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BRUXELLES Au moins dix civils ont été
tués dimanche et neuf personnes blessées dans un attentat suicide visant un convoi de
l'armée dans le sud de l'Afghanistan, a annoncé un responsable local."L'explosion
d'un engin motorisé à trois roues visant un convoi ...
Three
continents, three more milestone announcements for 3D. First up is Sky TV, which, with or without 15,000 or so flat screens
from LG, is officially launching its Sky 3D channel around the Man. U/Chelsea game on April 3.
Already have a 3DTV and Sky's "top channels and HD pack?" Call the company with details for
activation, while everyone else checks to see if their local pub is among the thousand plus already
signed up to receive the six live 3D matches
slated for this season (plus the entire playoffs) and demo reel for all non-footy hours of the
day. Bringing the focus back home, ESPN 3D has
scheduled the first event it will produce and air itself, the MLB Home Run Derby on July 12, a day
after
launching with the SA/Mexico World Cup game. Other events officially on deck (the plan for the
first year is still about 85) include several college basketball tournaments and the ACC
Championship football game in December. Last but not least is Japan, already home to at least one
3D network, which will soon have access to even more over the cross-manufacturerAcTVila video on-demand service. Clearly, the
only logical thing to do is to keep that "3D will never take off" comment macro keyed up, it will
be getting a lot of use over the next few months.
If you want a perfect 7.9 windows index score for your primary hd, I have a solution for you. Buy
two of the ocz vertex limited edition ssd's and put them in raid 0 and you will get the 7.9 score.
Because I recently sold my ocz pci-e m84 256gb 8x ssd for two of those and am I glad. the pci-e ssd
was only giving me (only,hehe) a 7.7. I was fortunate that my local computer store Canada Computers
had them in stock.
This weekend marked the official start of Novruz, the Zoroastrian holiday marking the beginning
of spring. Celebrated in many countries where Iranian influence has been strong, preparations
started long
before the actual festival, as last year's post on Global Voices Onlinedetailed. In Azerbaijan, as
elsewhere, Novruz is eagerly awaited and popular among foreigners and locals alike.
This year, for example, a number of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the oil-rich country
celebrated the event with Lost in Azerbaijan providing a thorough introduction to the holiday.
Today marks every Azerbaijani’s favorite day of the year: Novruz.
Novruz takes place on March 20-21st but the entire month prior to today people are preparing and
anticipating the holiday.
Novruz means “new day” and is the start of the New Year in the Iranian calendar,
welcoming spring, new life and a fresh start. It’s technically an Iranian holiday but
celebrated by many Islamic cultures. Throughout the past month Azerbaijani’s have been
cleaning out and painting their houses, planting trees in their yards, cooking special dishes and
visiting friends and relatives.
During the Soviet Union Novruz was prohibited and people were persecuted for following the
traditions. Now all Azerbaijani’s proudly celebrate and look forward to this time of the
year.
The four Tuesdays prior to the holiday each have a name: Water (to purify), Fire, Wind, and Earth
(new life). On each of these evenings at dusk families make small bonfires in their yard and
everyone takes a turn jumping over the fire seven times reciting “Give me your redness and
take my yellowness” which means “Take my hardships, give me your lightness.”
[…]
Perhaps the symbol most associated with Novrus is the sprouted wheat called “samani’.
These grass seeds are grown on a plate prior to Novruz and can by close to half a foot tall on
the holiday. Each family usually places the samani on the center of their table with a red ribbon
tied around it.
Happy Novruz! Happy Spring, everyone! Wishing you peace, health, prosperity and wonderful new
beginnings! by AZ Cookbook
Aaron in Azerbaijan tells his readers that they're “missing out on the
knowledge of a tradition that stretches back a few thousand years, in dozens of countries
throughout Asia” on the last
Tuesday before Novruz.
Last night was the last Tuesday
(Çərşənbə) of Novruz. That
means that Miri, my host mom, and a random friend, Orxan, set about jumping over fires (for
Novruz, you celebrate each of the four Tuesdays leading up to March 20/21. […] Apparently,
you’re supposed to jump over fire seven times, so we lined up seven piles of the straw-type
stuff and lit ‘em up. We jumped over each one and I did a few extra rounds for
folks who weren’t here to enjoy the fun of jumping flames. […]
In last year's post about Novruz on Global Voices Online, one Armenian commented and
noted the similarities
between the holiday and their own Trendez, another Zoroastrian holiday
absorbed and changed by the Church when Armenia adopted Christianity in 301AD.
This year, the similarities prompted an interesting discussion on Twitter between an
ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani.
I would be lying if I said that I solely identified myself as an Armenian. With my family from
Tehran and a maternal grandmother from Tabriz who spoke Armenian, Farsi and Turkish, I have as
much Iranian influence running through my veins as I do Armenian and American.
My parents grew up during a time in Iran when life was good. […]
As Armenian as they were, they were also Persian and everything - from the food, to the music, to
the traditions have been passed down to my sister and I in the most charming way. Not because it
was forced, or written into our daily lives, but because we were genuinely interested.
[…]
To me, being Armenian doesn’t symbolize an all inclusive club where only one set of
traditions are observed and one language spoken. We are an amazingly diverse group of ancient
people, who have, through the years, influenced and been influenced by a set of beautifully rich
and magnetizing cultures, and denying this would be doing a disservice.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that simply speaking, diversity is good. Embrace it.
[…]
Au moins dix civils ont été
tués dimanche et neuf personnes blessées dans un attentat suicide visant un convoi de
l'armée dans le sud de l'Afghanistan, a annoncé un responsable local.
Index Your Files allows you to index and search through all your files or folders on local or
networked drives. Searching can be done by name, date, size, location etc., and boolean operators
are available to to perform multiple keyword searches. You can invoke Windows Explorer context
menus on found files to perform operations such as drag/drop, copy, rename, delete etc. It also
includes internal viewers for text, HTML and image files.
Au moins dix personnes ont été tuées dimanche et neuf blessées
dans un attentat suicide visant un convoi de l'armée dans le sud de
l'Afghanistan, a annoncé un responsable local.
L'association CECIL s'est créé -en liaison étroite avec le CREIS-Terminal-
à l'initiative d'une dizaine d'universitaires aux compétences variées
(sciences de l'information et de la communication, informatique, politiques, juridiques,
économiques... ).
Le CECIL vise à donner une assise solide et permanente à l'étude critique de
l'informatisation de la société et aux interventions citoyennes qui peuvent en
découler. Son indépendance et le réseau de compétences qu'il peut
mobiliser lui procurent des avantages indéniables.
C'est à la fois un centre d'information, un centre d'étude et un centre de
vigilance citoyenne. Il organisera, mettra à disposition et diffusera,
spécialement sous forme numérique, l'énorme documentation consécutive
à 30 ans de recherches et d'actions militantes, en particulier du CREIS-Terminal. Il répondra aux demandes d'information et proposera des
actions de sensibilisation et de formation auprès de différents publics. Il réalisera également des études et des
expertises à la demande ou en réponse à des appels d'offre. Enfin, il interviendra dans le débat public en travaillant
sur les dossiers prioritaires qui mobilisent l'attention : protection des données
personnelles et des libertés, protection et défense de l'internaute et de l'usager
de l'administration électronique, politiques d'informatisation et problèmes de
vulnérabilité techniques et de sécurité.
Le Comité de parrainage est fort de 20 personnalités qui chacune à sa
manière tient un rôle important dans l'histoire du domaine « Informatique et
libertés ». Le Conseil d'administration de 7 membres est présidé par
André Vitalis professeur en sciences politique à Bordeaux III Michel Montaigne.
Une première subvention vient de permettre l'achat du matériel informatique. Un
local est disponible depuis peu. Un appel à dons est lancé pour permettre une
première embauche. 2.500 euros ont déjà été versés par
diverses personnes ; il faut arriver aux 10.000 euros nécessaires pour déclencher
une embauche ; pour les particuliers les dons ouvrent droit à une réduction
d'impôt sur le revenu égale à 66% du montant du don.
Sur le site sont disponibles un dossier de présentation du CECIL, la liste des membres des
Comités de parrainage et d'administration et les informations utiles pour faire un don.
Recently Edelman Digital launched a brand new web site,
which features rich insights from across the organization as well as interviews with different
people inside and outside the firm. Definitely check it out. One of the cool things we're running
are interviews.
For one of the first installments, my colleague, Blagica, conducted an interview
with me on some of the latest trends. It's follows beow and on the new site...
Blagica Bottigliero: Let’s start with the basics. Your last
name. Is it pronounced like the Russian currency? I’ve heard multiple versions, so help us
set the record straight.
