Chip over at GP32x posted a Pandora Update for those thirsty for some news:
It's been two weeks since the last big update. I've been working on this new one for a while now, so don't think all the activity on the board lately has made this happen any faster than it would have. Squeaky wheels do not always get the grease.

Banking issues
As you may have noticed, the refund and reorder plan has not gone as smoothly as originally anticipated. The short version, which I have been given permission to relate to you now, is thus: Our bank, for reasons of its own, decided not to honor the bulk of credit card orders placed for Pandoras. They insisted that we refund them. As we have been filing refunds, they have (again, for reasons of their own) been incredibly reluctant to process them.

We are doing everything in our power to get this resolved as quickly as possible. All UK and European orders have now been processed and refunds for North America and the rest of the world are continuing. Everybody who placed an order is still secure in their place in line, and your money is still secure in our bank until such time as it is returned to your bank. You are at no risk of anything except waiting. The project as a whole is at no financial risk.

The good news is that none of this affects production. These banking problems are causing no end of headaches for Craig and his office staff, but they have not put Openpandora in any financial trouble. All parts have been ordered and the factory is getting everything together.


Manufacturing
MWeston has just posted a very informative update pertaining to the manufacturing process. As you can see, we are gearing up for production despite the ordering kerfuffle.

At this time, we have 20 very nearly finished Pandoras on hand. By "very nearly", I mean we still only have FDM cases, and they are still waiting for the final keypad / control membrane. Once the membranes are sorted out, we will have plenty of pictures (and probably video) of these units for you. These are obviously still test units. Some have the old 128MB RAM part, some have the new 256MB part. All will be tested extensively and then passed on to software devs. Everything in these units is 100% finalized (except the cases, and the units with 128MB RAM, obviously). There will not be any more board revisions, aside from maybe a new battery connection.

We still only have approximately 400 LCD panels on hand right now (more on the way), but as MWeston said, we're doing small batches to start out. The batch sizes will probably be something like 400, 800, 1000, 1000+. We would like to hold on to this first finished batch of 400 for a bit for extensive testing. Once the manufacturing process has been perfected and we have all the LCD panels, the factory can spit out the rest of the order in less than a month.


Other News
As many of you already know, I have officially been brought into the Pandora project as sort of public relations liaison. I am not "employed" by Openpandora, I am only helping out on a voluntary basis. This means that I have better access to more accurate (direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak) information. I will be relaying these updates the same way I always have - via stickies in this forum. I may occasionally post news or blog updates to openpandora.org as well, but that is more an outlet for the actual developers. They post milestones there. Here is where I post the minor day-to-day and week-to-week stuff for which everybody has been clamoring.

In addition to better access to information, my position with Openpandora might lead to some other perks, like videos, interviews, photos and more. There is also a chance I might get one of the very early Pandoras for demonstration purposes. Not one of the 20 we have now (those will be more useful in the hands of software devs), but one of the first final units to come off the assembly line. Possibly before testing and before anything else ships. This means I might be able to post extensive photo and video documentation of the device, weeks before they start shipping. Nothing is carved in stone, just something we're batting around.


That is pretty much the state of everything right now. As things change, I'll keep you updated.

img src="http://www.expressen.se/polopoly_fs/1.1378275!slot100slotWide75ArticleFull/3447786819.jpg" width="420" height="231" alt="" /br/ HÃ¥ll i plÃ¥nboken i julhandeln. Polis över hela landet varnar nu för ficktjuvar och kortbedragare - organiserade i internationella ligor. - Naturligtvis finns det en risk att bli bestulen, säger Dag Klackenberg, vd för Svensk Handel.img src="http://server-dk.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/imodecount?url=http://www.expressen.se/RSS;cid=se_expressen-se_0"/

