But it’s not just the big entrenched players. Reader Tor sends over the troubling news that a group of indie labels in Spain are suing the government for “negligence” in failing to stop file sharing. Specifically, they’re really upset about the rulings that have found personal, non-commercial file-sharing is legal. They want the right to sue their biggest fans. Apparently, they haven’t been paying attention to how that’s worked (i.e., it hasn’t) elsewhere:
“The measure would not resolve the most relevant problem, which is the actual impossibility of us taking civil action against those final users who appropriate music without paying, and systematically violate intellectual property rights,” he adds.
“We think the Administration is responsible for our plight,” says Carton. “We demand that the government take effective measures imminently to protect the rights and interests of the record industry, as well as the intellectual property rights of the agents that intervene in the creative musical process within Internet.”
This is pretty disappointing. Last year, I actually bought a bunch of CDs (yes, physical CDs) from an indie label in Spain that I only heard about after a friend sent me some MP3s suggesting I might like a couple of the bands on the label. After checking out their websites (and being able to listen to some of the songs) I ended up ordering a bunch of CDs from the label. Just last week, I bought two more albums (downloads, via CDBaby) from the same label. Yet, according to these labels (and I can’t tell if the label whose CDs I purchased is part of the lawsuit), they would have been better off suing my friend. Indie labels should be leading the way here: focusing on giving fans real reasons to buy, rather than suing the government for not putting up more protectionist barriers to pretend it can hold back what the technology allows.
Besides being in town for Renault, Carlos Ghosn, who is also CEO for Nissan, today unveiled the new Micra compact car. The fourth-generation Micra has been designed and built to sell in more than 160 countries.
“Combine 25 years’ experience of designing compact cars for city driving… with a totally new, versatile platform and Nissan production know-how… and the result is modern, simple and destined to be a serious competitor on the world stage,” Ghosn said at the reveal.
Power for the new 2011 Nissan Micra will come from a lineup of 3-cylinder engines with output ranging from 80-hp to 98-hp.
Nissan said that the new Micra will be sold in 160 countries and manufactured in four different plants. Yes, we expect a version of the Micra in the U.S. as well.
2011 Nissan Micra:
Press Release:
KEEPING SMALL CARS SIMPLE
Fourth Generation Micra Sets New Global Standard
GENEVA (March 2, 2010) – Carlos Ghosn, Chief Executive Officer, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd, today unveiled the company’s all new Micra, the fourth generation of the iconic city car, at the 80th International Geneva Motor Show.
Boasting breakthrough packaging and small-car engineering, the all-new, fourth generation Nissan Micra (known as March in Japan) is on course to create a whole new set of industry standards. Unveiled today at the Geneva Motor Show, the Micra has consistently won praise and success for in Europe, Japan and other markets, gaining a reputation as a reliable, stylish, accessible compact car enjoyed by a wide cross-section of customers. The new Micra has been designed to build on that trend – in 160 countries.
At a glance:
* Spacious interior allied to compact exterior dimensions
* All new 3-cylinder petrol engine including….
….supercharged and direct injection version with emissions of 95g/km to be added to the line up later
* New Continuously Variable Transmission with world-first technology
* All new Versatile platform conceived to be light weight
* New Micra to be sold in 160 countries and….
….manufactured in four different plants
Developed and built on Nissan’s all-new V-platform, which was developed under a comprehensive new production engineering process, the new Micra was designed and tested in Japan to be built in at least four overseas locations, and fine-tuned to meet the differing tastes and needs of customers in 160 countries worldwide. Breaking with traditions that focused on launching production in established markets like Europe and Japan, Nissan will base production of the new Micra at overseas manufacturing sites such as Thailand, India, Mexico and China.
Design
“The car has to charm a global audience,” comments Makoto Yamane, Associate Product Chief Designer. “Its face had to look stylish and have an air of sophistication to it..” A unique design feature of this car – its double-layer integrated grille – meets these requirements. But the car’s classic shape was also crucial. That’s why it also employs a stylised version of the distinctive arched side window line, something that is central to the Micra’s heritage, identity and appeal in Europe and Japan.