Steve Rubel: Actually it isn’t – it’s pronounced
Roo-Bell, rhyming with “blue bell.”
BB: As a lifestreamer, you spend quite a bit of time online digesting
content. How much time per day do you spend doing this? How do you break up your day to consumer
such a large amount of data?
SR:I would say that on average I spend two-three hours a day
“studying.” How and where I fit this in really depends on my schedule in a given
week. If it’s a particularly heavy week and I am traveling or in lots of meetings,
it’s whenever I can steal a few minutes during the day. If it’s a
“normal” day then it’s often over breakfast, lunch or at night when I get home.
But I make it a commitment to keep current since our teams and clients look to me to help them do
the same.
My workflow here, however, has changed a lot over the last few years. Until fairly recently I was
a heavy user of Google Reader. Now, however, I find myself relying more on Facebook, Twitter and
reading email newsletters from my favorite blogs. Also, I am increasingly using my mobile device
to consume much of it as well.
BB: In the last few weeks, you’ve put a stronger emphasis on
utilizing Facebook as your epicenter for news and communication. With Facebook’s history of
sharing its TOS, along with concerns around privacy, do you think more users will shift their
attention to Facebook? The addition of Facebook’s new settings come in handy, but do you
feel that users don’t feel like adding privacy settings to every single action?
SR: Facebook is at a pivotal moment in its history. All of the data
points are trending up – time spent (a staggering seven hours/month in the US), total users
(400M worldwide), mobile use (100M users), traffic patterns (one of the top drivers of views to
news/broadcast sites), etc. This makes it impossible to ignore.
What’s more, I believe we have passed a key tipping point where a network effect takes
over. Randall Stross summarizes this nicely in his New York
Times column, comparing it to similar situations like Microsoft Windows. So I don’t see
the train slowing down here in any way.
Still, there’s no doubt many have privacy concerns. Facebook needs to make this easier to
manage so that an individual can really more easily separate personal and professional circles
– if he/she chooses. The settings they have now help. But they have a long way to go.
The other trend to note is how businesses are starting to use Facebook as a hub. There are more
than 1.4M Facebook Pages. Some 700,000 are small businesses. This also creates a network effect
the way that Google did with Adwords. Also, I have noticed that more brands and movies are
prioritizing their Facebook page in ads over their own web site. This is controversial, but in
many ways it makes sense.
BB: You just created a fan page on Facebook.
How will you decipher information that appears in this stream versus your blog?
SR:I have been on Facebook since 2007 when they opened it up to all
users. At first, I was skeptical of their prospects for success. I saw a scenario similar to what
AOL did back in the 1990s – e.g. a walled garden. So while I have been on Facebook for
years and I was engaged there, I didn’t see a real opportunity, at least for me, to use it
to connect professionally with our customers.
However, the statistics I mentioned earlier and my own use recently have evolved my thinking. I
began to see that, professionally, there is a real opportunity there for any business to deeply
engage their customers in a way that perhaps is not as easy to do elsewhere – and to build
thought leadership. One key reason is that clearly people I care most about like our clients are
spending time there. It’s easier to go where the people are than to get them to come to
you. What’s more, it’s a broader audience than the people who subscribe
to my blog or
follow me onTwitter.
So as of right now I am largely creating exclusive content there. I am finding Twitter is better
for link sharing but that Facebook is more ideal for short bits of insights that spark a larger
conversation. My blog will probably evolve into just a place for essays. But I am syndicating the
posts into Facebook as well. It’s all evolving right now.
In short, I believe that Facebook will become my primary content platform in the next few months.
But I will continue to do it all. As should businesses that have stakeholders scattered on other
networks like Twitter.
BB: Your opinions on Google Buzz are pretty strong. What do you think
they could have done differently at launch? Do you think it was wise they launched the tool in
Gmail?
SR: Google Buzz suffers from complexity because they only tested it
within Google, which has a very tech-savvy engineering driven culture. Facebook and Twitter are
simple. You get it right away. Buzz feels like something Google is forcing on millions of users
to catch up in an area it’s not strong in – social. It would have been better if they
launched in in beta or Labs.
Still, I see Buzz remaining an important niche player for the time being. But I would never count
Google out. They can get it right.
BB: It seems that there are new tools popping up every second.
Whether it’s checking in at a local bistro with Foursquare or taking a picture of a sunset
and sending it to a larger network via Yfrog, there is a hefty amount of information to keep
track of. Will there come a time where a mini social ‘revolt’ will occur?
SR: I feel there’s way too much focus in marketing on the
venues and the technologies – even in the recessionary climate. Businesses must focus first
on their stakeholders and the trends and then figure out how to leverage the technologies. Many
still go about it in reverse.
In terms of the consumer, I believe we’re already seeing a winnowing down. Facebook is tops
for the broadest group. Twitter is loved by a smaller, yet arguably more influential crowd. And
YouTube meanwhile sits in the middle. The others, even FourSquare, are more niche.
In the end there’s only so much time in a day and everyone will need to make choices on
where to invest. I see Facebook being the big winner and Twitter sitting in neutral for now. The
others may eventually just become features of the big sites rather than stand alone entities.
BB: In the 90s, consumers may have sent a complaint via written
letter or email to one of their favorite brands. Today, it may be a Facebook status message,
YouTube video or tweet. What do you think this says about consumers’ expectations when it
comes to corporate two-way dialogue?
SR: I don’t see it being an expectation around dialogue as much
as it is power. People now know they have it and that some businesses will bend over backwards to
meet the legitimate gripes in real-time. This creates a virtuous or some would argue a vicious
cycle that just exacerbates the situation further.
This means that every business needs to understand what they will address and when – with
the expectation that it will scale.
BB: With web sites incorporating tools like Facebook connect, video
and real-time tweets, do you see social media being more ingrained in a digital strategy, instead
of being an after-thought?
SR: Yes, I believe that we’ve passed an inflection. Everyone is
looking at the data and the hype in the media and they realize that this is where our time and
attention are flowing so they need to front-load social networking into their budgets. This is
not just limited to consumer marketing but b2b as well.
BB: You are a big gadget fan and need to be connected a good portion
of your day. How do you plug in? What is your go-to gadget that you can’t leave home
without?
SR: Without a doubt my mobile phones. I switch back and forth between
the Blackberry (a client) and the iPhone depending on what I plan to do in a given day. There are
days or even weeks when all I use is a mobile device. I often travel without a computer –
sometimes for 10 days at a time and internationally as well. It’s amazing what you can do
with these devices. And both fit the bill nicely.
BB: You are a man on the move, visiting many up and coming tech
start-ups. ExacTarget recently purchased CoTweet. Do you see more consolidation happening?
SR: Absolutely, I believe that integration between various systems
will be key – especially for those providers who serve enterprise customers. It’s no
different than how we saw similar consolidation in the desktop/enterprise software markets and
for web-based platforms in the early 2000s.
BB: I know you are a big Yankees fan. If you could be a Bat Boy for a
day, would you do it?
SR: Wow, I definitely would. I would love to travel with the team and
and ask Derek Jeter all kinds of questions about his work ethic and efforts to be a better
ballplayer every day. That’s what I hope to do too in my field. Jeter is a rare yardstick
of professionalism and quality in a sports word that increasingly lacks such role models. And I
find lots of metaphors in sports to inspire me in business.
BB: What is your newest tech obsession?
SR: I would have to say any tools that I an use for free that give me
data. My favorites are Google Insights and Ad Planner, Facebook Insights and YouTube Audience
Insights.
Les Français désignent
dimanche leurs conseils régionaux et les bureaux de vote ont ouvert leurs portes à
8H00 pour le second tour de ce scrutin local, dernier grand rendez-vous électoral avant la
présidentielle de 2012.Photos: Les élections régionales en FranceLa campagne
terminée, droite et gauche pensent à l'après"La fin du sarkozysme flamboyant"
L'effet Twitter lors des électionsSilence en ligne dès 18 heures
The local unit of General Motors Co. in South Korea will recall some sport utility vehicles and
sedans because of problems with the steering wheel and fuel hoses, local media said Sunday.
American officials have condemned plans by the Ethiopian prime minister to block U.S.-funded Voice
of America broadcasts in Amharic, the main local language.
American officials have condemned plans by the Ethiopian prime minister to block U.S.-funded Voice
of America broadcasts in Amharic, the main local language.
Un bar de Pompeya cerrado durante 2000 años vuelve a abrir sus puertas al
público, su propietario en aquella época se llamaba Vetutius
Plácido, el bar permanecía cerrado desde hacía más de 2000
años, sus últimos clientes se quedaron de piedra y hoy se re-inaugura, esperando
que los nuevos clientes también se queden de piedra (en un sentido distinto a los
anteriores, claro está).
