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Monday, January 15, 2007

A hydrofoil and a cargo ship have entered into collision this evening, at around 18:15 Italian local time (17:15 UTC) near the harbor of Messina, Sicily, Italy.

The hydrofoil, named “Segesta jet”, was doing a regular passenger service from Reggio Calabria to Messina, carrying 151 passengers and 6 crew members.

The cargo ship is reported to be the “Susan Borchard”, registered in Antigua and Barbuda.

The number of people dead or injured is not currently established, but during the night the number of fatalities rose to 4.

Monday, March 24, 2008

The President of the United States, George W. Bush, and his wife Laura Bush have introduced the 2008 White House egg roll. Mrs. Bush introduced the attendees to the event by saying “welcome, everybody, to the White House Easter Egg Roll, the 2008 Easter Egg Roll. This event is one of the happiest traditions on the White House lawn. It’s always fun to see the South Lawn filled with children. Thank you for coming. And I’d especially like to thank our entertainers, our readers, our volunteers, and our special guests.”

M. Bush dedicated the event to cleaning oceans. “We [the Bush family] want to remind you that we’re dedicating today’s Easter Egg Roll to our clean oceans. And there’s a booth here where you can find out how you can contribute to make sure that we’re environmentally sound stewards of our oceans. Ocean conservation is a important aspect of good public service, and it’s certainly something that Laura has on her mind, as she comes up to address you,” he said.

7,500 eggs are being provided for 2008 egg roll, with the White House estimating before the event that 22,000 people will attend this year.

Friday, May 19, 2006

On Friday in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Space Shuttle Discovery began its 4.2 mile, 7 hour long journey to the launch pad, completing successfully. Discovery weighs approximately 4.5 million pounds.

The launch was supposed to occur in May, but NASA pushed back the date because of a faulty fuel sensor.

This will be Discovery’s second mission since the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry in 2003. Engineers believed that foam falling from the shuttle and smashing into the wing caused the disaster. After the accident, NASA grounded the shuttle fleet to determine the cause.

In 2005 cameras had shown during launch that a piece of foam being shed from the external tank, as well as smaller tile and foam dings. NASA and the crew decided that mission specialist Stephen Robinson should attempt to pull out the protruding gap fillers. Cameras also detected a small piece of thermal blanket near the cockpit that fell off, but later tests in wind tunnels had shown the piece to be of little concern and Discover landed safely.

NASA is scheduling the launch for Discovery to be between July 1 and July 19, 2006 and Steve Lindsey will Commander of the mission, flying with pilot Mark Kelly, two spacewalkers, Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers and mission specialists Stephanie Wilson and Lisa Nowak. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter is also part of the crew but he will remain on the International Space Station (ISS) for several months.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued an office action, which confirmed the patentability of claims 6 to 10 of the Amazon 1-Click patent, US 5,960,411. The patent examiner, however, rejected claims 1 to 5 and 11 to 15. Amazon now has up to six months to amend the rejected claims to overcome the examiner’s rejection, provide arguments to demonstrate that the examiner is in error and/or provide evidence to demonstrate the patentability of their claims. During this period, the entire patent is still considered valid under US patent law.

The USPTO is reconsidering the patentability of the claims due to a request for reexamination filed by New Zealander Peter Calveley. Mr. Calveley used internet archives to show that defunct company Digi Cash used a similar technique prior to Amazon. Despite costing a substantial sum of cash and requiring donations to prepare and file the request for reexamination, Calveley said he did it as a game and hopes that his success inspires others to play the same game.

“One Click” shopping is an ecommerce technique, which allows a customer to purchase products via the Internet without repeatedly entering personal information such as name and address. At the time it was introduced it eased the frustration of on-line shopping.

Amazon filed the patent application for 1-click shopping in early 1997 and was granted the patent in September 1999. 23 days later Amazon sued rival Barnes & Noble for alleged infringement by its “Express Lane” ordering which was introduced in 1998. In December 1999 Amazon won an interim injunction against Barnes & Noble but the USA Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit lifted this injunction in February 2001. The parties then settled their dispute for undisclosed terms. Amazon has since successfully licensed the technique to other e-sellers such as Apple.

