As an experiment in the use of wiki technology for news, CNET News has launched a web site where readers can collaborate with other readers to predict the future of India‘s technology industry, collectively supplementing a CNET report on India published on June 27, 2005.
The wiki uses Wikipedia‘s software, MediaWiki, with a custom design. Editing is not restricted. The wiki was set up by Andrew Lottmann of the technical production team at CNET News.com. “I would love to know if readers feel this wiki is a good medium for feedback or even ‘citizen journalism’ on News.com”, Lottman stated in his user profile.
As of July 2, 2005, the wiki was still relatively inactive, with only one “legitimate content page” and 176 page edits according to the site’s statistics. [1]
The leading supplier of school uniforms in the United Kingdom, Lancashire-based manufacturer Trutex, has announced it is “seriously considering” including GPS tracking devices in future ranges of its uniform products after conducting an online survey of both parents and children.
“As a direct result of the survey, we are now seriously considering incorporating a [tracking] device into future ranges” said Trutex marketing director Clare Rix.
The survey questioned 809 parents and 444 children aged nine to 16. It showed that 44% of parents were worried about the safety of pre-teen children, and 59% wanted tracking devices installed in school apparel. 39% of children aged nine to 12 were prepared to wear clothing with tracking devices in them, while teenagers were notably less enthusiastic and more wary of what Trutex has admitted they see as a “big brother” concept.
However, Trutex has claimed the tracking devices would bring about worthwhile benefits, including being a valuable resource for parents who wanted to keep a close eye on where their children were at all times.
“As well as being a safety net for parents, there could be real benefits for schools who could keep a closer track on the whereabouts of their pupils, potentially reducing truancy levels” says Rix.
Each year, Trutex supplies 1 million blouses, 1.1 million shirts, 250,000 pairs of trousers, 20,000 blazers, 60,000 skirts and 110,000 pieces of knitwear to the UK.
It is not the first company to manufacture school uniforms with a central focus on child safety; last week Essex firm BladeRunner revealed it was selling stab-proof school blazers to parents concerned about violence against their children. The blazers were outfitted with Kevlar, a synthetic fibre used in body armour. It has already received orders internationally, including Australia.
If the Trutex tracking devices go ahead, it is unclear where in the uniform they will be located.
A 34 year old obstetrician from Forestville on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has escaped after he was robbed, car-jacked and locked in the boot (trunk) of his BMW, which was set alight. Police say the doctor was locked in the boot while his car was set alight, but was allowed to escape before flames engulfed the vehicle.
The Doctor was believed to have been heading to The Mater Hospital in North Sydney when he was waiting at the intersection of West and Falcon Streets in Chatswood around 3:15AM AEDT when a small red sedan with two men claiming to be police officers signalled him to stop. After crossing the intersection, the doctor stopped his car at the side of the road.
The doctor was then approached by the two men and when he asked to see identification, one man grabbed the keys from his car’s ignition before they both pulled the doctor out of his vehicle, hit him in the stomach with a hammer and stole his mobile phone and wallet. The robbers also demanded his key and credit cards along with their access codes before locking him in the boot.
Police allege that the men drove to several locations to withdraw cash and buy things before driving to Carisbook Street in Linley Point at around 4 a.m. local time where they set the car alight with the doctor still in the boot.
Crime Manager of the Harbourside Local Area Command, Detective Inspector Houlahan said that the doctor then “heard a click in the boot area and he heard someone call out: ‘Get out of the car'”
“When he pushed the boot up he found his car engulfed in flames.”
Det. Insp. Houlahan said the doctor told police he did not unlock the boot himself, and it appeared the man’s captors unlocked it before fleeing.
Det Insp Houlahan said that the doctor appeared to be “very distraught” and tired after the ordeal, and wanted to get home and see his wife and two young daughters.
He could only provide police with a vague description of his captors, but said the men were both Caucasian males aged in their 20s, and that one of them was about six feet tall (183cm) with short blond hair and medium build said Det. Insp. Houlahan.
Mega Millions, a multi-state lottery in the United States, produced no winner on Tuesday night’s drawing which had a jackpot of US$363 million, sending Friday’s drawing to an all time world record high of $500 million.
Players must match all 5 numbers and the Mega Ball in order to win the jackpot. Only 47 tickets with a $250,000 payout were sold, which matched at least five numbers, but not the Mega Ball. Over 2.5 million tickets matched only the Mega Ball for a cash prize of two dollars. The numbers drawn were 9, 19, 34, 44 & 51. The Mega Ball was 24.