Retaining its compact dimensions, the new car is slightly longer and marginally lower, while its longer wheelbase enables a ‘wheels-at-each-corner’ stance, the main reason behind the Micra’s roomier interior. The boomerang-shaped grooves on the roof have a clearly defined purpose too, continues Yamane. Aiming to create the same sense of exterior style inside the car, Nissan has employed a ‘connected cocoon’ design featuring a dashboard design which takes on a ‘twin bubble’ theme. This refers to the circular instrumentation binnacle and the similarly shaped glovebox compartment on the passenger side.
All-new Engine and CVT
In Europe, a simple engine line-up sees just two engines options – both are variations on Nissan’s all-new naturally aspirated HR12 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine. Inheriting its DNA from the HR16 4-cylinder engine powering the Note and Qashqai, the new engine employs valve-timing control (VTC). Power is rated at 59kW (80ps, while torque output is 108Nm. At only 115g/km, CO2 emissions for this version are world-class.
In addition to the new normally aspirated engine, Nissan will also offer a supercharged 1.2-litre direct injection iteration with a start-stop system fitted as standard in Europe. These technological innovations – stop-start reduces CO2 by six per cent – combine to offer spirited performance, with outputs of 72kW (98PS) and 142Nm of torque. Emissions will be just 95g/km, an exceptional achievement for a petrol engine.
Both engine options in Europe are available with either a 5-speed manual gearbox or Nissan’s all-new Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The wide gear coverage enables the 1.2-litre engine to achieve the economy of a 1.0-litre as well as brisk acceleration.
Not satisified merely improving performance levels, engineers excelled in developing ride and handling characteristics which combine agility, refinement and poise. Mounted onto Nissan’s new signature V-platform, the suspension has been designed to be both compact, minimising intrusion at the rear for maximum trunk space, but not at the expense of the car’s on-road dynamics. Particular attention has been paid to bump absorption, meaning that the Micra will ride serenely over challenging road surfaces, not suffer from wallow or float, and cruise effortlessly at highway speeds.
Comfort, function and equipment
In contrast to its high speed capability, the car also has superb visibility and a class-topping turning radius of 4.5m and several new technologies that assist with minimising CO2 emissions and mileage while at the same time making parking easier.
Globally, equipment levels differ by market, but the new Micra is available with some key technological innovations which are designed to simplify day-to-day life for its owners.
The new Micra is available with reversing sensors and a new ‘parking space measurement’ (PSM) device with three skill levels (amateur, normal and expert) to lessen the burden of parking in tight spaces – a unique feature in this segment, and likely to be a popular innovation in Europe where ‘touch parking’ is a way of life.
It also offers an Intelligent Key, Nissan Connect, Nissan’s accessible touch-screen combined audio and satellite navigation system, glass roof, automatic wipers, speed sensitive volume on the audio, a push button start-stop system in addition to a drive computer which supplies drivers with real time fuel economy information, cruising range and outside temperature. On the security side, the car is also fitted with a speed-sensitive automatic door locking system.
Safety
The incorporation of the V-platform is one major factor contributing to the car’s improved impact safety. The car is designed to absorb the forces of a frontal impact, thanks to the sophisticated crumple zones, while maintaining cabin integrity due to its highly reinforced body shell. In Europe, the Micra will be fitted with ABS, dual front airbags, curtain and side airbags, Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) and pretensioner seatbelts as standard equipment.
– By: Kap Shah
Simon Thomas, Nissan’s European Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, said: “The new Micra will continue to be the benchmark city car in Europe. Its appeal will be enhanced by its unique combination of compact exterior dimensions, with roomy interior, small and efficient engines, and user-friendly technology. Its continued icon status is destined to be be reinforced in its fourth generation.”
Sales will begin in Thailand in March, with European sales starting in the autumn.
