of his image-building speech in which he tackled seven issues ("violent extremism" (read terrorism); the Israeli-Arab conflict; nuclear weapons and Iran; democracy in the Muslim world; religious freedom in the Muslim world; women’s rights; and "development and opportunity") was what he did not say:
Obama ignored the dozens of civilians who die each day in the "necessary" war in Afghanistan, or the millions of refugees fleeing the US-invoked escalation in Pakistan. About three millions people have been displaced in recent weeks in the US proxy war launched by the Pakistani army against its own people.
Obama omitted any mention of the four million Iraqi refugees created by the US invasion of that country because of the “war of choice.”
And not a single word about the Israeli massacre of Palestinians in the landlocked Gaza. In Israel’s 22 day last December-January rampage against the unarmed population killed over 1,400 Palestinians - 85% of whom were civilians - including over 400 children. However, Obama admonished the Palestinians for their violence – for "shooting rockets at sleeping children or blowing up old women in a bus."
Contrary to the perception in the Muslim world, for Obama the Middle East conflict is the second source of tension between the US and the Muslim world. “The second major source of tension that we need to discuss is the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world,” he said.
Taking a leaf from his predecessor George Bush’s policy, Obama declared that the two-state solution was the only solution. “The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.”
The so called “Bush vision” of the two-state solution was adopted by the policy makers of the “Quartet”, a formulation that had been created by the US, Russia, the EU and the UN to help reach a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Quartet launched a “Roadmap” plan in April 2003 that envisages a “Two-State” solution. However, Israel virtually rejected the two-state solution when it said that it would be implemented subject to fourteen political and security reservations including that neither the Saudi initiative nor the Arab initiative serve as a basis for the political process and the Palestinians should publicly declare their “renunciation of the right of return” and accept Israel’s right “to exist as a Jewish state”.
Obama said that he was opposed to the new Jewish settlements but he did not oppose the existing settlements. Interestingly, one day after Obama’s speech a new settlement was erected on the occupied West Bank and mockingly named “Obama Hut.”
Not surprisingly, he indirectly urged the Arab states to recognize Israel when he said: the Arab-Israeli conflict “must be a cause for action to help the Palestinian people develop the institutions that will sustain their state, to recognize Israel's legitimacy, and to choose progress over a self-defeating focus on the past.”
The Arab-Israeli conflict is the main source of contention between the West and the Muslim and Arab worlds. Israeli massacres of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza are fresh in their memories. The Arab and Muslim worlds were awaiting a bold initiative by President Obama on the Arab-Israeli issue.
Democracy was the fourth issue tackled by Obama. Ironically he was speaking in the capital of Egypt which has one of the most autocratic Muslim rulers since October 1981, Air Force General Hosni Mubarak, who is America's closest ally in the Middle East after Israel. Tellingly, President Obama, like his predecessors, waves the flag of democracy but whether it is Palestine or Afghanistan, its legitimacy in his eyes, depends on its pro-American stance. The United States did not recognize the legitimacy of the crushing Hamas win over Fatah in the US-backed and closely monitored 2006 Palestinian elections. Ever since its parliamentary victory, Hamas has been isolated and demonized by the West.
Obama qualified his reference to democracy by saying: “America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them.” This is not explicitly spelled out, but the context makes it clear that what he is really saying is that the United States is justified in refusing to talk to the democratically elected Hamas because it is not a peaceful government. Interestingly, Palestinians were only party that was called to end violence but he ignored the daily Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.
On another important Middle East issue, Iran’s nuclear program, Obama argued that it is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. However he did not talk about Israel’s estimated 264 nuclear warheads.
Surprisingly, Obama became the first U.S. president to admit the U.S. role in the 1953 CIA-led coup of Iran's elected prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh. "In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Iranian government," he said, alluding to the coup. Until now, the most senior U.S. official to express regret for the coup was Madeleine Albright in 2000 when she was secretary of State.
There can be hardly two opinions on the fact that few world leaders today can match Obama's eloquence and charisma at the podium but words cannot bring change. Only real change in policies will bring change and banish the mutual suspicion between the Muslims and the West. Alexander Cockburn is perhaps right when he says there are facts on the ground as one 1000-pound bomb or remote-controlled drone trumps 10,000 words on rhetoric about peace.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com email: asghazali@gmail.com
"Words are easy and many, while great deeds are difficult and rare." British Primer Minister Winston Churchill
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Just before the well-orchestrated Obama speech, the leading Cairo newspaper Al Ahram asked me: Do you think Obama’s messages of reconciliation are part of a media stunt—an attempt to achieve political gains—or a sincere attempt to bridge gaps with the Muslim world?
