Despite the millions of vehicles recalled into service due to the over discussed accelerator/floor mats issues, consumers still appear to be confident in what Toyota stands for. At least this is what an ABC news poll, conducted in between January 28-31, found.
Although the source doesn’t say how many people answered the poll, the results show 63 percent of those interviewed still rate the company favorable (26 percent "very" and 37 percent "mostly"). Only 14 percent found… (read more)
The Madagascar authorities must urgently launch impartial investigations into dozens of killings carried out by security forces during more than a year of anti-government protests and bring those responsible to justice, Amnesty International said in a report released on Thursday.
The deadliest incident saw at least 31 people killed and several injured on 7 February 2009 when President Marc Ravalomanana’s Presidential Guard opened fire, using live ammunition, on unarmed opposition demonstrators marching on the Presidential Palace in the capital Antananarivo.
"The Malagasy authorities must immediately investigate all cases of suspected unlawful killings by the security forces as well as any use of firearms resulting in deaths or serious injuries. Those responsible for violence against peaceful protesters must face justice," said Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty International’s Africa programme.
Human rights violations were reported throughout a year of political unrest in Madagascar sparked by President Marc Ravalomanana’s closure in December 2008 of a television station owned by Andry Nirina Rajoelina, at that time the Mayor of Antananarivo.
They continued after the High Transitional Authority (Haute Autorité de la Transition, HAT), headed by Rajoelina, came to power on 17 March 2009. It has not been recognised by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Since then, HAT security forces have frequently intervened to disperse opposition protests leading to deaths and injuries.
In some instances the demonstrations had become violent. However, the authorities did not begin investigations into the incidents, or into those that led to the serious injury of demonstrators or bystanders.
On 23 April 2009, a 24-year-old man was admitted to hospital after being shot in the shoulder and then beaten with guns by security officials, while on the way home from a mosque.
"There were no demonstrations going on at that point and I only saw the soldiers once I was wounded. I don’t know why they fired," the injured man told Amnesty International. "No one from the courts or the police came to see me in hospital to conduct an investigation."
Members of the Malagasy parliament and senate, lawyers and political opposition leaders were subjected to arbitrary and unlawful arrest and detention, specifically after the HAT came to power in March 2009. Some of those arrested were reportedly ill treated during their arrest.
Journalists and media outlets were targeted by the Malagasy authorities; both under President Ravalomanana as well as after the HAT came to power. The authorities have also taken steps to silence journalists deemed too critical of those in power at the time, including by closing down privately owned radio and television stations.
A mediation team made up of representatives from the African Union (AU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the International Organization of la Francophonie (IOF) and the United Nations (UN), has been mediating between the main political parties in an attempt to resolve the crisis.
The political crisis that affected Madagascar in 2009 was sparked off by the closure, during the night of 13-14 December 2008, of the Viva television station owned by Andry Nirina Rajoelina, at that time the Mayor of the capital, Antananarivo.
The decision to do so by the government of President Marc Ravalomanana exacerbated an already tense situation between the government on the one hand and the political opposition and the Mayor of the urban municipality of Antananarivo, on the other.
In early 2009 the opposition organized various mass demonstrations against President Marc Ravalomanana. On 17 March 2009, following popular pressure from Rajoelina and his movement President Ravalomanana signed an order dissolving the government and granting full powers to a military directorate.
That same day the members of the military directorate in turn passed on the powers that had been granted to them to Rajoelina.
Technology companies are scrambling to jump on the application store bandwagon which has blossomed in the mobile arena and is now moving into the netbook and desktop computing realm. The latest app store venture may be originating from Google, which is rumored to be developing its own suite of business applications designed to compliment its Google Apps service. Google already offers a solutions marketplace with tools and add-ons for Google Apps, but this new business pursuit would expand upon this solutions marketplace and offer applications from Google’s software partners in an attempt to deliver its partner’s products and additional services more easily to paying Google App customers. Business productivity would be the focus of this venture and its crosshair would be aimed squarely at Microsoft.
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The rest of the world is catching on rapidly but overall, Japan is still the world’s most advanced society mobile society. That being said, you’d assume that the first 4G (LTE) device to get an official certification from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications must be coming from one of the many mobile companies over here, but it was South Korea’s LG who got the bragging rights [KR] for that today.
