Wednesday, January 9, 2008

This year Israel turns sixty and it has embarked upon a campaign to celebrate its birthday. Along with technology writers for Slate, PC Magazine, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Aviation Weekly, Wikinews was invited by the America-Israel Friendship League and the Israeli Foreign Ministry to review Israel’s technology sector. It’s part of an effort to ‘re-brand the country’ to show America that there is more to Israel than the Palestinian conflict. On this trip we saw the people who gave us the Pentium processor and Instant Messaging. The schedule was hectic: 12-14 hours a day were spent doing everything from trips to the Weizmann Institute to dinner with Yossi Vardi.

On Thursday, the fifth day of the junket, David Saranga of the foreign ministry was able to arrange an exclusive interview for David Shankbone with the President of Israel, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shimon Peres. For over an hour they spoke about Iranian politics, whether Israel is in danger of being side-lined in Middle Eastern importance because of Arab oil wealth, and his thoughts against those who say Israeli culture is in a state of decay.

Shimon Peres spent his early days on kibbutz, a bygone socialist era of Israel. In 1953, at the age of 29, Peres became the youngest ever Director General of the Ministry of Defense. Forty years later it was Peres who secretly gave the green light for dialogue with Yassir Arafat, of the verboten Palestine Liberation Organization. It was still official Israeli policy to not speak with the PLO. Peres shares a Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzak Rabin and Arafat for orchestrating what eventually became the Oslo Accords. The “roadmap” that came out of Oslo remains the official Israeli (and American) policy for peace in the Palestinian conflict. Although the majority of Israeli people supported the plans, land for peace was met with a small but fiery resistance in Israel. For negotiating with Arafat, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shouted at Peres, “You are worse than Chamberlain!” a reference to Hitler’s British appeaser. It was during this time of heated exchanges in the 1990s that Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, a Jew who thought it against Halakhic law to give up land given by God (Hashem).

Peres is the elder statesman of Israeli politics, but he remembers that he has not always been as popular as he is today. “Popularity is like perfume: nice to smell, dangerous to drink,” said Peres. “You don’t drink it.” The search for popularity, he goes on to say, will kill a person who has an idea against the status quo.

Below is David Shankbone’s interview with Shimon Peres, the President of Israel.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The California Controller’s office reports that eleven state agencies have given US$13.3 million in pay and travel advances that have not been collected.

Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to recover uncollected loans by the agencies. A press release from the governor’s office states, “The Governor’s Executive Order seeks to recover taxpayer dollars by directing state agencies and departments to clear salary and travel advances within 30 days through an expense claim.” Any outstanding balance will be deducted from employees’ paychecks under the governor’s order after the 30 days.

Under California state law, state employees are permitted to receive advances for hardship, travel, and other circumstances. These advances cannot be collected by agencies after three years without the employee’s consent.

State Controller John Chiang said in a statement, “The state’s poor debt collection and accounting practices are fleecing public coffers at a time when vital public programs are being decimated by unprecedented budget cuts.” Chiang’s office expects there will be more money unaccounted for, including some from the California Highway Patrol (CHP). California state law mandates that anyone convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol is required to pay for the investigation. The CHP has not collected this money.

The California Department of Transportation, also called Caltrans, has the largest debt of the eleven agencies: $3.2 million. Cal Fire, or the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, “had an outstanding balance of $1.44 million as of June 30, 2008. An overwhelming portion of that balance was related to employee salary and travel advances,” according to a controller’s office audit.

Chiang’s office had informed former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger there were outstanding debts, but Schwarzenegger’s administration did not take action.

All eleven agencies have agreed to hand over any delinquent accounts to the controller’s office, who will collect these debts.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Google News submitted patent applications both in the United States and world-wide in September 2003 for a system of ranking search returns. The patent protection filings seek to control Google’s approach that filters headlines through a complicated algorithm, including the quality of the news organization. How much of this system is currently in use by the search engine giant is unknown.