The future of war is filled with poison gas, germ warfare and nuclear weapons. Each technological change shapes the risk calculations of our primate brains.br style="clear: both;"/ a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:413c653f2e9c72db9c390910a09c96cc:vhkhAUTIx%2FlHPdA21xoN5XcygLmviGVVKKMFMV73n3I2S8iwiRStGRoUN03NuoWXEPD%2FyzqA%2BgaMJA%3D%3D'img border='0' title='Add to Facebook' alt='Add to Facebook' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/facebook.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:ef48133350f33435e1727adf872f1849:PXWTX6YM5sMreM%2FOdxnHYAy1q4XnFbHYWQPYl50IOago3gsYQmLMduPdjjGqcRcPdmNeo8zc3s79'img border='0' title='Add to Reddit' alt='Add to Reddit' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e9bf2cbf05b47e18040e671f1b8364f7:KmXEbD7jwHtrJnwW9Cu7mivCX50Ujvjsy5TGh7pxEGvLSMefi521It%2FsYR3RwnCNSYYnrAN0ZAvH'img border='0' title='Add to digg' alt='Add to digg' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif'//a a style='font-size: 10px; color: maroon;' href='http://www.pheedo.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:09de013c80af233ab8ce29a7060f4bea:rEpnOBOIWjOpNjXRedao8cH9DPfTFZ1f0BjoszO6CRN6jIqE6YkCeVWYmjxzbLIcc%2FTHuzZusUDR'img border='0' title='Add to Google' alt='Add to Google' src='http://www.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png'//a br style="clear: both;"/ a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=d875a793513f4170725170591dff10cep=1"img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=d875a793513f4170725170591dff10cep=1"//a img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=d875a793513f4170725170591dff10ce" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/ pa href="http://feeds.wired.com/~a/wired/index?a=FqfREA"img src="http://feeds.wired.com/~a/wired/index?i=FqfREA" border="0"/img/a/pimg src="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~4/461518052" height="1" width="1"/

Excessive drinking by children is causing a health time bomb, with record levels of liver disease in the under-30s, a charity warns.

Tried to post to the old retired thread, but anyways, needed to start a new one. So here it goes...

Someone was asking about turn based games. I wanted to add one to the list. Since this is a new list, I guess I will start it with one entry. :)

Free flash based raw turn-based war game site:
http://www.battleforces.com

Pretty cool rule set. More for the Risk, A&A and Diplomacy crowd. The 10 player games are fun. The site is still new and needs to grow. The simultaineous turns make it much more fun than Risk.

Its definitely game first then candy, but really enjoyable. Music’s cool.

iCancer, Vol. 103, No. 8. (2005), pp. 1540-1550./ibr /br /African-American women have had a lower incidence, yet higher mortality rate from breast cancer compared with White-American women. African-American women also have had a higher risk for early-onset, high-grade, node-positive, and hormone receptor-negative disease. Similar features have characterized hereditary breast cancer, prompting speculation that risk factors could be genetically transmitted. Further evaluation of this theory required the study of breast cancer among women from sub-Saharan Africa because of their shared ancestry with African-American women.Publications from 1988 to 2004 of English-language literature on breast cancer in Africa were reviewed.Women from sub-Saharan Africa were found to have a low incidence of breast cancer. This was partly explained by a largely protective reproductive history, including late menarche, early menopause, high parity with prolonged breastfeeding, irregular menses, and fewer ovulatory cycles. The average age at diagnosis, however, was approximately 10 years younger than breast cancer patients of western nations, and disease stage distribution was shifted toward more advanced disease, which resulted in higher mortality rates. These features were found to be similar to data on breast cancer in African-American women. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been reported in African-American women, but the extent of the contribution of BRCA1 and BRCA2 to breast cancer burden in Africa was uncertain. Limited financial resources lead to suboptimal cancer data collection, as well as delayed diagnosis and treatment of many African breast cancer patients.Parallels between breast cancer burdens of African-American and sub-Saharan-African women were provocative, indicating the need for further exploration of possible genetically transmitted features related to estrogen metabolism and/or breast cancer risk. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.