My response was: I am afraid that his repeated reconciliation messages may prove a media stunt if they are not followed by changes in his administration’s policies towards the Muslim World in general and Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestine issue in particular.
Now what we find in his image-building speech? It was well crafted and rich with good gestures. Its tone was striking. It was very carefully worded, non-committal and lacking substance. But the much hyped speech did not amount to a breakaway from American policies that have created the deep divide between the United States and the Muslim World since 9/11. Vague and flowery rhetoric was used as an adjustment of the language to cloak the US policy.
Contrary to the expectations aroused by the White House about his outreach speech to the Muslim world, Obama continues long war against terror which he has renamed as “violent extremism.” He described extremism (read terrorism) as the first issue. “The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms.” Unlike his predecessor, George Bush, he did not mentioned terrorism a single time during his 55 minute speech.
However, Obama's decision to close the infamous Guantanamo Bay military prison is seen merely as a move that appeared to symbolically separate his administration from Bush's. Tellingly, in a court filing, the Justice Department has argued that the president has the authority to detain terrorism suspects without criminal charges, much as the Bush administration asserted. It provided a broad definition of those who can be held, which was not significantly different from the one used by Bush.
At the same time, the US detention facility at Bagram, in Afghanistan, is being expanded -- nearly doubled in size -- in order, possibly, to accommodate 200- plus detainees from Guantanamo, as well as future POWs from Obama's expanded war on Afghanistan.
Perhaps most important part of his image-building speech in which he tackled seven issues ("violent extremism" (read terrorism); the Israeli-Arab conflict; nuclear weapons and Iran; democracy in the Muslim world; religious freedom in the Muslim world; women’s rights; and "development and opportunity") was what he did not say:
Obama ignored the dozens of civilians who die each day in the "necessary" war in Afghanistan, or the millions of refugees fleeing the US-invoked escalation in Pakistan. About three millions people have been displaced in recent weeks in the US proxy war launched by the Pakistani army against its own people.
Obama omitted any mention of the four million Iraqi refugees created by the US invasion of that country because of the “war of choice.”
And not a single word about the Israeli massacre of Palestinians in the landlocked Gaza. In Israel’s 22 day last December-January rampage against the unarmed population killed over 1,400 Palestinians - 85% of whom were civilians - including over 400 children. However, Obama admonished the Palestinians for their violence – for "shooting rockets at sleeping children or blowing up old women in a bus."
Contrary to the perception in the Muslim world, for Obama the Middle East conflict is the second source of tension between the US and the Muslim world. “The second major source of tension that we need to discuss is the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world,” he said.
Taking a leaf from his predecessor George Bush’s policy, Obama declared that the two-state solution was the only solution. “The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.”
The so called “Bush vision” of the two-state solution was adopted by the policy makers of the “Quartet”, a formulation that had been created by the US, Russia, the EU and the UN to help reach a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Quartet launched a “Roadmap” plan in April 2003 that envisages a “Two-State” solution. However, Israel virtually rejected the two-state solution when it said that it would be implemented subject to fourteen political and security reservations including that neither the Saudi initiative nor the Arab initiative serve as a basis for the political process and the Palestinians should publicly declare their “renunciation of the right of return” and accept Israel’s right “to exist as a Jewish state”.
Obama said that he was opposed to the new Jewish settlements but he did not oppose the existing settlements. Interestingly, one day after Obama’s speech a new settlement was erected on the occupied West Bank and mockingly named “Obama Hut.”
Not surprisingly, he indirectly urged the Arab states to recognize Israel when he said: the Arab-Israeli conflict “must be a cause for action to help the Palestinian people develop the institutions that will sustain their state, to recognize Israel's legitimacy, and to choose progress over a self-defeating focus on the past.”
The Arab-Israeli conflict is the main source of contention between the West and the Muslim and Arab worlds. Israeli massacres of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza are fresh in their memories. The Arab and Muslim worlds were awaiting a bold initiative by President Obama on the Arab-Israeli issue.