Friday, January 27, 2006

On January 26, 2006, a massive boycott of dairy produce from Arla Foods started in Saudi Arabia over what is perceived as a Danish attack on Muslim values. The Saudi ambassador to Denmark has been recalled for consultations.

The Danish/Swedish dairy company Arla is facing a massive loss after a spreading boycott of its produce in Saudi Arabia. Four Saudi retail chains have already removed Arla products from the shelves. One retail chain has placed yellow warning tape (common fare for accidents and crime scenes) over Arla products. There have been cases reported of Arla delivery trucks being attacked by stones thrown from bystanders. Marianne Castenskiold, a senior consultant for Dansk Industri, expressed a fear that the boycott will spread to other countries in the region and have detrimental effects on other Danish products. Denmark is one of the leading exporters of agriculture in northern Europe, whose economy is heavily dependent on foreign trade and investment.

The boycott has been announced at Friday prayer services in Saudi mosques since January 20, 2006, obviously helping to foment popular support of the nation’s response to Denmark’s alleged ignorance of Muslim values. On at least one occasion, a delivery truck has been greeted by thrown stones.

The boycott is a response to the publication of an article in a major Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. In its September 30, 2005 issue, the paper printed 12 drawings of the Muslim prophet Muhammed, as a response to previous news reports that the publisher of a forthcoming childrens’ book about the prophet had had difficulty in finding an illustrator, due to fear of extremist reactions; drawings of the prophet are prohibited by Islamic Law (see aniconism). In an attempt to start a debate over freedom of speech in Denmark, the newspaper printed 12 drawings of the prophet. Four of these were of a satirical nature, with one showing the prophet with a turban hiding a lit bomb.

The immediate reactions to the publication of the drawings included ambassadors from 12 Muslim countries demanding that the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, denounce the newspaper. Rasmussen rejected this demand, stating that “Danish freedom of speech does not allow the government to control what newspapers print”. He further noted that the only possible legal action against the newspaper would be one under the charge of blasphemy.

A debate ensued over the following months about freedom of speech and its value in relation to avoiding religious taboos. In mid-December 2005, a delegation from several Danish Muslim organizations went on a tour in several Middle-Eastern and Arabic countries, reportedly to gain sympathy for their point of view. Several reports state that during the tour the difficulties faced by Muslims in Denmark were grossly overstated.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

The European Union has warned the UK government that it does not do enough to protect its citizens’ online privacy and personal data. Now the EU has moved to the next stage of legal action, which could see Britain taken to court.

The warning follows complaints over the Phorm company’s targeted advertising system. The controversial technology is designed to track the activities of internet users, and was tested on some BT customers without their consent. Campaigners complained to various bodies including the UK’s data protection agency, and the communications regulator Ofcom. No action was taken. The City of London police began an investigation, but this was soon dropped.

The EU Commission formally warned Britain that it was not meeting EU rules in April. Other countries that have been warned include Germany, Poland and Romania. However, last week the Commission moved onto the second stage of the infringement procedure against the UK, with a letter to the government.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) has been particularly criticised by the Commission for its weak definition of “consent” and its limited sanctions. The Commission also found that there was no independent body to oversee and hear complaints about communications interception. Overall, the letter says that the UK fails to comply with the EU’s Data Protection Directive and e-Privacy Directive.

“People’s privacy and the integrity of their personal data in the digital world is not only an important matter: it is a fundamental right, protected by European law,” the EU’s Information Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement on Thursday. “I therefore call on the UK authorities to change their national laws to ensure that British citizens fully benefit from the safeguards set out in EU law concerning confidentiality of electronic communications.”

The Home Office confirmed that it had received the letter, but has so far not responded. Ministers said that they would reply to the letter after they have taken some time to consider it. The Home Office has two months to reply, and if the Commission is not satisfied with the response, then Britain could face charges in the European Court of Justice.