h4Obama's website, Mountain View javascript/h4 pstrongAnalysis/strong Judging from some of the a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/20/barack_obama_website_insecurity/comments/"comments/a responding to our story about a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/20/barack_obama_website_insecurity/"security sloppiness/a on Barack Obama's website, it's clear a discussion about the risks of third-party javascript is in order. Contrary to what many commentators believe, widgets used by Google Analytics and similar services ido/i represent a threat, especially if you're a high-profile target..../p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/72887?ns=guardianpageName=Business%3A+30%2C000+jobs+at+risk+as+Woolworths+teeters+on+the+brinkch=Businessc3=The+Guardianc4=Woolworths+%28Business%29%2CRetail+industry+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CRedundancy%2CPolitics%2CUK+newsc5=Personal+Finance%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Marketsc6=Julia+Finchc7=2008_11_22c8=1122275c9=articlec10=GUc11=Businessc12=Woolworthsc13=c14=h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FWoolworths" width="1" height="1" //divpMore than 30,000 retail jobs were at risk last night as Woolworths fought to avoid collapse and the fashion discount chain MK One crashed into administration for the second time in a year./ppWoolworths' future was hanging in the balance after its bankers objected to a management rescue plan to sell the loss-making 800-store chain to Hilco, which specialises in restructuring distressed companies./ppThe 99-year old retailer, which is a mainstay of town and city centres across the country, is now in last-ditch talks with its lenders in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy. But a source close to the negotiations said the talks had reached "an impasse" and "are not looking good"./ppSome 25,000 staff work in Woolworths stores and another 5,000 for two other businesses in the Woolworths group: EUK and 2entertain. The group also has 10,000 pensioners and pension fund members./ppEUK distributes DVDs, CDs and books to major supermarkets including Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons and if the distributor is forced into administration alongside the Woolworths stores it could threaten the supermarkets' supplies in the vital Christmas shopping weeks./pp2entertain is a joint venture with the BBC which produces and distributes BBC programmes on DVD and has had big successes with shows such as Little Britain and Top Gear./ppMK One, which operates 125 stores aimed at young women and teenagers, has 1,400 staff jobs at risk./ppThe latest potential job losses come amid vast cutbacks in the retail industry, which is slashing staff costs by reducing workers' hours. Argos, for instance, has cut workers' hours by 20%. The specialist magazine Retail Week yesterday reported that across the high street such cutbacks now equal 100,000 full time jobs vanishing in the last year. The retail sector employs 10% of the UK workforce./ppThe stock market fell sharply again yesterday as investors worried about the effects of a recession on the corporate sector. Leading UK shares suffered their third worst week on record with the FTSE 100 slipping to 3,780, its lowest level since April 2003./ppWoolworths has been battered by other retailers for years, but in recent weeks it has also been squeezed by the economic downturn and the impact of credit insurers - who protect suppliers from non-payment of invoices in the event of a retailer going bust - withdrawing cover to Woolworths' suppliers. That has left the chain having to pay suppliers on delivery - or have empty shelves./ppWoolworths bosses have tried to sell the chain for a year in order to protect the other two businesses, but without success. A possible offer from Iceland supermarket boss Malcolm Walker in the summer fell apart when Baugur, the Icelandic investor backing his approach, ran into its own, credit crunch-related, problems./ppEarlier this week Woolworths confirmed it might sell the stores, which are all leasehold, to Hilco. The US-owned group would have also taken on pound;265m of Woolworths' pound;380m of debts. Woolworths wanted the other pound;115m of debt to be transferred to EUK and 2entertain, which last year made profits of more than pound;40m before interest and tax./ppIn normal banking circumstances, such an arrangement would be commonplace, but a source familiar with the situation said: "The banks just won't let it happen. They seem to want to put the whole lot into administration to get all their money back immediately. The banks have the whip hand here."/ppWoolworths has a range of lenders, and many have been hit hard by the credit crunch. Its lead lenders are GMAC, of the US which is applying to the American bank bail-out fund for support, and Burdale, part of the deeply troubled Bank of Ireland, which yesterday said it had received a takeover approach./ppWoolworths' other lenders include Barclays, which is raising pound;7bn from Middle East investors, the American bank Wachovia, which has just been taken over, and GE, which has had two profits warnings this year./ppA spokesman for Burdale, one of the lead lenders, refused to comment on the discussions with Woolworths./ppThe crisis at Woolworths and MK One will increase fears that other ailing retail chains could collapse in the coming weeks. Casualties - and a fresh round of job losses - had been expected in the new year, when the Christmas winners and losers emerge. But lenders and suppliers had been thought unlikely to force stores into bankruptcy in the run-up to Christmas, when they should be raking in cash. Woolworths, for instance, normally makes 90% of its profits in the six weeks before Christmas. However, in the first six months of this year it crashed pound;100m in the red./ppWoolworths