Después de varios años de trabajos de excavación y conservación, se
va a celebrar una ceremonia de re-apertura del local a la cual están invitadas alrededor
de 300 personas, todas con un gusto especial por la cocina romana. Podrán degustar entre
otras cosas la especialidad de la casa “Queso al horno con miel“.
A un bar o taberna donde se servía y se vendía comida preparada para llevar, tanto
fría como caliente, se le llamaba Thermopolium. Los
thermipolia fueron muy característicos del Imperio Romano y por supuesto
de la ciudad de Pompeya. De hecho, se sabe que en la ciudad había alrededor de 120, justo
antes de que fuera enterrada en ceniza.
Los thermopolia eran tan populares, que muchas de las casas de Pompeya
carecían de una estancia de la cocina, ya que comer fuera de casa era una de las
actividades sociales más importantes de Pompeya y la comida en los thermipolia era muy
barata.
Los thermopolia eran pequeños y con grandes mostradores en forma
de “L”, que tenían grandes contenedores, donde se guardaban los
alimentos para mantenerlos fríos o calientes. El cliente elegía el menú y
pagaba directamente en el mostrador. Optaban por comerlo en el
“triclinio” del local o llevárselo a casa.
El triclinio era un comedor situado en el local, decorado normalmente con
frescos y que estaba acondicionado para que los clientes comieran cómodamente. Otra
dependencia de la que disponían algunos thermopolia era el
“viridarium”, un jardín cerrado donde los clientes
podían disfrutar a la fresca de su comida.
Vetutius Plácido dejó en el local un frasco con las ganancias de unos días.
Parece que era un negocio rentable.
I think this is an interesting service, not because it is revolutionary but because of the
precedent it is setting down. You see, My SF Way is a collection of mobile apps that are connected
with San Francisco. The services that are bundled are aimed at locals and tourists alike.
So, what would
you imagine to be included in a special edition version of Capcom's upcoming pseudo-expansion pack,
Super Street Fighter IV?
Perhaps a FightStick emblazoned with the personas of the game's new characters? That's a pretty
good guess, but the correct answer was, of course, a USB flash drive, a gym bag, a head band, a
Dudley T-shirt and an aluminum water bottle. Sorry! You were so close.
Capcom recently began
taking pre-orders on the "Dojo Edition" of SSFIV, which retails for a crisp $79.99.
Yes, that's double the price of the standalone game -- however, the standalone game won't make you
the envy of all the folks at your local workout center. We think that notoriety would be worth the
extra cash.
So, what would
you imagine to be included in a special edition version of Capcom's upcoming pseudo-expansion pack,
Super Street Fighter IV?
Perhaps a FightStick emblazoned with the personas of the game's new characters? That's a pretty
good guess, but the correct answer was, of course, a USB flash drive, a gym bag, a head band, a
Dudley T-shirt and an aluminum water bottle. Sorry! You were so close.
Capcom recently began
taking pre-orders on the "Dojo Edition" of SSFIV, which retails for a crisp $79.99.
Yes, that's double the price of the standalone game -- however, the standalone game won't make you
the envy of all the folks at your local workout center. We think that notoriety would be worth the
extra cash.
StreamTransport Grabs Hulu Videos for Offline
Viewing (Windows) It may not stick around that long once the powers that be find out, so if downloading and
watching Hulu videos offline could help you out, grab StreamTransport. The tricky little app
provides full-quality captures of streaming shows and movies.
ExtensionFM Is a Very Cool Browser-Based Music
Library, and We've Got Invites (Chrome) Chrome extension ExtensionFM automatically collects MP3s from sites you visit and adds them
to a browser-based library within the extension, allowing you to find all sorts of cool, new
music without cluttering up your local library until you buy them.
NetBalancer Prioritizes Network Traffic by
Application (Windows) Ever wish you could guarantee your BitTorrent download didn't choke your streaming YouTube
video-or vice versa-but don't feel like setting up Quality of Service rules on your
super-router ? NetBalancer shapes bandwidth allocations for different apps on your PC.
Gnome Gmail Tightly Integrates Gmail into Linux
Desktops (GNOME-based Linux) There are work-arounds to set Gmail as a default mail app in Linux, but they don't cover
right-click file sending and complex mail links. Gnome Gmail does a much better job of
integrating Gmail.
MusicBee is a Powerful, Easy-to-Use Music Manager
(Windows) Despite the many great media players out there, MusicBee earns itself a spot high on the
list with super tagging, managing, browsing, ripping, syncing, and converting powers, all on
top of an intuitive interface familiar to any iTunes user.
WeatherBar Integrates Weather Forecasts with the
Windows 7 Superbar (Windows 7) Like to keep the eye on the weather but never been too keen on sidebar gadgets or system
tray apps? WeatherBar is a simple app that puts the weather in your Windows 7 taskbar, offering
quick access to the forecast.
TestDrive Virtualizes Brand-New Ubuntu Builds for Easy
Testing (Ubuntu) Want to try out the latest build of the next Ubuntu release with almost no hassle at all?
TestDrive is a one-shot tool that downloads, virtualizes, and keeps daily Ubuntu builds up to
date.
Etacts Adds Contact Info, Social Networking, and Handy
Statistics to Your Gmail Sidebar (Chrome/Firefox) If you ever thought previously mentioned Xobni looked cool, but you prefer Gmail to
Outlook, free Gmail plug-in Etacts adds many of the same features. You get social information,
conversation history, and advanced sending preferences right in your Gmail sidebars.
LastHistory Graphically Visualizes your Last.fm
History Through Time (Mac) Just when you thought you couldn't possibly need more statistics on your music listening
habits, free Mac app LastHistory comes along and graphically analyzes your Last.fm logs, over
time, while also integrating with other Mac apps like iPhoto and iCal.
StreamTransport Grabs Hulu Videos for Offline
Viewing (Windows) It may not stick around that long once the powers that be find out, so if downloading and
watching Hulu videos offline could help you out, grab StreamTransport. The tricky little app
provides full-quality captures of streaming shows and movies.
ExtensionFM Is a Very Cool Browser-Based Music
Library, and We've Got Invites (Chrome) Chrome extension ExtensionFM automatically collects MP3s from sites you visit and adds them
to a browser-based library within the extension, allowing you to find all sorts of cool, new
music without cluttering up your local library until you buy them.
NetBalancer Prioritizes Network Traffic by
Application (Windows) Ever wish you could guarantee your BitTorrent download didn't choke your streaming YouTube
video-or vice versa-but don't feel like setting up Quality of Service rules on your
super-router ? NetBalancer shapes bandwidth allocations for different apps on your PC.
Gnome Gmail Tightly Integrates Gmail into Linux
Desktops (GNOME-based Linux) There are work-arounds to set Gmail as a default mail app in Linux, but they don't cover
right-click file sending and complex mail links. Gnome Gmail does a much better job of
integrating Gmail.
MusicBee is a Powerful, Easy-to-Use Music Manager
(Windows) Despite the many great media players out there, MusicBee earns itself a spot high on the
list with super tagging, managing, browsing, ripping, syncing, and converting powers, all on
top of an intuitive interface familiar to any iTunes user.
WeatherBar Integrates Weather Forecasts with the
Windows 7 Superbar (Windows 7) Like to keep the eye on the weather but never been too keen on sidebar gadgets or system
tray apps? WeatherBar is a simple app that puts the weather in your Windows 7 taskbar, offering
quick access to the forecast.
TestDrive Virtualizes Brand-New Ubuntu Builds for Easy
Testing (Ubuntu) Want to try out the latest build of the next Ubuntu release with almost no hassle at all?
TestDrive is a one-shot tool that downloads, virtualizes, and keeps daily Ubuntu builds up to
date.
Etacts Adds Contact Info, Social Networking, and Handy
Statistics to Your Gmail Sidebar (Chrome/Firefox) If you ever thought previously mentioned Xobni looked cool, but you prefer Gmail to
Outlook, free Gmail plug-in Etacts adds many of the same features. You get social information,
conversation history, and advanced sending preferences right in your Gmail sidebars.
LastHistory Graphically Visualizes your Last.fm
History Through Time (Mac) Just when you thought you couldn't possibly need more statistics on your music listening
habits, free Mac app LastHistory comes along and graphically analyzes your Last.fm logs, over
time, while also integrating with other Mac apps like iPhoto and iCal.