While there are several notable exceptions, discover four significant ways that crying can help someone with Hepatitis C.
by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.
Whoever proclaims that real men don’t cry has a lot to learn about the human condition. Shedding tears involves a complex combination of physical and emotional mechanisms. Sometimes, incessant crying can indicate a problem that needs to be addressed. However, crying often serves a specific role to our biological and psychological wellness. In fact, having a good cry can actually be healthful for those living with chronic Hepatitis C.
Most of us have experienced a good cry – an event marked by feeling better and having gained an improved perspective on our current situation. Published in the December 2008 issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, University of South Florida psychologists Jonathan Rottenberg and Lauren M. Bylsma, along with their colleague Ad J.J.M. Vingerhoets of Tilburg University investigated the psychology of crying.
Upon analyzing accounts of over 3,000 crying episodes, these psychologists found that the majority of respondents reported improvements in their mood following a bout of crying. Their research also demonstrated that the potential benefits depend on who is crying. Those who do not seem to benefit from crying, include:
· Individuals with anxiety or mood disorders
· Those suffering from depression
· People who lack insight into their emotional lives (a condition known as alexithymia). Researchers hypothesize that these individuals lack the emotional insight required for a cognitive change that would transform a negative perspective into a positive one.
Besides those who are not in touch with their feelings, some with Hepatitis C have reason to be concerned about a crying habit. This is because coping with Hepatitis C and its treatment can be associated with depression. When crying interferes with daily life, clinical depression could be the culprit. People who are depressed have most or all of the following symptoms nearly every day, all day, for two or more weeks:
· Feeling sad, hopeless and having frequent crying spells
· Losing interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy (including sex)
· Feeling guilty, helpless or worthless
· Thinking about death or suicide
· Sleeping too much, or having problems sleeping
· Loss of appetite and unintended weight loss or gain
· Feeling very tired all the time
· Having trouble paying attention and making decisions
· Having aches and pains that don’t get better with treatment
· Feeling restless, irritated and easily annoyed
If depression is at the root of your crying, you must talk to your doctor for help. Physicians have access to a variety of ways to help someone with depression.
Besides those with alexithymia or depression, some of the ways someone with Hepatitis C can benefit from sobbing, include:
1. Immune Assistance – Tears contain lysozymes, a virus and bacteria killing substance. Since the last thing someone with Hepatitis C needs is an additional pathogen to fight, shedding tears is almost like excreting a mini defense shield on your face.
2. Toxin Removal – Crying is not the most efficient means for ridding the body of toxins. However, tears may assist the liver in detoxification because they are believed to be a way of escorting toxins out of the body. Those with chronic Hepatitis C are encouraged to utilize all routes to aid detoxification in an effort to relieve some of the liver’s burden.
3. Stress Reduction – Stress can worsen many health problems, including Hepatitis C. Suppressing tears is known to increase stress levels. Shedding tears has documented calming effects that include a slower breathing rate. Thus, a good cry is a sound approach for stress relief.
4. Emotional Release – Managing chronic Hepatitis C can cause an accumulation of stress. From a Traditional Chinese Medical perspective, unreleased stressors impede the flow of blood (and energy) throughout the liver. Because crying is a physical means to release emotional stress, it helps restore liver circulation, a bonus for livers fighting the Hepatitis C virus.
Crying is a natural physiological mechanism. As long as depression, anxiety, mood disorders or a lack of insight into your emotions is not applicable, weeping serves a valuable purpose, especially to those with Hepatitis C. So the next time a pit of emotion forms in the base of your throat, don’t try to restrain it. Since allowing yourself to cry aids the immune system, removes toxins, relieves stress and releases constrained emotions – sobbing should be prized for its healthfulness to a liver battling Hepatitis C.