shares closed last night at just 1.43p, down 32%, valuing the entire business at just pound;25m - equal to about three days' sales./ph2strongJob cuts this week/strong/h2pstrongMonday/strongbr /Citigroup, London strong2,400/strongbr /Avis, Hayes, Middlesex strong100/strongbr /Hoover, Merthyr Tydfil strong337/strong/ppstrongTuesday/strongbr /Wolseley, nationwide strong2,000 /strongbr /National Express, East Anglia strong200/strongbr /PSL Energy Services, Aberdeen strong50/strong/ppstrongWednesday/strongbr /SIG, nationwide strong900/strongbr /Fidelity International, London strong300/strongbr /Deutsche Bank, London strong450/strong/ppstrongThursday/strongbr /Rolls-Royce, Derby strong140/strongbr /AstraZeneca, Macclesfield strong250/strongbr /BAE Systems, nationwide strong200/strongbr /Daily Mail and General Trust strong400/strongbr /Tughans, Northern Ireland strong20/strong/ppTotal strong7,747/strong/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/woolworths"Woolworths/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/retail"Retail industry/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/redundancy"Redundancy/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Businesscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660246112201400459684"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Businesscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660246112201400459684" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/28646?ns=guardianpageName=Environment%3A+Rich+countries+launch+great+land+grab+to+safeguard+food+supplych=Environmentc3=The+Guardianc4=Food+%28Environment%29%2CBiofuels+%28Environment%29%2CConservation+%28Environment%29%2CEndangered+habitats+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment%2CWorld+news%2CFood+and+drink+industry+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CAgriculture+%28Science%29%2CKorea+%28News%29%2CSciencec5=Environment+Conservation%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEnergy%2CEthical+Living%2CFood+and+Drinkc6=Julian+Borgerc7=2008_11_22c8=1122193c9=articlec10=GUc11=Environmentc12=Foodc13=c14=h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FFood" width="1" height="1" //divpRich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies./ppThe head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of "neo-colonialism", with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people./ppRising food prices have already set off a second "scramble for Africa". This week, the South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics announced plans to buy a 99-year lease on a million hectares in Madagascar. Its aim is to grow 5m tonnes of corn a year by 2023, and produce palm oil from a further lease of 120,000 hectares (296,000 acres), relying on a largely South African workforce. Production would be mainly earmarked for South Korea, which wants to lessen dependence on imports./pp"These deals can be purely commercial ventures on one level, but sitting behind it is often a food security imperative backed by a government," said Carl Atkin, a consultant at Bidwells Agribusiness, a Cambridge firm helping to arrange some of the big international land deals./ppMadagascar's government said that an environmental impact assessment would have to be carried out before the Daewoo deal could be approved, but it welcomed the investment. The massive lease is the largest so far in an accelerating number of land deals that have been arranged since the surge in food prices late last year. /pp"In the context of arable land sales, this is unprecedented," Atkin said. "We're used to seeing 100,000-hectare sales. This is more than 10 times as much."/ppAt a food security summit in Rome, in June, there was agreement to channel more investment and development aid to African farmers to help them respond to higher prices by producing more. But governments and corporations in some cash-rich but land-poor states, mostly in the Middle East, have opted not to wait for world markets to respond and are trying to guarantee their own long-term access to food by buying up land in poorer countries./ppAccording to diplomats, the Saudi Binladin Group is planning an investment in Indonesia to grow basmati rice, while tens of thousands of hectares in Pakistan have been sold to Abu Dhabi investors. /ppArab investors, including the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, have also bought direct stakes in Sudanese agriculture. The president of the UEA, Khalifa bin Zayed, has said his country was considering large-scale agricultural projects in Kazakhstan to ensure a stable food supply. /ppEven China, which has plenty of land but is now getting short of water as it pursues breakneck industrialisation, has begun to explore land deals in south-east Asia. Laos, meanwhile, has signed away between 2m-3m hectares, or 15% of its viable farmland. Libya has secured 250,000 hectares of Ukrainian farmland, and Egypt is believed to want similar access. Kuwait and Qatar have been chasing deals for prime tracts of Cambodia rice fields./ppEager buyers generally have been welcomed by sellers in developing world governments desperate for capital in a recession. Madagascar's land reform minister said revenue would go to infrastructure and development in flood-prone areas. /ppSudan is trying to attract investors for almost 900,000 hectares of its land, and the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has been courting would-be Saudi investors. /pp"If this was a negotiation between equals, it could be a good thing. It could bring investment, stable prices and predictability to the market," said Duncan Green, Oxfam's head of research. "But the problem is, [in] this scramble for soil I don't see any place for the small farmers." /ppAlex Evans, at the Centre on International Cooperation, at New York University, said: "The small farmers are losing out already. People without solid title are likely to be turfed off the land."