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Thursday, November 8, 2007

India is the latest of the countries where the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) experiment has started. Children from the village of Khairat were given the opportunity to learn how to use the XO laptop. During the last year XO was distributed to children from Arahuay in Peru, Ban Samkha in Thailand, Cardal in Uruguay and Galadima in Nigeria. The OLPC team are, in their reports on the startup of the trials, delighted with how the laptop has improved access to information and ability to carry out educational activities. Thailand’s The Nation has praised the project, describing the children as “enthusiastic” and keen to attend school with their laptops.

Recent good news for the project sees Uruguay having ordered 100,000 of the machines which are to be given to children aged six to twelve. Should all go according to plan a further 300,000 machines will be purchased by 2009 to give one to every child in the country. As the first to order, Uruguay chose the OLPC XO laptop over its rival from Intel, the Classmate PC. In parallel with the delivery of the laptops network connectivity will be provided to schools involved in the project.

The remainder of this article is based on Carla G. Munroy’s Khairat Chronicle, which is available from the OLPC Wiki. Additional sources are listed at the end.

1 India team
2 Khairat
- 2.1 The town school
3 The workplace
4 Marathi
5 The teacher
6 Older children, teenagers, and villagers
7 The students
8 Teacher session
9 Parents’ meetings
10 Grounding the server
11 Every child at school
12 Sources
13 External links

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Actor Bob Denver, best known for his roles as “Gilligan” on Gilligan’s Island (1964-1967) and “Maynard G. Krebs” on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963), died Friday at the age of 70.

Denver gained popularity on Dobie Gillis, playing the title character’s best friend, a beatnik. The show, which ran for four years, was Denver’s first major acting role. It is said that the popular cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was based on the show, and Denver’s role of Krebs was the inspiration for the character “Shaggy”.

Denver’s real fame, however, came with the role of “Gilligan”, a kind but naive and incompetent bumbler stuck on an island with six other castaways. Nearly every episode involved a plot to get off the island; however, Gilligan always ended up causing the plot to fail, in one way or another. The show, which ran for three years, gained popularity through perpetual reruns. “It was the mid-’70s when I realized it wasn’t going off the air,” Denver said in 2001.

After the cancellation of Gilligan’s Island, Bob Denver starred in Dusty’s Trail, a clone of Gilligan’s Island, set in a wagon train in the old American West. It was also created by Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan’s Island and other sitcoms like The Brady Bunch. Dusty’s Trail featured a one-to-one match with Gilligan’s Island characters (Gilligan became Dusty, while the actress, Ginger, became the dance hall girl, and the farm girl, Maryanne, became the school marm, and the rich Howells became a rich rail baron and wife, etc.). Bob Denver was the only actor in common. The show never caught on and was quickly canceled.

In May, Denver underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer. He died of complications from his cancer treatment at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina.

Denver is survived by his wife and four children.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, today spoke at the 2008 Labour Party conference. In his speech he described his determination to lead his party and country, in addition to claiming that the current financial situation meant that this was no time for a novice to claim a country, saying that he is the right man to lead. This speech comes as questions are raised over Brown’s suitability as a leader.

Brown introduced the speech by telling the conference attendees that he wanted to discuss his reasons for leading the country. “I want to talk with you today about who I am, what I believe, what I am determined to lead this party and this great country to achieve,” he said. “I know people have real concerns about the future of the country, the future of the economy and people in this hall have concerns about the future of our party too.”

He then claimed that he “didn’t come into politics to be a celebrity or thinking I’d always be popular.” “Perhaps, that’s just as well,” he continued. “No, 25 years ago I asked the people of Fife to send me to parliament to serve the country I love.”He then said that he “didn’t come to London because I wanted to join the establishment, but because I wanted and want to change it.”

	I want to talk with you today about who I am, what I believe, what I am determined to lead this party and this great country to achieve

“And so I want to give the people of this country an unconditional assurance – no ifs, no buts, no small print – my unwavering focus is taking this country through the challenging economic circumstances we face and building the fair society of the future,” he said, later in the speech. “The British people would not forgive us if at this time we looked inwards to the affairs of just our party when our duty is to the interests of our country.”