The previous U.S. lottery jackpot record was $390 million which was set by Mega Millions in 2007. Two individuals won the jackpot from Georgia and New Jersey. In January 2011, the jackpot rose to $380 million the second largest ever, producing two winners, one in Idaho and the other in Washington. In 2006 Powerball reached $365 million with one winner in Nebraska.
After all taxes are paid on the prize money, Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot would have been worth just over $180 million. The lottery’s last jackpot winner was on January 24 when a College Park, Georgia resident won $72 million. Since then there have been eighteen drawings which produced no jackpot winner.
The next drawing occurs on Friday at 11:00pm (EDT).
India’s former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh has, for the first time, been directly accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his involvement in the Iraq oil scam. The ED, which is responsible for enforcing foreign exchange control laws, has alleged that Singh, along with his son Jagat Singh and three others, acquired foreign exchange worth $8.9 lakh illegally. The 18-page show-cause notice issued by the ED says the money was acquired by the accused, in violation of U.N regulations, in exchange for two oil contracts awarded to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO).
Of the $8,90,000, $7,48,550 was allegedly transferred by them to an account in the Jordan National Bank, the remaining $1,46,247.23, which was the commission for the oil-contracts, was deposited with Barclays Bank, in the Channel Islands. The money was transferred to an account in the name of Indus Trading Company, which itself is owned by Andaleeb Sehgal, a friend of Mr. Singh.
The accused are required to respond to the show-cause notice (issued on the 2nd of September), which Natwar says is an attempt by the ED to “defame” him, within 30 days. The independent Pathak Commission’s report had stated that there was “no material evidence to show that Natwar Singh derived any financial or other personal benefits from the contracts.”
Among its many ongoing research studies, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Plant Materials Center (NPMC), in Beltsville, Maryland, is researching native, ornamental, perennial plants which are tolerant of hot, droughty conditions. The end result of this research is to promote city gardening in the Washington/Baltimore metro area and to eventually expand to the entire mid-Atlantic region.
“The use of native plants are beneficial to the region in that they are already adapted to the cultural conditions present in city environments and are unlikely to displace other native-plant communities,” said Shawn Belt, Horticulturalist at the NPMC. “And, not only do these native plants add to the diversity of inner-city plant materials they encourage wildlife as well.”
Working with NRCS conservationists for Washington, DC, the NPMC has recently installed a “butterfly garden” a native-plant garden at the Myrtilla Miner Elementary School in NE Washington DC. According to Belt, Washington, DC typically has poor soils so this site will be a good evaluation for hot, dry conditions.
“Since there are no farms in DC to award contracts for the various NRCS cost share programs, NRCS does award cost share for schools in order to educate students to the benefits of using native plants in city landscapes,” said Belt.
NRCS conservationists have been encouraging teachers to install butterfly gardens with cost-share money from the Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP) to help with the costs of installing these gardens.
While working with the school to install the native-plant garden, NRCS employees will evaluate the performance of the plants over the next 3 years. Additionally, evaluations will be continued in other areas of Washington, DC in order to replicate the “experiment” in differing locations.
Correction — May 3, 2008 This article has been retracted. This article has been deemed a hoax. Please see the follow up article, Hitler doll story found to be hoaxed, for more information.
Adolf Hitler
News reports are claiming that dolls depicting former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler will go on sale in Ukraine. These reports cite Ukraine’s Zerkalo Nedeli newspaper which reported that a toy manufacturer would release the line of Hitler dolls in the summer.
The 40cm doll will reportedly first be available in Kiev with a £100 (GBP) price tag and comes with a large range of accessories in a presentation box with the dates of Hitler’s birth and death.
Nazis images are illegal in Ukraine, with positive portrayal specifically banned. However, there are allegations that right-wing nationalist politics are gaining strength in the country and that xenophobia and racism are on the rise, including some said to be comparable to that present in Germany under Nazi rule. Fascism and propaganda are also banned.
When the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine, was invaded by Germany under Hitler’s rule 2–3 million Ukrainians were among the casualties, of which 1.5 million were Jews.
Adolf can be dressed in various guises, including “early days Adolf”, which consists of a brown shirt and jodhpurs, and “Wartime Adolf”, which features a grey tunic, black trousers and the Iron Cross medal. The doll also comes with boots and shoes, caps, gloves, full uniforms, cane and belt which can be placed on Hitler, whose arms move, allowing the doll to replicate the famed salute of its real life counterpart.