/ppDetails of land deals have been kept secret so it is unknown whether they have built-in safeguards for local populations./ppSteve Wiggins, a rural development expert at the Overseas Development Institute, said: "There are very few economies of scale in most agriculture above the level of family farm because managing [the] labour is extremely difficult." Investors might also have to contend with hostility. "If I was a political-risk adviser to [investors] I'd say 'you are taking a very big risk'. Land is an extremely sensitive thing. This could go horribly wrong if you don't learn the lessons of history."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/food"Food/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/biofuels"Biofuels/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/"Conservation/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/endangeredhabitats"Endangered habitats/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/fooddrinks"Food drink industry/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/agriculture"Agriculture/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/korea"North and South Korea/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Environmentcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660228112201400459684"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Environmentcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660228112201400459684" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/17412?ns=guardianpageName=Environment%3A+Concerns+over+rising+power+of+Russian+energy+firms+as+Lukoil+targets+Spanish+oil+groupch=Environmentc3=The+Guardianc4=Energy+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment%2CBusiness%2CRussia+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CEnergy%2CEthical+Livingc6=Giles+Tremlettc7=2008_11_22c8=1122201c9=articlec10=GUc11=Environmentc12=Energyc13=c14=h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FEnergy" width="1" height="1" //divpRussia's mighty energy companies seemed to be increasing their influence yesterday as Lukoil negotiated to take up to a 30% stake in the Spanish group Repsol, one of the world's top 10 private oil companies. /ppLukoil has appeared as the most probable buyer of shares held by the troubled construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso and the Spanish savings bank La Caixa. The holdings are valued at more than $6bn (pound;4bn)./ppThe two companies jointly control 34% of Repsol's stock. La Caixa confirmed yesterday that it was in talks with Lukoil, though it was thought to be interested in selling only about half of its 14% stake./ppLukoil was reportedly also negotiating to take the 20% stake that the heavily indebted Sacyr has put up for sale, while a third Spanish shareholder, Mutua Madrilentilde;a, was said to be ready to add its 2% holding to the potential sale./ppLa Caixa said yesterday that a sale would depend on Sacyr's willingness and on the financing. Repsol confirmed that it was aware of talks but did not comment further. Sacyr, which put its shares up for sale in September, did not comment./ppA sell-off appears to have the approval of Spain's Socialist government, despite growing worries in Europe over Russia's control of its energy supplies./ppMaria Teresa Fernaacute;ndez de la Vega , the deputy prime minister, said the government wanted Repsol to remain a company that was "managed by Spaniards ... and guarantees supplies"./ppThe prime minister, Joseacute; Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, had already pointed out on Thursday, when rumours of sale began to circulate, that Lukoil was a private company with international shareholders. Lukoil is 20% owned by the US oil company ConocoPhillips./ppThe reaction contrasted with the Spanish government's opposition to attempts by Germany's E.ON to take over the Endesa power company in 2006./ppThe sale talks came just a week after Europe stepped up attempts to reduce the risk of Russian blackmail over energy supplies with a new strategy from the European commission to weaken the control of the state-owned Russian energy company Gazprom on gas imports./pp"The EU wants different sources of supply," Joseacute; Manuel Barroso, the European commission president, said as he explained plans to open up a new southern gas corridor that bypassed Russia. "We must not sleepwalk into Europe's energy dependence crisis."/ppLukoil would be able to take advantage not only of the falling price of Repsol but also of the state of the sellers, both of whom are exposed to Spain's crumbling property market. Sacyr Vallehermoso has debts of euro;16.5bn (pound;13.8bn) - more than five times its market value./ppAlexander Zhukov, Russia's deputy prime minister, provoked a row when he visited Madrid last week and said that Gazprom was interested in buying Sacyr's 20% stake in Repsol, which was formerly a Spanish state-owned company. The Spanish government made it clear that it would oppose that sale./ppShares in Sacyr, Repsol and Criteria, La Caixa's holding company, all moved higher on the news of the talks yesterday./ppAnalysts said Lukoil might have trouble financing the deal, especially if the price reached higher estimates of about $10bn. "In our view, Lukoil cannot afford to pay anywhere close to $10bn on its own," ING analyst Igor Kurinnyy said./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/energy"Energy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia"Russia/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Environmentcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660422112201400459684"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Environmentcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227317660422112201400459684" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