Primitive search engines are expected to organically evaluate links based on how closely the keywords typed in the search field match an object link, and how many other links are attached to the object. Then a measure of relevance is calculated before returning a reply.

It seems some measure of the work being done at Google is a reaction to search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns which can, if done effectively, skew results to certain domains. A challenge for Google is to develop its technology to nullify efforts on the dark side of SEO and link-spamming.

What also seems to be coming out from this, according to research from the Internet Search Engine Database, is that Google does indeed have a ‘sandbox’ where domains are evaluated first by a human factor before being released into its algorithms.

In its first ever Securities and Exchange Commission filing since the company went public last year, Google indicated that it intends to spend US$500 million on technology development, more than double the $177 million it spent two years ago.

The language used in the lengthy patent application itself is difficult to understand. An excellent article titled “Google United – Google Patent Examined” found below, describes some of the nuts and bolts of Google’s techniques.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A man wearing a ski mask and carrying an assault rifle apparently killed himself in the library of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas earlier today.

The university was placed under lockdown and all classes were canceled as a result of the incident. Nobody else was hurt, but police are still looking for a possible second gunman. Art Acevedo, the chief of Austin police, said that officials are also considering the possibility of explosives left by the suspect. Armored vehicles were seen moving around the campus in response to the event, as well as {{w|SWAT team|SWAT teams}, bomb-sniffing dogs, and police helicopters. An ambulance was seen around 9:00 a.m. CDT (1400 UTC) at the University of Texas’ Perry-Castaneda library.

The school’s website included a notice this morning, which read: “The person involved in this morning’s shooting on campus has been confirmed dead on the sixth floor of the Perry-Castaneda Library from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Law enforcement are searching for a second suspect. If you are off campus, STAY AWAY. If you are on campus, lock doors, do not leave your building.” The gunman was reportedly killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and no shots had been fired by law enforcement officials.

The shooter has not yet been identified, and the reason behind the incident is not yet known. Witnesses described the man as wearing a dark suit and ski mask, and carrying an assault rifle. Randall Wilhite, a professor at the university, said that he heard gunshots while going to class and saw the suspect heading toward the library just after 8:00 a.m. CDT (1300 UTC). The gunman appeared to be firing shots randomly. “When I pulled up in my car, he stood right in front of me and didn’t stop running but turned in my direction, fired three shots into the ground to the left of my car and kept running,” said Wilhite. The gunman had the chance to shoot students, added Wilhite, but he did not appear to be targeting them.

The school, which has around 50,000 students, sent out an alert around that time warning students to stay where they were. Robby Reeb, a senior at the school, said that “a guy sprinted past me screaming, ‘There’s a guy with a gun.’ I looked up and saw a man in a ski mask, wearing a suit, and carrying an assault rifle. And I called 911.”

Police said that the gun used in the shooting was an AK-47, and that they were examining two different crime scenes: where the shots were fired outside, and where the gunman was found dead in the library. Police would not say whether he was attending the university. Chief Acevado said that there were “reports of a second suspect that was wearing a beanie with a long rifle, wearing blue jeans and a black top” that “may or may not be a white male.”

Several hours after the lockdown began, police allowed students to leave the university’s campus, although nobody is still allowed to enter.

The school was also the site of a shooting spree on August 1, 1966, in which university student Charles Whitman fatally shot fourteen to sixteen people and wounded another 32 before being himself killed by law enforcement authorities; reports of the exact death toll are inconsistent. Whitman, a former U.S. Marine, shot students from the observation platform of the school’s tower. That event was the deadliest school shooting in the United States until the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Torbjorn Zetterlund is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Willowdale riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

[edit]

A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, November 26, 2008.

Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, a British political party, has expressed his concern over the lack of men in childcare. In a speech to the Daycare Trust, Clegg commented on the issue. “There is still a huge stigma attached to men wanting to work in childcare,” he said. “Even just for men who want to take a more hands-on role in providing care for their own children.”