Kids can undress fuhrer, pin on medals and there’s a spare head in the kit to give him a kinder expression on his face
Also included is a model of Blondi, Hitler’s female German Shepherd, who was exceedingly loyal to Hitler. Hitler poisoned Blondi with cyanide in 1945 at the same time as taking his own life in his bunker at Berlin.
“It is like Barbie. Kids can undress fuhrer, pin on medals and there’s a spare head in the kit to give him a kinder expression on his face. He has glasses that are round, in the manner of pacifist John Lennon,” said one saleswoman. The company, which will release the dolls in Summer, says that if demand is high a range of toys themed on the Third Reich may be released, to include barracks, working models of crematoriums and gas chambers, concentration camps and interior models of the chancellery.
The doll is not set to be released until the summer, but BBC News Online has footage suggesting that some stores are selling the doll already.
California State Senator Joseph Dunn, school officials, and environmental professionals met with Kennedy Elementary School parents in a town-hall style meeting in Santa Ana Thursday evening. The parents aired their concerns over health issues at schools and workplaces, including a rash of leukemia cases in the student population, and began a dialogue they have been working toward for years.
Representatives of Markland Manufacturing and of AQMD also spoke at the meeting, explaining their positions. The outcome of the meeting was that Senator Dunn and members of the community will tour the Markland facility and meet with county officials, and another public meeting will be held in a couple of weeks.
Contents
1 Town hall meeting called in response to concerns
A rise in flesh-eating staph infections has worried doctors about the possible spread of drug resistant bacteria.
Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph, is a bacteria that commonly causes skin infections in otherwise healthy people. However, as a persistent threat in hospitals, it tends to infect patients who are already sick and whose systems are vulnerable due to IV lines that pierce the skin. Doctors have already battled for years against drug-resistant strains of the bacteria, but the struggle has generally been confined to hospitals.
Now, however, Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) has been spreading in communities outside hospitals. Cases have multiplied by 25 times since 1998 at the University of Chicago. A Los Angeles hospital documented 14 cases of the flesh-eating infection, where patients required substantial time in intensive care and surgery. The infections are particularly problematic because nearly a quarter of people who get a staph infection require hospitalization.
Staph infections are spread much like other diseases, with crowded conditions, poor hygiene, and skin-to-skin contact most frequently to blame. At higher risk are prison inmates, homeless people, military personnel, and families with kids in day care. Athletes also have a higher risk, because sweating makes it easier for bacteria to infect the skin.
Talbingo Dam, part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme
The Australian federal and New South Wales governments will not be selling their shares in Snowy Hydro Limited (the owner and operator of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme). Snowy Hydro Limited’s major shareholder is the NSW government with a 58 percent shareholding. The Victorian government owns 29 percent and the federal government has a 13 percent stake.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced in December 2005 that he wished to sell the state’s share in Snowy Hydro that caused the federal and Victorian governments to follow.
The proposed sale has attracted immense criticism by those who believed that the sale would affect the environment and water supplies along the Snowy River, this was reinforced yesterday when 58 eminent Australians presented a petition to the government opposing the sale.
Prime Minister John Howard announced today that the federal government would not be selling its 13 percent share of Snowy Hydro following what he calls “intense community reaction”. In a statement, Mr Howard said, “This decision to sell the Snowy Hydro has created significant unhappiness, concern and unrest throughout the Australian community.”
Mr Howard said that the sale was not an election promise by his government and that the federal government failed to see any long-term benefits from the sale. He also said that the government needed to “safeguard the interests of all those dependent on Australia’s iconic water resources”.
The federal government has however stated that despite refusing to sell its share in Snowy Hydro that it will not be purchasing additional shares if NSW and Victoria push ahead with the sale of their shareholdings.
Despite telling Macquarie Radio earlier this morning that his government would be pushing ahead with the sale as it was in the best “interests of NSW”, Premier Iemma announced shortly after Mr Howard’s release, that the NSW government would be withdrawing its shares from sale.
Mr Iemma conceded that the sale would be extremely difficult with the federal government withdrawing its 13 percent from sale. “The Prime Minister has pulled the rug out from under the sale,” Mr Iemma said. “The circumstances are significantly changed.”
“The Commonwealth decision makes it extremely difficult for NSW to proceed,” he conceded.
Victoria is yet to announce whether or not it will be withdrawing its shares from sale.