Overbearing health and safety regulations are hampering the ability of the National Trust to encourage more people to venture outdoors for walking or to visit country houses.

We teamed up with I Set My Friends on Fire to make a hardcore music video about sex ed. GET SEX ED MERCH: http://smosh.com/merch Watch this video in high quality at http://smosh.com Link to buy I Set My Friends on Fire's new album on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=291883436&s=143441 http://smosh.com http://myspace.com/smosh http://myspace.com/isetmyfriendsonfire LYRICS: There comes a time in every mans life when he grows hair where it used to be bare I know you're feeling weird, but you should be happy You don't have a vagina, that would be crappy Because periods suck (and commas rule!) This is Sex Education, not grammar, fool! Chorus: When she gives you affection, you better wear protection That skank might have an infection, are you paying close attention? In Sex Ed, remember what you read Just forget what the others have said get it through your head, use your brain before you go to bed And it takes only one sperm cell to make a baby, And if you think they are cute, then you must be crazy Babies suck because they barf and poo and cry They have the ability to pee in your eye (OH MY GOD IT BURNS!) And did we mention The risk of getting STDs Not just gross hookers have it Even Dennis Rodman could get a bit You don't know who Dennis Rodman is? Well maybe you should watch more basketball Wait a second this is not about sports Quick fact! You can't get girls when you're wearing these shorts Chorus: When she gives you affection, you better wear protection That skank might have an infection, are you paying close attention? In Sex Ed, remember what you read Just forget what the others have said get it through your head, use your brain before you go to bed Your body is growing You will get hairy Your little voice will start to change And your no-no place will feel a bit strange Your pits will stink You'll get zits on your face Without this knowledge you will scare girls away So listen to this song every day