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It seems that the tuning business keeps marching on, despite the recession. People like to feel special and, apparently, a Porsche 911/997 Carrera Turbo doesn’t do that for you. Therefore, the Swiss luxury tuner Mansory released its customized version of the sports car.
When it comes to the exterior, the tuner offers a complete aerodynamic kit, meant to add individual lifestyle to your Porsche. The package includes a new, sportier, front skirt which, on your request, can shine in precious car… (read more)
MTV has ordered 12 episodes of a reality series being inspired John Hughes’ 1985 teen cinema classic, The Breakfast Club.
If You Really Knew Me will follow five kids from one high school as they embark on Challenge Day, a one-day program that aims to break down barriers between cliques.
“Each episode takes place at a different high school that, like most schools, has a fixed caste system of winners and losers, and a student body that labels everyone – jock, freak, brain, etc – whether they like it or not,” MTV said in press release issued last week. “But through this program, all the preconceptions about who they are will be turned on their head. Amazingly poignant, this series is a shockingly authentic peek into the minds of real teenagers as they step beyond their cliques, reveal their most intimate feelings for the first time, and truly change.”
The show is expected to premiere this fall. Will you watch?
It was reported yesterday that the U.S. Department of Transportation was satisfied with Toyota’s plan to address their recall of 2.3 million vehicles facing unintended acceleration issues after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed the Japanese automaker’s plan.
Well, you can scratch that. Late last night, federal investigators began looking into whether the problem with Toyota’s gas pedal recall goes beyond the fix announced by the automaker on Monday. The NHTSA is now looking to see if the problem lies within a Toyota vehicle’s electrical system.
The investigation into the electrical system was confirmed by an anonymous agency. Officials say that the agency is looking into the possibility of electromagnetic interference that could cause Toyota’s electronic throttle control systems to malfunction.
The NHTSA said it has found no evidence to support an electronic malfunction in their previous tests.
Guess Steve Wozniak had a point after all.
– By: Omar Rana
Source: CNNMoney
It’s not everyday you get to see six (6!) Android devices pitted against each other in a display-quality grudge match. No, not that sensor sensitivity nonsense again, rather, just a plain ol’ video playback comparison for your subjective observations. Fortunately, the Android-loving kids over at HDBlog shot a video of the MyTouch 3G, HTC Hero, Motorola Milestone / Droid, Acer Liquid, Nexus One, and Samsung Galaxy (laid out clockwise in the image above). In our opinion, the Nexus One with its 3.7-inch AMOLED display packing a 800 x 480 pixel resolution comes out on top with the best overall image (though slightly on the red end of the color spectrum) — good thing the video wasn’t shot outdoors where that AMOLED is all but unreadable. But hey, that’s our opinion, form your own in the video after the break.
Continue reading Android display battle: In the end, there can be only One
Android display battle: In the end, there can be only One originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Just like clockwork, here’s Ricoh — six months after its last CX series refresh — with a new superzoom point-and-shooter to tempt us into breaking open those piggy banks. The package on offer is compelling: there’s a new 10 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, an enhanced noise reduction algorithm borrowed from the GR Digital III, and a 3-inch 920k-dot LCD, while the 10.7x optical zoom lens (28-300mm in 35mm equivalence) is carried over from the CX2. 720p video recording — fast becoming a standard feature in compact cameras — is present and accounted for, with recording in 16:9 ratio available to the ubiquitous Motion JPEG format. The CX3 is arriving this month, with early prices of AU$499 ($441 in US currency) matching the cost of the current generation.
Ricoh CX3 gets back-illuminated CMOS sensor, much geek lust originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last year was full of highs and lows for climate change campaigning. We mobilised millions around the world in support of a global climate change deal, over one hundred thousand people took action in the UK with Oxfam and yet Copenhagen did not deliver. So we’re asking you, the people who make the campaign happen, how should we take the climate change campaign forward?
Before we do lets have a quick whiz through some of last year’s big moments. From Dhaka to Doncaster, over 1.5 million people took part in our climate hearings. Then there was the summer fete at the Kingsnorth power station in Kent.