Brown then made more in depth comments on the credit crunch. “Each generation believes it is living through changes their parents could never have imagined – but the collapse of banks, the credit crunch, the trebling of oil prices, the speed of technology, and the rise of Asia – nobody now can be in any doubt that we are in a different world and it’s now a global age,” he claimed. “In truth, we haven’t seen anything this big since the industrial revolution. This last week will be studied by our children – as the week the world was spun on its axis – and old certainties were turned on their heads.”

Later in the speech, Brown discussed how he believes his government should deal with climate change. He also said that targets for an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions should be considered. “I am asking the climate change committee to report by October on the case for, by 2050 not a 60% reduction in our carbon emissions, but an 80% cut – and I want British companies and British workers to seize the opportunity and lead the world in the transformation to a low carbon economy and I believe that we can create in modern green manufacturing and service one million new jobs.”

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Labour ministers reacted positively to the speech. Jacqui Smith, the current Home Secretary, said that “I think today’s speech showed that he is a great leader and a great prime minister.” Foreign Secretary David Miliband, meanwhile, described the speech as ‘excellent’.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne, however, responded to the speech by saying that “there was nothing really new in the speech – no apology for the mess he’s got the country into and no new ideas that show us how he’s going to get us out of it.”

Monday, March 9, 2009

Wolfram Research Inc., makers of Mathematica and A New Kind of Science, have released a limited alpha of their new web service Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram Alpha is described by CEO Stephen Wolfram as a “computational knowledge engine.” Unlike Google, Yahoo! and other traditional web search engines that rely on statistical methods for retrieving online documents, Wolfram Alpha answers factual questions in the way that Wikipedia does, except it relies on analytical methods instead of human-generated documents.

Although the product is still in a limited release some details about its operation and design have been revealed by Wolfram on his blog, and by Nova Spivack who recently interviewed Wolfram about Wolfram Alpha. The product is available on the Web as a single search box reminiscent of Google’s main search page. The search queries can be entered in natural language and the natural language system will parse the query and use models of knowledge (ontologies) and human-curated data to return an answer including graphs and other representations. The ontologies and data are managed by Wolfram employees who must input new ontologies and data by hand or, occasionally, with the assistance of programmatic tools. It is expected that an Application Programming Interface (API) will eventually be available, although it is not known what the API will be used for.

Unlike traditional search engines Wolfram Alpha does not search online documents, and thus does not return answers to “fuzzy” questions, such as opinion or advice. Instead, the scope of answers is limited to the knowledge that has already been modeled and encoded in the ontologies and the associated data. In this way the system can generate knowledge that was previously unknown. It is thought that while Wolfram will concentrate on scientific and technical information the system may eventually be able to answer questions in other domains, such as stock information, geography and history. In theory, any question with a factual answer could be answered by Wolfram Alpha.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Several new developments have occurred surrounding the loss of Philippine ferry MV Princess of the Stars, which capsized and sank on June 21 during a severe storm. The loss near Sibuyan island during Typhoon Fengshen, known locally as Frank, killed more than 800 of those on board.

Ship owner Sulpicio Lines has sued Del Monte Philippines for failing to declare a cargo of the dangerous pesticide endosulfan that was on board. Sulpicio yesterday sued the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMO) for allegedly making comments contributing to negative publicity surrounding the line and asked a court to stop the body continuing its investigation, saying it no longer had any authority. Today, that request was denied.

Another outcome of today’s proceedings is a deadline for Sulpicio to recover the ship. The company has ninety days to ensure the recovery operation is complete.

Yesterday, an eight-page complaint was filed against Del Monte at Manila City‘s regional trial court. It alleges that Del Monte violated the line’s terms by failing to inform Sulpicio that the shipment included edosulfan. The line notes that any toxic cargo should have been declared. Suplicio is seeking PHP5.5 million from the company for alleged negligence.

“Due to Del Monte’s deceit and non-disclosure, plaintiff was led to believe that the subject shipment of Endosulfan was a regular cargo. Had defendant Del Monte disclosed the toxic nature of the cargo, plaintiff would not have loaded the same on board a passenger-cargo vessel, be it MV Princess of the Paradise or MV Princess of the Stars,” said a statement by Suplicio.