Democracy was the fourth issue tackled by Obama. Ironically he was speaking in the capital of Egypt which has one of the most autocratic Muslim rulers since October 1981, Air Force General Hosni Mubarak, who is America's closest ally in the Middle East after Israel. Tellingly, President Obama, like his predecessors, waves the flag of democracy but whether it is Palestine or Afghanistan, its legitimacy in his eyes, depends on its pro-American stance. The United States did not recognize the legitimacy of the crushing Hamas win over Fatah in the US-backed and closely monitored 2006 Palestinian elections. Ever since its parliamentary victory, Hamas has been isolated and demonized by the West.
Obama qualified his reference to democracy by saying: “America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them.” This is not explicitly spelled out, but the context makes it clear that what he is really saying is that the United States is justified in refusing to talk to the democratically elected Hamas because it is not a peaceful government. Interestingly, Palestinians were only party that was called to end violence but he ignored the daily Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.
On another important Middle East issue, Iran’s nuclear program, Obama argued that it is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. However he did not talk about Israel’s estimated 264 nuclear warheads.
Surprisingly, Obama became the first U.S. president to admit the U.S. role in the 1953 CIA-led coup of Iran's elected prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh. "In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Iranian government," he said, alluding to the coup. Until now, the most senior U.S. official to express regret for the coup was Madeleine Albright in 2000 when she was secretary of State.
There can be hardly two opinions on the fact that few world leaders today can match Obama's eloquence and charisma at the podium but words cannot bring change. Only real change in policies will bring change and banish the mutual suspicion between the Muslims and the West. Alexander Cockburn is perhaps right when he says there are facts on the ground as one 1000-pound bomb or remote-controlled drone trumps 10,000 words on rhetoric about peace.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com email: asghazali@gmail.com
Friday, June 5, 2009
Colombian Virtual DID/DDI numbers; Buenaventura, Buga, Cali, Cartago, Palmira and Tulua; Bogota coming soon
A vendor of didx.net has recently added more cities, from Colombia after Cali. New citites are Buenaventura, Buga, Cartago, Palmira and Tulua. Vendor would be adding number from Bogota soon.
Please check the link http://didx.net/did/ShowCountry/Country/46 for more details or log in to your didx.net account. Vendor ID is 710892
Please check the link http://didx.net/did/ShowCountry/Country/46 for more details or log in to your didx.net account. Vendor ID is 710892
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
India to auction 3G telecom spectrum by end-2009
India will hold a delayed auction of third-generation (3G) wireless spectrum by the end of this year, the telecoms minister said on said on Monday.
India was to have auctioned the radio airwaves in January, but the sale was put off after the finance ministry sought a doubling of the floor price, citing the high valuations of telecoms stake sales around that time.
"Definitely... in 2009 itself," Andimuthu Raja told reporters when asked when the sale would be completed.
The telecoms ministry had forecast the auction would raise up to 400 billion rupees ($8.5 billion). The proceeds would help the government bridge the fiscal deficit, which rose to 6.2 percent of GDP in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended on March 31.
However, Raja would not be drawn on how much the government expected to raise, saying market conditions had changed.
"Because of the meltdown, because of the slowdown in the economy ... I can not assess the situation now," Raja said.
"I am going to consult the finance minister within a couple of days."
Third-generation wireless services allow voice, data and video to be transmitted at high speeds to mobile devices, and are seen as the next growth driver for telecoms firms in India, the world's fastest growing mobile market.
Source: in.reuters.com
India was to have auctioned the radio airwaves in January, but the sale was put off after the finance ministry sought a doubling of the floor price, citing the high valuations of telecoms stake sales around that time.
"Definitely... in 2009 itself," Andimuthu Raja told reporters when asked when the sale would be completed.
The telecoms ministry had forecast the auction would raise up to 400 billion rupees ($8.5 billion). The proceeds would help the government bridge the fiscal deficit, which rose to 6.2 percent of GDP in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended on March 31.
However, Raja would not be drawn on how much the government expected to raise, saying market conditions had changed.
"Because of the meltdown, because of the slowdown in the economy ... I can not assess the situation now," Raja said.
"I am going to consult the finance minister within a couple of days."
Third-generation wireless services allow voice, data and video to be transmitted at high speeds to mobile devices, and are seen as the next growth driver for telecoms firms in India, the world's fastest growing mobile market.
Source: in.reuters.com
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Facebook use grows by 700%; maintains top social networking spot
Though still well behind Facebook, Twitter gains steam with usage up by nearly 4,000%
In April, Facebook users spent 13.9 billion minutes on the site, a dramatic hike from the year-earlier total of 1.7 billion minutes, according to a report from The Nielsen Co. The 700% increase let Facebook easily maintain its place atop the social networking business.