And Oxfam supporters really made some noise. Anna Collins, volunteered for the ‘Adopt a Negotiatior’ project, she ‘adopted’ (tracked, met with and held accountable) Jan Thompson the lead climate change negotiator for the UK. They became quite friendly through the negotiation process. Jan assured her in the final couple of days [sic] “I promise we’re still really trying”. Before rushing off to keep trying.
For many of us the year culminated in the largest climate change demonstration this country has ever seen. 50,000 people made up ‘The Wave‘ as it flowed through London.
Charli Livingstone, the Midlands activist who cycled to The Wave from Birmingham, met the Prime Minister that afternoon. ‘The PM made it clear to me that he recognised the deal that we wanted and he said that he was going to Copenhagen with the aim of getting it for us. He didn’t get us our deal but I know one thing for sure; the movement for a fair, adequate and binding deal isn’t going away.’
So we need to make sure that this year is even bigger, even better and even louder. Maybe there’s something we should be doing more of? Or something we haven’t thought of? Let us know, we’re all ears:
What do you think Oxfam and our supporters should do to make even more noise this year?
Should we focus on getting supporters to send specific one-off email actions? Should we put money into advertising and spread the word that way? What about producing educational materials for schools, colleges and the like? Or should we become a group of moles and infiltrate online message boards and spaces, taking the arguments to the darkest recesses of the internet? Something else?
Article Tags: Don Easterbrook, Headline Story
The Geological Society of America (GSA) has declined to endorse an official policy statement of the society which was proposed in October. At the national meeting of GSA in Portland last October, I strongly opposed adoption of the proposed endorsement of IPCC contentions and argued that “for a position statement of a scientific society of professional geologists, this statement is remarkably one sided and lacks the kind of depth and scientific analysis that one would expect from GSA. It totally ignores a wealth of well-documented data contrary to many of the statements made in the text and many of the contentions are not supported by any tangible data at all. This would be a much more credible document if it explored both sides of many of the issues and provided supporting evidence. The section on Rationale is shocking in its lack of scientific logic—it essentially claims that because we have had global warming (which no one denies), that in itself proves it is due to CO2. CO2. That shoddy logic must surely make T.C. Chamberlain and Hoover Mackin turn over in their graves!”
“To contend that glacier retreat proves warming due to CO2 is bad enough, but the authors clearly have very poor knowledge of glacier fluctuations since 1850.During the 1890 to 1915 cool period, glaciers extended almost to their Little Ice Age maximums, retreated during the 1915 to 1945 warm period, advanced again during the 1945 to 1977 cool period, and retreated again during the 1977 to 1999 warm period. None of these climate fluctuations prior to 1945 can be due to increase in CO2 so to contend that retreat of glaciers since 1850 is proof of warming due to CO2 is incredibly amateurish.”
File attachment: DJEResponsetoGSApositionstatement.pdf
Fernando Alonso and Ferrari are definitely on fire this Wednesday, as the Spaniard recorded the fastest time of the week on Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit. Of course, we’re not really sure the fuel strategy that the Scuderia decided to run on this week, but the lap times scored by the new Ferrari F10 seem to improve by the day.
Two and a half hours into the 3rd and last day of testing on the Spanish track, the 2-time world champion stunned the audience with a whooping time of 1:11.599. The … (read more)
A survey performed by Kelley Blue Book (KBB) reveals that Toyota consideration and interest has significantly decreased in the U.S. subsequent to the massive recall announcement recently made by the company.
Over a fifth of the individuals who said they were considering a Toyota as their next vehicle before the recall have now changed their mind. Another result of the study informs us that Toyota’s overall brand consideration slipped to third-place and is now lower that that of its domestic r… (read more)
Hopes that the European Commission will soon give its approval of Greek budget plans today may be helping the euro rally back above the $1.40 mark in early A.M. U.S. trading.
WSJ: Hopes that Athens will now reduce its deficit and avoid default on its foreign debt have helped to stabilize the spread on the country’s five-year sovereign credit-default swaps, a type of default insurance, and slightly narrowed the yield spread between its 10-year bonds and those of Germany.