Author: smosh Keywords: smosh anthony padilla ian hecox hardcore sex education set my friends on fire ismfof matt mihana nabil moo Added: November 21, 2008

The dollar was mixed against major currencies Friday as investors remain risk-averse amid global economic uncertainty.img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rss/money_latest/~4/0JkAzv-FU2A" height="1" width="1"/

darthcamaro writes "Running IE and been hacked? Don't blame Microsoft mdash; at least that's what their security types are now arguing. 'One of the things we've seen in the last two years is that attackers aren't even go after the browser itself anymore,' Eric Lawrence, Security Program Manager on Microsoft's Internet Explorer team, said. 'The browser is becoming a harder target and there are many more browsers. So attackers are targeting add-ons.' This kinda makes sense since whether you're running IE, Firefox, Safari or Chrome you could still be at risk if there is a vulnerability in Flash, PDF, QuickTime or another popular add-on. Or does it?"pa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2036222amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=08/11/21/2036222"/a/ppa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2036222amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/7I1M6Gpfj3aiBJQpsVoTpwHLemw/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/7I1M6Gpfj3aiBJQpsVoTpwHLemw/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/rl8vq54BZAE" height="1" width="1"/

pThis summer, Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, sent a memo to staffers warning them to limit their cell phone use and to use hands-free sets in the wake of quot;growing evidence that we should reduce exposurequot; to cell phone radiation. Among the possible consequences: an increased risk of brain cancer. a href=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-cell-phones-can-cause-brain-cancer[More]/a

If i update to 2.2 and decide to restore, will my phone be restored back to 2.1 or 2.2? I'm asking because my 3G iPhone is hardware unlocked and i don't want to risk not having any service.

The dollar was mixed against major currencies Friday as investors remain risk-averse amid global economic uncertainty. pa href="http://rss.cnn.com/~a/rss/money_latest?a=4twRIg"img src="http://rss.cnn.com/~a/rss/money_latest?i=4twRIg" border="0"/img/a/pimg src="http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_latest/~4/460995961" height="1" width="1"/

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/32024?ns=guardianpageName=Society%3A+Baby+P+review+to+be+seen+by+opposition+MPsch=Societyc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Baby+P%2CChild+protection+%28Society%29%2CUK+news%2CEd+Balls%2CChildren+%28Society%29%2CChildren%27s+ministry%2CPolitics%2CEducation%2CSocietyc5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEducation+Weekly+Education%2CSchools+Education%2CChildren+Societyc6=Matthew+Weaverc7=2008_11_21c8=1122064c9=articlec10=GUc11=Societyc12=Baby+Pc13=c14=h2=GU%2FSociety%2FBaby+P" width="1" height="1" //divpThe government has agreed to release a detailed review into the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/baby-p"Baby P/a case to opposition MPs, a day after claiming it had been told to keep the document confidential./ppThe children's secretary, Ed Balls, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/20/baby-p-childrensministry"told the Commons yesterday/a that lawyers had advised him not to make the full serious case review available./ppHe cited a 2006 ruling by the Information Commissioner in a separate case and voiced concerns that identifying the professionals involved in the case could jeopardise future investigations./ppBut today Ball's department said five MPs would be allowed to study the full report./ppBaby P died in Haringey, north London, in August last year after suffering more than 50 injuries at the hands of his abusive mother, her boyfriend and a lodger - despite repeated visits by the authorities./ppA 15-page summary of the serious case review was published at the end of an Old Bailey trial last week./ppNow the full report will be made available to the Conservative and Liberal-Democrat children's spokesmen, Michael Gove and David Laws, the Children, Schools and Families select committee chairman, Barry Sheerman, and local MPs Lynne Featherstone and David Lammy./ppThe MPs will be allowed to read the document on "privy council terms", meaning they must keep its contents secret./ppThe case was the subject of angry exchanges between David Cameron and Gordon Brown at prime minister questions last week. Since then the government has been keen to establish cross-party consensus on how to tackle the failings highlighted by the tragedy./ppA spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "As Ed Balls said in the House of Commons yesterday and in his letter to the opposition children, schools and families spokesmen, he has been keen to find a way to enable them to study the serious case review report but remaining consistent with the principle that these documents remain unpublished and confidential./pp"In order to ensure that future serious case reviews are not undermined and achieve their purpose, it remains vital to keep the serious case review confidential."/ppThe shadow children's secretary, Michael Gove, welcomed the move./pp"It's important that bureaucracy doesn't get in the way of proper scrutiny," he said./ppThe three people convicted of involvement in the killing of Baby P are facing "substantial" terms in prison, a judge has warned.br /Baby's P's mother, 27, her boyfriend, 32, and their lodger, Jason Owen, 36, will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 15 for causing or allowing his death./ppYesterday there was confusion among officials about the bearing the Data Protection Act had on releasing the report./ppThe House of Commons was told the information commissioner had ruled that the full report could not be released to opposition MPs because of the risk of identifying professionals involved./ppBut the Information Commissioner's Office said later that it had not been consulted over the case./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/baby-p"Baby P/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/childprotection"Child protection/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/edballs"Ed Balls/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/children"Children/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/childrensministry"Children's ministry/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Societycountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227291257954112118260344580"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Societycountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227291257954112118260344580" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