References:
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/infections/hepatitis/071.html, Hepatitis C, Retrieved January 3, 2010, American Academy of Family Physicians, 2010.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/7-reasons-why-crying-is-good-for-you.html, 7 Reasons Why Crying Is Good for You, Therese Borchar, Retrieved January 1, 2010, DivineCaroline, Care2.com, Inc, 2010.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/133552.php, The Psychology Of Crying, Retrieved January 3, 2010, MediLexicon International, Ltd., 2010.
A 2009 paper published in the International Journal of Forecasting states, in erudite terminology, that a “benchmark model” of climate, the “benchmark model” simply being that the climate will not change, resulted in climate change forecasting errors from 1851-1975 seven times less than the IPCC model which attributes climate change primarily to CO2 levels:
In other words, the IPCC model of climate change forecasting is, as Einstein might quip, “not even wrong”. The paper goes on to say, scientist tongue apparently planted firmly in cheek, that “decision makers who had assumed that temperatures would not change [instead of what the IPCC model predicts] would have had no reason for regret”.
Honda 3R-C Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Ask anyone who’s ever shopped for an ATV, outboard engine, personal robot…heck, even a private jet, and they’ll tell you that cars are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg for Honda. The Japanese industrial giant is one of a handful of automakers that also makes motorcycles (along with the likes of Peugeot, BMW and Suzuki, to name just a few). And here in Geneva, the two core competences have come together in the form of the 3R-C Concept.
Packing two wheels up front and one in the back, the 3R-C is the latest take on the trike formula. The open cabin (which can be closed by the canopy windshield when parked) can accommodate one passenger/driver/rider in enclosed comfort, while the twin front rims keep it stable. It follows in a long line of intriguing R&D products from the technological powerhouse, but don’t expect to see it parked curbside in front of your office/home/biker bar quite so soon.
Writing in the Huffington Post, Larry Magid raises the point that PC netbooks are hot sellers for very good reasons — namely that these small laptops, which typically cost between $300 and $400, can do most things a large portion of users want to do with a laptop computer, and do them much more cheaply, as well as being handily smaller and lighter than traditional laptops.
Small Laptop Price Premium Dynamic Turned On Its Head
I agree, and along with Magid note the irony of a changing dynamic where, reversing erstwhile conventional wisdom that computer consumers would be obliged to pay extra for the required engineering of miniaturization, with smaller laptops often costing more than larger siblings of the same brand (think PowerBook Duo vs. PowerBook or MacBook Air and MacBook), netbooks have turned the cost/weight equation on its head.
Mainstream netbooks, particularly ones equipped with the latest Intel Atom N270 processors running at 1.60 GHz, with a GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive, are perfectly adequate for most common tasks people use computers for such as Web surfing and e-mail, and even for watching web video. At least for non-touch typists, their usually undersized keyboards are also considered tolerable.
Downward Pressure On All Laptop Pricing
Then there’s the netbook phenomenon’s collateral effect of exerting strong downward pressure on standard sized notebook computer prices, to which even Apple has not been immune, as exemplified by the 13″ MacBook Pro being cheaper than its aluminum unibody MacBook predecessor, and the debut of a lower entry level 15″ MacBook Pro stripped of its ExpressCard Slot and discrete graphics processor/VRAM.
A prima facie topical example is Lenovo’s new ThinkPad Edge, which has a 13-inch display, a typically excellent Lenovo full-size keyboard, an AMD Athlon dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB 5400 RPM hard drive, three USB ports, runs Windows 7, offers five-hour real world battery runtime, and is priced starting at an easy-on-the-wallet $599. Move up to a 1.3GHz Core Duo Intel processor and 4GB of memory and you’re still at $799.
That’s of course only $200 less than Apple’s entry-level MacBook, which at $999 has a much more powerful 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia 9600M 9400M integrated graphics, but only 2GB of RAM, a measly two USB ports, and a 250GB hard drive. To get the same 4GB of memory and 320GB of storage specs as the $799 Lenovo or even a $399 Dell Inspiron 15, you’re up to $1,149, while a comparable spec MacBook Pro will set you back a whopping (by comparison) $1,399 — a thousand dollars greater than your typical netbook.