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Remember a year ago? When everyone was sure that venture capital shops were going to fold up left and right because institutions wanted nothing to do them, or the startups they bet on?
Actually, that turned out to be true. But some angel investors are getting into the game again, and a small number of VCs have been able to round up dollars for new investments, too.
Today’s example: Alan Patricof’s Greycroft Partners, which has all but completed raising a new fund.
Patricof and his team won’t comment officially about the status of the fund, which follows a $75 million fund he raised four years ago. But he hasn’t been discrete about it, and lots of startup investors have been chattering about Particof’s attempt to raise $125 million for new deals.
That’s partly because Patricof is famous in the investment community — his resume goes back to the late 1960s, and includes wins in Apple (AAPL) and AOL (AOL), as well as bets on media properties like the Huffington Post and PaidContent’s parent company ContentNext. And it’s partly because Patricof has, by his own admission, struggled to raise the money over the last year.
Yesterday, for example, Patricof spoke about his fundraising effort, quite candidly, at the OnMedia conference. From Mary Kathleen Flynn’s account at The Deal:
“A year ago when we started raising our second fund, which is somewhat bigger, we wanted an institutional base,” Patricof said. ”We went out for six months and didn’t get a single response. Then we went back to our original investors, sent out a letter again, and four weeks later we raised a lot of money with just a letter and no phone calls. The individual investor market is a great market.”
Fundraising is “tough” these days, said Patricof. ”But I wouldn’t be smiling as much as I am today if it wasn’t having a positive ending.”
It’s unclear how much Patricof has raised this time. When I talked to him about his progress in mid-November, he told me he thought the fund would be oversubscribed. But sources believe he may also end up breaking the fund into two chunks.
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Jennifer Aniston will host a benefit screening of The Last Station later this month to raise funds for Haiti earthquake relief.
The former Friends actress is expected to introduce the movie, starring Dame Helen Mirren and James McAvoy, before holding a cocktail party with director, Michael Hoffman. All proceeds will benefit AmeriCares’ fund supporting the victims of last month’s disaster.
Aniston has given $500,000 to several charities working in the disaster zone, including AmeriCares. She also participated in the Hope for Haiti Now Telethon.
Tickets to the screening range from $100 to $50,000.
Women’s bobsledding might not be first on your list of events to see at the upcoming Winter Olympics, but this video might just change your mind. Gillian Cooke, a member of the U.K.’s female bobsledding team, had the unfortunate mishap of splitting her spandex pants live on TV.
It’s got to be hard enough to have your ass in the camera in the first place, but for your pants to split wide open just adds insult to injury. We wish Gillian much luck in the upcoming Olympics.
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Add-ons, or extensions depending on the naming convention, have become crucial for any web browser thanks in no small part to the popularity the feature has enjoyed on Firefox. Google has finally launched an online extensions repository for Chrome in December and recently has enabled extension support in the Chrome stable branch. Perfect ti… (read more)
Mackenzie Phillips is changing her tune about her alleged incestuous relationship with her late father, rock legend John Phillips.
In her 2009 autobiography High on Arrival, Phillips claimed that she had a romantic relationship with her father, — founder of the ’60s singing group The Mamas and The Papas — for more than a decade. Now the former child star, who has since been disowned by her family, wants the public to know the affair was not consensual.
“I’d like to reframe my word consensual,” Mackenzie — joined by Celebrity Rehab’s Dr. Drew — explained in an interview on The Joy Behar Show this week. “As I was writing the book, I thought, this word, it kept sitting wrong with me. But I used it for lack of a better word. Since then, I’ve been schooled by thousands of incest survivors all across the world that there really is no such thing as consensual incest due to the inherent power a parent has over a child. So, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a consensual relationship at this time.”
Unfortunately, we can’t bring you live images from the launch of Virgin Racing’s VR-01, as technical issues have prevented the event from being broadcast live on the internet. The British team was preparing an all-digital launch of their 2010 single-seater, but instead issued only the technical facts about the car, with the first images of it to appear later today.
Obviously, we’ll keep you updated on the situation and present you the first photos of the new car as soon as the team will provi… (read more)