MySpace, according to Nielsen, came in a distant second place as users spent nearly 5 billion minutes on the site during April. The company fell far behind Facebook as its usage fell by 31% from April 2008, according to the Nielsen report.
Facebook cannot rest on its laurels as another hot social network, Twitter, grew even faster this year.
Though its only the fifth most popular social networking site, use of Twitter increased by 3,712% to nearly 300 million minutes.
"We have seen some major growth in Facebook during the past year, and a subsequent decline in MySpace," said Jon Gibs, vice president of Nielsen's online media and agency insights. "Twitter has come on the scene in an explosive way, perhaps changing the outlook for the entire space. The one thing that is clear about social networking is that regardless of how fast a site is growing or how big it is, it can quickly fall out of favor with consumers. Remember Friendster? Remember when MySpace was an unbeatable force? Neither Facebook nor Twitter are immune."
But while Twitter users are spending an increasing amount of time on the site, another Nielsen study out at the end of April showed that the microblogging site lacks loyalty among its base. That report concluded that some 60% of people using Twitter during one month, don't return to the site in subsequent months.
"Let there be no doubt: Twitter has grown exponentially in the past few months with no small thanks to celebrity exposure," wrote David Martin, vice president of Primary Research at Nielsen Online, in a blog post. "People are signing up in droves, and Twitter's unique audience is up over 100% in March. But despite the hockey-stick growth chart, Twitter faces an uphill battle in making sure these flocks of new users are enticed to return to the nest."
Microsoft sets Windows 7 launch for Oct. 22
It will offer some kind of discount or free upgrade to Vista PC buyers
June 2, 2009 03:27 PM ETComputerworld - Microsoft will put Windows 7 on store shelves and computer makers will have systems ready to sell with Vista's successor on Oct. 22, the company confirmed today.
Microsoft will also offer discounted or free upgrades to Windows 7 to users who buy PCs in the months leading up to the operating system's launch in a program dubbed "Windows Upgrade Option," a company spokeswoman said Tuesday. Although the name is new, the program had been reported as early as January, when a usually-reliable Web site leaked information about the deal, including its July 1 kick-off.
Until today, Microsoft had been coy about naming a release date for Windows 7, although it edged toward a timetable last month. Both Bill Veghte, the senior vice president who runs the Windows Business unit, and Steven Sinofsky, the senior vice president of the Windows engineering group, said then that Windows 7 was on track for the holiday selling season, and would make the final milestone -- called "release to manufacturing," or RTM -- in mid-August. Today, however, other company spokespersons said Microsoft is shooting for RTM by the end of July.
Details on the Windows Upgrade Option were not immediately available, but analysts have assumed that it would resemble Vista Express Upgrade, a program that gave people who purchased Windows XP PCs between Oct. 26, 2006, and March 15, 2007, free or inexpensive upgrades to Vista.
Vendors were allowed to set the price, if any, of the XP-to-Vista upgrades, and it's believed that they will have the same flexibility for Windows 7.
This isn't the first time that October has been named as the likely ship date for Microsoft's new OS. In an interview last month, an Acer executive based in the U.K. said "October 23 is the date that Windows 7 will be available." The executive, Bobby Watkins, the managing director of Acer's U.K. operations, also confirmed that customers who bought a Vista-powered computer from the company in the 30 days leading up to Oct. 23 would receive a free upgrade to Windows 7.
Also last month, Computerworld used Sinofsky's mid-August RTM date to predict that Windows 7 would go on sale sometime between Oct. 11 and Nov. 4, based on the actual timetables of Windows XP and Vista, respectively.
Source: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9133847
US rejects Zardari’s complaint about aid
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has rejected President Asif Ali Zardari’s complaint that the United States has not delivered on its promises to help Pakistan deal with the aftermath of the Swat operation.
‘I certainly understand the anxiety of anyone in Pakistan; they have taken on this really important challenge of trying to take on the Taliban, but we’ve been providing aid,’ she said. ‘We already disbursed $110 million for the displaced people. We’ve got that out very quickly.’
In an interview to The New York Review of Books, President Zardari said that Pakistan did not have enough funds to deal with the consequences of the military operations in Swat.
‘We have no money to arm the police or fund development, give jobs or revive the economy. What are we supposed to do?’ he said.
The president had also criticised the United States for its slow response to the humanitarian crisis.
‘So I think it may be moving more quickly than perhaps the president knows,’ said Secretary Clinton while responding to Mr Zardari’s interview.