Mac Still Greater Value, But Gap Narrowing
Now personally, I still think greater value is found in the Macs, especially due to their OS X-clusivity, and projected durability over the longer haul, or if you need the extra processing and graphics power they offer. But, with PC competition stiffening, and consensus building that Windows 7 is actually a pretty decent operating system, the OS X advantage is diminishing. That base AMD-powered Lenovo ThinkPad Edge for $600 bucks looks particularly enticing for cash-strapped or value-oriented users whose computing power needs are typically modest, especially in this challenging economy
That’s why I continue to stubbornly contend that the forthcoming iPad notwithstanding, Apple still needs a conventional clamshell notebook contender in the $600 – $700 price category.
Startups need people able and willing of doing the actual work. They need programmers, designers, and eventually folks to do marketing, support, and more. What they don’t need, though, is someone who’s just going to be The Idea Guy.
You know the type. It’s the “this thing is going to be Facebook meets Flickr, but for dogs! If we can just get 1% of the online dog market, we’ll be rich!” spiel. All idea, usually no money, and hardly any functional skills that’ll help build or launch the damn thing.
On the face and the facts of it, it’d be easy to turn down The Idea Guy. He wants you to work for very little or free in return for a smaller-than-his slice of the pie in the end. That end very rarely happens. But the energy and the big dreams can be dangerously alluring. I know, I fell for it more than once.
The truth is that most everyone has plenty of ideas that could work out to be great businesses. The kicker is most often the right execution, that they’d be responsible for anyway, at the right time, which is almost impossible to predict. The value of The Perfect Idea is very small indeed.
That doesn’t mean it’s useless to have big ideas and plenty of enthusiasm. If you’re that guy, you’ve got a great start. Now pick up a functional skill and help build it your damn self.
Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta concept by Pininfarina – Click above for high-res image gallery
It’s all about the anniversaries up here in Geneva. Alfa Romeo is celebrating its centenary, and like the show itself, Pininfarina is marking its 80th this year. And when a design house as venerated as Pininfarina is celebrating, you better believe it’ll be mouthwatering.
The quizzically named 2uettottanta concept is Pininfarina’s vision for how a next-generation Alfa spider should look. And we can’t help but agree. The 2uettottanta represents the culmination of an age-old partnership between the two Italian firms, and pays tribute to the iconic 60s-era Duetto roadster. Power is (theoretically, at least) provided by a modest 1.7-liter turbo four, longitudinally mounted in homage to the 1750 Veloce.
We could go on about the details, but there’s a press release for that. A Pininfarina concept is about design, and you can see it for yourself in the live and stock high-res image galleries below.
Recently, I’ve been migrating the functionality of my old Ubuntu Linux server to my wife’s old iMac. Since a big part of the reason to decommission my old Linux PC was to reduce my total power consumption, I wanted to fully utilize Snow Leopard’s Wake On Demand functionality with as many services as possible.
Wake On Demand is a relatively new feature that arrived with Snow Leopard. It allows your Mac to be put into sleep mode and then be woken up on demand when one of its services is required. This feature requires a compatible Apple AirPort Base Station (or Time Capsule) and OS X 10.6 running on the Mac. Most of the standard system services (File Sharing, Screen Sharing, Scanner & Printer Sharing etc.) will work automagically with this setup, but custom services such a my subversion and the built-in web sharing do not. However it’s not hard to make these services compatible with Wake On Demand with only a little bit of work to set it up. Here’s how I did it.
Bonjour
For the Wake On Demand functionality to work properly, any service being hosted by a Mac must be registered with Bonjour, Apple’s zero config service discovery protocol. This is how the Airport Base Station knows when its appropriate to wake up a sleeping Mac. To assist with getting a complete picture, I’d recommend downloading a great free utility called Bonjour Browser. This application will show you all the services currently being broadcast by Bonjour on your network. Any service displayed here will be automatically enabled to use Wake On Demand by your AirPort base station. Most of the server software components such as File Sharing will register with Bonjour itself, however for the ones that don’t, we need to do it on their behalf.