The exact total sought as damages is P549,661.11, which accounts for the correct rate for shipping if the toxic cargo had been declared, plus double rates as punitive measures. On top of those damages sought is P3 million to cover specialist recovery required for the chemical, P1 million in moral damges for lost corporate goodwill and damage to Sulpicio’s reputation, P500,000 in moral damages for Sulpicio marketing vice president and shareholder Jordan L. Go, P200,000 in exemplary damages and P300,000 in legal costs.

The discovery that the ship was carrying the endosulfan shipment, which totaled 10 metric tons, led to a ban on fishing in the nearby town of San Fernando and an emergency cessation of search and rescue activities, which were mostly being conducted by divers. The pesticide is banned in many countries and is subject to various regulations in the Philippines. Water samples from the wreck site show that thus far the pesticide has not leaked.

A specialist joint team is set to arrive soon from the European Union and the United Nations Environmental Programme to assist with opearations relating to the pesticide, which is a neurotoxin.

The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday awarded some 42 staff divers and six civilian volunteer divers for their work at the Princess of the Stars. They were particularly praised for being keen to return to work. They are awaiting the results of tests for exposure to endosulfan.

Endosulfan is one of the items set for retrieval in a new deadline set by the government task force overseeing the disaster. Sulpicio must also recover the remaining bodies and the unused fuel on board within 90 days.

Sulpicio had initially offered to have the job done in 164 days, but Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista rejected this proposal, saying “Out of humanitarian reasons, I told them not to prolong the agony of the victims’ relatives all the way to Christmas.” Sulpicio was given until Wednesday to name the salvage contractor who would be responsible for recovering the ship, after which they were to submit their retrieval plans to the International Maritime Organisation.

Sulpicio was also given the option of simply towing the ship closer to shore to do the recovery instead of refloating it, which they have opted for. In Bautista’s words: “Based on the Sulpicio report this morning, their plan now is to just tow the vessel to the shore, get the hazardous materials out, get the fuel out, and get the people out and I think that would be more cost-effective and most practical because that can be done, maybe within a month, as compared to refloating, which would probably take three months.”

Sulpicio is currently considering three different potential salvors, which remain unnamed. They have been told that the company needs to have expertise suitable enough to ensure marine life is not harmed and hazardous materials are not spilled. There is a possibility that the planned towing will damage nearby coral. It is already confirmed by the coastguard that oil onboard cannot leak. Most of the 250,000 litres of bunker fuel are in the service tank, which is considered safe. Only the small amount of oil in the base tank may leak but oil spill containment booms are already in place should this occur.

The government has said that, had Sulpicio not made provisions to get the salvage done, then they would have performed the operation themselves. Had this occurred, Sulpicio would have been charged for it, with the bill estimated at P100 million.

One aspect of another legal case was resolved today. Sulpicio had questioned the authority of the BMI to conduct investigations, instead saying only the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) had the right to do so, and pointing to a separate inquiry started by MARINA. However, a hearing today found that the BMI and MARINA serve different roles. The BMI’s role is solely to determine the cause of marine accidents. MARINA’s purpose is more concerned with regulations, and is mainly investigating the role of Sulpicio themselves. “We are looking at why we should not cancel the company’s franchise,” explained MARINA Administrator Vicente Suazo Jr.

Both investigations are ongoing.

Thursday, October 5, 2006

A 13-hour kidnapping of four people by a bank robber in Setúbal, Portugal, ended at dawn Thursday as members of the special operations group stormed the bank facilities.

The kidnapping started yesterday at about 1400 local time (1300 UTC), when a 57 year old man attempted to rob a Banco Espírito Santo‘s bank at the Rodrigues Manito Avenue, in Setúbal. The alarm was given by a man outside of the bank who noticed the robbery.

The rapid response by the Polícia de Segurança Pública‘s (PSP) district command of Setúbal forced the robber to barricade himself in the bank with two employees and two clients who were in the bank at the time of the robbery. Cornered, the man decided to take the four people hostage, not allowing many contacts on the part of the police negotiators.