‘But there’s a lot more to be done, and we’re going to try to tee it up and get it delivered as quickly as possible,’ said the top US official in an interview to USA Today.
Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, left for Pakistan on Tuesday to assess the situation and to accelerate international relief efforts for more than three million people displaced during the military operation.
Also on Tuesday, the State Department announced that almost 6,000 US citizens had responded to Secretary Clinton’s appeal to contribute $5 each through text-messaging.
Although the amount raised — $135,000 — was not large, the campaign does play a major role in raising awareness about the situation in Swat.
In her interview to USA Today, Secretary Clinton said that like other Americans she too was impressed by the Pakistani army’s assault on Taliban militants who had captured much of the Swat valley.
‘I am incredibly heartened by the resolve shown the Pakistani people, government and military,’ she said.
The newspaper noted that the praise marked a major change in the US attitude towards Pakistan’s efforts to combat extremists.
In April, Secretary Clinton told a congressional committee that the Pakistani government of President Zardari ‘is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists.’
Since then, Pakistani troops have attacked the Taliban throughout the region and will have cleared them from major cities and towns in a matter of days. The military also has recaptured Mingora, the Swat valley’s main urban centre.Source: dawn.com
Microsoft unveils new Xbox technology, enlists Facebook
LOS ANGELES: Microsoft Corp on Monday offered a glimpse into a future where the Xbox 360 console is the centerpiece of any living room, and games, social interaction and communications are controlled with the wave of a hand.
At a star-studded event at the annual E3 video game conference that drew appearances by Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg, the company unveiled ‘Project Natal,’ which uses a camera to track a user’s movements via full skeletal mapping. It also recognizes voices and vocal commands.
The technology obviates the need for a controller or remote device to enable a player for instance to drive a car in a game, interact with a character on screen or show pictures and information to other Xbox 360 users over the Internet.
‘You are the controller,’ Shane Kim, Microsoft’s vice president of strategy and business development for videogames, said in an interview in Los Angeles.
‘That’s a very powerful piece of technology — full body gesture tracking, not just two hands.’
On Monday, Microsoft also said it planned to boost its Xbox 360 gaming console by integrating music-streaming service last.fm, Web social network Facebook and microblogging site Twitter into its Xbox Live online community.
The announcements underscore how the interactive gaming industry, a growing business with estimated annual sales of about $50 billion despite the economic downturn, is looking into ways to attract new gamers while retaining their core audience.
Perhaps with an eye on the economy, Don Mattrick, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, said the ‘Natal’ technology can refresh the gaming experience without making consumers buy a new device, which typically costs $250 to $500. Microsoft would also avoid hefty manufacturing and marketing costs.
‘We can leap into a new era of interactive entertainment without launching a new console,’ Mattrick told reporters.
Kim declined to detail when ‘Project Natal’ games and service will be available, saying only that ‘it’s not a 2009 thing.’
IN LIVING COLOR
Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Game Studios, said the technology has been well received by software developers.
‘It’s pretty obvious that the controller is not going away, but the ability to augment the gaming experience that people are used to is one of the paths that people will take,’ he said.
For now, Microsoft is focusing on beefing up its fledgling Xbox Live service.
Users of Xbox Live will be able to keep tabs on and communicate with friends using popular Internet services such as Facebook and Twitter, without needing to use a computer.
The move broadens Microsoft’s goal of transforming the console system -- a distant No. 2 to Nintendo Inc’s Wii machine -- into the center of the living room and more than just a game-playing box. That goal is echoed by Sony Corp, whose PlayStation 3 console also hosts community and entertainment features as well as game playing.
‘This expands the reach of Xbox live,’ Kim said. ‘We have had an effort of making Xbox live a next-generation social and entertainment network.
The event was kicked off by a demonstration of the upcoming version of Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks’ Rock Band franchise featuring songs by The Beatles. Taking the stage briefly were surviving Band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively.
Source: dawn.com
At a star-studded event at the annual E3 video game conference that drew appearances by Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg, the company unveiled ‘Project Natal,’ which uses a camera to track a user’s movements via full skeletal mapping. It also recognizes voices and vocal commands.
The technology obviates the need for a controller or remote device to enable a player for instance to drive a car in a game, interact with a character on screen or show pictures and information to other Xbox 360 users over the Internet.
‘You are the controller,’ Shane Kim, Microsoft’s vice president of strategy and business development for videogames, said in an interview in Los Angeles.
‘That’s a very powerful piece of technology — full body gesture tracking, not just two hands.’