NVIDIA CUDA 3.0NVIDIA CUDA is a C language development environment for
CUDA-enabled GPUs. The CUDA development environment includes:
nvcc C compiler
CUDA FFT and BLAS libraries for the GPU
Profiler
gdb debugger for the GPU (alpha available in March, 2008)
CUDA runtime driver (now also available in the standard NVIDIA GPU driver)
CUDA programming manual
The CUDA Developer SDK provides examples with source code to help you get started with CUDA.
Examples include:
Parallel bitonic sort
Matrix multiplication
Matrix transpose
Performance profiling using timers
Parallel prefix sum (scan) of large arrays
Image convolution
1D DWT using Haar wavelet
Many more features
WHAT'S NEWVersion 3.0:
Release Highlights
Support for the new Fermi architecture, with:
Native 64-bit GPU support
Multiple Copy Engine support
ECC reporting
Concurrent Kernel Execution
Fermi HW debugging support in cuda-gdb
Fermi HW profiling support for CUDA C and OpenCL in Visual Profiler
C++ Class Inheritance and Template Inheritance support for increased programmer productivity
A new unified interoperability API for Direct3D and OpenGL, with support for:
OpenGL texture interop
Direct3D 11 interop support
CUDA Driver / Runtime Buffer Interoperability, which allows applications using the CUDA
Driver API to also use libraries implemented using the CUDA C Runtime such as CUFFT and CUBLAS.
CUBLAS now supports all BLAS1, 2, and 3 routines including those for single and double
precision complex numbers
Up to 100x performance improvement while debugging applications with cuda-gdb
cuda-gdb hardware debugging support for applications that use the CUDA Driver API
cuda-gdb support for JIT-compiled kernels
New CUDA Memory Checker reports misalignment and out of bounds errors, available as a
stand-alone utility and debugging mode within cuda-gdb
CUDA Toolkit libraries are now versioned, enabling applications to require a specific
version, support multiple versions explicitly, etc.
CUDA C/C++ kernels are now compiled to standard ELF format
Support for device emulation mode has been packaged in a separate version of the CUDA C
Runtime (CUDART), and is deprecated in this release. Now that more sophisticated hardware
debugging tools are available and more are on the way, NVIDIA will be focusing on supporting
these tools instead of the legacy device emulation functionality.
On Windows, use the new Parallel Nsight development environment for Visual Studio, with
integrated GPU debugging and profiling tools (was code-named "Nexus"). Please see www.nvidia.com/nsight for details.
On Linux, use cuda-gdb and cuda-memcheck, and check out the solutions from Allinea and
TotalView that will be available soon.
Support for all the OpenCL features in the latest R195 production driver package:
Double Precision
Graphics Interoperability with OpenCL, Direc3D9, Direct3D10, and Direct3D11 for high
performance visualization
o Query for Compute Capability, so you can target optimizations for GPU architectures
(cl_nv_device_attribute_query)
Ability to control compiler optimization settings via support for pragma unroll in OpenCL
kernels and an extension that allows programmers to set compiler flags.
(cl_nv_compiler_options)
OpenCL Images support, for better/faster image filtering
32-bit global and local atomics for fast, convenient data manipulation
Byte Addressable Stores, for faster video/image processing and compression algorithms
Support for the latest OpenCL spec revision 1.0.48 and latest official Khronos OpenCL
headers as of 2010-02-17
Can a luxury resort ever be green? A new hotel on the Maldivian island of Hadahaa is a true
eco-paradise
With great pride, our "butler" Atheef is describing the utter deliciousness, the supreme
sweetness, the irresistible flavour and vast superiority of the Maldivian mango. When I offer the
Indian mango in comparison, he snorts with derision: the Maldivian variety is clearly in a much
higher league. It's also only available in this island paradise for two months of the year, and
as Atheef speaks I have a flashback to childhood and the giddy excitement of strawberries coming
into season – a delight wholly unknown to my own children, for whom such
exotic delicacies are these days pedestrian staples thanks to the global food market.
The Maldives, however, is not the place to get radical about eating only local, or indeed
seasonal, foodstuffs: these idyllic islands rely on imported produce, and working out how to feed
themselves while striving to become the first carbon-neutral nation on earth is one of the many
conundrums facing the inhabitants of this breathtaking collection of islands. There are 1,190 of
them in all, scattered among some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, and at
two metres above sea level this vacation paradise is one of the most threatened nations on earth.
The most pessimistic estimates suggest that they will be underwater by the beginning of the next
century, a danger their energetic new president, Mohamed Nasheed, is striving to publicise to the
international community – last October the entire cabinet donned scuba gear
and met underwater.
As a result of the very real threat on their doorstep, words like "sustainability", whispered
among a very few of the forward-thinking hotels a decade ago, are now littered generously
throughout their brochures. The bonanza that took place in the 1980s and 90s, turning the area
around the capital, Malé, into a resort metropolis with barely a care for preserving reefs
or local livelihoods, has thankfully all but come to a halt.
If the Maldives are a dot on the world map, the island of Hadahaa is a mere grain in an enormous
oceanic expanse, as far south as you can go without crossing the equator. It lies in the utterly
unspoilt and second largest atoll in the world, Huvadhoo. Until recently the whole area was off
limits to visitors, the result of a government policy that sought to protect its ecosystem but
also discouraged mingling between tourists and the local population, which put many travellers
off these islands because they felt them to be a cultural void.
Since 2007 a small clutch of hotels has been allowed to set up among the native islands under the
strictest environmental supervision, bringing employment and visitors to a region previously
ignored. The contrast between this gloriously underpopulated, development-free atoll and the
frenzy of the resort scene around Malé is extraordinary.
The latest arrivals, such as the one I'm visiting, pay more than lip service to environmental
concerns. At Alila Hadahaa, which opened in August, they have their own desalination plant to
create drinking water, hold a Green Globe Certification for planning and construction, and use
wood certified sustainable from Malaysia. Most commendable of all is the presence of so many
local staff; Maldivians make up 65% of the workforce. For a people in search of a homeland
– as their president has described them – they couldn't be
doing a better job of the audition. Staff such as Atheef – in his roving role
of villa butler – and Shamin (snorkeller, babysitter, football expert and
purveyor of popcorn) are proud of their country, eager to help you to experience more of it and
so good with the kids that I feel surplus to requirements.
For a resort so clearly not imagined with children in mind – from the lavish
luxury of the super-chic rooms to the glass and stone-hewn bathrooms – they
couldn't cater for them better. Chicken curry sans spices, jelly made to order, babysitting on
request and everywhere waiters happy to build "volcano land" in the sand, dive masters who long
to take them snorkelling. I virtually have to wrestle the staff to get the children back for a
couple of hours a day.
Alila's new resort is certainly architecturally adventurous. The two-storey state-of-the-art
restaurant with its Bauhaus severity is slightly wasted on an ageing barefoot boho like myself,
but the luxury beach bungalows and water villas make it a positively elemental experience. Of
course it's an irony that is hard for the arriving tourist to ignore that the popular wooden
water bungalows strung out on stilts above the aquamarine shallows at most resorts could, in the
course of our children's lifetime, be all that's left of this island nation.
FOR THOSE WHO stray as far south as Hadahaa, the reward is a pewter evening ocean with a hazy
shadow of islands on the far horizon, bearing no sign of human habitation. Ears pump with the
complete silence we so rarely get to hear. When I take my four-year-old son snorkelling 5ft off
the beach and find a lionfish swaying in the swell, a couple of Moorish Idols guarding the reef
and as many small yellowtails as I can count, Dan starts to choke on his snorkel in excitement.
To say the ocean is still stocked biblically here would be to underestimate what lies below.
Visiting the local villages is also now actively encouraged, as we discover when we are taken on
an afternoon trip to Gadhdhoo, where hand-weaving straw tablemats and fishing offer the only
alternative employment to the hotel and tourist sector. Despite obvious poverty and very basic
amenities, the village looks like it is auditioning for a Best Kept Town award: no rubbish,
well-tended homes with immaculate front yards and trees adorned with colourful strips of the
Maldivian flag.
Shamin explains that every evening at sunset the women and children take to street cleaning in
order to keep their collective home in good order. If only a similar civic spirit could be
nurtured in the UK. During our amble around town an elderly lady in a headscarf (since 9/11 the
Maldivians, previously relaxed Muslims with a little bit of local magic thrown in, have
increasingly been embracing a stricter Islamic code) stops me to enquire whether Molly and Dan
are my only children. When I reply that they are, she looks at me pityingly before declaring that
she has produced 14. Patting my meagre contribution to the population on their heads, she wanders
off chuckling in amusement at my uselessness as a woman.