According to a PSP source, the kidnapper was armed with a 6.35m pistol and said to the negotiators that he had a explosive device with him. The police immediately sealed off the block and interrupted all telecommunications in the area, only allowing calls to the Portuguese emergency telephone number.

At 0308 local time (0238 UTC) a dozen members of the Police Special Operations Group (GOE) stormed the bank. According to PSP’s officer Manuel Augusto Silva, the kidnapper was armed but was surprised by the members of the GOE team and didn’t react, being immediately arrested.

Some minutes later, the two bank employees, a 20 year old women and a 30 year old man left the bank building. The two clients were then handcuffed and escorted from the building and were not identified.

The last to leave the bank was the kidnapper, who left escorted by the police officers and with his head covered.

As the victims, kidnapper and members of the special forces officers left the bank, a bomb disposal unit entered the bank to inspect the possible bomb of the kidnapper. A suspicious package was later detonated by the technicians following security procedures, but no explosives were found.

Although both the Portuguese authorities and news agencies had said that two of the hostages were female, the hostages were in fact three men and a women. Also, the news of a €100,000 ransom requested by the kidnapper wasn’t confirmed.

“There wasn’t any record of any kind of injuries on the police officers involved, on the four hostages, nor on the detainee” Jerónimo Torrado, officer of the PSP of Setúbal, said.

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 File:Plastic bag stock sized.jpg

They are cheap, useful, and very plentiful, and that is exactly the problem, according to researchers. A report issued on Feb. 23 by a cadre of environment and economics researchers suggested that Kenya should ban the common plastic bag that one gets at the checkout counter of grocery stores, and place a levy on other plastic bags, all to combat the country’s environmental problems stemming from the bags’ popularity.

Monday, November 19, 2012

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has admitted that in an airstrike, they targeted an office building housing offices for international media in Gaza City on Sunday night. The IDF called their specific targets “Hamas operational communication sites”. The IDF also claims Hamas staged a scene outside the building to make it appear an injured man was being taken away in an ambulance, who was “seen minutes later walking around.”

“Overnight, the IDF targeted two Hamas operational communication sites that were identified by precise intelligence. The first site was targeted at approximately 01:40 a.m. and was an infrastructure of Hamas’ operational communications, located inside a civilian building,” said the IDF in a statement on its website.

Reuters reports eight journalists were injured in the attack with one journalist needing a leg amputated.

The IDF also admits they knew international journalists had offices in the building and targeted it because “Hamas’ operational communications [were] deliberately located on the roof of the building, in which several international media bureaus reside.”

“We obviously knew there were journalists in the building, so we did not attack other floors in the building”, said Avital Leibovich, a spokesperson for the IDF. Sky News, RT News, Ma’an news agency, and al-Quds TV, among other agencies, all have offices located in the building.

Though the IDF admits they knew international journalists were inside the building, a spokesperson denies they were the target saying, “Hamas took a civilian building and used it for its own needs. So the journalists … were serving as human shields for Hamas”. The IDF statement goes on to say that journalists were warned to “stay clear of Hamas’ bases and facilities.”

The building was reportedly bombed three times. After the IDF bombed the building once, there was a pause during which occupants evacuated before the IDF bombed it two more times.

According to Protocol 1, Article 79 of the Geneva Convention, targeting journalists or civilians is considered a war crime. “Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians…. They shall be protected as such under the Conventions and this Protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians, and without prejudice to the right of war correspondents accredited to the armed forces”.

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Categories

Attracting Women In Ways That Men Sometimes Forget

Latest trial of the One Laptop Per Child running in India; Uruguay orders 100,000 machines

Contents

Actor Bob Denver dies at 70

Gordon Brown: I can lead Britain through economic crisis

Reasons To Enroll Your Child In A Private School In Silver Spring

Wolfram Research’s new product Alpha to compete with Google and Wikipedia

Philippines ferry disaster: ship owner sues over toxic cargo; recovery deadline set & more

13 hour bank robbery ends with no injuries in Setúbal, Portugal

Report urges Kenya to ban plastic bags

Israeli Defense Force admits to targeting media center in Gaza City airstrike