On Monday, Microsoft also said it planned to boost its Xbox 360 gaming console by integrating music-streaming service last.fm, Web social network Facebook and microblogging site Twitter into its Xbox Live online community.
The announcements underscore how the interactive gaming industry, a growing business with estimated annual sales of about $50 billion despite the economic downturn, is looking into ways to attract new gamers while retaining their core audience.
Perhaps with an eye on the economy, Don Mattrick, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, said the ‘Natal’ technology can refresh the gaming experience without making consumers buy a new device, which typically costs $250 to $500. Microsoft would also avoid hefty manufacturing and marketing costs.
‘We can leap into a new era of interactive entertainment without launching a new console,’ Mattrick told reporters.
Kim declined to detail when ‘Project Natal’ games and service will be available, saying only that ‘it’s not a 2009 thing.’
IN LIVING COLOR
Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Game Studios, said the technology has been well received by software developers.
‘It’s pretty obvious that the controller is not going away, but the ability to augment the gaming experience that people are used to is one of the paths that people will take,’ he said.
For now, Microsoft is focusing on beefing up its fledgling Xbox Live service.
Users of Xbox Live will be able to keep tabs on and communicate with friends using popular Internet services such as Facebook and Twitter, without needing to use a computer.
The move broadens Microsoft’s goal of transforming the console system -- a distant No. 2 to Nintendo Inc’s Wii machine -- into the center of the living room and more than just a game-playing box. That goal is echoed by Sony Corp, whose PlayStation 3 console also hosts community and entertainment features as well as game playing.
‘This expands the reach of Xbox live,’ Kim said. ‘We have had an effort of making Xbox live a next-generation social and entertainment network.
The event was kicked off by a demonstration of the upcoming version of Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks’ Rock Band franchise featuring songs by The Beatles. Taking the stage briefly were surviving Band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively.
Source: dawn.com
PTCL Evo Wireless Broadband Launching on June 3rd.
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According to pro Pakistani, a paistan IT and Telecom discussion website. PTCL will be launching it's EVDO with brand name of Evo Wireless Broadband on June 3rd.
Rate:
Upfront: Rs.4,000 for PCMCIA Card and Rs.6,000 for USB device.
Monthly bill payment there are two options:
Package 1: For PTCL Landline customers they can pay their monthly service charges Rs.2000 through PTCL landline number.
The great thing is that there is NO download limit unlike Wateen, Wi-tribe & Mobilink Infinity. The service has got good feedback, and its matter of fact that PTCL has take more than enough time for the commercial launch.
The results of the EVDO service are great in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad; however users have faced issues in Rawalpindi because of the terrain (ups & downs). However wherever it works the internet speed is unmatched. Download speed is at average of 1.1 mbps which is awesome. Youtube streams in real time there is no buffer or delay. Upload is also quite fast.
The soft launch had been back in January, however now once it's officially we are people are eager to see how would the service go.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Samsung Announces 12-Megapixel Camera Phone
The Pixon12 will will feature a high-resolution camera, as well as the ability to quickly upload pictures to online photo-sharing sites.
(click image for larger view)
Samsung Pixon12 camera phone
Samsung announced a new phone Monday that could make shutterbugs ditch their digital cameras.
Users can organize and manage these photos through various categories, and pictures can be uploaded to sites like Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, and Picasa with a few clicks. The Pixon12 also has a Xenon flash, face-detecting software, and the ability to geotag photos using the integrated GPS chip.
"The Pixon12 is testament to how Samsung's ongoing consumer research enables us to develop ground-breaking products that do not just meet but surpass our customers' expectations," executive VP J.K. Shin said in a statement. "Speedy access to the camera mode, fast shutter speed, and quick browsing are some of the key factors consumers are looking for in their mobile phone cameras."
The handset has a 3.1-inch AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) touch screen that should provide vibrant colors and a crisp contrast ratio. The Pixon12 has EDGE, 3G, and integrated Wi-Fi for users to surf the Web and share photos. Samsung's camera phone will also be a strong multimedia player, has Bluetooth, and the memory can be expanded up to 16 GB via the MicroSD slot.
Cell phone manufacturers are increasingly upping the ante with a mobile phone's camera, and Samsung will be beating the completion to the market when it releases the Pixon12 at the end of June.Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson also has a phone with a 12-megapixel camera, but the Satio won't be released until the fourth quarter.
Srouce: http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217701117&cid=tab_art_pertech
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