This is my fourth trip to the Maldives and the first where I get to meet local people in their
own environment and also to eat their cuisine. Along with western delights that include breakfast
croissants the finest Parisian pastry chef would be proud of, Alila Hadahaa boasts a local
restaurant – sand-floored, trestle-tabled and musically themed
– offering the spiciest of curries, the tastiest of pumpkins, the crunchiest
papaya and chilli salads on poppadoms, and pancakes with caramel bananas or fresh coconut rice
pudding to follow. Where other Maldivian resorts can seem hell bent on ignoring their
surroundings, this one is utterly committed to celebrating them.
On our last night, as the great fiery disc of the sun begins its exhausted slide into the sea, we
spot a pod of dolphins gliding in and out of water thick as oil, feeding on the plentifully
stocked and carefully protected home reef. The children, who have been weaving coconut-frond
tapestries with Shamin, run shrieking toward the ocean, dropping clothes along the powder-white
sand as they race into the sea in pursuit of each other. The dolphins make a hasty exit to open
water, but in their absence a familiar figure steps into the frame: Shamin, waist deep in the
ocean, still in uniform shorts and polo shirt, initiating a game with the kids.
It's my abiding image of our brief sojourn on this entrancing island. Thanks not to the
cutting-edge design of the resort nor the fantastic food but to the seductive charm of the local
staff, the five nights here number among the best vacations of my life.
HOW TO GET THERE... Elegant Resorts (01244 897 515; elegantresorts.co.uk) is offering seven nights at
Alila Villas Hadahaa for the price of five, from £2,280 per adult, £2,070 per child
(based on four sharing), including breakfast, British Airways flights and all transfers.
The Maldives is engaged in an ambitious plan to become the world's first carbon-neutral country.
By 2020 all its power will come from the wind and the sun, plus a biomass plant burning coconut
husks. But the Maldives' biggest industry is tourism, so what about all the carbon emitted by the
flights? There is no magic solution, but the government's plans include offsetting the emissions
of all flights. Several offsetting methods are being examined, including buying "European
emissions permits" which reduce pollution from Europe's factories. Until the scheme is
operational, tourists have to arrange their own offsets. Mariella Frostrup did so with Climate
Care (jpmorgan climatecare.com).
Lunch-hour cosmetic surgery – 45-minute boob jabs, nonsurgical rhinoplasty
– is booming in the UK. But nightmare stories are also on the rise. So are the
treatments safe? We speak to doctors to find out, and take a front-row seat at a no-frills nose
job
Cosmetic surgery is changing. One advancement is the use of twilight surgery, where they send you
only half to sleep. Clinics are alive with dazed facelift patients, who keep their eyes open,
frowning and smiling on demand, who come to after the sedation's worn off, their skin tight but
bruised, able to remember nothing of the knife at all. There are other patients who trip in off
the street for a half-hour boob job under local anaesthetic, and still more who book a session of
Botox in their lunch-breaks. The current excitement, in plastics, is not in the perfection of a
newly sculpted nose but in the speed at which patients can recover, and the market for these
fast, temporary procedures is growing wildly.
The Knightsbridge Laser Clinic is one of many that has recently started promising lunch-hour
transformations, offering laser lipolysis to eliminate fat, the G-spot injection to enhance
sexual stimulation, Macrolane breast injections, nonsurgical rhinoplasty and Botox fillers to
remove wrinkles. A block away from Harrods, I climb their carpeted stairs to the waiting room as
the lunch-time rush subsides. Outside a light rain is falling, and the smell of a wet fur coat,
woody and dead, hangs in the air of the clinic's small landing. Its owner brushes past me,
straight into one of three white and well-lit offices. In a corner room, beside a sheeted bed, I
soon take my seat, an audience of one at a 15-minute nose job.
The patient, a young, elegant woman with jewelled shoes, had rhinoplasty in Harley Street as a
teenager but now wants it still straighter. Her first operation, which cost £8,000 and
required a week in hospital, had left her with a smaller nose, she says, but slightly wonky
nostrils. "You might not notice it," she says apologetically, "but I do."
The doctor, Salinda Johnson, a slight and surgically tweaked woman who studied cosmetic
dermatology in Thailand, warns of the possible side-effects of today's procedure as she applies a
numbing cream to the patient's face. "Soreness, redness, bruising," she chants, "which will
settle down within two weeks and break down completely within a year." Johnson rereads the
patient's notes and holds up a pink-nailed hand. "There is a problem – we
can't do the procedure on a pregnant woman." Her nose glossy with anaesthetising cream, the
patient exchanges hurried words with the doctor, and I look pointedly out of the window. An
unwanted pregnancy. A sense that the risk is welcome. Minutes later, she is gone.
"Don't worry!" the doctor chirps. "We'll show you the procedure on our receptionist!" Diane has
worked at the clinic for four months and, at 23, has already had Botox to fill in a frown line
between her brows. Her nose is small and straight, but she has self-diagnosed
– she feels there's a dent. She asks the doctor if she thinks rhinoplasty's
necessary. "Nothing is necessary," Johnson says, applying the numbing cream. "So can you do my
lips, too?" Diane asks, pouting. Johnson shows me the syringe, prefilled with a mixture of
anaesthetic and Restylane filler, a hyaluronic acid. The needle is long, and she pushes it firmly
into Diane's nose before using both hands to massage the filler into place. The air-conditioning
system screams on, and dies just as quickly – the only sounds are Johnson's
gloves, baggy on her tiny hands, squeaking.
I gather myself. Does it hurt, I ask Diane, who's breathing calmly, her fingers gently worrying
the sleeve of her sweater. "No, I can't feel anything. I can just smell the rubber gloves." Were
you interested in getting cosmetic surgery before coming to work here? "No!" she says, through
the doctor's fingers, her nose changing shape, delicately, before my squinting eyes. "But I see
so many people coming in at lunch time and leaving looking... fresher, and you can't even tell
what they've had done. So I had laser hair removal, which feels like being slapped, and Botox,
which was really nothing, and then I saw that you could make your lips look more defined with
filler, so I've been pestering Salinda to do me."
Dr Johnson wipes around Diane's mouth with a small antiseptic cloth, and warns her that, on a
pain scale, this will hurt a seven. She injects Restylane into the lips, and Diane's eyes flicker
backwards. With her fingers, Johnson pushes the filler into a cupid's bow –
the effect is that of a mother wiping chocolate smears off a child's mouth.
The Harley Medical Group, the UK's largest cosmetic surgery provider, published figures in
January revealing the nonsurgical cosmetic surgery market (which includes the Macrolane boob jab,
an injection that increases your bust size, and Restylane rhinoplasty, the injection that
straightens your nose) saw continued growth in 2009, with dermal fillers and chemical peels
driving the increase by 26% and 306% respectively. Last year also saw a continued rise in the
number of male patients (up 5%), with "Boytox" (male Botox) and "Sweatox" (anti-sweat Botox) both
contributing to the leap.
"Minimally invasive procedures rule today – and this is what consumers, and
especially men, want most," says Wendy Lewis, independent cosmetic surgery consultant and author
of Plastic Makes Perfect. "The benefits for consumers are: subtle improvements over
time; nothing radical; less risky; definitely cheaper than big surgeries; no need for anaesthetic
or going to hospital and catching MRSA; and no scars."
"There are many reasons why day surgery is becoming more and more popular," Dr Johnson tells me
after Diane has floated back to her desk, swollen but smiling. "People who thought they didn't
want to get surgery because they were not brave enough, or not rich enough, are interested in
these temporary and non-expensive procedures – our nonsurgical rhinoplasty
starts at £350. And it's so quick! The talking takes longer than the treatment. We have a
lot of clients who work at Harrods and really do just pop in on their lunch breaks."
The market continues to swell, imperceptibly smoothing the faces of colleagues, relatives, local
hairdressers. A study carried out for the Girl Guides last November found almost half of
secondary school girls said they planned to have plastic surgery. "Girls and young women are
telling us that they are finding it quite hard to accept their appearance, and it is starting at
a much earlier age than we had previously thought," says Nicola Grinstead, a trustee of
Girlguiding UK. "The survey shows girls as young as 11 are dissatisfied with how they look and
are prepared to use surgery to make a change."
All the women I talk to in the clinic's waiting room flicking through OK! magazines
agree that today Botox, and increasingly cosmetic surgery, really is "no big deal". They nod,
eyes wide, and reel off names like a BBC3 news bulletin. Last year Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell,
Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox all gave interviews about their Botox use, while a film critic
compared Nicole Kidman's facial skin to melamine. This month Cheryl Cole was photographed walking
through a London airport with lips like salted slugs, and reality star Heidi Montag, 23,
underwent 10 procedures in one day and ended up looking just like lingerie model Caprice, who is
38.