“The Daycare Trust’s own research shows that one in four men would consider working in childcare,” he continued. “Sadly some worry that their motives would be viewed with suspicion.”

Sources

• “Concern on lack of men in childcare” — The Press Association, November 25, 2008
• Press Release: “Clegg: Lack of men in childcare denies young children role models” — Liberal Democrats, November 25, 2008

A Pakistani hacker group named the Pakistan Cyber Army has reportedly attacked the official website of an Indian public sector petroleum company called Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. The attack was in response to the attacking of the official website of Pakistan state corporation Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority by Indian hackers named HMG, who attacked the OGRA’s website on November 17, and left a message on front page of the website that they would hack any Pakistani website with poor security controls. However, OGRA’s spokesman said he has no information on the incident.

Sources

• “Pakistani hackers hack Indian website” — The News International, November 25, 2008
• Muhammad Ali Raza. “A Message from PCA (Pakistan Cyber Army)” — propakistani.com, November 24, 2008

Apple Inc. has been told by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to stop showing its advertisement, which describes the internet connection on the iPhone 3G as “really fast,” while pictures on the screen showed pages loading in less than a second.

ASA stated that the ad is likely to “lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown in the ad,” which, according to the organisation, it does not. As a result, the ASA ruled that the ad “must not appear again in its current form.”

Sources

• “Apple made to drop iPhone advert” — BBC News Online, November 26, 2008
• Press Release: “ASA Adjudications” — Advertising Standards Authority, November 26, 2008

1903 UTC According to local reports, 10 people were left dead and others injured in the Indian city of Mumbai after gunmen opened fire there.

The police say that it appears to be a terrorist attack.

Gunmen started shooting at seven locations, including a crowded restaurant and a train station. There were also reports of shooting at a hospital and two hotels, as well as two explosions, which are believed to be grenade attacks.

Sources

• “Mumbai rocked by deadly shootings” — BBC News Online, November 26, 2008
• “Terror attacks in Mumbai; 10 dead, several injured” — The Times of India, November 26, 2008

Nigeria’s food and drug agency has said that 25 children, aged from 3 months to 4 years, have died after consuming a contaminated teething syrup. Ten others are reported to have been hospitalised.

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control said that the syrup, which goes under the name of “My Pikin”, had been tainted with diethylene glycol, a substance that is usually used in antifreeze and engine coolant.

The agency added that it has shut down Barewa Pharmaceuticals, the Lagos-based manufacturer of the syrup.

Sources

• “‘Bad syrup’ kills Nigerian babies” — BBC News Online, November 26, 2008
• “Nigeria bans teething drug after 25 children die” — guardian.co.uk, November 26, 2008

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Since the United States presidential election in November of 2004, viewership in the 25-54 age bracket of Fox News has fallen from over 1,000,000 in October to under 450,000 in April, according to the Daily Kos, a liberal weblog.

Ratings for cable news stations have fallen globally since the election, but most have since stabilized, making Fox’s continuing decline unusual. CNN’s ratings, as an example, increased 27% in April. Fox still leads CNN in this demographic by nearly 35% however, with CNN only managing to reverse its viewership decline in March 2005.

The FOX News Channel is a US cable and satellite news channel. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. As of January 2005, it is available to 85 million subscribers in the U.S. and to further viewers internationally, broadcasting primarily out of its New York City studios.

According to the BBC, FOX News’ profits doubled due to “patriotic coverage” of the Iraq conflict, with as much as 300% increase in viewership, with 3.3 million average daily viewers.

The 2004 election coverage by FOX News ranked higher than the next two cable news competitors combined. For President Bush’s address, FOX News rated 7.3 million viewers. NBC, CBS, and ABC rated 5.9, 5.0, and 5.1, respectively.

Fox News viewership in the 25-54 age bracket (Source: Daily Kos):

Oct. 04: 1,074,000

Nov. 04: 891,000

Dec. 04: 568,000

Jan. 05: 564,000

Feb. 05: 520,000

Mar. 05: 498,000

Apr. 05: 445,000