Newly released today



features
Introducing true-to-life styles of play for every Division I team, including authentic team ratings and scouting reports from the creators of the annual Blue Ribbon™ College Basketball Yearbook
Choose pre-game strategies that reinforce your style of play and then keep an eye on the all-new Game Tempo Meter to make adjustments on the fly
Use all 94 feet to push the ball or apply full court pressure to force turnovers to speed the game up, walk the ball up the floor and initiate a half-court set or use a balanced attack to take advantage of what your opponent gives you. Set the tempo and play your game to put yourself in a position to come out on top
Over 1,000 new animation sequences deliver a more responsive, intelligent experience. Apply pressure defense with new full-court presses and traps. Plus, quicker players now get up and down the floor faster and make better decisions running lanes and driving to the rim
Your school's coach is with you every step of the way. Listen to real NCAA® Coaches on the sidelines providing real time feedback, helping you play at your ideal tempo
Force your defender to step up and guess what you'll do next. Trigger the turbo button and use the right analog stick for bold, responsive ball-handling moves to fake out your defender and create scoring opportunities
New risk reward system to lock in your check on defense. Get in tight on a strong shooting guard to take away his shot, or play back to keep a quick point guard from blowing by you
Introducing an accessible in game play-calling system that pushes on-court visualization to guide you through the play.
New two-man game mechanic enables you to control both the ball handler and screener simultaneously. Set screens and run two man plays, with on-screen instructions to guide you
Dramatically more authentic with classic and alternate team uniforms, Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler calling the action, and Erin Andrews reporting from the sidelines. Choose from new arenas, including Ford Field, home of the 2009 NCAA Final Four®
Wait and watch for rival users to log on and then challenge them to a spirited match-up in new Rival Challenge Mode. Plus, edit and share roster files through EA Locker 3.0
Participate in major tournaments like the Pre and Post season NIT, EA SPORTS Maui Invitational or new ones like the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Anaheim Classic and Old Spice Classic
Featuring a new recruiting database, a Dynasty Yearbook to review previous seasons and create-a-coach that enables you to set the playing style of your school
College basketball pops to life with lively crowds, loud bands, mascots, cheerleaders, and student sections

description
Replicate your school's style of play, set the tempo and win with NCAA® Basketball 09. Whether your school pushes the ball in transition, runs a half-court offense that utilizes the clock and limits possessions or features a balanced attack that combines transition offense with set plays, NCAA Basketball 09 rewards the strategic player by emphasizing team specific styles of play.

College basketball springs to life in NCAA Basketball 09 with frenzied crowds, authentic commentary from Dick Vitale, Brad Nessler and Erin Andrews and now featuring NCAA Division I coaches in-game for the first time. Each coach will provide real time instruction and feedback, helping players control the tempo by executing their team's offense and defense to perfection.

New features like Pick and Roll Control, Defensive Lockdown Control, Signature Playcalling and Quickstrike Ankle-Breakers provide ultimate control on the court

NCAA Basketball 09 features a new gameplay engine with over 1,000 new animation sequences that deliver a more responsive, intelligent experience. The new animation system and improved AI enable gamers to apply pressure defense with new full-court presses and traps. Plus, quicker players get up and down the floor faster and make better decisions running lanes and driving to the rim.

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