In a culture that celebrates youth, the appeal of an injection that appears to shave a little
time off your age is clear, especially for the famous and often-photographed. As the demand for
surgery has grown, academics have increasingly discussed the democratisation of beauty. If
everybody could, in the space of a lunch hour, become symmetrical and clear-skinned, would the
power of prettiness be weakened? If we accept that we will be judged on our appearance, is the
fact that we can control it almost liberating?
Two years ago, Observer beauty journalist Alice Hart-Davis was one of the first women in
the country to try the Macrolane breast enhancement jab. "I had never seriously considered having
a proper breast enhancement. I don't feel surgery is something to be undertaken lightly," she
tells me. "But I've always wished there was something I could do to boost my bust just a bit that
didn't involve surgery."
Macrolane, which arrived in the UK in 2008, is a gel filler which is injected into the breast
with a long blunt needle. It increases the bust by one cup size, lasts a year and costs around
£2,000. "The procedure was amazing," says Hart-Davis, "an instant result. I was beyond
thrilled with it." Though clinics advertise boob jabs in their list of lunch-time treatments, and
the injections are over in 10 minutes, she warns: "It's by no means a 'lunch-hour lift' type
procedure; it doesn't take long, but I reacted strongly to the local anaesthetic: it didn't hurt,
but I could hardly speak straight for the rest of the day. And your body and brain go into a kind
of post-traumatic shock after any procedure like this. You need to take it quietly afterwards."
Three months after her injections, one breast deflated – she settled for
stuffing her bra with a sock – and the other went rock hard. Her surgeon broke
up the gel under anaesthetic, then injected more to balance her bra. A few weeks later, she felt
a lump in her right breast. She panicked and returned to the doctor, who reassured her that it
was nothing to worry about – just a lump of hardened gel. "That experience,"
she concludes, "alongside discovering that the research conducted on the product was not half as
extensive as I'd been led to believe, and talking to several surgeons who strongly disapprove of
the procedure, has put me off trying it again."
One such surgeon is Mr Charles Nduka, who runs the not-for-profit patient information website
safercosmeticsurgery.co.uk. "There's so much misleading information being published about
'lunch-time' procedures," he says, "leading, at best, to unrealistic expectations and
disappointment and, at worst, complications. Facial procedures such as Botox may leave localised
swelling, redness and in some cases bruising, even in the best hands. This means that if you
wanted to keep your treatment secret, lunch time may not be the best time.
"A major issue in the UK," he continues, "is that because fillers are classified as medical
devices – the same as implants – rather than drugs, the
regulations about who can administer them are among the most lax in the developed world. The
recently introduced guidance from the Ihas [Independent Healthcare Advisory Services] is a
mockery. It's a system of self-regulation which means that the very practitioners who should be
regulated will not sign up. There have been more than 100 fillers introduced in the UK and in
many cases they were withdrawn due to side-effects. Essentially the UK becomes a testing ground
for new products."
So would he recommend traditional plastic surgery over the lunch-hour treatments? "Few people
have social lives so hectic that they cannot give themselves the luxury of having a treatment in
an unrushed fashion," Mr Nduka says, "without the anxiety that swelling might show."
Dr Mike Cummins, a GP and cosmetic surgeon who, after requests from patients, agreed to carry out
group treatments at Botox parties, agrees that the "lunch-time" label can be misleading, but says
that as doctors' experience of anaesthetics increases, "there continue to be more and more
advantages to daycare procedures, both for the patient and the client. Laser-assisted liposuction
is getting to the point where it's more than reasonable to do it under twilight sedation and
cosmetic surgeons are all working to get the least trauma to tissue under local anaesthetic as
possible."
In Jeanette Winterson's novel The Stone Gods, published in 2008 but set in a futuristic
dystopia, people alter their genes to preserve their youth and get plastic surgery to amplify
what's left. Only the protagonist, Billie, chooses to age naturally, wrinkling slowly among the
smooth foreheads and perky breasts. Winterson worries about the normalisation of cosmetic
surgery. "What really bothers me," she says, "is that women used to be made to believe that their
minds were inadequate, but we were allowed our bodies. Now that we can't be told our minds aren't
up to it, our bodies are paraded as defective. It is the same old control. It is not just an
assault on women – it is a war on feminism."
She emails me later that day. "I find 'lunch-hour surgery' savage and cynical. An insecure woman
is a woman who will pay to feel better about herself. Disguising insecurity and feelings of
inadequacy as empowerment is part of the usual twisted message of consumer advertising, but where
women are concerned the strategy asks us to fund our own oppression. We pay to feel better
instead of asking why we are made to feel defective in the first place... We need to understand
that what is happening to women now is part of a disturbing bigger picture and not just a
question of: 'Does madam fancy a nose job?'"
How does Winterson see society progressing in this era of perfectibility? Does she predict new
lows, new depths? "We'll all get fixed eventually. Parents will do it to their kids. It will
become routine. The Stepford Wives world of the 1950s was made impossible by feminism. We are
heading back that way by another route. Women made in the image of men."
After Diane's 15-minute nose job, I take a walk through Harrods' beauty hall. I feel a little
drunk. I had gone into the clinic expecting gore, or at least tears, but I left shocked only at
the dry eyes, lack of fuss, the ease, the speed and gentle effectiveness. The women in Harrods
testing the perfumes are largely blondes, largely wrinkleless, and largely slim. I see three
people who look like Caprice, but as reflected in varying fairground mirrors. I watch a mother
pick out scented candles for her granddaughter's wedding reception, and admire her shiny still
forehead as she quietly exclaims over jasmine perfumes. I'm suddenly aware, looking discreetly
from face to face, of all the "work" done and all the work yet to be done. It is an awakening of
sorts. A half-awakening, maybe, to an odd new twilight world.
QUICK FIXES The most popular nonsurgical procedures
MACROLANE: BOOB JAB Created by Q-Med, the Swedish company behind the wrinkle-filler Restylane,
Macrolane was launched in Europe as a correctional filler for body indentations. It wasn't until
it was used in Japan in 2004 that it took off as an alternative for breast implants
– by January 2008, when it launched in the UK, about 30,000 Japanese women had
had the boob jab. The procedure, which takes 45 minutes, involves a gel filler made of hyaluronic
acid being pumped into the breast through a flexible knitting needle-sized canula. PRICES from
£1,800
RESTYLANE: NOSE JOB Restylane, a water-based filler, is a synthetic reproduction of hyaluronic
acid, a substance found in living organisms. Until recently its main use has been to plump lips
and fill crow's feet, but the new procedure involves injecting the bridge of the nose to fill in
dents, and the tip, so it appears perkier. Effects wear off within 18 months. PRICES from
£350
BOTOX An injection of Botulinum toxin A (a diluted and purified form of the bacteria which causes
botulism) softens and prevents frown lines. The jab, 22 years old this spring, changed the face
of cosmetic surgery, with celebrities including Simon Cowell admitting to relying on it to look
younger. Each year it is estimated to make its manufacturers around £800m from more than
60,000 injections. PRICES £230 to £390
JUVEDERM: LIP ENHANCEMENT A series of injections of Juvederm filler around the mouth can make the
lips fuller and reshape ageing pouts. Juvederm contains hyaluronic acid which, by attracting
water, plumps up the skin. Results last for up to a year. PRICES from £250
Letter accuses leading Catholics of 'grave errors', but campaigners say it is not enough
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday rebuked Irish bishops for the negligent way they have handled sexual
abuse cases in the Catholic church and issued an unprecedented public apology to the victims of
paeodophile priests.
"You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry," Benedict wrote in a pastoral letter released
yesterday, which will be read at Catholic masses in Ireland. The letter also announced the
setting up of a Vatican investigation team. "Many of you found that, when you were courageous
enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen," he added. He accused bishops in
Ireland of "grave errors of judgment" in their handling of thousands of "sinful and criminal"
cases of abuse spread over decades.
Split into sections, the letter addresses victims, Irish bishops, abusive priests and parents.
"There has never been a letter like this," said the pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi.
The letter does not admit any responsibility on the part of the Vatican in relation to the
scandals, nor does it specify punishments for Irish bishops who covered up for paedophile
priests, moving them from parish to parish.
Following revelations that he swore abuse victims to secrecy in 1975, Cardinal Seán Brady,
the head of the Irish Catholic church, has said he will seek guidance through prayer before
deciding on his future. Benedict has yet to accept the resignations offered by three Irish
bishops. Following the release of the letter, Brady said that all Irish Catholics should reflect
upon it. "I welcome this letter," he said. "I am deeply grateful to the holy father for his
profound kindness and concern."