Luckily this is easy, as OS X comes with a command line utility called dns-sd, the DNS Service Discovery tool. This ties directly in with the Bonjour system and with it we can register services with Bonjour. Lets use subversion as our example. Subversion’s TCP port is usually 3690, so assuming you have a standard setup, we can register subversion with Bonjour with:
If we run this command manually in Terminal.app, we can quickly verify that our Bonjour broadcast was successful by using Bonjour Browser. The service will remain registered with Bonjour for as long as the dns-sd command is still running; as soon as we press Control+C to kill the command, we can see in Bonjour Browser that our service disappears.
Of course it’s not terribly useful if we need to manually run a command every time our computer reboots (even if Macs don’t need to be rebooted that often). To make the Bonjour registration occur automatically at system startup we need to launch our command using the launchd subsystem, which OS X uses for automatically starting background services. The easiest way to configure this to run automatically via launchd is by using Lingon. You can grab the latest version from Sourceforge. For more details on using Lingon see this previous article I put together, but for this task we just need to add a new User Daemon.
Run Lingon, click the New button and select User Daemons.
Fill out the dialog as follows:
Name: org.subversion.bonjour
What: dns-sd -R "SVN" _svn._tcp. . 3690 pdl=application/svnserve
Be sure to tick the “Keep it running all the time” and “Run it when it is loaded by the system” checkboxes. Click the save button and restart your Mac. If everything has been done right, you should be able to see this instance of dns-sd in Activity Monitor when viewing All Processes.
Rinse and Repeat
The process described above can also be used for any other service, such as for the Web Sharing service (port 80) or any other custom service that you’ve setup. Simply replace the references to the application protocol (ie. svn) and the applicable port number and create a new launchd item for each one. This isn’t the most ideal solution, as each new instance of dns-sd takes about 380KB of memory, however if you’re running a number of these extra services I would assume that you have at least 2GB of ram and the impact of 380KB is negligible. Each instance of dns-sd also uses a negligible amount of CPU processing time so it won’t get in the way of other processes. Of course the perfect ideal solution would be that the server software you’re running registers itself with Bonjour, but if that was the case you wouldn’t need to be reading this article.
Final Result
With everything set up correctly, you should now be able to replicate the following test:
Put your Mac to sleep
From another device on your network access your custom service(s)
Rejoice with a warm fuzzy feeling as you realize your electricity bill will be lower and your carbon footprint is a smaller than it was yesterday.
I hope this has helped someone else achieve on-demand server bliss, with the peace of mind of minimal power consumption like it has for me. Do you have an even better way of doing it?
2011 Bentley Mulsanne – Click above for high-res image gallery
Bentley just issued a press release, finally detailing all of the specs on their new Mulsanne sedan…and it’s a big one. That applies to both the release itself and to the car, which will topple the scales at nearly three tons. The Bentley Mulsanne’s curb weight is listed at 5,700 pounds, or roughly three Lotus Elises.
Pulling all of that luxury will be a twin-turbo 6.75-liter V8 producing 505 horsepower at 4200 rpm and a stump-pulling 752 pound-feet of torque at a very low 1750 rpm. There’s an 8-speed ZF automatic doing delivery work, helping the Mulsanne glide from 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds, to 100 in 11.6, and on to a top end of 184 miles per hour. Fuel economy is seldom a concern for owners of such vehicles, but the big Bentley has been rated at 16.7 mpg on the combined EU cycle.
No doubt about it, this is one big sedan. For a similar curb weight the Mulsanne ends up being about seven inches longer than the outgoing Arnage, an inch wider, a tenth of an inch taller, and a half foot more expansive between the axles. That’s pushing it almost into Maybach levels, easily distancing it from top sedans from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Audi. Only the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe bests it, with the Phantom Sedan in a whole ‘nother league. For those who buy their luxury by the pound, those kind of things matter. Follow the jump to read all of the details, and we do mean all of the details on this 2011 Bentley Mulsanne.