It is evident from the pastoral letter that Benedict is deeply dismayed by what he refers to as
"sinful and criminal acts and the way the church authorities in Ireland dealt with them".
Lombardi said yesterday there were no pointers to be found on Brady's future in the letter, which
did not have an administrative or disciplinary function. "This is a pastoral letter... That is
not touched on here," he said.
The letter comes as a new tide of sex abuse allegations threatens to engulf the Catholic church.
Benedict himself has come under pressure over the explosion of abuse revelations in his home
country, Germany, following a wave of cases in the US. Maeve Lewis, the Irish director for the
campaign group against child abuse, One in Four, said she was "deeply disappointed" by the
letter. "It falls short of what victims want, since it only tackles failures in the Irish church
and not the failures that go right to the top of the Vatican, such as the 2001 ruling on
secrecy," she said. "The church is still in denial."
Reports on abuse commissioned in Ireland have singled out a letter written by the current pope,
then Cardinal Ratzinger, in 2001 instructing bishops to report all abuse cases to his office at
the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for confidential handling. Vatican
officials have said the measure was designed to prevent cases being covered up at local level,
but Irish bishops reportedly understood the letter to mean they should not report cases to the
police. In yesterday's letter, Benedict urged Ireland's bishops to "continue to co-operate with
civil authorities".
"That could be interpreted as an instruction on mandatory reporting of abuse to the police, and
this is welcome, although it is not clearly stated," said Lewis. "But where the pope goes on to
deal with the proper application of canon law in these cases, it suggests he has no idea that
civil law supersedes canon law, that bishops should abide by civil law like any citizen."
The letter announces that a Vatican investigation, or apostolic visitation, will be carried out
at a "certain diocese" in Ireland, as well as in seminaries and religious congregations. Such
investigations are carried out when the Vatican believes a local church is unable to put its own
house in order.
"A lot of people will be quaking in their boots in Ireland as they wait to see which diocese the
pope means," said one church insider in Ireland.
But Benedict also sympathised with Irish bishops, telling them: "I recognise how difficult it was
to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the
right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice."
Rather than blaming abuse on an oppressive, conservative environment within the Irish Catholic
church, Benedict singles out the creeping influence of liberal, secular society for weakening
resolve against it. "In particular, there was a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid
penal approaches to canonically irregular situations," he writes.
Lewis added: "We are astounded that the pope links the problem to secularisation. It shows a
misunderstanding of the dynamics of sexual violence and suggests there is little hope the church
will ever know how to respond."
Nationwide protests sparked by falling living standards and demanding the prime minister's
resignation have taken Kremlin by surprise
Thousands of people across Russia took to the streets yesterday demanding the resignation of
Vladimir Putin, in the largest show of discontent since he came to power more than a decade ago.
Opposition movements called the nationwide "Day of Wrath" to express growing discontent at
falling living standards following years of oil-fuelled growth. The protests followed weeks of
sustained demonstrations across Russia that have riled a leadership that does not forgive
displays of unrest.
Cries of "Freedom" and "Putin resign" filled the main square in Kaliningrad, where up to 5,000
people gathered in pouring rain. The Baltic territory, which is nestled between Poland and
Lithuania and separated from the Russian mainland, has been the site of some of the largest
protests to date.
"We want the government to start treating us like people, not like slaves," said Kirill, a
22-year-old student. Protesters called for free elections and complained about widespread
corruption, high unemployment and rising prices.
Russia's first major anti-Putin demonstration was held in Kaliningrad on 30 January, drawing
12,000 people and shocking local leaders and the Kremlin. "It really surprised us," said
Konstantin Polyakov, deputy head of the regional parliament, or Duma, and member of the ruling
United Russia party. "We didn't think so many people would turn out, to be honest." The Kremlin
was obviously shaken, dispatching a high-level delegation to the Baltic exclave and firing its
Kaliningrad adviser, Oleg Matveichev.
Saturday's protest had been banned, and opposition leaders withdrew calls for an organised
demonstration, fearing violence. Yet several thousand showed up anyway, organising through the
internet and word of mouth.
"The general public in the regions is beginning to recognise that it is Putin who is actually to
blame for various troubles they have – increased cost of living, communal
tariffs, taxes and no growth in real wages," said Vladimir Milov, a co-leader of Solidarity, an
umbrella opposition movement.
Regional and local elections held on 14 March appear to support that theory. United Russia, the
party created with the sole purpose of supporting Putin's rule – he is
currently prime minister – garnered unprecedentedly low results, losing its
majority in four of eight regions and giving up the mayorship of Irkutsk, Siberia's largest city,
to a Communist candidate who took 62% of the vote.
In Kaliningrad, protesters wore badges criticising United Russia and held aloft mandarins, the
fruit that has come to symbolise the region's unpopular governor, Georgy Boos, a Muscovite
appointed by Putin.
Few, even those in opposition, believe the Putin government will fall. "It will take time," Milov
said. "But just two years ago it would have been impossible to imagine mass demonstrations making
political demands like the resignation of Putin's government."
A poll this month by Russia's Public Opinion Foundation found that 29% of Russians were ready to
take part in protests, up from 21% in February.
More than 1,000 people turned out on Saturday in the port of Vladivostok, where discontent has
steadily grown since the government imposed a tax on imported cars. About 500 people rallied in
Irkutsk and St Petersburg. Riot police broke up an unsanctioned rally in Moscow violently and
arrested 50 activists. Authorities also shut down a website set up for the "Day of Wrath",
www.20marta.ru, and in the northern city of Arkhangelsk an opposition leader was arrested and
charged with theft.
In Kaliningrad, on the border with the European Union and far from the seat of power, the police
presence was minimal, although agents in plain clothes roamed through the crowd.
"Our population is different from Russia," said Polyakov, sitting in his office adorned with
photos of Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, in what is, technically, Russia. "Our people,
especially the youth, travel more to Europe than to Russia. There's no reason to go there."
In an implicit criticism of Moscow politics, he added: "We're more European –
more relaxed, less eastern. And we're more democratic." Despite the protesters' rhetoric,
Polyakov argued that Putin's popularity in the region remains high. His wife, Lyudmila, was born
here and visits regularly.
But local authorities, acting in concert with Moscow, reacted with unusual harshness to
Kaliningrad's wave of protests. They banned a rally in the city centre, saying protesters could
gather in a stadium on the outskirts instead.
In an ironic twist, the government has been forced to give in to opponents of liberal market
reforms. Following the Kaliningrad protest, it has promised to slow the post-Soviet
desubsidisation of utilities like heat and water. That will only widen a budget deficit expected
to exceed 6% of GDP this year.
"The leadership is scared," said Solomon Ginzburg, an independent deputy in the regional Duma. "I
have been saying the Kaliningrad region is an indicator – in nine months, it
will be all over Russia."
It’s almost a cliché that great Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
don’t go sit on a beach when they make a lot of money, they get back to work building
another company or at least investing in other people’s companies. But what did eBay
founder Pierre Omidyar do? Moved to Honolulu where he can be found sitting on beaches.
But don’t let the top line narrative fool you, Omidyar hasn’t just been looking at
sunsets all these years. He’s been busy making good on his commitment to give away some 99% of his
multi-billion dollar fortune and lately has been launching Peer News, a new kind
of online news service that won’t have reporters or articles in the classic sense, nor will
it allow anonymous comments or make money off advertising. He’s definitely got at least the
media world captivated once again.
eBay, philanthropy and now a local Hawaiian news site may seem like wildly disparate ventures for
the same man to take, but as Omidyar explains in the video below they’re all connected by
the ideas of platform and community—two words that have also underlined much
of the Web 2.0 movement.
Just like eBay was a platform that gave people everywhere the opportunity to build out a business
and change their economic reality, so too does the Omidyar Network seek to give passionate,
would-be entrepreneurs an opportunity to change their world and their reality. As Omidyar puts
it, he doesn’t have a “cause;” he gets excited about other people’s
causes. Similarly at eBay he wasn’t a collector, but he loved hearing about other
people’s collections.
On community, eBay was one of the first places that pioneered trust online through its reputation
and feedback systems. Omidyar is hoping to bring that same kind of trust and fair-dealing to the
local news world with Peer News—which is the reason anonymous commenters will
not be welcome.
Omidyar talks about all of this and more in the video below, shot in his office in Honolulu. I
started out by asking him about that great founders myth that he started eBay so his wife could
trade Pez dispensers. (The one people claimed years later was just a good pitch for reporters.)
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable
regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small
business.