Sony’s motion wand has gone without a name since its E3 demo, but with the latest trademark spotted by Siliconera, it appears we’re finally closing in on a name. As the filing would have it, Sony has
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery
During Porsche‘s press conference here at the Geneva Motor Show, most of our attention was understandably on the 918 Spyder Concept, but the German automaker had several other significant debuts. One was the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, Porsche’s first racecar to feature electric power sourced from a duo of motors that send power to a generator attached the flywheel. Like many hybrid production cars, the motors are charged whenever the brakes are applied, and the driver can use the extra power for 6-8 seconds for overtaking.
Porsche plans to do extensive testing with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid after jetting from Geneva, including a trial-by-fire at the Nürburgring 24 Hour race from May 15-16. Porsche claims that it has no intention of winning the race, but we can’t imagine that they won’t be at least competitive. You can get more details on the car in the press release after the jump, or browse through the high-res gallery of live shots below.
ALLISON, Iowa — A jury found an Iowa man guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder in the shooting of a nationally known high school football coach.
It took the jury 24 hours over four days to reach its decision, finding Mark Becker, 24, guilty in the June 24, 2009, killing of Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas.
Becker gunned down Thomas, 58, in the school’s makeshift weight room in front of students, shooting him at least six times before walking away. Becker told police that Thomas was Satan and that the coach had been tormenting him.
Thomas’ son, Aaron, said he was happy with the verdict but that Becker’s conviction wouldn’t ease the pain of losing his father.
“It’s not that we feel better or safer. Nothing that happened is going to bring my dad back,” Aaron Thomas said. “Our family is not over anything. The Becker family is not over anything.”
The shooting was especially shocking to Parkersburg residents because Thomas was known both for producing winning teams and for leading the community.
He amassed a 292-84 record and two state titles in 37 seasons as a head coach — 34 of them at Aplington-Parkersburg — and coached four players who have played in the NFL. He also was a leader in rebuilding Parkersburg after nearly one-third of the 1,800-person town was wiped out in May 2008 by a tornado that killed six people.
Referring both to the conviction and to her son’s struggles with paranoid schizophrenia, Becker’s mother, Joan, said the past few years have been heartbreaking.
“The last weeks, months and years have been extremely difficult for our family to bear,” Joan Becker said, clasping her husband’s and son Scott’s hands.
Joan Becker said the “system failed miserably” when her family sought help for Mark Becker’s mental illness.
“Ed Thomas was a victim of a victim,” she said. “Our sorrow runs very deep for the family of Ed Thomas and for our church family … but most of all for our son, Mark, who we love so very much.”
A conviction of first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence in Iowa, which doesn’t have the death penalty. Becker’s appeal on the conviction is automatic.
Iowa District Court Judge Stephen Carroll scheduled sentencing for April 14.
The trial largely centered on Becker’s mental status on the day of the shooting. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that Becker shot Thomas and that Becker suffered from paranoid schizophrenia that caused him to have intense hallucinations and delusions.
But prosecutors Scott Brown and Andy Prosser repeatedly argued that that mental illness was not equal to insanity.
The defense, represented by public defenders Susan Flander and Derek Jones, countered with witnesses who testified that Becker didn’t understand what he was doing and couldn’t distinguish right from wrong.
Aaron Thomas said he hopes his hometown can finally return to normal.
“Hopefully now we can be Parkersburg, a place without media, a place without cameras,” he said.
It became clear during seven days of testimony that the killing could have been prevented, or at least postponed, if Becker hadn’t been released from the psychiatric ward of a Waterloo hospital. He was admitted to the psychiatric ward — his third hospitalization in eight months — on June 20 after he allegedly broke out the windows of a Cedar Falls man’s house and accused the man of trying to hypnotize him.
Becker then led police on a chase that reached speeds of 90 mph before he hit a deer and surrendered to Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson.
He was released from the hospital on June 23, and the next morning he drove to the high school and killed Thomas.
Minutes after the verdict was read, Joan Becker comforted a crying relative sitting two rows behind her.
“It’s OK,” Joan Becker said. “Just pray he gets the right medication.”
The issue of Becker’s sanity took up the last two days of testimony, as the defense and prosecution introduced competing witnesses. Defense psychiatrist Phillip Resnick, of Cleveland, said Becker believed Satan had possessed Thomas and that he was doing the community a favor — and freeing Parkersburg’s children — by killing the coach.
Resnick and others who interviewed Becker about his mental status said Becker suffered from such intense delusions that he incorrectly believed Thomas and the members of Becker’s old football team were sexually assaulting him, and that Thomas was trying to make Becker into a “sex slave.”
Maryland-based psychiatrist Michael Spodak, hired by the prosecution, agreed Becker suffered from severe mental problems, including paranoid schizophrenia, but said he still understood right and wrong. Spodak said Becker took rational measures to avoid detection on the morning of the shooting: He hid his gun while he was driving, told passersby that he was searching for Thomas in order to volunteer for the city’s tornado relief efforts and made it a point to avoid shooting the teenagers in the weight room.
We were just recently discussing the phenomenon of sites like “PleaseRobMe,” which reposted Twitter/FourSquare messages of people announcing that they had left their homes, and wondering if it was all just a moral panic. It seemed unlikely that any burglars were seriously using such sites as a way to pick homes to rob. But do insurance companies agree? Michael Scott points us to the news that at least some insurance providers are exploring social media usage in figuring out insurance rates. Right now, it appears that they’re mostly looking at social networking info in doing claims investigations, but it may soon go beyond that. The author of the linked article suggests that at least some insurance companies are looking to take it further, in looking at your social media usage to determine your risk level (and, eventually, your premiums).
Watch out. As noted by Waverly Advisors, The historical ratio between oil and natural gas is getting out of whack again, suggesting — if you believe that there should be some connection between two arguably substitutable hydrocarbons — then you’d expect natural gas to rally and the ratio to close.
Of course, you’re looking at 2009 when the ratio soared. However that was a weird period resulting from an uber-weak dollar, and a unique situation in the natural gas market. Presuming a more normal period, such as what we saw prior to Sep 2008, it would appear that it’s time for nautural gas to rally (at least relative to oil).
2010 was supposed to be the year of the IPO... but so far everyone's saying "nothing soon." Given that companies like Facebook and Zynga have passed all the litmus tests to go public, what is their actual position on going public? Or is 2010 not going to be the year as many had forecasted?
Bugatti Grand Sport in carbon fiber – Click above for high-res image gallery
Over the past few years Bugatti has released numerous versions of its Veyron supercar, but the Grand Sport model hasn’t been out enough to get too many variations. Bugatti released the Sang Bleu version this past summer in Monterey, but that’s about it. In addition to the the pair of Grand Sports we drove, those are the only color combinations we’ve seen for the drop-top Bugatti.
That is, of course, until we hit the show floor here in Geneva. Bugatti has brought out a brand new Grand Sport finished in carbon fiber covered in clearcoat and polished aluminum. Other than the wheels, which we’re not huge fans of, the car is completely stunning to look at. If we somehow had the cash to buy and maintain a Bugatti, the carbon fiber finish would be the first option we would check off. You can see all of our live photos of the car in the high-res gallery below. And try to keep the drool from puddling on your keyboard.
Mobile-Review.com has published this video showing a new multi-function keyboard by Pelikon called the MorphPad.
The keyboard can change functions based on the backlighting of the keys, and the whole keyboard can also function as a touch pad.
Toshiba have already implemented the technology in the Toshiba Biblio e-reader, and we will hope they bring this technology to their Windows Mobile range also.