For local small businesses, Yelp isn’t
just an option — it’s a necessity. People in urban centers use it to
choose where to go to dinner, where to buy clothes, and where to be entertained. Users decide
where and how to spend their money using Yelp, so if your business is local, you need to curate
your Yelp page.
If your business has been around long, you probably already have a page; you’re just not
holding the reins yet. You’ll want to step in and take control of it as soon as possible,
because using it correctly can bring you new business and prevent any negative word of mouth from
hindering your growth and success.
Claiming or creating your Yelp business page
is easy; just fill out a couple of online forms and answer a quick, automated phone call. It
takes less than five minutes. Once you’re signed up, you’ll have access to tools that
will help you engage your customers and spread the word about what you’re offering to the
community. Here are a few basic tips for successfully leveraging the tools Yelp offers you for
the benefit of your local business.
1. Fill Out Your Business Info Completely
Customers refer to Yelp business pages to learn about a business before going out to visit in
person. If the information on the Yelp page is incomplete, they’re likely to move on to a
competitor that provides more details simply because they’ll better know what to expect and
are less likely to be surprised, be disappointed or have their time wasted.
The administration page for business owners offers a slew of fields and choices for sharing
information to make it easy for users to know exactly what to expect. If you provide the
information they’re looking for, they’re more likely to become reliable, paying
customers. So fill out as much information as you can, and keep it up to date.
2. Respond Constructively to Customer Reviews
Last Spring, Yelp gave business owners the ability to respond to negative reviews, either to
privately make apologies to reviewers or publicly correct misinformation. Don’t skimp on
using this feature because you’re afraid of making things worse; it can turn a bad
situation around. Dissatisfied customers will often give you a second look if you communicate to
them that you value their input and are making changes to improve your business.
Yelp allows you to share special offers and announcements not just with the people who visit your
page, but with members of the larger community who might not even know about your business. When
you create an offer or announcement on Yelp, it appears in the offers and announcements directory
for your city. People who have never heard of your business will see them there. They’ll
even find you in search results.
The more of these offers and announcements you make, the more likely it will be that Yelp users
will discover your business, so come up with creative ways to draw people in, then share the
news.
4. Display Yelp Badges on Your Website or Blog
Yelp provides badges that you can embed on your business’s website or blog that show that
you’re on Yelp and engaged with your community. They’ll even tell visitors how many
positive reviews you’ve had.
These badges give potential customers the impression that you have existing satisfied customers
vouching for you, so they’ll be more likely to trust you with their business. The badges
also act as links between your Yelp page and your other online outreach efforts. People can click
a badge to read reviews or get more information. If a satisfied customer visits your site or
blog, the badge might lead that person to leave his or her own positive review.
Is Advertising on Yelp Worth it?
You may also choose to advertise on Yelp. It costs between $300 and $1,000 per month
— it’s kind of like a premium account — but
there’s a chance that you’ll increase your exposure if you opt in, because
you’ll appear at the top of the list when users perform a search related to your business.
There are a few other benefits as well. For example, you’ll be able to feature one good
review of your choosing at the top of the list on your business page. You still can’t edit,
move or delete other reviews, though.
It’s difficult to measure exactly how much these premium benefits will help you; it depends
on a number of factors unique to your business and your city.
Attention baseball fans, the date that is no doubt etched
in your brain — the start of the 2010 Major League Baseball Season — is fast
approaching. To get you ready for April 4 (when the Boston Red Sox will take on the reigning
World Series champion New York Yankees at Fenway Park) we’re pitching you five handpicked
iPhone apps that will hit a home run with baseball fans.
If you are partial to America’s national sport — and let’s face it, it’s
almost unpatriotic not to be — then these apps are an absolute must for your iPhone or iPod
touch. However, in case we’ve struck out and missed any of your faves, then do let us know
in the comments below.
Although criticized for its $15 price tag, MLB’s official iPhone app is a great all-rounder
for fans, and an even better option for fans that have a paid-up for MLB.TV because, with
portable access to your MLB.TV account, you can watch live streaming games on the go. As with
last season’s offering, anyone can use the app to listen live to games, as well as get a
virtual idea of what’s happening at the park with MLB’s blow-by-blow Gameday updates.
The app also offers scores and stats, as well as some in-game highlights and a video library
that’s searchable by both player and team. If you really can’t stretch to that $15,
then a free “lite” version (MLB.com At Bat Lite) offers real-time MLB scores,
schedules, news and standings — but no audio or video — that will keep you informed
through to the end of 2010 World Series.
If you’re the type of fan that can rattle off ground ball to fly ball ratios and stolen
base percentages like Rain Man reciting phone numbers, then quite simply you will love this app.
Claiming to offer the most detailed player statistics available on an iPhone app, FanGraphs will
let you look back and analyze every major player in baseball history, as well as look forward
with live win probability graphs based on game data for the 2010 season.
Favorite players can be tracked with full, live box scores that link through to past stats, every
play can be analyzed to see how it impacts the game, and there’s even up-to-date advanced
fielding metrics via FanGraph’s “Ultimate Zone Ratings.”
It could be argued that the stadium is as much a character in baseball as the opposing teams or
the crowd. A celebration of the nation’s ballparks is offered in one neat little app
— Ballpark Envi — spanning baseball’s geography as well as its history from
Shibe Park to the new Yankee Stadium. Browsable by team, or by American and National League,
every current Major League baseball stadium is detailed with stadium pics and slide shows,
seating charts (super useful for booking tickets) as well as the ability to see the park’s
location on a map.
Whether you want to glimpse Dodger Stadium’s wavy roofs on the outfield pavilions or the
orange foul poles of the Mets’ new Citi Field this app will give you an insider glimpse of
America’s amazing ballparks with all their quirks and characteristics.
If you consider a baseball scorebook will set you back $5 at the absolute minimum (and more if
you buy it at the park) then the $10 price tag for this app does not seem quite so steep. There
are a dearth of 99 cent alternatives available in the App Store, but for looks and an intuitive
interface (the app works on an “interview” premise asking you for all the data it
needs to build a complete picture of the game) the iScore Baseball Scorekeeper is the champ.
As well as appealing to those hardcore fans that like to sit and score every game, this is also a
good option for those new to baseball scorekeeping – you don’t have to learn all the
abbreviations and symbols and iScore offers a full set of tutorial
videos to get you using the app like a pro.
If you want to keep your favorite Major League Baseball team in your pocket then FanMisery.com
offers an Index App for each and every MLB team. Working on the basis that being a fan is in fact
misery (the agony of defeat and all that jazz) the apps make sure you are kept as absolutely
up-to-date as possible with a comprehensive set of stats, opinions and news drawn from national
and local papers, broadcast media and blogs.
One nice touch is that if a blog or news source you follow isn’t currently included in the
indexing, the developer (Discover Motion) will add it in for you on request — just the kind
of helpful option that warms the cockles of an iPhone owner’s heart.
A website that sorts everyday the most relevant information to you.
Vote for the news and Matoumba will learn your tastes and the information that you like the most.
It is all FREE!
Find here the history of the stories you found interesting.
Show this to people who share the same interests as you,
and if they use Matoumba, their own votes will fine recommandations to you.
BRUXELLES Au moins dix civils ont été
tués dimanche et neuf personnes blessées dans un attentat suicide visant un convoi de
l'armée dans le sud de l'Afghanistan, a annoncé un responsable local."L'explosion
d'un engin motorisé à trois roues visant un convoi ...
Three
continents, three more milestone announcements for 3D. First up is 
Au moins dix civils ont été
tués dimanche et neuf personnes blessées dans un attentat suicide visant un convoi de
l'armée dans le sud de l'Afghanistan, a annoncé un responsable local.
Il organisera, mettra à disposition et diffusera,
spécialement sous forme numérique, l'énorme documentation consécutive
à 30 ans de recherches et d'actions militantes, en particulier du CREIS-Terminal.
Les Français désignent
dimanche leurs conseils régionaux et les bureaux de vote ont ouvert leurs portes à
8H00 pour le second tour de ce scrutin local, dernier grand rendez-vous électoral avant la
présidentielle de 2012.Photos: Les élections régionales en FranceLa campagne
terminée, droite et gauche pensent à l'après"La fin du sarkozysme flamboyant"
L'effet Twitter lors des électionsSilence en ligne dès 18 heures
Attention baseball fans, the date that is no doubt etched
in your brain — the start of the 2010 Major League Baseball Season — is fast
approaching. To get you ready for April 4 (when the Boston Red Sox will take on the reigning
World Series champion New York Yankees at Fenway Park) we’re pitching you five handpicked
iPhone apps that will hit a home run with baseball fans.
Recommandations
)
and reject those that you are not interested in
(
)
